Brazos Bookstore

Join us to discuss Geraldine Brooks's The People of the Book. The book club is free and open to all.

You're invited to share an evening with the authors who have contributed to the anthology Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence. Please note the change of date.

In partnership with the Energy Tribune, the World Affairs Council of Houston will host Robert Bryce, who will give the lecture, "Energy Independence: the way forward or a dangerous delusion?" His latest book, Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Dependence", will be available ... (more)for sale courtesy of Brazos Bookstore.

Robert Bryce, a fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, has been writing about energy for nearly two decades. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications ranging from The Atlantic Monthly to The Guardian, and The Nation to The American Conservative. He is the author of Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron, and Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America’s Superstate. He is also the managing editor of Energy Tribune and a contributing writer for The Texas Observer.

Jan Egeland, former UN UnderSecretary for Humanitarian Affairs and one of Time Magazine's 100 that Shape Our World, has spent nearly 30 years working to protect humanity and raise awareness of its needs through his example and leadership in a host of diplomatic and non-governmental positions. Brazos ... (more)Bookstore and the United Nations Association-Houston's Dialog with Diplomats Series present Egeland for a presentation (6:00 pm) and reception (7:30 pm), both of which are free to the public.

Reading and signing.

Readings by UH Creative Writing students. Sponsored by Gulf Coast Magazine.

Join us for a reading and signing of Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright's book, Dissent: Voices of Conscience: Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq.

Alice McDermott, “a genius of quiet observation . . . one of our finest novelists at work today” (Los Angeles Times Book Review), is the author of six novels, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist That Night, the bestselling Child of My Heart, and the National Book Award winner Charming ... (more)Billy. She reads from her latest novel, After This, which, like her other works, explores Irish Catholic American life. Columbian writer Laura Restrepo, a life-long peace activist, is a leading figure in the Latin American literary scene. The Washington Post says of her latest novel, Delirium, the sixth to be translated into English, “Laura Restrepo’s Delirium is a book-and-a-half: stunning, dense, complex, mind-blowing. The novel goes far above politics, right up into high art.”

Reading and Signing.

Reading and signing.

Readings by UH Creative Writing students. Sponsored by Gulf Coast Magazine.

Sponsored by the Cherry Reading Series and the Rice English Department.

Inprint provides annual fellowships and prizes for graduate students at the UH Creative Writing Program—close to $2 million dollars have been awarded since 1983—and has also established at UH an endowed chair in creative writing. Join us for a night of reading by the winners of Inprint prizes.

Reading and signing.

Reading and signing.

Marjane Satrapi, internationally celebrated Iranian graphic novelist/memoirist, is the author of the critically acclaimed Persepolis and Persepolis 2. The books, often compared to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, tell the story of growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the ... (more)war with Iraq, then fleeing Iran to end up in Paris. Sandra Cisneros describes Persepolis as “part history book, part Scheherazade, astonishing . . . it gave me hope for humanity in these unkind times.” Gloria Steinem says, “You’ve never seen anything like Persepolis-—Marjane Satrapi may have given us a new genre.” The New York Times Book Review calls it “delectable ... dances with drama and insouciant wit.” An animated film adaptation of Persepolis premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, at which applause for the film lasted for more than 15 minutes; the film is slated to open in the U.S. in January 2008. Satrapi’s other works include Embroideries, Chicken and Plums, and several children’s books, including Monsters are Afraid of the Moon. (Please note—her presentation will be a talk about her work, not a reading, followed by a booksale and signing.) Tickets: $10 all seats, on sale at www.inprinthouston.org starting January 3rd.

Reading and signing.

Reading and signing.

Reading and signing.

Reading and signing.

Robert Hass, former U.S. Poet Laureate, is a champion of the literacy and environmental movements. A recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” fellowship and two National Book Critics Circle Awards, Hass is the author of five collections of poetry, including Field Guide, Praise, Human Values, ... (more)Sun Under Wood, and his much-anticipated new collection, Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005. The Atlantic Monthly writes, “No practicing poet has more talent than Robert Hass.” Time and Materials recently won the National Book Award for Poetry.

Reading and signing.

This event is sponsored by the Progressive Forum. Bill McKibben is one of the most important writers on business and the environment. He’s author of the environmental classic, End of Nature. He created a national movement called Step it Up 2007, resulting in a day of hundreds of rallies in all fifty ... (more)states for climate stability on Nov. 3. His most recent book is Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (2007). For tickets and more information, visit progressiveforumhouston.org.

The HoustonPBS Red, White, and Blue Book Club will meet to discuss Kevin Phillips's Bad Money.

Reading and signing.

Brazos Bookstore is pleased to host Tom Piazza in celebration of the release of City of Refuge.

Join the Houston Public Library for a reading and signing by Emily Giffin, author of the novels Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and Baby Proof. Brazos will attend and sell her latest novel, Love the One You're With.

The Poison Pen Reading Series presents Doug Dorst, author of Alive in Necropolis, recently reviewed in the New York Times. Brazos will attend and sell his book.

The book club will discuss David Sedaris's latest collection of essays, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Anyone is welcome to attend and share their thoughts.

Join Diesel Bookstore as investigative journalist & author, Nena Baker presents and signs her compelling new book, The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-being.

Nena spent a quarter century in the trenches of journalism before writing THE BODY TOXIC. ... (more) She began her career in New York as a copy editor for GQ magazine, later moving on to positions at TV Guide and a jewelry trade magazine, where she exposed the illegal disposal of toxic chemicals by retail jewelers.

She also worked as a reporter and editor on the national financial desk of United Press International in New York before returning to her home state of Oregon, where, as an awrd-winning staff writer for The Oregonian, she was the first U.S. reporter to investigate deplorable conditions at Nike's Indonesian factories.

Her writing has appeared in SELF, Town & Country, Seventeen, and Mademoiselle. A graduate of Lewis & Clark College, Baker currently lives in Portland, OR, where she is a licensed private investigator specializing in interviewing, database, and public-records research.

Join us for an evening with the authors of Finding Birds On the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trails, co-written with Bob Behrstock. The Texas coast offers rich avian treasures for expert birders and beginners alike, if only they know where to look. For those familiar with the Texas Parks and Wildlife ... (more)Department's maps to the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, this book on the Upper Texas Coast offers more--more information, more convenient and detailed maps, more pictures, more finding tips, and more birding advice from one of the trail's creators, Ted Lee Eubanks Jr., and trail experts Robert A. Behrstock and Seth Davidson. For those new to the trail, the book -- recently #1 on Amazon's Texas non-fiction list -- is the perfect companion for learning where to find and how to bird the very best venues on this part of the Texas coast.In an attractive, durable, and user-friendly format, the book includes: maps to each of the fifteen trail loops, with birding sites clearly marked; text directions to each site; site rating recommendations for prioritizing trips; site descriptions that feature birds likely to be found; and advice on finding bird groups. While not intended as a field identification guide, the book contains more than 175 color photographs of birds and their coastal habitat, giving readers an excellent feel for the trail's diversity and abundance. Whether you are making your annual spring pilgrimage to Texas, leisurely traveling with the family along the coast, or wondering what to do during a layover in Houston, using this book as your guide to the trail will greatly enhance your birding experience.

Brazos is proud to host A.J. Jacobs for what should be an interesting reading and signing, as Jacobs discusses his book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.Jacobs, a New York Jewish agnostic, decides to follow the laws and rules of the Bible, ... (more)beginning with the Old Testament, for one year. (He actually adds some bonus days and makes it a 381-day year.) He starts by growing a beard and we are with him through every itchy moment. Jacobs is borderline OCD, at least as he describes himself; obsessing over possible dangers to his son, germs, literal interpretation of Bible verses, etc. He enlists the aid of counselors along the way; Jewish rabbis, Christians of every stripe, friends and neighbors.

Diesel Bookstore is proud to welcome back Irvine Welsh, the bestselling author of Trainspotting as he presents his newest book, Crime.

As Welsh's very first novel set in the U.S., CRIME is a shocking and gripping story about the corruption and abuse of the human soul, and the possibilities for redemption.

Called "the zaniest bestseller of the year," by the Boston Globe, Cathcart and Klein's Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar...: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes has been a breakout bestseller ever since "The Philosophy Guys" did their schtick on NPR's Weekend Edition. Plato and a Platypus hit bestseller ... (more)lists in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY among other publications.Lively, original, and powerfully informative, the book is a not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical thinkers and traditions, from Metaphysics to Logic. Don't really understand the concept of teleology? Wait until you hear the one about the Jewish grandmother walking down the street with her two grandsons. ("The doctor is five. The lawyer is seven," she explains.) And you don't need to read Sartre to understand Existentialism: Lenny, caught in bed with his best friend's wife and asked, "What are you doing here?" suavely replies, "Everybody's gotta be somewhere.

The Progressive Forum presents Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder and editor of Daily Kos, the most widely read political blog in the world with an astounding 14 to 25 million unique visitors a month. Zúniga is a pioneer in transforming the internet into a major force in America politics, engaging
previously ... (more)disillusioned voters in record numbers and launching a movement
towards a more authentic, populist democracy. He is releasing a new book at this event, Taking On the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era, which Brazos Bookstore will sell after the program. To buy tickets or for more information, click here.

Join us for Brazos Bookstore's Emerging Writers Series as Kathleen Kent reads from and signs her first novel based on her own family history, The Heretic's Daughter, which gives a fresh look at the Salem witch trials from the perspective of a ten-year-old girl.Calvin Crosby of Books, Inc., in San Francisco, ... (more)says of The Heretic's Daughter in the IndieNext List: "This is a novel of family, of mothers and daughters, and of the Salem witch trials told from such an intimate perspective you can smell the hearth and feel the cold of a New England winter. The Heretic's Daughter is enveloping and rich in historic detail and tone -- a beautifully written masterpiece.

Brazos is proud to present John Zogby, author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream. Location and more information TBA.

Join Brazos on the release date of best-selling author R.A. Salvatore's The Pirate King for a special reading and signing.

When Cajun artist George Rodrigue began his series of Blue Dog paintings in 1984, he had no idea that they would consume the greater part of his life for over two decades, and that the mysterious Blue Dog -- inspired by his studio dog–turned-model, Tiffany, and the Cajun loup-garou folk legend -- would ... (more)become a wildly popular international icon as well.Blue Dog Speaks is the first book to prominently emphasize Rodrigue’s painting titles, one of the most important elements in the creation of a Blue Dog painting, alongside the works. Rodrigue uses Blue Dog painting titles to provide insight -- whether humorous or nostalgic or sad -- into the human condition.
In an introduction, Rodrigue reveals how an idea that originated in childhood tales has now grown far beyond; his Blue Dogs have moved beyond Louisiana into formerly uncharted territory and now express larger concepts about contemporary life.Brazos is pleased to present George Rodrigue for a talk and demo painting, followed by a signing. (Please note: Rodrigue is unable to sign postcards, posters, or any items other than books.)

Jana Kohl is the author of A Rare Breed of Love: The True Story of Baby and the Mission She Inspired to Help Dogs Everywhere. Join Brazos, Golden Retriever Rescue of Houston, Scout's Honor Rescue, Inc., and Boxer Rescue to celebrate A Rare Breed of Love. Baby will be joining Jana Kohl on tour, and we're ... (more)excited to set up the rescue organizations on our sidewalk so customers and dogs can mingle.

William Patrick will read from and sign the book he co-authored with John T. Cacioppo, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. For more information on the book and authors, visit their website at www.scienceofloneliness.com.

Save the date for the SPA Annual Fall Luncheon on Tuesday, October 14, 2008. You won’t want to miss guest authors Ruthanna Hopper (daughter of legendary actor Dennis Hopper) and Amanda Goldberg (daughter of famed film producer Leonard Goldberg) as they serve up delicious tales about growing up on the ... (more)red carpet through the eyes of “Lola,” their precocious protagonist in Celebutantes.

“Hollywood during the glitter, glamour, and hype of Oscar week forms the backdrop for the adventures of Lola Santisi, the daughter of Hollywood royalty, and her friends, Kate, a Hollywood talent agent, and Cricket, a struggling model and actress,” says MTV.com.For more information, call SPA at 713.632.8103.

The Houston Public Library Foodies present John DeMers, author of Follow the Smoke: 14,783 Miles of Great Texas Barbecue.

Join Diesel Bookstore for a green event with Van Jones, author of Green Collar Economy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Van Jones is the founder and president of Green For All, based in Oakland. The mission is to help build an inclusive, green economy - strong enough to lift millions of people out of poverty. Van ... (more)is a tireless advocate, championing "green-collar jobs and opportunities" for disadvantaged people. He is committed to creating "green pathways out of poverty," while greatly expanding the coalition fighting global warming.

He's worked to combine solutions to America's two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. Under the slogan "green-collar jobs, not jails," he is calling for green economic development in urban America.

As an advocate for the toughest urban constituencies and causes, he has won many honors, which include the 1998 Reebok International Human Rights Award, the international Ashoka Fellowship, selection as a World Economic Forum "Young Global Leader," and the Rockefeller Foundation "Next Generation Leadership" Fellowship.

He's also served on the boards of numerous national environmental organizations. Presently, he is a board member of the National Apollo Alliance, which advocates for clean energy jobs. He is also a founding board member of 1Sky, a national coalition working to avert catastrophic climate change.

In 2007, Van helped the City of Oakland pass a "Green Jobs Corps" proposal; the City allocated funds to train Oakland residents in eco-friendly "green-collar jobs."

At the national level, Van worked successfully in 2007 with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-MASS) to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007. That path-breaking, historic legislation authorized $125 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in "green-collar jobs." Van is also a co-founder of a new national coalition that promotes the idea of a national "Clean Energy Jobs Corps." This multi-billion-dollar federal initiative would put hundreds of thousands of people to work rewiring and retrofitting the energy infrastructure of the United States.

In 2005, Van produced the "Social Equity Track" for the United Nations' World Environment Day celebration. UNWED 2005 drew dozens of mayors from around the world to San Francisco, where they developed policies promoting the concept of "Green Cities."

In 1996, Van co-founded (with Diana Frappier) the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, now located in Oakland, California. Named for an unsung civil rights heroine, the award-winning Center promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration. The Center, for which Van serves as board president, incubated Green For All in 2007 and spun it off in 2008.

His many media appearances includes the popular Peabody award-winning show, The Colbert Report.

The Rice Cherry Reading Series presents Hannah Tinti to read from and sign her book, The Good Thief.From Lyn Roberts at Square Books in Oxford, MS: "Ren, one of many orphans at Saint Anthony's Orphanage for boys, is approaching the age when he will be conscripted into the army. A swaggering Benjamin ... (more)Nab appears and claims Ren as his long-lost brother. But, as soon as they are on the way, it is clear that Benjamin Nab is not anything he seems to be. Tinti has written a wonderful, compelling novel.

Join Clare Langley-Hawthorne at Diesel Bookstore as she presents the second book in her fantastic new historical mystery series! Featuring the strong, outspoken, intelligent and sassy Ursula Marlow, THE SERPENT AND THE SCORPION is a thrilling story of scandal and betrayal that's richly detailed and ... (more)action-packed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Clare Langley-Hawthorne was raised in England and Australia. She practiced law in Melbourne until 1995 when she emigrated moved to the United States and began work as a health economist. Clare has since put her pursuit of a PhD on hold to focus on her career as a writer. She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband and twin sons. This is her second novel.

For more information, visit her web site at www.clarelangleyhawthorne.com

Andrew Porter grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the youngest of three children. He received his B.A. in English from Vassar College and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He is the author of the short story collection, The Theory of Light and Matter, which ... (more)won the 2007 Flannery O’Connor Award in Short Fiction and will be published in Fall 2008. He is also the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the 2004 W.K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts from Vassar College, a James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship from the James Michener/Copernicus Foundation, an Iowa Teaching/Writing Fellowship from the University of Iowa, a Tennesee Williams Scholarship from the Sewanee’ Writers’ Conference, a Residency Fellowship from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, the Glenna Luschei Award and a Pushcart Prize. His fiction has appeared in One Story, Epoch, The Ontario Review, Prairie Schooner, The Antioch Review, StoryQuarterly, The Threepenny Review, Others Voices, Story and The Pushcart Prize Anthology, among others. He has also had his work read on NPR’s “Selected Shorts” and selected as one of the 100 Distinguished Stories of 2007 by Best American Short Stories. Currently, Andrew lives in San Antonio, where he is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Trinity University. Brazos is honored to present Andrew Porter for a reading and signing of The Theory of Light and Matter.

Join the Progressive Forum and get the insider’s view before the election from Eleanor Clift, popular Newsweek contributing editor. She's also a panelist on the nationally syndicated show on PBS, The McLaughlin Group, and a political analyst for the Fox News Network. One of America’s favorite people, ... (more)she has played herself in several films, Independence Day, Murder at 1600, and Dave, as well as the CBS series, Murphy Brown.Clift will also discuss being a women in a male dominated Washington, what the last few years have meant to American history, and finding strength and perspective while losing her husband to cancer and using in-home hospice care. Her books include Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (2000), War Without Blood: The Art of Politics (1996), and Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Politics (March 2008). Booksale after the lecture by Brazos Bookstore. For tickets and more information visit The Progressive Forum online.

Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer’s questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his ... (more)own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett’s legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people’s lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.Author Alice Schroeder was a noted insurance industry analyst and writer who was a managing director at Morgan Stanley. She first met Warren Buffett when she published research on Berkshire Hathaway; her grasp of the subject and insight so impressed him that he offered her access to his files and to himself. Their friendship and mutual respect make her ideally positioned to write the The Snowball.

Ms. Schroeder was born in Texas, and she earned an undergraduate degree and her MBA at the University of Texas at Austin before moving east to work in finance. She is a former CPA and lives in Connecticut with her husband.

Join Brazos at the Baker Institute for a reading and signing with Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran.

“A witty, timely perspective on the nation posing the greatest challenge to our next President. Travel writing often makes for easy reading at the expense ... (more)of relevant information, which gets lost in the details. Not so with The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.”
—Bill White, mayor of Houston and U.S. secretary of energy under President Clinton

Join Brazos Bookstore's First Wednesday Book Club for a discussion of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

The Rice Cherry Reading Series presents poet Martha Collins for a reading and signing. The Cherry Reading Series is sponsored by the Rice English Department. Brazos is proud to provide a venue for this up-and-coming series.

DIESEL, A Bookstore in Malibu is excited to welcome legendary surfer and Malibu resident, Laird Hamilton to the store! As one of the most famous big-wave surfers today, Laird is known for his physical and mental toughness when out on the waves, and has achieved worldwide fame for his accomplishments.

He'll ... (more)be joining us to discuss and share from his highly anticipated book, Force of Nature, and open a window into the unique physical regimens, mental strategies, and spiritual beliefs that has allowed him to do what he loves, while being surrounded by family and radiating peak health and fitness.

We'll see you there!

Brazos presents Katherine Neville to read from and sign her new book, The Fire.

Brush up on your knowledge about the Dead Sea Scrolls before the exhibit comes to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation and Brazos Bookstore present Dr. Weston Fields for a reading and signing the week before the exhibit opens.

Houston is a city that loves its restaurants. Now, with the 2008 publication of The Ultimate Food Lover's Guide to Houston, brought to you by the editors and writers of My Table magazine, dining around Houston is about to become an even more delicious adventure.Capitalizing on My Table's fourteen years ... (more)of covering everything food in Houston and our reputation as Houston's only editorially independent magazine devoted solely to dining in Houston, this is not a traditional restaurant guidebook so much as -- as the title promises -- a food-lover's guide. Our overriding editorial guideline: Where would we send our best foodie friend?The 5x8 book -- easy to slip into a handbag or briefcase -- is divided into three chapters: Local Flavors has more than 100 bakeries, ethnic markets, farmers' markets, butchers, gelato shops, fishmongers, chocolate shops, coffeehouses, tea rooms, and much more; Spirited Houston lists more than 95 wine bars, wine and spirits retailers, brewpubs, hotel bars and dives; and Restaurants & Cafes covers everything else, from fine-dining establishments to quirky ethnic eateries off the beaten path. Besides the main listings -- nearly 550 in all -- The Ultimate Food Lover's Guide to Houston features dozens of color photos, a fold-out map, sidebars and boxes with everything from a list of our favorite boiled-crawfish spots to the town's best sports bars (as chosen by Houston Dynamo star Brian Ching), from a round-up of pick-your-own orchards to the best annual food festivals, from a list of local cooking schools to a chocolatier's secret sources for chocolate-making supplies, from our favorite BYOB restaurants to five spots that serve English-style afternoon tea. The book even has a dozen recipes from Houston's best-known restaurants, including Cafe Annie, Mark's American Cuisine, Brennan's and Ouisie's Table. We don't pretend to list everything in town -- only those places that are worthy, beloved, compelling, irresistible or simply cannot be ignored.

In Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861, Raúl A. Ramos, assistant professor of history at the University of Houston, places Mexican Americans at the center of the Texas creation story, introducing a new model for the transnational history of the United States. He focuses ... (more)on Mexican-Texan, or Tejano, society in a period of political transition beginning with the year of Mexican independence. From the perspective of the Tejanos of San Antonio de Béxar, Anglo-Americans were immigrants and the battle of the Alamo was a war between brothers.Ramos explores the factors that helped shape the ethnic identity of the Tejano population, including cross-cultural contacts between Bexareńos, indigenous groups, and Anglo-Americans, as they negotiated the contingencies and pressures on the frontier of competing empires. Initial peace gave way to violence as tensions between Anglo-American immigrants and the Mexican government made cultural brokerage impossible, leading to Texas's secession from Mexico and subsequent annexation by the United States. Ramos demonstrates that Bexareńos turned to their experience on the frontier to forge a new ethnic identity within dominant American culture. The nineteenth-century story of the Tejano people, who went from political dominance in 1821 to political minority in 1861, is a story of declension, but it is also a story of resurgence in the face of changing conditions and oppressive circumstances.

What to do on vacation....
How about learning to become the best spy ever?? Come to our Spyology party, hosted by Sue, and discover what it takes to be a secret agent. For kids ages 10-14. Please sign up in advance because there will be snacks and prizes! !uoy eeS

From the moment you encounter the lenticular cover -- which magically morphs back and forth from the image of an eight year old boy in 1984, to the image of the grown man he’s become in 2005 -- the experience of The Oxford Project is utterly unique. Through image and word, it tells the extraordinary ... (more)story of one seemingly ordinary American town, as it was twenty years ago, and as it is today. The Project first began in 1984, when Peter Feldstein managed to photograph all but six people living in Oxford, Iowa (pop 676). Two decades later, Feldstein did it again. Considered side by side, the resulting “then & now” portraits reveal the startling and subtle ways that people both change and remain the same over the course of a generation. The second time around, the residents of Oxford did more than just pose -- they talked. About their pasts, their dreams, their losses, and their secrets. One by one, they shared their most personal feelings and memories with award-winning narrative journalist and professor from University of Iowa, Stephen G. Bloom.The result is a stunning collection of the faces and stories that make up one small community in rural Iowa, but who we discover could just as well be from any place in America. In these time-lapse transformations and intimate disclosures of strangers, we recognize fragments of our own reflection. As Bloom eloquently writes in his introduction: "They remind us of what we dreamed we’d become, and what we turned out to be."Amazon has picked The Oxford Project as one of the Ten Best Photography Books of 2008, and it’s also made both NPR’s “Booksellers’ Recommendations” and “Best Gift Book” holiday lists. Filmmaker Ken Burns describes The Oxford Project as "a marvelous way to get at 'who we are' as a people. This powerful confessional book draws its strength from the truth that so-called ordinary people, not those with bold-faced names, are actually the heroes of our American drama." An unprecedented work of narrative and photographic journalism, The Oxford Project is a stunning portrait of the human spirit. Please join Brazos for an evening with writer Stephen Bloom, in celebration of his book.

Jami Attenberg has written for Jane, Print, Salon, Nylon, The San Francisco Chronicle, Nextbook, and Time Out New York. Her fiction has appeared in Nerve, Pindeldyboz, Spork, and Bullfight Review.In her novel, The Kept Man, Jarvis Miller’s artist husband has been in a coma for six years. And so, Jarvis ... (more)has spent these years suspended between hope and grief, paralyzed with longing for a life and a marriage that are slipping away. But then, unexpectedly, Jarvis makes her first new friends in years when she meets the Kept Man Club: three men whose lifestyles are funded by their successful wives, who gather once a week on laundry day. With their help, she reawakens to the city beyond her Brooklyn apartment, past the pitying eyes of her husband’s art dealer and his irresponsible best friend as her future begins to take on the irresistible tingles of possibility for the first time in almost a decade. When a shocking discovery casts a different light on her idealized marriage, she’s propelled even further down a path that she would never have dared to imagine just months before. Tender, bold, and unabashed, The Kept Man is a compulsively readable novel about love and loss from one of our most dynamic new storytellers.

The Brilliant Lecture Series: Conversations with Brilliance and Capital One Bank present Dr. Maya Angelou. Her latest book is a memoir called Letter to My Daughter, which will be sold by Brazos Bookstore after the lecture. Tickets are from $18 to the VIP level of $150, and are available only from The ... (more)Brilliant Lecture Series at 713.974.1335. For more information, visit www.brilliantlectures.org.

In this smart, candid, and surprising political memoir, Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) offers a behind-the-scenes look at the first six years of the Bush Administration from the vantage point of one of the few Republican moderates in the Senate. A political iconoclast, Chafee was the only Republican senator ... (more)to have expressed support for same-sex marriage; the only Republican to vote in favor of reinstating the top federal tax rate on upper-income payers; the only Republican in the Senate to have voted against authorization of the use of force in Iraq; the only Republican to vote for the Levin-Reed amendment calling for a nonbinding timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq; and the only Republican to vote against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Sometimes referred to by conservatives as a RINO (Republican in Name Only), Chafee turns the tables on the right and asks why it has enabled Bush Jr. to pull the GOP and the nation away from traditional principles of fiscal conservatism, respect for our environment, and aversion to foreign entanglements.
Unabashedly frank, Chafee's memoir recounts his political journey from small-town mayor to a voice crying from the congressional wilderness. He offers a forward-looking assessment of what comes next for the Republican and Democratic parties, and he also addresses the potential rise of a third party within the void created by bipartisan extremism. Most important, Chafee sounds a wake-up call to his Party, and to all Americans, by challenging our government to strive, as Abraham Lincoln once articulated, "to elevate the condition of men.

Rabih Alameddine, author of The Hakawati, will be the featured speaker at the Poets and Writers Ball. For more info, visit Inprint online.

Join Brazos Bookstore's First Wednesday Book Club to discuss The Heretic's Daughter, a historical novel about the Salem witch trials, by Kathleen Kent, a descendant of Martha Carrier, who was hanged as a witch in 1692. The book club is free and open to the public.

When Manil Suri’s first novel, The Death of Vishnu, was published in 2001, it was universally celebrated as a literary phenomenon. Time magazine proclaimed Suri a “Person to Watch,” and praised Vishnu’s “eerie and memorable transcendence,” and Anna Mundow, in the Boston Globe, declared that ... (more)“Suri’s penetration of his characters’ lives is as precise and cunning as that of a master surgeon like J. M. Coetzee.” Winner of the 2002 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, Suri’s debut was equally lauded by his peers. The Age of Shiva is Suri’s follow-up to that remarkable debut, a novel that captures the sweep of Indian history from the time of the partition until 1981. Richly layered with themes from Hindu mythology, it is both a powerful story of a country in turmoil and an extraordinary portrait of maternal love. Suri has conjured a world of terrific promise and terrible fear in The Age of Shiva -- stunningly described through the words of Meera, his impassioned female narrator. The themes and contradictions in Hindu mythology (most notably of Shiva, known as a deity with both destructive and transformative power) mirror the adult life of Meera, a riveting, unpredictable protagonist with a stubborn desire to follow her own path through the male-dominated landscape of post-colonial India. “[Suri] is fearless in imagining a passionate, confused and not always admirable woman. That striking creation, and his refusal to give in to any hint of the didactic or the predictable, affirms his position as a writer worth serious attention.” -- New York Times Book Review

Sum is a dazzling exploration of funny and unexpected afterlives that have never been considered, each presented as a vignette that offers us a stunning lens through which to see ourselves here and now.
In one afterlife you may find that God is the size of a microbe and is unaware of your existence. ... (more)In another, your creators are a species of dim-witted creatures who built us to figure out what they could not. In a different version of the afterlife you work as a background character in other people’s dreams. Or you may find that God is a married couple struggling with discontent, or that the afterlife contains only those people whom you remember, or includes the thousands of previous gods who no longer attract followers. In some afterlives you are split into your different ages; in some you are forced to live with annoying versions of yourself that represent what you could have been; in others you are re-created from your credit card records and Internet history. David Eagleman proposes many versions of our purpose here; we are mobile robots for cosmic mapmakers, we are reunions for a scattered confederacy of atoms, we are experimental subjects for gods trying to understand what makes couples stick together.
David Eagleman grew up in New Mexico. As an undergraduate he majored in British and American Literature before earning his PhD in Neuroscience. He heads the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine, and is founder and director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. At night he writes fiction.

Children’s book author Etan Boritzer will read for children and their parents from What Is God?. This thoughtful book is one the Chapel keeps on hand for families to enjoy together during their visit. A book signing and reception with the author will follow the program.
Suggested donation of ... (more)$5-$10.Etan Boritzer grew up and went to school in New York City. At age eleven, Etan won the first prize for an essay he wrote on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He has worked as a journalist for several magazines and his poetry has been published in various European and American journals. Etan's travels and studies in the Far East and other parts of the world, have led to his realization that the numerous and sometimes confusing concepts of God should be synthesized and made more accessible to children. Etan Boritzer currently resides near Santa Monica, California, writing screenplays and more children's books.

As the Paris bureau chief and Middle East editor for Newsweek magazine, Christopher Dickey has reported on international terrorism for more than two decades. His "Shadowland" column about counter terrorism, espionage, and the Middle East is popular worldwide. Dickey will introduce his book, Securing ... (more)the City: Inside America's Best Counterterror Force -- The NYPD, which takes us into the secret command center of NYPD's counter terrorism division and onto the streets of America's major cities. He will give us insights to the potential war in America's cities, and the shadow battles being fought around the globe to stop that war before it begins.
FYI - Houston ranks number 6 on the list of U.S. cities with the highest security threats.
Added interest - Dickey's father, James Dickey, is the famed author of Deliverance and other well-regarded works. He taught at Rice University and still has a strong local following.
Brazos Bookstore will attend and make Christopher Dickey's book available for sale.

The Brilliant Lecture Series: Conversations with Brilliance presents an intimate evening with Lauren Bacall. An exclusive film screening of To Have and Have Not will take place at River Oaks Theatre at 6:30 pm, followed by a Q&A with Ms. Bacall. Brazos Bookstore will sell her memoir, By Myself and Then ... (more)Some, after the Q&A.
Limited General Seating $65
Private Post VIP Reception with Ms. Bacall, hosted by Chairman Emeritus Lynn Wyatt $250
Tickets available only from The Brilliant Lecture Series, 713.974.1335.

Suzie Gilbert tells the story of how she turned her family life upside down to pursue her unusual passion for rehabilitating wild birds.

The Progressive Forum presents T. Boone Pickens, author of The First Billion is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future. More information TBA.

The World Affairs Council of Houston presents Nobel Laureate from Kenya Wangari Maathai for an evening program. Her book, The Challenge for Africa will be available for sale by Brazos Bookstore. This event is free and open to the public. More information to come on the World Affairs Council website.

QUINCY WHITNEY discussing and signing THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE an intriguing compilation of 60 stories about unique New Hampshire history, many of which are “firsts in the nation”.

How does a Zen Master help others through hard times when he’s dealing with pain of his own? How does he meditate when the world is crumbling around him? And is meditation a valid coping mechanism or just another form of escapism? These are the questions that ordained Zen priest, ... (more)bestselling author, and punk rock bassist Brad Warner will discuss in this event based on his new book in which he shines a bright light on commonly held misconceptions surrounding spiritual masters. Brad Warner is a Zen priest, filmmaker, and Japanese monster-movie marketer living in Los Angeles. He’s the author of Hardcore Zen, Sit Down & Shut Up, and most recently, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. He will give a Dharma Talk at the Zen Center, followed by a signing. Brazos Bookstore will handle the booksale.

How does a Zen Master help others through hard times when he’s dealing with pain of his own? How does he meditate when the world is crumbling around him? And is meditation a valid coping mechanism or just another form of escapism? These are the questions that ordained Zen priest, ... (more)bestselling author, and punk rock bassist Brad Warner will discuss in this event based on his new book in which he shines a bright light on commonly held misconceptions surrounding spiritual masters. Brad Warner is a Zen priest, filmmaker, and Japanese monster-movie marketer living in Los Angeles. He’s the author of Hardcore Zen, Sit Down & Shut Up, and most recently, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. Enjoy a Sunday afternoon with Brad Warner at Brazos.

Time and more info TBA. Check the Houston Forum for details.

Mike Renfro, author of Shine On: 100 Years of Shiner Beer, will be speaking at the Houston Forum on Thursday, April 23, at the Italian Cultural Center in Houston, TX. Check the Houston Forum for details.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present local author, Marin resident and 2007 banjo champ John Pedersen, as he discusses and signs his first novel, Scroll and Curl. This event is free and all are welcome and encouraged to attend!About the Book:
When the old time string band "Sweet Evening ... (more)Breeze" leaves Saratoga Springs, New
York on their two week tour of the east coast, fiddler Dan Munroe thinks that his only
headache will be controlling his band-mates tendencies for excess. That is until he
buys a unique fiddle at a sidewalk sale in New York and hears the story of the previous
owner’s entanglement with the underworld of the 1930's. After he gets the special fiddle
appraised by a reclusive dealer in Pennsylvania, dangerous and mysterious forces suddenly curl
and swirl through his life.About the Author:
As the grandson of a noted Heldeberg Mountain fiddler and a master luthier, John Pedersen portrays the touring string band life based on
hard-won first-hand knowledge about the shifting nature of relationships and the
dynamics of people on the road whose main connection to each other is the music.
Also, running a retail music store, doing repairs and buying and selling rare instruments
have given him insight into the eclectic and occasionally bizarre world of instrument
buyers and collectors and their motivations. The patrons of the store, run by John and his
wife, range from limos full of rock stars to the lowliest of street people and everyone in
between. As a musician John has won many fiddle contests, playing in the “old time”
style, as well as the California State Old Time Banjo championships in 2007.

This is the all-new edition of the New York Times bestseller Get a Financial Life, completely rewritten to address the recession. Whether you earn $20,000 or $200,000, this book busts open the system, teaching tricks for becoming master of your own money universe. You'll learn how to: get out -- and ... (more)stay out -- of debt, manage your 401(k) in a tanking market, take advantage of the latest tax rules, come up with a down payment and understand the new strategies for landing a mortgage.
Beth Kobliner is a contributor to the New York Times, and a former staff writer for Money magazine and financial columnist for Glamour. She's made multiple appearances on Oprah, Today, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and NPR as a personal finance expert. Visit her at www.kobliner.com.

The Progressive Forum presents President of Earth Policy Institute Lester Brown for a talk and book-signing. The Washington Post called Lester Brown “one of the world’s most influential thinkers.” The Telegraph of Calcutta refers to him as “the guru of the environmental movement.” Lester Brown ... (more)pioneered the field of sustainability and created the first research institute devoted to analyzing global environmental issues when he created Worldwatch Institute in 1974. In 2001, he created Earth Policy Institute whose mission is to provide a vision of what an environmentally sustainable economy will look like and how to get there. He’s received many awards including 23 honorary degrees and a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. He’s published 50 books including his latest, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.Get tickets online or over the phone (832.251.0706).

In his groundbreaking New York Times bestselling books and compelling PBS specials, John Bradshaw transformed our understanding of the family and became a dominant figure in the field of addiction and recovery. Now he brings together a lifetime of experience and teaching to redefine virtue -- how we ... (more)learn it and live it -- for our troubled times.
John Bradshaw has written this book for the millions of decent, caring people who are struggling every day with painful choices, who are appalled -- as he is -- by the greed and shamelessness that plague our society, and who long for guidance for themselves and their children in an increasingly complex world. Is the only solution a return to an oppressive, rules-based morality or an idealized past? Bradshaw says no. Instead he shows that each of us has what he calls an inborn moral intelligence, an inner guidance system that can lead us -- if we know how to cultivate it in ourselves and others.
His fascinating discussion ranges from the ancient Greek philosophers to modern explorations of emotional development, from provocative historical insights to the recent discoveries of neuroscience. Why do so many attempts at moral education fail? What is willpower, and how can we develop it? How can we navigate the inevitable problems of love and work and aging? How can we begin again after addiction or failure? How can we lead and discipline our children? What emerges is a clear vision of a morality grounded in childhood, educated by the practice of both traditional and modern virtues, and culminating in the moment-to-moment ability to “do the right thing at the right time for the right reason.” Reclaiming Virtue is both an inspiring appeal to what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature” and a wise guide to building a life of unshakable integrity and well-being.
John Bradshaw was educated for the Roman Catholic priesthood and took advanced degrees in psychology, philosophy, and theology before becoming a professional counselor. He is the author of such major bestsellers as Family Secrets, Healing the Shame That Binds You, Homecoming, and Creating Love. He lives in Houston, Texas, and gives lectures and workshops nationwide.

The book club is free and open to the public. This month we're discussing Badger Boy by award-winning Western writer Elmer Kelton.

Photographer Wyatt McSpadden has spent some twenty years documenting barbecue -- specifically, the authentic family-owned cafes that are small-town mainstays. Traveling tens of thousands of miles, McSpadden has crisscrossed the state of Texas to visit scores of barbecue purveyors, from fabled sites like ... (more)Kreuz's in Lockhart to remote spots like the Lazy H Smokehouse in Kirbyville. Color or black-and-white, wide angle or close up, his pictures convey the tradition and charm of barbecue. They allow the viewer to experience each place through all five senses. The shots of cooking meat and spiraling smoke make taste and smell almost tangible. McSpadden also captures the shabby appeal of the joints themselves, from huge, concrete-floored dining halls to tiny, un-air-conditioned shacks. Most of all, McSpadden conveys the primal physicality of barbecue -- the heat of fire, the heft of meat, the slickness of juices -- and also records ubiquitous touches such as ancient scarred carving blocks, torn screen doors and peeling linoleum, and toothpicks in a recycled pepper sauce jar.
McSpadden will show images from his new book, talk about the project, take questions from the audience, and autograph copies of his book immediately following his presentation. Then join us half-a-block away for the after-party at the Volcano (2349 Bissonnet). Bring a receipt for purchase of Texas BBQ and get your first drink, wine, or beer of your choosing free! We can't think of a better deal. (Offer lasts until 10 pm and is limited to one drink per customer.) Join us!

Deirdre Shaw's emotionally honest, clear-eyed debut follows a thirty-something woman forced to redefine love, career, and family after her young marriage falters.“Bright and promising...Shaw's first novel unfolds easily, with well-crafted prose and vivid detail. A great young-in-L.A. novel.”
-- Publishers ... (more)Weekly

Mark Kurlansky is a New York Times bestselling and James A. Beard Award-winning author of a number of books, including Salt and Cod. He is the recipient of a Bon Appétit American Food and Entertaining Award for Food Writer of the Year, and the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award for Food Book of the year, ... (more)as well as a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
Now Kurlansky takes us back to the food and eating habits of a younger America. Before the national highway system brought the country closer together; before chain restaurants imposed uniformity and low quality; and before the Frigidaire meant frozen food in mass quantities, the nation’s food was seasonal, regional, and traditional. It helped form the distinct character, attitudes, and customs of those who ate it.
In the 1930s, with the country gripped by the Great Depression and millions of Americans struggling to get by, FDR created the Federal Writers’ Project under the New Deal as a make-work program for artists and authors. A number of writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, and Nelson Algren, were dispatched all across America to chronicle the eating habits, traditions, and struggles of local people. The project, called “America Eats,” was abandoned in the early 1940s because of the World War and never completed.
The Food of a Younger Land unearths this forgotten literary and historical treasure and brings it to exuberant life. Mark Kurlansky’s brilliant book captures these remarkable stories, and combined with authentic recipes, anecdotes, photos, and his own musings and analysis, evokes a bygone era when Americans had never heard of fast food and the grocery superstore was a thing of the future. Kurlansky serves as a guide to this hearty and poignant look at the country’s roots.
From New York automats to Georgia Coca-Cola parties, from Arkansas possum-eating clubs to Puget Sound salmon feasts, from Choctaw funerals to South Carolina barbecues, the WPA writers found Americans in their regional niches and eating an enormous diversity of meals. From Mississippi chittlins to Indiana persimmon puddings, Maine lobsters, and Montana beavertails, they recorded the curiosities, commonalities, and communities of American food.

Join Canyon Ranch Corporate Chef Scott Uehlein as he shares cornerstone tips and techniques from the Canyon Ranch Kitchen in a cooking presentation. Learn a few great rules of thumb for eating well, the basics of selecting foods and the fundamentals of healthy cooking, and making the pleasure of eating ... (more)well easy and irresistible for every level of
home cook.
Canyon Ranch Corporate Chef Uehlein trained at the Culinary Institute of America. A visionary in his field, he is consistently recognized for his creativity and expertise in the development and preparation of healthy cuisine. A consummate chef with a personality to match, he frequently appears on television and has been featured in many magazines.
Canyon Ranch is the most celebrated health resort in the world. In addition to countless other honors, it is the only 10-time winner of the Conde' Nast Traveler magazine's Reader's Choice Awards for best destination spa.
Copies of Chef Uehlein's new book Nourish: Indulgently Healthy Cuisine will be available for purchase at the event by Brazos Bookstore. A book signing will be held after the program.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is excited to host an evening with Norm Sperling, editor of The Journal of Irreproducible Results, as he discuss and inscribes JIR's new anthology, This Book Warps Space and Time. This event is free and will be a total blast, so you should stop by!Here's the Editor in his ... (more)own words:
Hi! I'm Norm Sperling, the editor since 2004. I've subscribed to JIR since the 1970s. I was assistant editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, and Science Editor of AltaVista.com. I teach astronomy in universities around San Francisco, wrote the book What Your Astronomy Textbook Won't Tell You, and co-designed Edmund Scientific's Astroscan telescope. The Journal of Irreproducible Results is a science humor magazine and the new anthology, This Book Warps Space and Time, is a fast-paced frolic of humorous and quirky tidbits in science, math, academe, bureaucracy, and witty wordplay. More than 250 entries ponder and pun the practical and peculiar. JIR targets hypocrisy, arrogance, and ostentatious sesquipedalian circumlocution. JIR is a friendly escape from the harsh and the hassle. JIR makes you feel good

This is the regular meeting of the Classics Group. Reading choice for May: "Mill on the Floss" by George Eliot; June: "Three Daughters of Madame Liang" by Pearl Buck. New readers are always welcome to join!

Asia Society presents Dr. Anil K. Gupta as part of the BP Speakers Series. Professor Gupta is the author of four highly claimed books: Getting China and India Right, The Quest for Global Dominance, Smart Globalization, and Global Strategy and Organization. His opinion pieces have appeared in The Wall ... (more)Street Journal, Financial Times, Telegraph, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, China Daily, Economic Times, and Times of India. He is also quoted by the Economist, Business Week, Time and other top international media. Dr. Gupta has been recognized by Business Week as an Outstanding Faculty in its Guide to the Best B-Schools, inducted into the Academy of Management Journals' Hall of Fame, and ranked by Management International Review as one of the "Top 20 North American Superstars" for research in strategy and organization.
His latest book, Getting China and India Right, will be available for purchase by Brazos Bookstore.
11:30 am Registration
12:00 pm Luncheon and Program
$30 Members
$40 Non Members
$300 Tables of 10
Registration and more information here.

You are invited to an inspiring and educational evening with Farm Sanctuary President and Co-founder Gene Baur, as he discusses his work and national best-selling book, Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food. This landmark book has received rave reviews and praise from notables ... (more)such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Jane Goodall, actress Alicia Silverstone and musical artist Moby among many others. Gene has more than 20 years of experience in challenging factory farming and working to change how our society views and treats farm animals. He’ll provide first hand accounts of conditions on today’s farms, outline efforts to combat the current inhumane system, and put forward a vision for a healthier and more sustainable food system. He will address how each of us as an opportunity and a responsibility to consume a kinder plate, making a better life for ourselves, animals and all life on the planet. For more information, visit Gene Baur's website.

This month's meeting of Brazos Bookstore's First Wednesday Book Club will feature The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The book club is free and open to the public. For more info, email brazos@brazosbookstore.com.

Bring your knitting project and join hostess Patty Poisson for an informal evening of chatting, knitting and tea. Exquisite tea is generously provided by Danielle Beaudette of The Cozy Tea Cart in Brookline. (www.thecozyteacart.com). Please note that the group is open to all experienced knitters. They ... (more)meet on the 2nd Monday each month.

The Progressive Forum presents Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, author of Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters.
Nancy Pelosi made history when she became the first woman Speaker of the House in January 2007. She brings to her leadership role more than 20 years of ... (more)experience in the House representing the city of San Francisco. In a candid conversation with Progressive Forum president, Randall Morton, Pelosi will discuss the broad range of challenges facing the nation and the world, a rare and timely opportunity for Houstonians. This is also an ideal event for families, especially girls. Pelosi will discuss her book, relate personal stories, and encourage women to get into politics. She'll share lessons learned on her way to becoming the highest ranking woman in politics. She'll sign books and greet fans at the end of the evening.
All attendees receive a complimentary copy of Pelosi's book plus a Progressive Forum bookplate commemorating the evening. For tickets, parking information, and complete details, click here or visit www.progressiveforumhouston.org. To buy tickets over the phone, call 832.251.0706.

In his stunning follow-up to the #1 best-selling House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus draws us into the lives of three deeply flawed, driven people whose paths intersect on a September night in Florida. April, a stripper, has brought her daughter to work at the Puma Club for Men. There she encounters Bassam, ... (more)a foreign client both remote and too personal, and free with his money. Meanwhile, another man, AJ, has been thrown out of the club, and he’s drunk and angry and lonely. From these explosive elements comes a relentless, raw, and page-turning narrative that seizes the reader by the throat with psychological tension, depth, and realism. This gripping novel comes highly recommended by Jane Moser.
Andre Dubus III is the author of House of Sand and Fog (an Oprah’s Book Club selection and National Book Award Finalist), Bluesman, and The Cage Keeper and Other Stories. He lives with his family north of Boston.

A major new international voice debuts with a sweeping story of love, friendship, and family ties that brings to life the turbulent world of modern Pakistan. The unforgettable story of a fatherless boy growing up in a household of outspoken women, The Wish Maker is also a tale of sacrifice, betrayal, ... (more)and indestructible friendship. Zaki Shirazi and his female cousin Samar Api were raised to consider themselves “part of the same litter.” Together they watched American television and memorized dialogue from Bollywood movies, attended dangerous protests, and formed secret friendships. In a household run by Zaki’s crusading political journalist mother and iron-willed grandmother, it was impossible to imagine a future that could hold anything different for either of them.
But adolescence approaches and the cousins’ fates diverge. Samar’s unconventional behavior—in which Zaki has played the role of devoted helper—brings severe consequences for her, while Zaki is sent out to discover the world for himself. It is only after years of separation from Samar that he is forced to confront the true nature of happiness, selfhood, and commitment to those he loves most.
Chronicling world-changing events that have never been so intimately observed in fiction and brimming with unmistakable warmth and humor, The Wish Maker is the powerful account of a family and an era, a story that shows how, even in the most rapidly shifting circumstances, there are bonds that survive the tugs of convention, time, and history.
Ali Sethi grew up in Pakistan. A recent graduate of Harvard College, he has contributed to The New York Times and The Nation, among other publications.

Progressive former governor James Stephen Hogg moved his business headquarters to Houston in 1905. For seven decades, his children Will, Ima, and Mike Hogg used their political ties, social position, and family fortune to improve the lives of fellow Houstonians.
As civic activists, they espoused contested ... (more)causes like city planning and mental health care. As volunteers, they inspired others to support social service, educational, and cultural programs. As philanthropic entrepreneurs, they built institutions that have long outlived them: the Houston Symphony, the Museum of Fine Arts, Memorial Park, and the Hogg Foundation. The Hoggs had a vision of Houston as a great city -- a place that supports access to parklands, music, and art; nurtures knowledge of the "American heritage which unites us"; and provides social service and mental health care assistance. This vision links them to generations of American idealists who advanced a moral response to change.
Based on extensive archival sources, The Hogg Family and Houston explains the impact of Hogg family philanthropy for the first time. This study explores how individual ideals and actions influence community development and nurture humanitarian values. It examines how philanthropists and volunteers mold Houston's traditions and mobilize allies to meet civic goals. It argues that Houston's generous citizens have long believed that innovative cultural achievement must balance aggressive economic expansion. Brazos is delighted to host the author of such a pertinent biography, Kate Kirkland.

Stop by Brazos from 7 to 8 pm on the first Wednesday of every month to talk about books! This month we will discuss The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Bring your suggestions for the months to come. The book club is free and open to the public.

Join Brazos at the Houston Public Library's "An Evening with..." series featuring Reshonda Tate Billingsley, reading and signing her latest novel, The Devil is a Lie.

The team is back from the competition in Washington, DC and to thank us (and you the community) for the support vital to their journey, they've brought in displays from the event for you to peruse and maybe even quiz them on history!

Jack Sutherford has taught for ten years. When he first began his career, he was a very optimistic teacher, but that optimism waned as he continued through. In Combating Ignorance, Sutherford takes on the challenges of dealing with administration, counselors, fellow teachers, students and parents as ... (more)a classroom teacher. He discusses the many programs and trends, good and bad, he has seen throughout his ten years of teaching. Author Scott Barzilla is a school counselor in Galveston, Texas. He has been working in education for twelve years. Before he became a counselor, he taught social studies and English in addition to coaching volleyball. Scott is also the author of Checks and Imbalances and The State of Baseball Management.

Join Brazos at Houston Public Library's "An Evening with..." series featuring financial advisor and former CEO of First Command Financial Services Lamar Smith, who be discussing and signing his new book, There's More to Life than the Corner Office.

Please meet the author of the new book "Poneasequa: Goddess of the Waters". Native American McKenzie Jones embarks on a journey of self-discovery when she's asked to do a presentation to her class about her heritage; something she know little about. -Recommended by bestselling author Joseph Bruchac.

Chris rolls into town to share the new book "RoadKill" with us.

The First Wednesday Book Club is free and open to the public. At August's meeting, we will be discussing The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. It's an award-winning second book by French author Barbery, but the first to appear in English. A customer once said to me, "I wish I were still reading ... (more)that book." Join us for discussion.

Author Shauna Glenn was recently named a Finalist in the Novella category of the
2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Her first novel, Heaping
Spoonful, was recognized with eight other books in this category.
“Obviously it’s an honor to be recognized, but awards are just icing on the cupcake,”
Glenn ... (more)said. “After years of searching, I have finally found my passion in
writing. I’m just thrilled to death that people are reading and enjoying my thoughts
and stories.”
Glenn, a Fort Worth native, is best known for her over-the-top blog, Is It 5 o’clock
Yet?, which is read daily by more than 1,000 people, and her regular column in
Fort Worth, Texas: The City's Magazine, “Parental Guidance Suggested." Heaping
Spoonful was published in July 2008.
Award-winning author Jennifer Nice says: "Heaping Spoonful is a simple story overflowing
with meaning. Shauna Glenn's ability to tell a story in a truly candid voice
makes her characters as real as your next-door neighbor. Glenn is a lively, creative
storyteller – and funny."
Glenn is currently writing
her fourth novel. Her third book, Relative Insanity, is expected to be released
soon. She is also working on a speaking endeavor for women’s groups. “For a long
time, I didn’t have a voice,” Glenn said, “but I’ve found it. I think my story can help
other people find their voice and start genuinely expressing themselves.” The Next Generation Indie Book Awards has been called “the most rewarding and
exciting book awards program for independent publishers and authors worldwide.” We are thrilled to host Shauna Glenn for a reading and signing.

Join Brazos at the Houston Public Library's "An Evening with..." series, featuring Houston neuroscientist David Eagleman reading and signing his new novel, SUM: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. For more info, call the library at 832.393.1313.

As more and more people seek locally grown food, independent, family owned and operated agriculture has expanded, creating local networks for selling and buying produce, meat, and dairy products and reviving local agricultural economies throughout the United States. In Growing Good Things to Eat in Texas, ... (more)author Pamela Walker and photographer Linda Walsh portray eleven farming and ranching families who are part of this food revival in Texas. With biographical essays and photographs, Walker and Walsh illuminate the work these food producers do, why they do it, and the difference it makes in their lives and in their communities. Barbara Storz, AgriLife Extension Agent, says, "I know of no other work like it."
Brazos Bookstore is celebrating both the release of Pam's book and the local food movement with other Houston organizations and businesses. Come between 4 and 6 pm for a discussion with Pam Walker and some of the Texas farmers from the book; a cooking demo by Chef Randy Evans (author of The Kitchen Table: Brennan's of Houston); free beer by St. Arnold's Brewery; and booths from local Farmers' Markets. It'll be a party for a good cause!

If you missed him here at Brazos, now you can have the pleasure of seeing Oscar Casares in the comfort of Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen, his sister's famous restaurant. Join the Casares family at the new location, 6401 Woodway (one block east of Voss). Oscar Casares will read from his new novel, Amigoland, ... (more)a story of two brothers approaching old age and the road trip they take to settle a long-time feud.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood is excited to present local therapists Heather Belle, MFC, and Michelle Fiordaliso, MSW, to discuss and sign their new book, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Ex, an eye-opening new guide for dealing with Exes of all kinds.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present another installment of Poetry Flash, this time with Cheryl Dumesnil and Jenny Browne.
Jenny Browne's most recent book of poems, her third, is The Second Reason; Nick Flynn says of it, "...wild and beautiful and surprising. In this poet's hands the ... (more)seeming mundane is transformed into the nearly sacred, the elemental reveals its inner mysteries, and scraps of overheard language dissolve into song." Her two previous books are At Once and Glass. She is also the editor of Provide and Protect, Writers on Planned and Unplanned Parenthood. She's a former Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
Cheryl Dumesnil's first book of poems, In Praise of Falling, is the winner of the 2008 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press. Michael Waters says of it, "Cheryl Dumesnil passionately and at times irreverently approaches the consequences of desire. . .a debut of extraordinary transparency and generosity." She is the editor of Hitched! Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall and co-editor of Dorothy Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos.

"That rare person who looked like Marlene Dietrich and wrote like Virginia Woolf," Clarice Lispector is one of the most popular but least understood of modern Latin American writers. Now, after years of research on three continents, drawing on previously unknown manuscripts and dozens of interviews, ... (more)including with many witnesses who have never before been heard, Benjamin Moser demonstrates how Clarice Lispector's development as a writer was directly connected to the story of her turbulent life.
Born in 1920, in the nightmarish landscape of post-World War I Ukraine, her family driven to a distant country by the fearsome pogroms that killed her mother and ruined her father, Clarice triumphed over her origins to become, virtually from adolescence, a person whose beauty, genius, and eccentricity intrigued all of Brazil's writers and artists. Why This World tells how this precocious girl, through long exile abroad and difficult personal struggles, matured into a great writer -- and demonstrates, for the first time, the deep roots in the Jewish mystical tradition that make her the true heir to Kafka.
Against a sweeping historical panorama, from the Ukraine to Brazil, from Naples and Berne and Washington to Rio de Janeiro -- Why This World is an essential introduction to the work of one of the twentieth century's most important writers, indispensable for students of Jewish, Latin American, and women's literature. Stripping away the mythology that has accreted around her extraordinary figure and restoring her essential humanity behind the reputation of the "sacred monster," Moser shows, above all, how Clarice Lispector transformed the personal struggles of a single woman into works of universal resonance. As she said: "I am all of yourselves."
"A smart, passionate portrait of a truly remarkable writer. Lispector is a great subject, and Moser is the perfect biographer for her." -- Jonathan Franzen
"Benjamin Moser has recreated all the psychological and cultural context needed to understand this great writer, and brought to life her essentially tragic nature in all its complexity." -- Edmund White
"...It is impossible, as you read her, to know who she might have been, or where she came from, or what she was like. Now, finally, the plot has been thickened and the problem solved by Benjamin Moser's biography which is rich in detail and original research, and filled with sympathy for what must remain hidden and what must be understood." -- Colm Tóibín Benjamin Moser, born in Houston in 1976, has lived in New York, London, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro, and currently makes his home in the Netherlands. He has worked in publishing in New York and was an editor in London. He is currently a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and Harper's as well as many other publications. He has published several translations and speaks six languages fluently, with a strong working knowledge of six others. His mother, Brazos manager Jane Moser, is very proud of him.

In this brilliant, lively, and eye-opening investigation, Tom Vanderbilt examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are. He demonstrates why plans to protect pedestrians from cars often lead to more accidents. He uncovers who is more likely ... (more)to honk at whom, and why. He explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our quest for safety, and even identifies the most common mistake drivers make in parking lots. Traffic, a New York Times Notable Book and one of the Best Books of the Year according to The Washington Post, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer, and Rocky Mountain News, is about more than driving: it's about human nature. It will change the way we see ourselves and the world around us, and it may even make us better drivers.
Tom Vanderbilt writes about design, technology, science and culture for Wired, Slate, The New York Times and other publications. He lives in Brooklyn and drives a 2001 Volvo V40. Check out his "companion blog" to the book: How We Drive.

Join the Houston Forum for a breakfast talk by Frank Jones, a "Best Lawyer in America," a "Who's Who in Legal USA," and a "Super Lawyer." Mr. Jones has tried more than 100 jury cases and has represented a wide range of clients from diverse industries in his 40-year career with the prestigious firm of ... (more)Fulbright & Jaworski.
In his book, Lessons from the Courtroom, Mr. Jones has distilled his career into an accessible, insightful guide that is especially interesting to new and very veteran trial lawyers. Even more, his views on getting along with others in the workplace--after all, the courtroom has been his workplace--will show us how to read people and communicate our message to them effectively. Whether a lawyer, a banker or another profession, his experience has practical application to everyday living. Join us for a discussion that will give you meaningful take-aways.

The Rothko Chapel presents Rubén Martinez for a program called "Truth and Consequences on the Mexico-United States Border: An Overview -- A Series Examining Issues Critical to Human Rights and Environment." Martinez is the Emmy Award-winning journalist and author of Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on ... (more)the Migrant Trail, among others. For more info, visit rothkochapel.org.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Malibu is pleased to present Malibu resident and author Gary Horn to the store to discuss a new anthology, Flight Patterns: A Century of Stories about Flying.

With more than forty years of practice and one hundred jury trials to his name, Frank Jones has learned a thing or two about what it takes to win in the courtroom. In Lessons from the Courtroom, he distills his career into an accessible, insightful guide that will find a keen readership among new trial ... (more)lawyers, experienced attorneys, and anyone interested in the legal world. Jones takes a look at the changes in the profession over the past forty years, showing readers where the opportunities are for new attorneys. He then discusses the jury trial system and how attorneys can gain practice both in and out of the courtroom. He also tackles such key issues as working with judges, understanding jurisdictional matters, the nuances of arbitration, and using expert witnesses.
Frank G. Jones has been an attorney with the Houston, Texas, law firm Fulbright and Jaworski, LLP for more than forty years. He has represented a wide range of clients from diverse industries. Mr. Jones’s practice focuses on business law issues, information technology, securities litigation, and product liability. He is a member of numerous professional organizations and associations, including the Houston Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and the American Bar Association, as well as the American Counsel Association, American College of Trial Lawyers, and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is former chair of the Houston Bar Foundation and a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Mr. Jones is highly-regarded in the field and has been named in “Best Lawyers in America,” “Who’s Who in Legal USA,” and “Super Lawyer.” A prolific writer, speaker, and lecturer, he has been a featured speaker at numerous Houston Bar Association events, and is a frequent panelist at various CLE sessions, including some hosted by Lexis/Nexis.

Since we had to cancel his reading last year due to Hurricane Ike, we have anxiously been awaiting A.J. Jacobs's next appearance in Houston. We are thrilled to host him for a reading of The Guinea Pig Diaries (released Sept. 8, 2009), a book of essays on all of A.J.'s hilarious adventures as a human ... (more)guinea pig, including "My Outsourced Life" and "My Life as a Hot Woman."
A.J. Jacobs is the editor of What It Feels Like and the author of The Two Kings: Jesus and Elvis, The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, and America Off-Line. He is the senior editor of Esquire and has written for The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, New York magazine, New York Observer, and other publications.
Please help us welcome him to Houston for the second time, and for his first reading at Brazos.

The last few decades have seen a resurgence of the scholarly quest for the historical Jesus -- for the words and deeds that probably can be attributed to the human Jesus who walked the hills of Galilee some two thousand years ago. You might not be aware of the recent scholarship, and the reason is simple. ... (more)For the most part, many scholars write for and talk to other scholars, using their own technical language. This leaves huge numbers of Christians unaware of their discoveries. So even though you may have studied the Bible for years, you still may be a historical Jesus beginner.
After the life of Jesus, his followers began to develop their memory of his sayings and actions. Then, year after year, and century after century, the tradition grew until it became Christianity as it is known in the twenty-first century. What if we could go back in time and delve beneath all the layers to find what Christianity would be if it were based upon the historical Jesus? If you are a person who would like to begin to be informed, this book is for you.
"This comprehensive and compelling book is a masterful primer of the historical Jesus for beginners. But is also a valuable resource for those who have been on the journey for some years." -- G. Richard Wheatcroft
William M. Linden holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Theology from Oxford University in England and is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Contemporary Theology in Houston. Mr. Linden has concentrated his efforts in theology in the scholarly quest for the historical Jesus -- the human being who walked about Galilee in the first century, a person who showed us what God is like and what a human life full of God is like. For the past three years, Mr. Linden has been teaching a course on the historical Jesus in the Rice University School of Continuing Studies and in various Christian churches in the Houston area. He is an Associate Member of the Westar Institute in California, which sponsors the Jesus Seminar, the leaders in academic historical Jesus research. Prior to concentrating his work on the historical Jesus, Mr. Linden was a Houston lawyer. He is a retired partner of Vinson & Elkins law firm, where he specialized in federal income tax law.

They were the children of France’s most celebrated men of nineteenth-century letters and science, the celebrity heirs and heiresses of their day. Their lives were the subject of scandal, gossip, and fascination. Léon Daudet was the son of the popular writer Alphonse Daudet. Jean-Baptiste Charcot was ... (more)the son of the famed neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, mentor to a young Sigmund Freud. And Jeanne Hugo was the adored granddaughter of the immortal Victor Hugo. As France readied herself for the dawn of a new century, these childhood friends seemed poised for greatness.
In Gilded Youth, Kate Cambor paints a portrait of a generation lost in upheaval. While France weathered social unrest, violent crime, the birth of modern psychology, and the dawn of World War I, these three young adults experienced the disorientation of a generation forced to discover that the faith in science and progress that had sustained their fathers had failed them.
With masterful storytelling, Cambor captures the hopes and disillusionments of those who were destined to see the golden world of their childhood disappear -- and the universal challenges that emerge as the dreams of youth collide with the realities of experience.
Kate Cambor received her Ph.D. in history from Yale University. She has written for The American Scholar and The American Prospect, among other periodicals. Cambor lives in New York City. This is her first book.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Malibu is delighted to host an afternoon with psychological horror and suspense writer Richard Christian Matheson as he discusses and signs Dystopia, Created By, and Scars.
Richard Christian Matheson is an acclaimed novelist, short story writer and screenwriter/producer. He has ... (more)written and co-written feature film and television projects for Richard Donner, Ivan Reitman, Joel Silver, Steven Spielberg, Bryan Singer and many others. To date, Matheson has written and sold twelve original, spec feature scripts, considered a record. He has written pilots for comedy and dramatic series for SHOWTIME, FOX, NBC, ABC, TNT, HBO, FOX, SPIKE and CBS and served as head writer and Executive Producer for thirty network comedy and dramatic series. Matheson has had seven feature films produced, including the critically hailed, paranoid satire Three O'Clock High.
Matheson is considered a cutting-edge voice in surreal, psycho-logical horror fiction and master of the short story. His critically lauded fiction has been published in major, award-winning anthologies, including multiple times in Years Best Horror, Years Best Fantasy as well as Penthouse and OMNI magazines.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is delighted to present Daniel Silberberg as he discusses and signs Wonderland: The Zen of Alice.
Hang on, for you're heading down the rabbit hole. Daniel Doen Silberberg uses the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland as a jumping-off point for conveying the Zen concept of ... (more)"One Mind." With riffs on everything from Detroit to the Diamond Sutra and Kill Bill to ketchup, this is a funny, thoughtful, irreverent contribution to contemporary American Buddhism. Silberberg is a trained psychologist and musician who has been studying Buddhism for thirty years and leads an international Zen community. With stories from his own life as well as from the larger cultural swirl around him, Silberberg reflects on the differences between how we perceive the world around us and the way it actually is. He offers important ideas on how to live fully and happily in the Wonderland we're all living in.
Daniel Doen Silberberg is a Zen Teacher and founding director of Lost Coin Sangha in the White Plum Lineage that descends from both the Rinzai and Soto schools. Born in Bad Hartzburg, Germany in 1947, his parents soon moved to New York City. Silberberg began formal Zen practice under Abbot Maezumi Roshi and resident teacher, Daido Roshi, at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York. He received a B.A. in English literature, and a Ph. D. in psychology.

Please join Brazos at Ouisie's Table for a very special evening with Chef John Besh in celebration of the release of his new cookbook, My New Orleans.
John Besh is deeply dedicated to preserving the best local culinary traditions and ingredients that multicultural New Orleans has to offer and encouraging ... (more)everyone he meets to do the same. Seafood gumbo, crawfish étouffée, jambalaya, crab bisque, beignets, watermelon pickles, fried oysters, red beans and rice -- these New Orleans classics Besh loves are joined by strategies for more contemporary dishes in the 200 delicious recipes found in this book, written by a chef who knows everything about them and who loves to share. Buy his cookbook at the event and get a free beverage. And look for Besh's recipes on the Ouisie's menu that night.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present local author Taije Silverman to the store to celebrate the publication of her first book of poetry, Houses Are Fields. Join us!

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pumped to present former Diesel employee and local high school English teacher Nina LaCour in celebration of her first novel, Hold Still!!
Nina LaCour grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her first job was at fourteen in an independent bookstore, and she has since ... (more)worked in two others. She has tutored and taught in various places, from a juvenile hall to a private college. She now teaches English at an independent high school, and lives in Oakland, California.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood is very excited to welcome Mark Weiss to the shop to discuss and sign the anthology of poetry he edited, The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry.
Cuba's cultural influence throughout the Western Hemisphere, and especially in the United States, has been disproportionally ... (more)large for so small a country. This landmark volume is the first comprehensive overview of poetry written over the past sixty years. Presented in a beautiful Spanish-English en face edition, The Whole Island makes available the astonishing achievement of a wide range of Cuban poets, including such well-known figures as Nicolás Guillén, José Lezama Lima, and Nancy Morejón, but also poets widely read in Spanish who remain almost unknown to the English-speaking world - among them Fina García Marruz, José Kozer, Raúl Hernández Novás, and Ángel Escobar-and poets born since the Revolution, like Rogelio Saunders, Omar Pérez, Alessandra Molina, and Javier Marimón. The translations, almost all of them new, convey the intensity and beauty of the accompanying Spanish originals. With their work deeply rooted in Cuban culture, many of these poets - both on and off the island - have been at the center of the political and social changes of this tempestuous period. The poems offered here constitute an essential source for understanding the literature and culture of Cuba, its diaspora, and the Caribbean at large, and provide an unparalleled perspective on what it means to be Cuban.

Since we had to cancel his reading last year due to Hurricane Ike, we have anxiously been awaiting A.J. Jacobs's next appearance in Houston. Brazos and the Jewish Community Center are thrilled to host him for a reading of The Guinea Pig Diaries (released Sept. 8, 2009), a book of essays on all of A.J.'s ... (more)hilarious adventures as a human guinea pig, including "My Outsourced Life" and "My Life as a Hot Woman."
A.J. Jacobs is the editor of What It Feels Like and the author of The Two Kings: Jesus and Elvis, The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, and America Off-Line. He is the senior editor of Esquire and has written for The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, New York magazine, New York Observer, and other publications.
Please help us welcome him to Houston at JCC's 37th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair.

Admission $30 (Includes signed copy of the Nobel Laureate's latest book The Museum of Innocence)

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present David Swanson as he discusses and signs his new book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.
Swanson holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and ... (more)as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.