Pam Houston

TUESDAY, MAY 21

5:30 pm | THE PEREGRINE BOOK GROUP WELCOMES NEW READERS! | DISCUSSING Pam Houston'S Contents may have shifted Join the Peregrine Book Group host and fellow author Susan Lang to discuss Pam Houston's Contents may have shifted.

About the Peregrine Book Group The Peregrine Bookgroup discussions are open to anyone who has read and wants to discuss the book listed. In other words, it is a rotating discussion group of interested readers. If you have questions, please contact Susan Lang Susan@peregrinebookompany.com. PLEASE NOTE: Pam Houston visits the Peregrine 3 pm Sunday, May 19th! This will be a great opportunity to meet Pam and ask questions about her work.

Susan Lang is the author of a trilogy published by University of Nevada Press about a woman homesteading in the southwestern wilderness during the years 1929 to 1941. The first novel in the trilogy, Small Rocks Rising, won the 2003 Willa Award. Her second novel, Juniper Blue, was released in 2006 and the third, Moon Lily, in fall, 2008. Lang’s short stories and poems have been published in magazines such as Red Rock Review, Iris, and The Idaho Review. She was awarded a 2007 Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts for her novel-in-progress, The Sawtooth Complex. Presently Faculty Emeritus at Yavapai College, she founded the Southwest Writers Series at Prescott College. She was also founding director of the Hassayampa Institute. PeregrineBookCompany.com | 219A North Cortez | Prescott, Arizona 86301 | 928.445.9000 Let's stay in touch! Keep us updated about your reading adventures.

Location: Street: 219A North Cortez Additional: City: Prescott, Province: Arizona Postal Code: 86302 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

SUNDAY, MAY 19

3 pm | Contents may have shifted | Pam Houston | READING, Q&A AND BOOKSIGNING World traveler and multi-award winning author Pam Houston reads from her book Contents may have shifted, fields questions about her work, and signs books following the Q&A session.

About the book: Houston’s latest novel finds Pam, the intrepid narrator, shuttling the world over, from Alaska to Tunisia, from Bhutan to Newfoundland, searching for authenticity, drinking up life, and maybe, just maybe, fleeing from a little conflict. As Pam first wrestles with a stagnant relationship, then enters a more promising (but arguably not easier) one, she philosophizes with girlfriends, mystics, and old lovers on all of life’s usual questions in a refreshingly witty and bold manner. The novel’s nonlinear plot builds meaning associatively through 144 minisections, each set in a new global location, enchanting the reader with unexplained characters and backstory. While a less-skilled writer would falter with this disjointed technique, in controlled, elegant prose, Houston imbues each pithy chapter with unifying lyricism. As the flight attendant says after a plane experiencing fuel-system failure successfully lands, “If your contents haven’t shifted, you must be carrying lead weights.” Unapologetic and empowering, Houston’s book hammers home the idea that if you don’t have problems, you probably aren’t living. Or, to use her metaphor, we all have baggage, so we might as well get used to traveling with it. — Katharine Fronk, Booklist

About Pam Houston Pam Houston is the author of two collections of linked short stories, Cowboys Are My Weakness and Waltzing the Cat, the novel, Sight Hound, and a collection of essays called A Little More About Me, all published by W.W. Norton.

Her stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. She is the winner of the Western States Book Award, the WILLA award for contemporary fiction, and The Evil Companions Literary Award and multiple teaching awards.

She is the Director of Creative Writing at U.C. Davis and teaches in The Pacific University low residency MFA program, and at writer’s conferences around the country and the world. She lives on a ranch at 9,000 feet in Colorado near the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

Learn more about Houston on her website http://pamhouston.wordpress.com/ and Facebook:
Photo">https://www.facebook.com/pamhoustonwriter

Photo of Pam Houston by Adam Karsten. PeregrineBookCompany.com | 219A North Cortez | Prescott, Arizona 86301 | 928.445.9000 Let's stay in touch! Keep us updated about your reading adventures.

Location: Street: 219A North Cortez Additional: City: Prescott, Province: Arizona Postal Code: 86302 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

5:30 pm | THE PEREGRINE BOOK GROUP WELCOMES NEW READERS! | DISCUSSING Barbara Kingsolver'S Flight behavior Please join us to discuss Barbara Kingsolver's Flight behavior.

“Drawing on both her Appalachian roots and her background in biology, Kingsolver delivers a passionate novel on the effects of global warming.” — Booklist, Starred Review of Flight behavior

About the Peregrine Book Group The Peregrine Bookgroup discussions are open to anyone who has read and wants to discuss the book listed. In other words, it is a rotating discussion group of interested readers.

If you have questions, please contact Susan Lang Susan@peregrinebookompany.com.

Upcoming Pick for May 23: Contents may have shifted by Pam Houston. Pam Houston visits the Peregrine Sunday, May 19th! This will be a great opportunity to ask Pam questions about her work.

Susan Lang is the author of a trilogy published by University of Nevada Press about a woman homesteading in the southwestern wilderness during the years 1929 to 1941. The first novel in the trilogy, Small Rocks Rising, won the 2003 Willa Award. Her second novel, Juniper Blue, was released in 2006 and the third, Moon Lily, in fall, 2008. Lang’s short stories and poems have been published in magazines such as Red Rock Review, Iris, and The Idaho Review. She was awarded a 2007 Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts for her novel-in-progress, The Sawtooth Complex. Presently Faculty Emeritus at Yavapai College, she founded the Southwest Writers Series at Prescott College. She was also founding director of the Hassayampa Institute. PeregrineBookCompany.com | 219A North Cortez | Prescott, Arizona 86301 | 928.445.9000 Let's stay in touch! Keep us updated about your reading adventures.

Location: Street: 219A North Cortez Additional: City: Prescott, Province: Arizona Postal Code: 86302 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Pam Houston

Tuesday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.

Contents may have shifted

Pam Houston’s latest takes us from one breathtaking precipice to the next as we unravel the story of Pam (a character not unlike the author), a fearless traveler aiming to leave her metaphorical baggage behind as she seeks a comfort zone in the air. With the help of a loyal cast of friends, body workers, and a new partner who inspires her to appreciate home, she finally finds something like ground under her feet

Pam Houston divides her time between her ranch in Colorado and the University of California at Davis, where she is director of the Creative Writing Program. She has been a frequent contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine, and her writing appears regularly in More and other publications. She in the author of the best-selling Cowboys are my weakness.

Location: Street: 1010 El Camino Real City: Menlo Park, Province: California Postal Code: 94025-4349 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Please join us for a reading and booksigning with writer Pam Houston featuring Contents may have shifted, "a tale so vivid, intricate, and intimate that it puts high-def TV to shame” (Elle).

Pam Houston’s latest takes us from one breathtaking precipice to the next as we unravel the story of Pam (a character not unlike the author), a fearless traveler aiming to leave her metaphorical baggage behind as she seeks a comfort zone in the air. She flies around the world, finding reasons to love life in dozens of far-flung places from Alaska to Bhutan. Along the way she weathers unplanned losses of altitude, air pressure, and landing gear. With the help of a squad of loyal, funny, wise friends and massage therapists, she learns to sort truth from self-deception,self-involvement from self-possession. At last, having found a new partner who loves Don DeLillo and the NHL and a daughter who needs you to teach her to dive and to laugh at herself not to mention two dogs and two horses staying home becomes more of an option. Maybe.

Book Review: 'Contents may have shifted' Monday, Feb 13, 2012

Pam Houston's new novel "Contents may have shifted" reads like a travelogue, with its central character searching for understanding across the globe. It's worth traveling along with according to reviewer Alan Cheuse, a writing professor at George Mason University in Fairfax,Va. More at NPR.org

Pam Houston is the author of two previous collections of linked short stories, Cowboys are my weakness and Waltzing the cat, the novel, Sight Hound, and a collection of essays called A Little More About Me. Her stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. She is the winner of the Western States Book Award, the WILLA award for contemporary fiction, and The Evil Companions Literary Award and multiple teaching awards. She is the Director of Creative Writing at U.C. Davis and teaches in The Pacific University low residency MFA program, and at writer’s conferences around the country and the world. She lives on a ranch at 9,000 feet in Colorado near the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

Location: Street: 513 Octavia St City: New Orleans, Province: Louisiana Postal Code: 70115-2055 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

“A tale so vivid, intricate, and intimate that it puts high-def TV to shame.”—Elle

Pam Houston’s latest takes us from one breathtaking precipice to the next as we unravel the story of Pam (a character not unlike the author), a fearless traveler aiming to leave her metaphorical baggage behind as she seeks a comfort zone in the air. With the help of a loyal cast of friends, body workers, and a new partner who inspires her to appreciate home, she finally finds something like ground under her feet.

Pam Houston is the author of two collections of linked short stories, Cowboys Are My Weakness and Waltzing the Cat, the novel, Sight Hound, and a collection of essays called A Little More About Me, all published by W.W. Norton. Her stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. She is the winner of the Western States Book Award, the WILLA award for contemporary fiction, and The Evil Companions Literary Award and multiple teaching awards. She is the Director of Creative Writing at U.C. Davis and teaches in The Pacific University low residency MFA program, and at writer’s conferences around the country and the world. She lives on a ranch at 9,000 feet in Colorado near the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

Location: Andover Bookstore Street: 89 R Main Street City: Andover, Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Please join us for this special event with Pam Houston, author of Cowboys are My Weakness, Sight Hound, Waltzing the Cat, and her recent collection, Contents may have shifted. Pam will be discussing and reading from 10 books that have influenced her successful writing and teaching career.

Grow your personal reading hit list, help create a new direction for your reading group, or just join us for an afternoon celebrating great books!

Please contact Nancy at nscheemaker@northshire.com with questions.

Location: Street: Northshire Bookstore Additional: 4869 Main Street City: Manchester Center, Province: Vermont Postal Code: 05255 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Our first author dinner of 2013 is with Pam Houston on Wednesday, February 6 at 6:30pm. The Blue Heron Coffeehouse will be providing a multi-course fine dining experience (menu to be announced). Dinner is $35.00, $50.00 with wine.

“I fell in love with Pam Houston’s writing more than twenty years ago, when I first read her short story How To Talk to a Hunter. She only gets better with time. Her latest book, Contents may have shifted is both illuminating and impossible to put down and it’s my favorite book published in 2012. In 144 chapters that take readers around the world, Houston tells the story of one adventurous woman’s romances and friendships, sorrows and joys, with an intelligence and perception that destroyed, astonished and inspired me.” --Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild

About the Book: Stuck in a dead-end relationship, this fearless narrator leaves her metaphorical baggage behind and finds a comfort zone in the air, feeling safest with one plane ticket in her hand and another in her underwear drawer. She flies around the world, finding reasons to love life in dozens of far-flung places from Alaska to Bhutan. Along the way she weathers unplanned losses of altitude, air pressure, and landing gear. With the help of a squad of loyal, funny, wise friends and massage therapists, she learns to sort truth from self-deception, self-involvement from self-possession.At last, having found a new partner who loves Don DeLillo and the NHL and a daughter who needs you to teach her to dive and to laugh at herself not to mention two dogs and two horses staying home becomes more of an option. Maybe.

About the Author: Pam Houston divides her time between her ranch in Colorado and the University of California at Davis, where she is director of the Creative Writing Program. She has been a frequent contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine, and her writing appears regularly in "More" and other publications. She in the author of the best-selling book Cowboys Are My Weakness. Calendar

Location: Street: 162 W 2nd St City: Winona, Province: Minnesota Postal Code: 55987 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Join us for our final lunch at our current location, and enjoy meeting author Pam Houston. Her latest novel, Contents may have shifted, is the story of a fearless traveler aiming toleave her metaphorical baggage beind as she seeks a comfort zone in the air. She will also discuss Waltzing the cat, 11 linked fictions featuring a peripatetic photographer named Lucy O'Rourke, and A Little More about Me, essays that celebrate real-life adventures spanning five years and five continents. Through her stories, readers meet some good dogs, a few good men, and the occasional grizzly.

Please RSVP as space is limited.

Cost: $20 includes catered lunch and your choice of book.

Location: Street: 37 N Edgewood St City: Seaside, Province: Oregon Postal Code: 97138 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Words and Music with author Pam Houston and jazz singer/songwriter Bett Butler

**UPDATE** Listen to them on Literature for the Halibut here (Sept 24 edition)

Award-winning author Pam Houston pairs with San Antonio-based jazz singer/songwriter/pianist BETT BUTLER for Words and Music with Pam Houston and Bett Butler, a unique reading/performance. Doors open at 6:15. Admission is by donation.

Houston will be reading from her genre-breaking novel Contents may have shifted, a book of 144 short vivid chapters taking her readers from Marfa, Texas to Zaafrane, Tunisia, from Gyantse, Tibet to her seat on a tense (yet oddly funny) flight out of Sydney. Like a collage, the small parts work toward a larger impression, perhaps leading the reader to the most adventurous terrain of all, the self. In the words of an Arizona body worker: “I am not afraid of your pain. I am not afraid of your grief. I am not afraid of your terror… because I have gone inside the monster and inside the monster is pure wonder.”

Bett Butler knows something of this journey and looks forward to appearing with Houston. Butler will be drawing upon her own diverse background as she spontaneously responds to each segment of Houston’s reading with music selections of her own. “I appreciate storytelling in forms which leave room for the reader/listener to fill in the blanks…I love the fact that Pam describes herself as a collagist. I think we experience the world in any given moment as a collage…we are constantly exploring different forms with which to make sense of that noisy jumble of images and ideas.” It’s perhaps that search for meaning that inspires Butler’s motto: “It’s not about the storyteller, it’s about the story; it’s not about the musician, it’s about the music; it’s not about the singer, it’s about the song.”

Pam Houston is the author of the linked short story collections, Cowboys are my weakness and Waltzing the cat, in addition to two novels Contents may have shifted and Sight hound, and a collection of essays, A Little More About Me. Her short stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Short Stories of the Century and the Pushcart Prize. She teaches Creative Writing at UC Davis. She really does travel as much as her characters and used to work as a river guide in the Northwest.

Jazz singer/songwriter/pianist Bett Butler is a veteran performer who has played everything from tent revivals to honky tonks, historic theaters to SXSW. Her song When Love Has Left the Room placed first in the jazz category in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition and two of her CDs, Myths & Fables and Short Stories feature her own compositions. Her latest album American Sampler placed in the top 10 on the iTunes Great American Songbook chart for a full week after its release and includes a haunting version of Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, chosen as a featured video and download by http://www.allaboutjazz.com/. She co-owns the recording facility Mandala Music Production with her spouse, bassist/composer/producer Joël Dilley.

Copies of Pam Houston's books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Location: Street: The Ethical Society Additional: 9001 Clayton Rd City: Saint Louis, Province: Missouri Postal Code: 63117 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)