Here's what Boswell is up to this week! Please note that while Urrea has moved from Monday to Thursday, our In-Store Lit Group will meet twice, once Monday (tonight) and again on Thursday, both at 6:00 pm.
Monday, May 6, 7:00 pm reception, 7:30 talk, at Lynden Sculpture Garden:
Jennifer Robson, author of The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding
With The Gown, Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces three unforgettable heroines and their alternating and intersecting points of view, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love.
Website registrations have closed for Jennifer Robson, but the Lynden Sculpture Garden can still take a couple of registrations by phone. Please contact them at (414) 446-8794. Tickets cost $23, $18 for Lynden members, and include an autographed paperback copy of The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding, light refreshments, and admission to the sculpture garden.The Lynden Sculpture Garden is located at 2145 W Brown Deer Rd
Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:Tim Hennessy, author of Milwaukee Noir
Fourteen free-wheeling stories document the grit and glory of Milwaukee. The Cream City is going through a renaissance, as abandoned factories are converted to condos and craft breweries push out corner taverns, yet at the same time it is among the most segregated and impoverished cities in the country. Such an environment and atmosphere make excellent fodder for noir fiction.
Of the anthology, Publishers Weekly says, “Hennessy does justice to the harsher aspects of his hometown in this fine anthology… Contributors show that violence is not a prerequisite to crafting a haunting depiction of despair... The selections make the different neighborhoods, seedy or otherwise, come to life, even for those who have never set foot in them.”
This event will be structured as a panel discussion with Christi Clancy, Jennifer Morales, Shauna Singh Baldwin, Valerie Laken, Larry Watson, Mary Thorson, and Matthew Prigge.
Wednesday is Boswell Creativity Night with two great events.
Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:Austin Kleon, author of Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad
Austin Kleon, creator of Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work visits Boswell with his latest, which shows you how to stay true to and focused on your own creative vision when the world seems out of control.
In ten heavily illustrated, inspiring chapters, Kleon offers advice, stories, and anecdotes that teach how to persist in doing work that helps make a world worth living in. Kleon celebrates timeless advice like getting outdoors and taking a walk (as director Ingmar Bergman told his daughter, “The demons hate fresh air”), paying attention to what you pay attention to, and worrying less about getting things done and more about the worth of what you’re doing.The first 25 people to show up after 6 pm for our event will get a free "Overheard on the Titanic" print.
Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 pm, at Milwaukee Makerspace, 2555 S Lenox St:
Eric Gorges, author of A Craftman's Legacy: Why Working with Our Hands Gives Us Meaning
Milwaukee Makerspace and Boswell present Eric Gorges, host of PBS’s A Craftsman's Legacy. Gorges will chat with Makerspace cofounder Tom Gralewicz. Tickets are $5, plus tax and ticketing fee, with the $5 donated to Milwaukee Makerspace. Available at gorgesmke.bpt.me. Doors open at 6:00 pm. Pre-event tours available.
I've now read A Craftman's Legacy (written by Eric Gorges and John Sternfeld) and found it quite inspirational, as I've always wished I had developed skills chronicled in the book. Gorges talks to metal crafters, woodworkers, and potters, for sure, but also an engraver, a clockmaker, a stone carver, two glass blowers, a swordsmith, two folks who make musical instruments, and a chocolatier.
Chapters cover respect, focus, forethought, discovery, tradition, sacrifice, peace, and of (of course) legacy. Gorges weaves his life story into the lessons too, including his transition from a corporate life (at Xerox) to starting Voodoo Choppers in Detroit.Milwaukee Makerspace is the perfect place to host Eric Gorges. If you haven't been, they're happy to give you a tour of the facility. Register now!
Thursday, May 9, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:Rescheduled Event Date! Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels
Urrea, Pulitzer finalist for The Devil’s Highway, appears on the paperback tour for his latest novel, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, that tells the story of a family on the Mexican-American border. Because Urrea was just awarded Guggenheim Fellowship and will be attending the award ceremony in New York City, we have rescheduled this event.
In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz has summoned his entire clan for one last birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies, transforming the weekend into a farewell doubleheader. Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti and recount the family lore of acts both ordinary and heroic that brought these citizens to a fraught and sublime country and allowed them to flourish in the land they have come to call home.If you saw Luis Alberto Urrea last year at the Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Lunch, you know what a wonderful speaker he is. Why not convince all your friends who missed that event to come this Thursday?
Friday, May 10, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:Joanne Ramos, author of The Farm
Former Wisconsinite Joanne Ramos (she grew up in Racine!) comes to Boswell with her debut novel. Cosponsored by The Philippine Cultural and Civic Center Foundation.
In New York’s Hudson Valley is a luxury retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, private fitness trainers, daily massages, all for free. In fact, you’re paid big money to stay. The catch? For nine months, you cannot leave the grounds; your movements are monitored, and you are cut off from your former life while you dedicate yourself to the task of producing the perfect baby.
Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, is in desperate search of a better future. But soon, pregnant, fragile, and consumed with worry for her own family, Jane is determined to reconnect with her life outside the Farm. Heartbreaking, gripping, provocative, The Farm pushes our thinking on motherhood, money, and merit to the extremes, and raises crucial questions about the trade-offs women will make to fortify their futures and the futures of those they love.
Joanne Ramos was born in the Philippines and moved to Racine when she was six. She earned a BA from Princeton University and has been a staff writer at The Economist. She currently serves on the board of The Moth.
Saturday, May 11, 11:00 am, at Boswell:Sheri Mabry Bestor, author of Soar High, Dragonfly
Grafton childrens book author Sheri Mabry Bestor visits Boswell for a special Saturday morning storytime with her new book that explores the fascinating life cycle of dragonflies.
Bestor, author of Good Trick, Walking Stick, returns to the insect world to follow the life cycle of a green darner dragonfly, told simultaneously as a narrative and a collection of scientific facts, from a mother dragonfly laying eggs, to fertilizing its own eggs before leaving to "find warmer days" elsewhere.
Dragonflies are some the world's most beautiful and interesting insects, which children can find right in their backyards. With a simple story and colorful illustrations, Bestor’s scientific look at the dragonfly will captivate little entomologists.
Coming next week - Monday, May 13, 6:30 pm, at Boswell:
Daniel José Older, author of Freedom Fire V2: Dactyl Hill Squad
New York Times bestselling author Daniel José Older appears at Boswell with his series that Dav Pilkey calls “an unforgettable historical, high-octane adventure,” blending history and fantasy like never before. This event is great for adults and kids age 8 and up.
Daniel José Older’s work highlights the importance of writing roles for people of color in fantasy and adventure for kids and adults, and his debut YA series, Shadowshaper Cypher, earned the International Latino Book Award and New York Times Notable Book and NPR Best Books of the Year picks, among other accolades. Booklist says of his latest, “History comes alive... Older also continues to shine a light on heroic people of color... Older has middle-graders' number with this dino-charged series. Stampedes are likely!”
Daniel José Older is author of the Dactyl Hill Squad series, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series, Star Wars: Last Shot, and the award winning YA series the Shadowshaper Cypher.
photo credits
Jennifer Robson - Natalie Brown
Tim Hennessy - Lucien Knuteson
Eric Gorges - John Roe
Austin Kleon - Clayton-Cubitt
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