Graham Greene (1) [1904–1991]

In Bill Morris's 1992 debut, Motor City, the veteran journalist and staff writer at The Millions skillfully explored the city at the height of the automobile's Golden Age. Michiko Kakutani compared him to Updike, and Frank Rich praised the novel's recapturing of the "clean, voluptuous pleasure" of the ‘50s—the "first American decade that could be caricatured by the brand names of its material goods."

In Motor City Burning, Morris catches up with Detroit as that idyll is just starting to crumble. Straddling the race riots of 1967 and Opening Day of the Tigers' 1968 season, Motor City Burning evokes the turmoil and the triumph of the time, with a keen eye toward a city that has become, in the contemporary imagination, analogous with the tragedy of shifting values.

Morris is touring the southeast in a vintage American woody, and he's bringing Motor City Burning and its Motown soundtrack to Atlanta. On Thursday, July 31st, at 7:00 p.m., Morris reads from and discusses Motor City Burning at The Reading Room, A Cappella's new event space, adjacent to the store.

About Motor City Burning:

Willie Bledsoe, once an idealistic young black activist, is now a burnt-out case. After leaving a snug berth at Tuskegee Institute to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he has become bitterly disillusioned with the civil rights movement and its leaders. He returns home to Alabama to try to write a memoir about his time in the cultural whirlwind, but the words fail to come.

The surprise return of his Vietnam veteran brother in the spring of 1967 gives Willie a chance to drive a load of smuggled guns to the Motor City – and make enough money to jump-start his stalled dream of writing his movement memoir. There, at Tiger Stadium on Opening Day of the 1968 baseball season – postponed two days in deference to the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Willie learns some terrifying news: the Detroit police are still investigating the last unsolved murder from the bloody, apocalyptic riot of the previous summer, and a white cop named Frank Doyle will not rest until the case is solved. And Willie is his prime suspect.

Bill Morris's rich and thrilling new novel sets Doyle's hunt amid the history of one of America's most tortured and fascinating cities, as Doyle and Willie struggle with Detroit's deep racial divide, with revenge and forgiveness – and with the realization that justice is rarely attainable, and rarely just.

Advance Praise:

“A jarring, challenging book that breaks a lot of rules from a writer already excitingly and powerfully in command of his craft.” --Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“A wonderfully atmospheric novel that captures time and place, an illumination of a pivotal point in history. Bill Morris is an exceptionally gifted and savvy writer. The comparison to Graham Greene is fully merited.” --Nelson DeMille

If you won't be able to attend this event, but would still like a signed copy of Motor City Burning, click the Event webpage below. (jasbro)… (more)

Indies First is a national grassroots movement started by Sherman Alexie to encourage authors to support their local independent bookstores on Saturday, November 30th. Participating writers will visit bookstores to recommend their favorite reads to customers. The Saturday after Thanksgiving has become known as Small Business Saturday because of a very successful effort by American Express to urge shoppers to visit small independent retailers Thanksgiving weekend.

Several authors will be at Mac's throughout the day on November 30th. Below is the evolving schedule; stop in to say hi, check out these author's works and hear what they like to read.

10-11 a.m. Brad Ricca, author of Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster-The Creators of Superman

11 a.m-Noon Thrity Umrigar, author of several novels including Bombay Time, If Today Be Sweet, The Space Between Us, The Weight of Heaven and The World We Found and a memoir, First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood

Noon-1 p.m. Erin O'Brien, author of The Irish Hungarian Guide to the Domestic Arts

1-3 p.m. Presentation by Jeremy Meckler, co-author of Still Dots, an examination of the film The Third Man (based on the novel by Graham Greene)

4-5 p.m. Gail Bellamy, author of Cleveland Summertime Memories, Cleveland Christmas Memories and Cleveland Food Memories.

Location: Street: 1820 Coventry Rd Additional: City: Cleveland Heights, Province: Ohio Postal Code: 44118 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Monday, March 18, 7:00 p.m.

Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene

First published in 1959, Our Man In Havana is an espionage thriller, a penetrating character study, and a political satire that still resonates today. Conceived as one of Graham Greene?s "entertainments," it tells of MI6's man in Havana, Wormold, a former vacuum-cleaner salesman turned reluctant secret agent out of economic necessity. To keep his job, he files bogus reports based on Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare and dreams up military installations from vacuum-cleaner designs. Then his stories start coming disturbingly true.

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

Reel Reads Movie Nights - Our Man in Havana
A program open to all ages
Thursday December 6
6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Free

Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level

In tandem with our Great Cities Under Cover Book Club join us for the film Our Man in Havana. Based on the novel by Graham Greene, set in Cuba, this black comedy makes fun of intelligence services, especially MI6. Directed by Carol Reed and starring Alec Guinness.
For more information please contact VPL - Popular Reading Library at 604-331-3691 (starfishian)… (more)