William Clark Associates

Peter Gwin Wins Pulitzer Lowell Thomas Award

2012-01-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

Many congratulations to client Peter Gwin, who has just won The Lowell Thomas Award for foreign travel writing for his National Geographic piece "The Telltale Scribes of Timbuktu," which appeared in January of last year. Per the announcement, the piece was praised: As if the subject was not remote and mysterious enough, the writing here is so filled with atmosphere and memorable people it might have been written by John le Carré. The name itself is a veritable synonym for a place so far removed it epitomizes the other side of the world. And the writer takes us there — with facts, history and unforgettable descriptions.

The piece was written for his Pulitzer Center project Saharan Insecurity, documenting the changing social and political tides of the Sahara region.

The Lowell Thomas Award is sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers and awards more than $18,000 annually in prize money. Begun in 1985, the award recognizes outstanding print, online, broadcast and multimedia works, and also travel photography. You can view a full list of the award winners here.

Peter has been a staff writer at National Geographic since 2003. He has reported on modern pirates in Southeast Asia, a Stone Age graveyard in the Sahara, early tyrannosaurs in Western China, and kung fu masters of China’s Song Mountains among other subjects. His work has been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing 2008 (Houghton Mifflin) and has been nominated for a National Magazine Award for reporting. He began his career teaching English in Botswana and stringing for his hometown paper, theAtlanta Journal Constitution.

Bloomberg Names EMPIRE STATE OF MIND by Zack O'Malley Greenberg One of Year's Best Rock Books

2011-12-20T11:58:00.003-05:00

Mark Beech writes in a review of several music titles that Zack's book is "one of the year's best rock books." We agree.

Peter Hessler Wins Sidney Award for "Dr. Don: The life of a small-town druggist"

2011-12-20T10:57:00.001-05:00

In today's New York Times David Brooks names Peter Hessler's piece "Dr. Don: The life of a small-town druggist" one of the best magazine essays of the year, saying: The article is a beautiful description of what it’s like to live in a small town, where everybody knows each other’s sins and virtues. As one resident puts it, “I like to play chess. I moved to a small town and nobody played chess there, but one guy challenged me to checkers. I always thought it was kind of a simple game, but I accepted. And he beat me nine or ten games in a row. That’s sort of like living in a small town. It’s a simple game, but it’s played at a higher level."

The Sidney Awards, named after the public intellectual Sidney Hook, were originally called The Hookie Awards, which Brooks began awarding on Christmas Day, 2004.

INSTRUMENT by Pat Graham Named Best Cover of Year by Amazon

2011-11-10T14:49:00.001-05:00

Amazon's Best Books of the Year were announced yesterday, and the cover of Chronicle's edition of Pat Graham's INSTRUMENT with an introduction by Johnny Marr was named one of the best of the year.

Pat has an exhibition of the book hanging at Rough Trade East in London until November 15th. Rough Trade is, hands down, one of the best record/music stories in the UK, and, possibly, the world, in our opinion.

In the mid nineties while living in Washington DC music photographer Pat Graham photographed Ian Mackaye (Fugazi, Dischord Records) and his iconic white Gibson SG. At that point his photo project Instrument was born. Over the next 15 years Graham documented/photographed and interviewed 50 plus musicians about there favourite instrument and the stories that went along with them.

Some of the artists in the book include:

Johnny Marr - The Smiths, Modest Mouse, Cribs, Healers, etc
Bernard Sumner - Joy Division, New Order
Colin Newman - Wire
Alex Kapranos - Franz Ferdinand
Gary and Ryan Jarman - The Cribs
James Cauty - KLF, The Orb
Ian Curtis - Joy Division
Tom Cullinan - Th Faith Healers, Quickspace
Jerry Dammers - The Specials, Special AKA Arkestsra
Justin Vernon - Bon Iver
Hal Blaine - Beach Boys, Phil Spector, etc
Jeff Tweedy - Wilco
Kim Deal - The Pixies
Billy Childish
Kate Nash

PDT Named Best Bar in the World

2011-11-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

Just in time for the publication of THE PDT COCKTAIL BOOK, the list was compiled by 100 of the top bar professionals in the industry, and votes were received from every continent. The list has bars from 16 countries and regions including France, Spain, Australia, the UK, Ireland, the Middle East, Singapore, and Japan. The Daily News offers it up here. Check out the rest of the list on Drinks International.

Gaz Regan says THE PDT COCKTAIL BOOK is "The very best. Bar none"

2011-11-03T09:44:00.002-04:00

In today's Ardent Spirits eLetter, Gaz Regan calls the book ...the best book of its kind to hit the shelves in the twenty-first century. The very best. Bar none.

Paper Magazine has a great interview with Jim today, too--here's an excerpt:

It seems like you wrote your cocktail book with an eye on history.
I started collecting cocktail books right after I started working at Pegu Club. Audrey [Saunders] had a bunch of books at the bar and at that time I'd also met a vintage cookbook collector named Bonnie Slotnick. I realized the history of bartending was in these old books and it was almost like proof that what I chose to do with my life was a really good decision. I tried to infuse the book with what I thought was great about these old books, make it nostalgic without being derivative. Now I'll go into a bar and see a bartender with a 19th century mustache, vintage sailor tattoos, like he's straight out of a Civil War reenactment. My goal was not to be a Civil War reenactor, but show how we're doing things now with a sense of history.

THE PDT COCKTAIL BOOK Has Landed, and the World Takes Note

2011-11-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

The long-awaited PDT COCKTAIL BOOK by Jim Meehan with illustrations by Chris Gall drops today, and along with other sites, Eater has offered up a "First Look" at Jim Meehan's PDT Cocktail Book. Check it out, and also check out the video. The New York Times' T Magazine kicked off the advance press with "Booze Cruise" by Stephen Heyman. FIND. EAT. DRINK. then carried a short Q&A with Jim about the book. Professor Cocktail (aka David Montgomery) was the first to really review the book, saying: "The PDT Cocktail Book joins Gary Regan's THE JOY OF MIXOLOGY and Dale DeGroff's THE CRAFT OF THE COCKTAIL as the indispensable monographs on modern cocktails and spirits. It belongs on every cocktail lover's shelf."

Will Friedwald's A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS Wins ASCAP Deems Taylor Award

2011-09-29T10:17:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Will Friedwald (and his editor, Bob Gottlieb--read Larissa MacFarquhar's excellent Fall 1994 Paris Review interview), whose A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS (Pantheon Books) has received The Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biography, which is one of the 43rd Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for outstanding print, broadcast, and new media coverage of music. This is not Will's first Deems Taylor Award, however: his SINATRA! The Song is You, the first full-length musical biography of Old Blue Eyes, won the 1996 award for Excellence in Music Criticism, and was hailed by The New York Times Book Review as the "single most important book on Sinatra ever published." . The Awards were established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer / critic / commentator Deems Taylor, who died in 1966 after a distinguished career that included six years as President of ASCAP.

Additional Praise for the book:

Top Five Books of the Year 2010: Friedwald chronicles the Great American Songbook, its creators, and its interpreters—a body of work that stands at the apogee of this nation’s civilization. Quirky, opinionated, shaped by exquisite taste and judgment, this feat of musical and cultural criticism offers an exuberant glimpse into the American character.
—Benjamin Schwarz, The Atlantic

A perfect holiday gift . . . An authoritative, comprehensive and oft-amusing guidebook that leads readers through the lives and recordings of hundreds of singers, from Louis Armstrong to Hank Williams.
—The Wall Street Journal

Incisive and useful . . . In this mammoth volume, jazz critic Will Friedwald does for jazz and pop vocalists what David Thomson has done so brilliantly in his New Biographical Dictionary of Film. . . . The author also acts as a consumer guide, steering the reader toward particular songs or albums. . . . Vastly entertaining.
—Dennis Drabelle, The Washington Post

In this passionately opinionated encyclopedia of the old-school virtuosos of the American songbook, music writer Friedwald celebrates 200-odd performers of jazz and pop standards, from the mid-20th-century titans to latter-day acolytes, with a raft of unjustly obscure singers in between. . . . [Friedwald] accords each a substantial career retrospective, selected discography and wonderfully pithy interpretive essay. His tastes are wide-ranging and idiosyncratic . . . However unconventional, his judgments are usually spot-on . . . Friedwald’s exuberant medley is that rarest of things: music criticism that actually makes you sit up and listen.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

I think Will Friedwald’s Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers will be of real interest to anyone who cares about the music.
—Hugh Hefner, editor-in-chief of Playboy

If there were such a volume as the Great American Songbook, this book should be right next to it on your shelf. It is truly the definitive work on those who sing and swing those songs.
—Alan Bergman, Grammy and Academy Award–winning songwriter

Will Friedwald has created an instant classic reference tome with his Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, the wealth of information and the breadth of knowledge being quite staggering. It is written without academic posturing but with wit and warmth and accessibility, covering in fascinating detail the careers of everyone from Jolson and Sinatra, of course, to Lee Wiley, Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich; from Armstrong to Doris Day, and everyone in between. It will surely be considered an essential text.
—Peter Bogdanovich

This extensive work is essential and comprehensive. In opinionated, sometimes witty essays, Friedwald sorts out the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers, some of the greatest vocalists of the twentieth century including such giants as Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Bessie Smith. There are also dozens of unexpected inclusions. For example, Martha Raye merits almost seven pages and her entry helps dusts off her historical reputation as not just a zany character but rather an incredibly gifted and complex artist. . . . Friedwald spent ten years researching this magisterial reference book and it is certain to delight and inform anyone with a passion for the iconic music of America.
—Larry Cox, Tucson Citizen

Will writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal, and his previous book, STARDUST MELODIES: A Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs, was also published by Pantheon. Dubbed (by Past Times magazine) as "The Poet Laureate of vintage pop music," Friedwald is internationally recognized as the leading authority on jazz singing and "adult" pop music. He is also the author of Tony Bennett's autobiography, THE GOOD LIFE (1998, Pocket Books) and JAZZ SINGING, published in hardcover by Scribner and in paperback by Da Capo Press.

Friedwald has written regularly about music for The Village Voice (since 1984) and also appears frequently in The New York Times. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, Oxford American, New York, Entertainment Weekly, New York Newsday, L. A. Weekly, Mojo, BBC Music Magazine, Stereo Review, Fi(Delity), The New York Observer, Seven Days and numerous music and film journals.
With prolific television and radio experience under his belt, Friedwald has appeared on hundreds of program in both mediums. He has served as a consultant and on-screen commentator on many television documentaries and news programs (including ABC Nightline, The MacNeil-Lehrer Report, Good Morning America, The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and A&E Biography's profiles of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mel Torme). On the radio, he has hosted many of his own regular disc jockey radio shows, and has also served as a commentator / "columnist" on the National Public Radio program Artbeat. He was a frequent guest with Stan Martin and Jonathan Schwartz on WQEW, and was the subject of an hour-long interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. He served as a consultant and interviewee on NPR's massive Ellington project as well as on dozens of installments of Jazz Profiles and other NPR documentary programs. In addition, Friedwald has produced and annotated hundreds of compact disc reissues, including several Grammy-winning packages (out of a total of six Grammy nominations).

Peter Hessler Named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow

2011-09-20T09:59:00.001-04:00

Today is a particularly proud day for the agency, as Peter Hessler has been named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. If you're not familiar with his work, you can begin by reading his Letter from Nucla, Colorado about Dr. Don Colcord, and Colcord's life as a small town druggist, in this week's New Yorker. Next, read his "China Trilogy:" RIVER TOWN: Two Years on the Yangtze; ORACLE BONES: A Journey through Time in China; and COUNTRY DRIVING: A Chinese Road Trip.

Jon Michaud has posted a Peter Hessler reading list on the New Yorker's Back Issues blog.

Read in the China Herald how Peter's first book, RIVER TOWN, inspired Zhang Lijia to write her bestselling memoir, SOCIALISM IS GREAT! A Worker's Memoir of The New China. Read more on Lijia's blog here.

Congratulations, Peter!

Find Out Why Zack O'Malley Greenburg Wrote his Book on Jay-Z, EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

2011-03-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

On the Forbes site Zack writes about why he wrote his book without Jay-Z's participation, ending with: My book aims to answer a simple question: how did Jay-Z rise from Brooklyn’s impoverished housing projects to a position as one of America’s most successful businessmen? The answer should be of interest to anybody interested in music, sports, or business—and to any entrepreneur in search of a blueprint for building something spectacular from the humblest of beginnings. Jay-Z’s story is the American dream in its purest form, and it’s a story I’m honored to tell—even if he didn’t want me to tell it.

Owen Laster, Friend and Mentor, and a Truly Great Man

2011-03-10T11:36:00.017-05:00

Owen Laster, 1938-2011

Like many others both inside and outside the publishing world, I owe an immeasurable debt to the great Owen Laster for his principled example of how to conduct the business of agenting (and, by extension, the affairs of living in general) with unparalleled honor and equanimity.

Among the guiding lights in the publishing world, Owen was one of the brightest, and certainly the brightest for me. In the fourteen years since I left William Morris, we had dinner every one or two months, and spoke more often. He was quick to point out where I was right or wrong, but equally quick to suggest a way out that would work for all parties involved. His impact on my life was all pervasive, and I will miss him dearly.

Read William Grimes' New York Times obituary for Owen, a post about Owen by Robert Gottlieb on Publishers Lunch, Hillel Italie's AP obituary, Variety's obituary, and a wonderful post by Glenn Plaskin on his web site, "A Spring Lunch with a Legend."

Ed Victor has written a wonderful piece about Owen for Book Brunch, in which he writes:
He was someone of immense strength of character – always his own man, guided by his own sense of rectitude, even if, every now and then, he had to disagree with company policy. Editors and publishers who worked with him knew they could rely on him to be absolutely straight with them. Someone once said, accurately, that it was odd that a Jewish man could be the epitome of the true Christian. But that was true of Owen – he had an internal compass that always pointed to a moral North.

THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN by Stonestreet and Golan #1 Graphic Novel in the UK, is Championed by The Observer

2011-03-07T16:32:00.001-05:00

Rachel Cooke reviewed Gan and Erich's masterwork in The Observer yesterday, calling it:

a furious, fearless, Swiftian kind of a book that – to slip into comic-strip speak just for a moment – ASTOUNDS with its wit, and AMAZES with its perspicacity. It should be read by everyone: by the forgotten, hardworking heroes of our desperate economy, who must toil increasingly hard merely to keep the wolf from the door, but also by its villains, who caused all the trouble in the first place. This book is so good it might cause a rare outbreak of shame among the ruling classes – which is why, even as I type, I am shoving copies into two envelopes, to be dispatched shortly to George Osborne, care of HM Treasury, and to Gordon Brown, care of his soppy wife (question: are her "diaries" a spoof?). Gaze on it and weep, guys.

Larry McMurtry Hails MM-Personal by Lois Banner and Mark Anderson in The NY Review of Books

2011-02-27T08:49:00.001-05:00

In Larry McMurtry's review of three Marilyn books in the March 10th The New York Review of Books, MM -- Personal emerges victorious.

The Telegraph Features MM-Personal by Lois Banner and Mark Anderson

2011-02-27T08:41:00.003-05:00

Tim Auld praises Lois Banner and Mark Anderson's MM-Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe, which Abrams will publish this week, in today's Telegraph:

In November 2005 Millington Conroy, a businessman living in Rowland Heights, 40 miles east of Los Angeles, contacted Mark Anderson, a successful magazine photographer, to discuss an unusual commission.

He had in his possession two metal filing-cabinets, one brown, one grey, containing private papers and a collection of furs, jewellery and other assorted memorabilia, all belonging to Marilyn Monroe. Would Anderson be interested in photographing the collection?

The material – about 10,000 documents – had been thought lost for more than 40 years since the death of Monroe on the night of 4 August 1962. Now, here it was, a treasure trove, languishing in a Californian suburb.

It was the commission of a lifetime, the largest undocumented Monroe archive in existence. Yes, of course Anderson was interested, and, with the help of the biographer and Monroe aficionado Lois Banner, he set about creating a record of the archive's contents, which is now to be published for the first time as a book.

Peter Hessler's COUNTRY DRIVING hits The New York Times Print Paperback Bestseller List!

2011-02-27T08:29:00.002-05:00

Peter's third book in his "China Trilogy" debuts on the Times Paperback Nonfiction list at #20 today. Read Alida Becker's NYTBR review "Red Highways" from a year ago, and Book Review editor Dwight Garner's Books of the Times daily review, "Feeling at Sea on the Roads of New China."

April Bloomfield's John Dory Oyster Bar Gets Two Stars from Sifton in The New York Times

2011-01-27T08:26:00.003-05:00

Agency friend April Bloomfield receives her second set of stars for the reincarnated The John Dory Oyster Bar (check out Frank Bruni's two star review of its first incarnation). Despite the challenges of getting a seat at times, he suggests: Hurry up and eat, why don’t they? For the food at the John Dory is incredibly good.

A few pull quotes:

...a lobster bisque of great depths of flavor and a kedgeree that might have pleased Kipling, the restaurant’s pleasures rise and tumble like waves against the shore.

...Ms. Bloomfield is cooking well enough to hold her own against any seafood-centric kitchen in the city.

Her food can be astonishing. Take a dish the menu tartly calls chorizo stuffed squid with smoked tomato. (There was a similar item on the menu of the old John Dory.) Ms. Bloomfield buys whole Rhode Island squid and stuffs it with paella rice she cooks with chorizo, red pepper, onion and saffron. For vinaigrette she smokes her own tomatoes and tosses them with sherry vinegar, salt, olive oil and a bit of palm sugar. A cook sears the squid just long enough to heat the rice through and give its body a faint crust, then places it on a soft bed of tiny white beans cooked in crème fraîche, with a cloak of those smoked tomatoes and a hat of cilantro. It costs $15. It is among the best things you can eat in New York City. (In the $4-and-under division, even counting some Chinatown dumplings, it would be difficult to top Ms. Bloomfield’s toast slathered in a paste of anchovies, parsley and olive oil.)

Her escarole salad is a warm, crunchy, cool salad for the celestial, a Caesar meant for emperors.

But the John Dory shows she is also capable of great gentleness, of cooking that is barely more than a curator’s brief.

(Martin Schoeller's photograph
for the New Yorker profile)

The agency's favorite dish? The Oyster Pan Roast, held over from the original restaurant’s menu, combines oysters and their liquor, reduced vermouth, cream and tarragon, into a kind of ambrosia. The toast spread with sea urchin that appears with this is sublime and appears obvious, as if the sea produced butter and everyone knew it. The dish is fabulous. And it is the kind of dish that we dream of having for lunch on such a day as today, looking out over a snowbound Madison Square from our office.

A fabulous review, all in all. Great New York restaurants have always been difficult to get into, and those issues pass with time, usually. So, congratulations, April--and Ken Friedman, her awesomely complementary partner. And we're really looking forward to devouring A GIRL AND HER PIG, which Dan Halpern at Ecco will publish in a few seasons. It is a wicked good thing for the hard work and talents of our friends to be well portrayed, and Lauren Collins did that very well, too, in her New Yorker profile, "Burger Queen: April Bloomfield's gastropub revolution," back in November.

Just to be clear: April is not a client of the agency, though we love her dearly...

Liz Smith Praises MM-Personal by Lois Banner with photographs by Mark Anderson, and Gets It Right...

2011-01-20T11:36:00.001-05:00

Writing about MM-Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe by Lois Banner and photos by Mark Anderson, which Abrams will publish in March, the doyenne of gossip writes:

...the overall vibe of the book is wrenching, because it clarifies Monroe’s humanity, her working life, her normal day-to-day existence. She didn’t lurch around every single moment in a drug-induced coma. She had a vital — if troubled —existence. She wrote to her stepchildren by Arthur Miller (in the voice of the family dog, Hugo) and she wrote to Isadore Miller, even after she had divorced his son, Arthur.

While Lois Banner's introduction to the book revises the previous understanding of Monroe, Lois's upcoming definitive biography of her, tentatively titled AN UNCOMMON WOMAN: Marilyn Monroe as an American Icon of Passion and Power, will be published by Bloomsbury here and in the UK simultaneously to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death in August 2012.

Read About Zak Pelaccio's Temple in Saveur

2011-01-06T06:39:00.004-05:00

In the chef's edition of the Saveur 100, Zak writes:

I live in New York City, a series of islands more focused on its dynamic urban landscape than on communing with the rivers and sea. Perhaps due to this conditioning as a New Yorker, I am awed by how other coastal cities emphasize their aqueous boundaries.

Read Peter Hessler's piece about The Peace Corps' Greatest Hope in this week's New Yorker

2010-12-14T10:10:00.002-05:00

Meet Rajeev Goyal in "Village Voice," Peter's Reporter at Large piece in the double holiday issue. The young activist and former Peace Corps Volunteer Goyal has applied what he learned from village politics in Nepal to his work on behalf of the Peace Corps in the halls of Congress, which has set the program's budget at less than the price of two F-22 fighters. Learn about a school that destroyed Rotary careers all the way from Dharan to Plainboro, an ice cream social spoken of in such a way that it begins to sound like "Bay of Pigs" to Peter's ears, and one of the more satisfying loanwords in the Nepali language in this altogether wonderful piece.

In this video Peter talks about the Peace Corps:

Boston Globe and Washington Post name COUNTRY DRIVING by Peter Hessler a Top Book of the Year

2010-12-13T13:02:00.007-05:00

In today's paper Kathryn Schulz, author of BEING WRONG: Adventures in the Margin of Error, writes:

I like to think that Montaigne, an inveterate traveler, would have shared my enthusiasm for Peter Hessler’s “Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory.’’ Title notwithstanding, it is the nation, not the writer, that is most in motion in this funny, understated, well-reported book. With millions of people abandoning villages for cities each year, China is experiencing the largest internal migration in history. Hessler, by contrast, mostly stays put. He sticks around long enough to speak the language, make friends, max out on Beijing, and acquire a country home. Eventually, the neighbor kid he drops off on the first day of school grows into an overfed, awkward-years preteen; and so, more or less, does the nation. As a journey, “Country Driving’’ is both business and pleasure — a stop-motion portrait of one of the most influential and chameleon places on earth.

The Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley also includes COUNTRY DRIVING in its roundup of the year's best books, saying:

As readers of "River Town" and "Oracle Bones" are well aware, Hessler is remarkably observant and, when the occasion calls for it, exceedingly funny. He's at the top of his form in the opening section, in which he drives great distances on some of China's endless miles of new highways. His description of the Chinese driver's test is worth the price of admission, but there's more, including a visit to the little settlement outside Beijing where he spent much time for several years, and another to a booming new industrial city. Everywhere he goes, Hessler finds much to amuse and inform the reader.

Yardley reviewed COUNTRY DRIVING when it first came out, and you can read the review here.

Audie Cornish Interviews Will Friedwald on NPR

2010-12-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

KPCC's Patt Morrison Features Erich Origen and Gan Golan's THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN

2010-11-23T10:07:00.003-05:00

Gan Golan, dressed as The Master of Degrees, visited the KPCV studio and Erich joined by phone to talk with host Patt Morrison and take calls about the book. Listen to several callers rave about the book...

Unemployed Man vs. Superlotto / Erich Origen and Gan Golan on cnn.com

2010-11-17T09:23:00.000-05:00

...we chose a superhero story -- with everyday heroes fighting against economic supervillains -- because it was, amazingly, not that far from the truth.

In our troubled times, millions of ordinary people are engaged in a struggle of epic proportions against massive economic forces beyond their control. It seemed important to show people how truly heroic they are.

Time Magazine Calls THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN by Erich Origen and Gan Golan "Hilarious, Clever, Very Relevant, and Remarkably Insightful"

2010-11-11T16:49:00.001-05:00

Brad Tuttle interviews Erich on Time's Money Blog, It's Your Money. As part of his answer to Brad's question about Unemployed Man's powers, Erich says:

Our heroes' powers are never more than exaggerations of the powers of real people—we wanted to show how heroic everyday people are. Undertaking an epic search for work (like Unemployed Man) is heroic. Fighting economic villains while raising your children (like Wonder Mother) is heroic. Working into your old age because the Broker made a joke of your 401K and you can't afford to retire (like Plan B) is heroic. Each of our characters represent a specific kind of everyday heroism.

Will Friedwald's A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS An Atlantic Book of the Year 2010

2010-11-10T09:37:00.003-05:00

Picking Will's book as one of five best books of the year, The Atlantic's literary editor Benjamin Schwarz writes: ...Quirky, opinionated, shaped by exquisite taste and judgment, this feat of musical and cultural criticism offers an exuberant glimpse into the American character.

Peter Hessler a New Yorker Man-in-the-Marathon

2010-11-06T10:20:00.004-04:00

Writing on participants associated with the magazine, Ian Crouch blogs:

The staff writer Peter Hessler will be running his third marathon. His first was in 1981, when we was just twelve—“back when they’d let kids do things like that.” His biggest deprivation this time has been sleep, but he was prepared: “I have twin infants at home, a new fatigue-training tool.”

Of the three, Hessler has the longest trip to the starting line; it’s a distance of many marathons from his home in Colorado. And the trip has not been without incident, as he revealed when asked about his weekend meal plan:

My flight got cancelled and I’m stuck in an airport in Grand Junction, Colorado. I don’t know if Subway is the ideal pre-race meal, but that’s all they got here. United gave me a ten-dollar voucher. Actually I think that guy Jared is in the race. I better not finish behind him or the Chilean miner.

All three New Yorker partisans say they’re looking forward to a break from running after Sunday, but there’s no rest for the weary—at least not for Peter Hessler, who has work to do Sunday afternoon.

I have to immediately get on a train to Long Island and do an interview. Not my ideal post-race routine but my editor, Willing Davidson [another marathoner from the magazine] , is making me do it. He said I can skip the interview if I end up in the medical tent.

Read Peter on Meb Keflezighi’s Marathon win, and his earlier piece on Ryan Hall, Running to Beijing / The Making of a Long Distance Runner, which has some wonderful autobiographical details.

Per Crouch's follow-up post, Peter's final time was two hours and forty-five minutes.

Washington Post Calls Will Friedwald's A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS "Vastly Entertaining"

2010-11-05T13:05:00.000-04:00

Dennis Drabelle reviews Will's magnum opus in the Arts & Living section of today's Post, saying:

In this mammoth volume, jazz critic Will Friedwald does for jazz and pop vocalists what David Thomson has done so brilliantly for the movies in his "New Biographical Dictionary of Film."

..."Vastly entertaining," for that matter, isn't a bad label to stick on Friedland's book."

Charlie Scheips Curates DAVID HOCKNEY: Fleurs fraîches in Paris

2010-11-05T11:35:00.002-04:00

Charlie Scheips just returned from Paris, where he curated an exhibition of David Hockney's iPhone and iPad drawings at the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint-Laurent. The drawings will form the basis of a future book.

COUNTRY DRIVING by Peter Hessler One of Amazon's Ten Best Books of the Year

2010-11-04T16:30:00.002-04:00

After being an Amazon book of the month when published early in the year, the site listed Pete's book #2 on its list of the 10 best books of 2010.

Discovery's Planet Green Interviews Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers about WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS

2010-11-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

Leonora Oppenheim interviews Rachel and Roo on WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS.

Some excerpts:

PG: What is your ultimate green goal?
RB: To help drive “The Big Shift”; away from the 20th Century defined by hyper consumption, towards the 21st century, the age of Collaborative Consumption. I would like us to be able to look back and be proud of a society that leapfrogged over decades of waste and emptiness into a new era marked by trust between strangers, access over ownership and the primacy of experience over "more stuff." I want to help make that happen.
RR: My goal is to harness innovation to help create solutions for our social and environmental challenges. By “harness” I mean creating businesses, inventing adaptive product solutions, or simply connecting the ideation dots to facilitate adoption.

PG: What is your best green advice?
RB: Don’t see ‘green’ as an add-on or a sacrifice. I believe it’s less about stocking your cupboards withSeventh Generation products and more about shifting away from a seismic zeal for individual getting and spending towards a rediscovery of collective good.
RR: Millions of people die a year from environmental “disease.” Now imagine that instead of affecting people millions of miles away, it is your daughter, son, father, mother, or friend.
Now do something about it.

Reuters Writes Up "Witty" and "Exhaustively Researched" THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN by Erich Origen and Gan Golan

2010-11-03T09:59:00.003-04:00

Unemployed Man in D.C. Last Weekend

Journalist Nick Zieminski reviews the book and interviews Erich and Gan for Reuters Life!

...When 18th century philosopher Adam Smith coined the term "invisible hand" to describe self-regulating markets, he could scarcely have imagined his idea would one day star in a superhero comic book.

...Q: Why a comic book? Is it to make the point that the recession widened a gulf between the rich and everybody else?

Origen: "That's certainly one of the points, made by people like (Paul) Krug-Man and Robert Reich. But with their writing you don't get people encased in underwear. We have this accessible way of communicating similar ideas and allowing people a catharsis."

...Q: Why use a retro graphic style?

Golan: "We wanted to tell a story with a wide emotional range, from comedy to poignancy, and it seemed like those old styles were better-suited -- unlike modern comics which can be aggressive and dark and gritty. In the 50s and 60s, America had an idea of a common good, and that optimism was personified by superheroes. We wanted a style that took us back to that."

Part II of the Really, Really Excellent Will Friedwald JazzWax Interview

2010-11-03T09:36:00.001-04:00

WF: Songwriter Jimmy Webb told me about a comment he heard from Joni Mitchell: “We used to have lyricists, we used to have composers, we used to have singers, we used to have accompanists and arrangers. Now we have one person doing all those jobs and in a half-assed way!"

Thank you, Marc Myers.

The Really, Really Excellent Will Friedwald JazzWax Interview, Part I

2010-11-02T22:46:00.006-04:00

On his really, really excellent jazz blog, Marc Myers offers up the first part of a two-part interview with Will Friedwald about his new book, A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers.

...Like all solid authorities and essayists, Will wriggles into his subjects, providing sharp analysis and little-known details as he takes strong positions. This is what makes Will so pleasurable to read. That and the fact that Will strives to entertain, much like the singers he writes about.

...W.F.: "Jazz" means something completely different than it did years ago, although it's also fashionable to see the whole history of jazz as more of a direct continuum. The music keeps evolving and so dodefinitions. Almost all of the singers who sang in the big bands would have been considered pop in 1938. But by today's standards they'd be classified as jazz.

Watch this portrait of Marc Myers. On his site he links to a wonderful Bill Evans video--Monica Zetterlund singing "Waltz for Debby," the agency's favorite song from a father's point-of-view, though we prefer Johnny Hartman's version.

Quintessence: Living Well with Style and Substance Reviews Alexa Hampton's Essential Book THE LANGUAGE OF INTERIOR DESIGN

2010-10-28T11:54:00.001-04:00

UNEMPLOYED MAN and MASTER OF DEGREES on CNN This Morning

2010-10-28T11:49:00.000-04:00

Erich and Gan were on CNN this morning talking about the book. They will be on Fox and Friends on Saturday morning, live from Washington, DC, where they will be attending the Jon Stewart's "The Rally to Restore Sanity" and Stephen Colbert's "The March to Keep Fear Alive."

"You might as well laugh:" USA Today Reviews THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN by Erich Origen and Gan Golan

2010-10-21T09:54:00.001-04:00

Craig Wilson writes in today's issue: "...The parody of classic superhero comics exposes, with laugh-out-loud yet sophisticated wit, the desperate situation many Americans find themselves in today. "

People's World's Dean Reklaw covered the book as well: It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Unemployed Man!

Peter Hessler and John McPhee at Lannan Foundation Nov. 10 in Santa Fe

2010-10-20T11:06:00.008-04:00

Hear Peter Hessler in conversation with John McPhee at Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St, Santa Fe, NM

The Guardian Names 69 Colebrooke Row and The Charles Lamb the Best and Second Best Places to Drink in the UK!

2010-10-19T21:02:00.002-04:00

Agency friends Tony Conigliaro (the pioneer of molecular mixology) and Camille Hobby-Limon's 69 Colebrooke Row has been named "The Best Place to Drink in the UK," with Camille's pub The Charles Lamb coming in a healthy second!

Congratulations!!!

Debut of THE LANGUAGE OF INTERIOR DESIGN by Alexa Hampton

2010-10-14T23:05:00.003-04:00

While the agency was handselling rights at the Frankfurt Book Fair, David Patrick Columbia was kind enough to cover the party for Alexa Hampton's superb THE LANGUAGE OF INTERIOR DESIGN (Clarkson Potter), which took place at John Rosselli Antiques on East 61st.

The Economist calls WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS the better book...

2010-10-14T22:40:00.001-04:00

On the blog devoted to the individuals and ideas behind the latest trends in business and management, Schumpeter calls Rachel Botman and Roo Rogers' WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption the better of the two books, the other being THE MESH: Why the Future of Business is Sharing by Lisa Gansky. It doesn't quite say Gansky's business pitch is a pale imitation of Rachel and Roo's original, though that would be true.

Treehugger has a wonderful podcast interview with Roo about the book.

Edwards Magazine Bookclub reviews the book, saying:

"Stringing together stories of change and the power of community, the authors have laid out the social and economic logic for collaborative consumption with such religious fervour and zeal that one can’t help but become converted to this new world order."

..."Botsman and Rogers weave a compelling tale of a utopian world knit together by the ubiquitous connectivity that is the Internet today. If their ideas were their own, a true consumption manifesto, we might be willing to dismiss them as new-age socialists. They are not socialists but oracles, revealing our reality and showing us the way to a better place. What’s Mine is a modern parable, showing the ideas and ideals of a better way to live without demanding that it is the only way to live. In teaching without confrontation, we learn to trust not only the idea of social consumption but we realize that we yearn for it. It is in that realization that we begin to understand the folly of our ways and seize on that desire to be a part of consumerism re-born.

If What’s Mine Is Yours sounds like a religious experience, it is pretty damned close. If you have ever questioned the hyper-consuming, hyper-speed, hyper-competitive world foisted on us by the baffoons of Jersey Shore or Big Brother, then this book will be a true awakening. If, as Botsman and Rogers claim, we express who we are by what we join, then becoming a part of the new community of consumerism and abandoning the wanton gluttony of our recent past is very telling indeed."

We're also happy to share the link to dowser's interview with Rachel, and another link to mainstreet.com's interview with Rachel.

Unemployed Man and Master of Degrees Cheered at New York Comic Con

2010-10-10T03:29:00.001-04:00

Unemployed Man emerged from a phone booth and appeared in Good Times Square Friday night. In Erich's words:

"Words and photos struggle to capture how delighted people were by Unemployed Man. Countless people asked to take pictures with the jobless crusader. And yes, people even asked me to hold their children.

It was amazing to see how people completely transformed. As soon as they heard "Unemployed Man!" they would drop whatever expression they had (anger, sadness, guardedness) and just completely open up -- delighted. Beyond cheer, there were many soulful acknowledgements and sincere thanks. The reaction spanned all classes and colors of people.

We awoke at 7AM [on Saturday]. We got in costume (me as Unemployed Man again, and now Gan as Master of Degrees).

I should note that all employees everywhere -- at the hotel, convention center, etc -- really responded to us and opened up to us. We were very gratified by this. These workers had no inherent interest in comics, but they really responded and loved Unemployed Man. They told us their stories. We felt like we really made something for the working class.

So we arrived at the convention center at 8:00AM only to be foiled by a single letter -- our presentation was scheduled at 8:45 PM, not AM.

We went to the show floor and set up some books on the table. No one was there yet, so we went out side. Everywhere we went, people wanted to take pictures with Unemployed Man.

Our biggest and most ironic media coup was getting national Fox News to spotlight us on their intro to the coverage of the whole event.

After that, we went back inside and prepared for the roundtable discussion we would be speaking on. About 50 people showed up and were really enthralled with what we presented. People stayed maybe 20 minutes over and crowded us for pictures and earnest conversations. Unfortunately, no one was there to document it.

As we walked around at the beginning, people would ask us who the U guy was, but as the day went on, those same people would shout "Unemployed Man!" across the hall at us. Or we'd walk by crowds and I'd hear someone ask who I was, then hear someone else say "Unemployed Man" and that would ripple through the crowd with voices of surprise, recognition, and delight. "That is AWESOME." "That is hilarious." "This is the best thing I've seen here." I saw people instantly get the whole concept of the book as soon as they saw it."

No Sellout: "Crazy Shopping," Dutch Musical based on Rev. Billy and The Church of Life After Shopping Pays for Anti-Mountaintop Removal Work

2010-10-09T17:23:00.007-04:00

the above man is NOT the reverend

The hardest working man in anti-consumerism, author of the book and spiritual vortex of the documentary WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY as well as WHAT SHOULD I DO IF REVEREND BILLY IS IN MY STORE? and The Church of Life After Shopping gets written up by Melena Ryzik in today's New York Times in "Reverend Billy's Revelation: A Role for Money." The piece tells the story behind a gaudy Dutch musical, "Crazy Shopping," which uses as a basis several of the choir's songs, the Rev's sermons, and the image of the Rev, and is playing across the Netherlands until January. The Church used the money from the usage permission to support their campain to end mountaintop-removal mining.

Move Over Batman! Brian Lehrer Speaks to Erich Origen and Gan Golan, authors of THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN

2010-10-09T17:11:00.010-04:00

In a segment with Erich and Gan titled "Superhero for Today," Brian invited listeners to suggest villains for future adventures. Playing Name that Villain for Unemployed Man to Fight, suggestions included: "Lord Landlord," the evil landlord who hikes your rent and doesn't take care of your building so well; "The Headhunter," the heartless executive recruiter; and "Dr. Hiring Freeze." In a sign that this brilliant book resonates with all, some readers suggested villains already in the book. Check out their Q&A for more background on the conception of it.

Erich and Gan, dressed as Unemployed Man and Master of Degrees respectively, will be at one of the world's largest pop culture conventions this weekend, New York Comic Con.

Be their friend on Facebook and check out the web site.

Will Friedwald's A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS Gets a Starred Publishers Weekly Review

2010-09-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

The September 27th review of Will's new book, A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS (Pantheon, November 2nd, hardcover) shares the starred rating of his last, and says:

....[a] passionately opinionated encyclopedia of the old-school virtuosos of the American songbook,

....Friedwald is all about the music; he primly shies away from his subjects' scandal-prone personal lives, but accords each a substantial career retrospective, selected discography and wonderfully pithy interpretive essay. His tastes are wide-ranging and idiosyncratic.

....However unconventional, his judgments are usually spot-on, as in his compelling reassessment of Elvis as the last great Crosbyesque crooner. Friedwald's exuberant medley is that rarest of things: music criticism that actually makes you sit up and listen.

About STARDUST MELODIES: The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs (Pantheon, 2002 (hardcover); Chicago Review Press (paperback), PW said:

....While every reader will have their own list—what better dinner conversation game?—this dozen (chosen in conjunction with Friedwald's editor, Bob Gottlieb) should contain at least half of everyone's choices. But this is not a trivia book, and the joy of these short essays—ruminative, but also filled with fascinating historical and social details – is in their intelligence and their always evident love of the music itself.

...he is at his best elucidating how a particular song works its magic.

....an important contribution not only to American musicology but also to the literature on popular culture.

Launch of North American REBEL BUDDHA Tour 11/14/10 in New York City

2010-09-23T18:25:00.002-04:00

There’s a rebel within you. It’s the part of you that already knows how to break free of fear and unhappiness. This rebel is the voice of your own awakened mind. It’s your rebel buddha—the sharp, clear intelligence that resists the status quo. It wakes you up from the sleepy acceptance of your day‐to‐day reality and shows you the power of your enlightened nature. It’s the vibrant, insightful energy that compels you to seek the truth.
‐ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

With uncommon clarity and authority, [Dzogchen Ponlop] offers a new vision for the future of Buddhism that is at once shocking and hopeful. This is a small book with a big message that is timely and important.
‐ Pema Chödrön, bestselling author of WHEN THINGS FALL APART

The five‐city North American tour celebrates November 9th publication of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche’s provocative new book — REBEL BUDDHA: On the Road to Freedom (Shambhala). The tour, sponsored by Nalandabodhi International, kicks off on Sunday, November 14 at 10 AM in New York at Cooper Union’s Great Hall.

Distinguished teachers from varied Buddhist traditions will join Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in a lively exchange on Western Buddhism. Panelists include:

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, PhD, (Zen teacher, Abbott of the Village Zendo in New York ) ,
Shastri Ethan Nichtern (author One City: A Declaration of Interdependence (Wisdom Pubs, 2007), founding director of the Interdependence Project),
Gina Sharpe (co‐founder of New York Insight Meditation Center)
Mitra Mark Power

Throughout the day, in different formats, participants and panelists will explore the current state and the future of Western Buddhism, and the experience of the modern seeker through:

teachings
music and video
contemplative exercises
discussion

The book tour proceeds to these cities:

Thursday, November 18 in Halifax, NS (McInnes Room at Dalhousie University)
Saturday, November 20 in Toronto , ON (Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library)
Saturday, November 27 in Boulder, CO (Boulder Theater)
Sunday, December 5 in Seattle, WA (ACT Theater)

LA Weekly Lauds ANOTHER FINE MESS by Saul Austerlitz

2010-09-23T06:17:00.000-04:00

Michael Joshua Rowin says:

...Austerlitz offers sharp ways of thinking about old favorites.

...Austerlitz provides particularly insightful considerations of legacies still in the making. Serving more as a critical history than a nonpartisan one, Austerlitz's personal evaluations are best used to stimulate healthy movie debate or else to compare one's tastes.

...Austerlitz gets it absolutely right when he paints the big picture, which is what makes American comedy quintessentially American. According to him, it is not only the outsiders — the immigrants (Lubitsch), the minorities (Richard Pryor), the women (Katharine Hepburn) — who have fueled the country's subversive comic tendency but also the innovators, the artists like Fields, Robert Altman and Bill Murray, who saw the world askew and used their genius to skew it further rather than set it straight.

The New York Times Q&A's Alexa Hampton about THE LANGUAGE OF INTERIOR DESIGN

2010-09-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

Rima Suqi talks to Alexa about her first book, due out next week from Clarkson Potter, importunate literary agents, her late, great father, the link between scrunchies and Modernism, and the exasperating challenge of getting people to addresses her as Dr. Hampton.

REBEL BUDDHA author Dzogchen Ponlop Talks about Cultural Forms Becoming Useless

2010-09-22T15:06:00.001-04:00

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS' Roo Rogers' and Rachel Botsman's "Beyond Zipcar" in Harvard Business Review

2010-09-22T15:02:00.000-04:00

Check Out this Most Original Review of WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers

2010-09-21T15:01:00.004-04:00

Treehugger Gives WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS and Collaborative Consumption a Big Hug

2010-09-21T07:14:00.001-04:00

Writing from London, Leonora Oppenheim points up one of the many salient points of Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers' book:

"We like the way What's Mine Is Yours looks through the psychological lens of human self-interest and creativity as the motivation to create more shared systems and services, rather than the all too optimistic 'out of the kindness of our hearts' lens or the too dreary 'guilt and sacrifice' lens."

Listen to Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers discuss WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS on Bloomberg Radio

2010-09-20T11:06:00.000-04:00

Rachel and Roo discuss WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS with Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hays. (Interview commences at 16m 07secs).

Boston Globe Calls Saul Austerlitz's ANOTHER FINE MESS "A Keeper"

2010-09-15T14:29:00.004-04:00

James Sullivan writes: Film comedy, Woody Allen once claimed, is harder to produce than drama. Still, the perpetually unsatisfied director was convinced that comedy is “less valuable than serious stuff.’’

In “Another Fine Mess,’’ a survey of the most significant artists — yes, artists — to make us laugh at the movies, from Charlie Chaplin to Will Ferrell, writer and critic Saul Austerlitz takes rigorous exception to Allen’s line of thinking. Addressing sexual, racial, economic, or political tensions, comedy has always helped its audience sort through the vagaries of the way we live now. Slapstick, screwball or spoof, comedy serves a function.

Read Peter Hessler's Letter from Colorado: The Uranium Widows in this week's New Yorker

2010-09-09T09:22:00.004-04:00

In his piece "The Uranium Widows: A bid to revive a controversial industry," Peter writes about Uravan, a once-booming uranium-mining town in southwestern Colorado, which was eventually destroyed and buried because of fears of radiation. In this video by Benjamin Lowy, Peter talks about his visit to the former site of the town.

Publishers Weekly asks Will Friedwald Why He Writes

2010-09-07T12:55:00.002-04:00

Will's eighth book, and his third with Bob Gottlieb at Pantheon, is A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS, and will by published on November 2nd. It is the most extensive biographical and critical survey of jazz and popular singers ever written, a whopping 832 pages long, and is an essential guide to the Great American Songbook and those who performed it.

Saul Austerlitz's ANOTHER FINE MESS is Out!

2010-09-07T12:47:00.001-04:00

Saul Austerlitz's second book, ANOTHER FINE MESS: A History of American Film Comedy is published this week by Chicago Review Press. It was excerpted in Sunday's Los Angeles Times on the 50th anniversary of Billy Wilder's film "The Apartment," and is featured in the "Lowbrow and Brilliant" quadrant of the Approval Matrix in this week's New York magazine.

Kirkus calls it “a compulsively readable reference for the confirmed comedy fan” and “an enthusiastic, well-observed, fresh look at old favorites that makes a compelling case for the genius of American film comedy.”

Saul will begin touring for the book this week, and the dates are:

September 7, 7 PM- Book Soup, Los Angeles
September 14, 7 PM- D.G. Wills Books, La Jolla, CA
September 16, 7 PM- Green Apple Books, San Francisco
September 21, 7 PM- U. of Pennsylvania Bookstore, Philadelphia
October 5, 7:30 PM- WORD, Brooklyn
October 6, 4 PM- Yale University, New Haven, CT
October 25, 7:30 PM- Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, N.C.

THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN Debuts on The Huffington Post!

2010-09-02T16:29:00.002-04:00

Check out Erich Origen and Gan Golan's first entries for THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN on The Huffington Post, which includes Election 2010: The Republican 6 Point Plan for Regaining Power, including "Stonewall, and shift blame!"

The release party will take place at Phoenix Books in Noe Valley, San Francisco, on October 21st.

Other bookstore events:

10/18: Book Passage, Corte Madera (this is the official publication date)
10/20: Copperfield’s Books, SF
10/22: CAL Berkeley, SF
10/29: Book Soup (with radio interview on KPFK-FM earlier in the day to promote it), LA
10/30: Skylight Books, LA

Also check out The Troubled Times, "the news-blog of record for The Just Great Society. On these pages, the heroes and villains of our time post their thoughts (and occasionally flame each other). It’s like The Daily Planet, except everyone gets a voice."

Ponlop Rinpoche Discusses What "REBEL BUDDHA" Means

2010-09-02T15:06:00.002-04:00

Only 67 days until REBEL BUDDHA: On the Road to Freedom is published in the United States and Canada!

The book launch will take place in The Great Hall of Cooper Union on November 14th, and is the first stop of a tour that will take Rinpoche to: Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia on November 18th; The Bram & Bluma Appel Salon Toronto Reference Library in Toronto, Ontario on November 12th; The Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado on November 27th ; and ACT Theater at the Washington State Convention CenterSeattle, Washington on December 5th.

In this video Rinpoche discusses the title of the book, which Shambhala will publish November, and Prince Siddhartha's journey to enlightenment, beyond the worldly and religious cultural norms of his time.

New Trailer for WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers

2010-08-26T10:36:00.006-04:00

Check out this amazing trailer for Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers' WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, to be published by HarperBusiness next month:

Brian Doherty's RADICALS FOR CAPITALISM Boosted in The New Yorker

2010-08-26T10:28:00.001-04:00

In her story "Covert Operations: The Billionaire Brothers Who Are Waging a War Against Obama," Jane Mayer repeatedly mentions Brian Doherty's interviews with the Koch brothers for his 2007 history of the Libertarian movement, RADICALS FOR CAPITALISM: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement published by Public Affairs, which rescues "libertarianism from its own obscurity, eloquently capturing the appeal of the 'pure idea,'" (Wall Street Journal), and includes the life stories of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman,Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard. Brian's previous book, THIS IS BURNING MAN, was published by Little, Brown in 2004, and chronicles the history of The Burning Man Festival from 1995-2004. This is the story of what really happens out at Black Rock City, Nevada, out there on the playa, as told through the eyes of a participant.

Juliet Nicolson's THE GREAT SILENCE a Tina Brown Must-Read Story of Survival

2010-08-26T10:09:00.001-04:00

For Morning Edition's monthly feature "Word of Mouth," Daily Beast editor-in-chief Tina Brown spoke with Renee Montagne on NPR about what she's been reading in the way of stories of survival. Brown's "survival" picks are about displaying character in the face of stress, and includes THE GREAT SILENCE, represented by us in collaboration with Ed Victor Ltd., and published in the US by Grove in June.

Matt Gallagher's KABOOM Gets Another Rave Review

2010-08-18T12:14:00.002-04:00

This time in the September issue of Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute:

Matt Gallagher’s memoir is the finest I have yet read from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…The genius of both the blog and the memoir is Gallagher’s ability and willingness to accurately capture not just the fear and boredom of small-unit combat but also its hilarity…Laugh-out-loud dialogue…Gallagher’s parting act of service is this book, which is as noteworthy for its adventurous and stylized prose as for the story it tells…As engaging a combat memoir as any I have ever read.

Watch him on New England Cable News on August 12th:

On WGBH's The Emily Rooney Show on August 12th, as well:

Matt will appear at Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store on September 15th.

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS' Rachel Botsman to speak at The Feast, NYC October 15th

2010-08-10T10:14:00.004-04:00

Rachel Botsman, co-author with Roo Rogers of the upcoming WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, will be speaking at the upcoming conference The Feast at The Times Center in New York City on October 15th. The Feast is "a cross-disciplinary series of programs addressing social innovation and new ways to make the world a better place. Our secret sauce lies in a healthy combination of passion, creativity, and entrepreneurship to shift the way things are done - thereby changing individuals, industries, and ultimately the world."

Check out her recent speech at TEDx Sydney on The Rise of Collaborative Consumption:

“Such is the wisdom of Rachel Botsman and the revolutionary ideas in her recent TEDx Sydney talk. Goodbye Hyper-Consumption, hello ‘Collaborative Consumption’. In her funkily-presented 101, we learn how the internet is removing the middle man and making it possible to have a sustainable business plan selling peer-to-peer… Collaborative Consumption is a new socio-economic ‘big idea’ promising a revolution in the way we consume.” — ABC Big Ideas

Rachel received her BFA (Honors) from the University of Oxford, and undertook her postgraduate studies at Harvard University. She has consulted to businesses around the world on brand and innovation strategy and was a former director at the William J. Clinton Foundation. Her articles have appeared in a range of publications including Business Week, Brandchannel, Business21, and Worldchanging.

The Seattle Times finds THE GREAT SILENCE by Juliet Nicolson "a pearl of anecdotal history"

2010-08-04T16:28:00.002-04:00

We just discovered a wonderful Seattle Times review from early June of Juliet's new book THE GREAT SILENCE: 1918-1920 Living in the Shadow of the Great War, her first being THE PERFECT SUMMER: England 1911, Just Before the Storm, which Publishers Weekly called a "delightfully gossipy yet substantial slice of social history." The agency represents Juliet in collaboration with Ed Victor Ltd.

Ellen Emry Heltzel writes: A pearl of anecdotal history, "The Great Silence" is a satisfying companion to major studies of World War I and its aftermath. Its psychological profile of a country in mourning is imperfect and patchwork.

Yet, as Nicolson proceeds through the familiar stages of grief — denial, anger and acceptance — she gives you a deeper understanding of not only this brief period, but also how war's sacrifices don't end after the fighting stops.

KABOOM'S Matt Gallagher Gives His Boots-on-the-Ground Perspective on NPR'S On Point with Tom Ashbrook

2010-08-04T14:56:00.002-04:00

When President Obama took office, there were 144,000 troops in Iraq. By the end of August, there will be 50,000 left.

Yesterday, the President said combat missions are ending. As the U.S. pulls back – and eventually out – of Iraq, we’re reflecting on the meaning of that toil, sacrifice, service and bloodshed. What it means for regular Iraqis, and for the armed forces who gave much, and lost comrades.

Tom Ashbrook guides this discussion between Anthony Shadid, David Finkel, and Matt Gallagher.

Adam Platt finds a "Different, More Original Alchemy" at Zak Pelaccio's Fatty Cue in this week's New York

2010-08-02T15:07:00.001-04:00

...Other cooks—David Chang, Anita Lo—have dabbled in traditional Asian barbecue. But with Richter’s help, Pelaccio is the first to combine the classic salty-sweet flavor profile of the East with the bulky, messy, down-home goodness of authentic American barbecue.

KABOOM's Matt Gallagher's Politics and Prose Appearance airs on BookTV

2010-08-02T14:41:00.003-04:00

Matt read at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC on June 3rd, and C-SPAN was there to capture the event.

Zhang Yajun Reviews COUNTRY DRIVING by Peter Hessler from the Chinese Point of View

2010-08-02T11:15:00.000-04:00

On Jottings from the Granite Studio, Christian Science Monitor Beijing bureau staffer Zhang Yajun has this to say:

...In Hessler’s account of Wei Ziqi, I see my family, my relatives and my friends all facing a similar predicament. But it is not their fault. They are just normal human beings looking for the best for their families and themselves. At the same time, China is developing fast — almost everyone is better off than before — but the psychological and mental adjustment to cope with the rapid change is much more difficult than they expected. Hessler does a good job capturing both the anxiety and opportunity of this transitional period.

...There is a myth, one believed by many Chinese, that foreigners do not and cannot understand China. This book shows that this myth is simply nonsense.

...Hessler makes the effort. He drives through many of the least developed provinces and villages in China and down little country lanes for months on end. He camps in the open air and lives on Red Bull, chocolate bars and Oreos. He saw the China where villagers worked for months to dig useless tree holes even though the diggers only received two bags of instant noodles each day to show for their work; the China where young people move away to cities or towns to find jobs while the elderly cling to their old life in the villages; the China where desperate migrants have to lie about their age and identities to seize a job in a booming industrial coastal town. Even many Chinese, especially those who live in the cosmopolitan illusion of Shanghai and Beijing, are unaware of this China. It may not always be pretty in pieces, but there is great beauty in the mosaic of a people living their lives in a time of great change and working to make a better life for themselves and their children. It is a China I want more people to know about.

Mark Hampton is "The Dunce of Chintz No More" in The New York Observer

2010-07-31T09:18:00.001-04:00

George Gurley, whose GEORGE AND HILLY is forthcoming from Gallery Books, offers a wonderful portrait of the late, great Mark Hampton and his family in this week's Observer on the occasion of the publication of Duane Hampton's MARK HAMPTON: An American Decorator, which has already entered its second printing.

Tony Hsieh Praises WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS

2010-07-19T14:57:00.000-04:00

The CEO of Zappos.com, Inc. and author of Delivering Happiness has this to say about Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers' forthcoming book:

"What can the next wave of collaborative marketplaces look like? Botsman and Rogers answer this question in a highly readable and persuasive way. Anyone interested in the business opportunities and social power of collaboration should consider reading this book."

Another wonderful blurb comes from Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From and The Ghost Map:

“After listening to a thousand tirades against the excesses and waste of consumer society, What’s Mine Is Yours offers us something genuinely new and invigorating: a way out. Anyone interested in the emerging economics of collaboration will want to read this profoundly hopeful book.”

Stuart Reid of Foreign Affairs Reviews KABOOM by Matt Gallagher in The New Republic

2010-06-11T08:58:00.000-04:00

In his review titled "The Boots-Eye View," Reid writes:

...a vivid and introspective chronicle...

...Gallagher gives the book’s characters—there is a Smitty, a Bulldog, and a Doc (but no Tex) much more than the name-rank-hometown exposition that too often flattens soldiers in print.

...appreciate his evocative prose, convincing dialogue, and, especially, telling vignettes of life as an American soldier in Iraq—“the suck,” as he calls the experience.

...If the surge’s creed was counterinsurgency, the army field manual was scripture and Petraeus, its lead author, was the apostle. Gallagher, then, was something of a young disciple. He has trained under a pupil of Petraeus, he carries T. E. Lawrence, he teaches Iraqi history to his platoon, and he quotes the counterinsurgency manual in the field.

...Kaboom suggests that if the American military is to keep soldiers such as Gallagher in the ranks, it will have to learn, as he did, to embrace the suck of counterinsurgency.

Check out Rachel Botsman's talk on Collaborative Consumption at TEDx

2010-06-07T14:53:00.000-04:00

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in The Huffington Post: "Buddhist Insights for Accepting and Respecting Our Emotions"

2010-06-07T10:23:00.000-04:00

The author of the forthcoming REBEL BUDDHA: On the Road to Freedom (Shambhala, November 2010) offers a preview of things to come in this insightful piece about our "emotional signature." Here's an excerpt:

Why don't we pay more attention to understanding our own patterns? We may have a solid financial plan worked out that will buy us a house and pay for our kids' college and our retirement, but we don't give much thought to getting the most benefit out of one of the most precious resources for happiness -- our emotions. Often, we just leave it to chance.

Terracotta Typewriter: A Cultural Revolution of Literature Interviews Peter Hessler

2010-06-01T13:06:00.000-04:00

"Terracotta Typewriter is a literary journal with Chinese characteristics," and has an interview with Peter Hessler in the latest issue, which can be downloaded here.

Jesse Kornbluth at HeadButler Serves Up a Generous Dose of Mark Hampton

2010-05-25T17:24:00.000-04:00

If you're in the market for a cultural concierge, or in other parlance are looking for a reliable filter, you couldn't get much better than Jesse Kornbluth, aka your Head Butler. We're thrilled he turned his attention to Duane Hampton's beautiful book just published by Rizzoli, MARK HAMPTON: An American Decorator, saying, among much else: "You can be dazzled by these pictures and conclude, “Beautiful, yes, but every client is so rich, every room is so big --- there’s not a single idea here that I can use.” And you’d be right. This isn’t a do-it-yourself-guide to making champagne rooms on a beer budget. It’s something else: a high-wire act, about balancing money and taste but caring less about either than about comfort."

You can see Duane and buy the book at any of the following events:

Saturday, July 3, 2010 -- 5 :00 PM to 7 :00 PM
Book signing
EMPIRE GALLERY
3 Madison Street
Sag Harbor, NY 11963

Thursday, July 8, 2010
Talk and book signing
STRAND BOOKSTORE
828 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

Saturday, July 10, 2010
Cocktail party & booksigning
RURAL RESIDENCE
316 Warren Street
Hudson, NY 12534-5404

Saturday, August 7, 2010
Book signing
ENGLISH COUNTRY ANTIQUES
53 North Sea Road
Southampton, NY 11968

Friday, September 24, 2010
NEBRASKA ANTIQUES AND GARDEN SHOW
Talk and book signing

Thursday, February 17, 2011 -- 2 :30 PM to 4 :30 PM
THE SOCIETY OF FOUR ARTS/Campus on the Lake
2 Four Arts Plaza
Palm Beach, FL 33480

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers gets Blurbed

2010-05-24T15:22:00.000-04:00

Late September will bring the publication of Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers' WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by HarperBusiness. The book charts how in the 20th century of hyper-consumption we were defined by credit, advertising, and what we owned, and how in the 21st century of Collaborative Consumption we will be defined by reputation, community, and by what we can access.

Here's what a couple of interesting people have to say about the book:

At a moment of general gloom, Roo Rogers and Rachel Botsman have offered a convincing, charming and in every sense collaborative account of how the new networks that have disrupted our lives are also likely to alter them, and entirely for our good. They offer not just a prescription for parts of our ailing economy, but a new vision of what ‘consumerism’ can be: not just a form of slavery to objects, but a thing in itself positive, progressive and pleasure-giving.
— Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon and Through the Children's Gate

People are normally trustworthy and generous, and the Internet brings the good out far more than the bad. We’re seeing an explosion of modest businesses where people help each other out via the Net, and What’s Mine Is Yours tells you what’s going on, and inspires more of the same.
— Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist

The cover is one of the best I've ever seen: it is by the deeply talented Nicholas Blechman of Knickerbocker Design.

And check out the Collaborative Consumption Groundswell video:

Collaborative Consumption Groundswell Video from rachel botsman on Vimeo.

Sifton Gives Zak Pelaccio's Fatty Cue Its Due in the New York Times

2010-05-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

The combination of American barbecue technique and South Asian flavors is brilliant and unsettling. It recalls, almost perfectly, what the Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa called the magic of the present moment. To eat at Fatty Crew’s new restaurant is to experience the very essence of nowness. No one else is cooking like this anywhere.

Read Sifton on the Subject of Fatty Cue.

Check out the Fatty Cue web site. Zak Pelaccio's untitled cookbook will be published by Dan Halpern at Ecco next year. Hail to Zak, aka "the aging idea guy, sometimes chef, trip leader!"

INTRODUCING The Adventures of Unemployed Man by Erich Origen and Gan Golan

2010-05-05T23:14:00.001-04:00

Mark my words: THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN will be a cultural phenomenon.

Its first rays of intelligent, wit-soaked speaking-truth-to-power are peeking over the horizon, and Erich Origen and Gan Golan offer a glimpse of the future with this preview of their hilarious and poignant book about unemployed superheroes, led by Unemployed Man and his sidekick Plan B. In this action-packed, richly illustrated story, everyday heroes are pitted against The Human Resource, Outsourcerer, The Invisible Hand and other economic villains ripped straight from today’s headlines.

Origen and Golan's GOODNIGHT BUSH was a national and regional bestseller, and gave humorous closure to a dark time. Check out The Official George W. Bush Presidential Librarium.

KABOOM's Matt Gallagher writes about the Impact of War in the Washington Post

2010-05-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

Matt begins the piece with: One of the benefits of publishing a war memoir, and then speaking at various events across the country, has been the opportunity to meet a group of Americans who genuinely care about the troops and veterans. Frankly, it's a segment of the population I didn't know existed in any real numbers during my deployment - self-righteousness is a common sin among soldiers and veterans alike - and it's been both humbling and gratifying. As a result, I'm often placed in the unique position of answering the simple question: "How can we help?"

in the beijinger, Peter Hessler says Goodbye to China

2010-05-04T14:59:00.000-04:00

Christine Laskowski speaks to Peter to ask him whether COUNTRY DRIVING really marks his farewell to the Middle Kingdom.

In The Guardian Kevin Rushby get white-knuckled with COUNTRY DRIVING by Peter Hessler

2010-04-30T19:31:00.000-04:00

Peter Hessler, the New Yorker's man in Beijing, has been an invaluable guide to modern China in his last two books, River Town and Oracle Bones.In Country Driving, which has just been longlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize, he continues to take us to places that others never seem to reach.

...Hessler may not be from "our China", but he is an extraordinarily sympathetic and patient outsider, albeit one whose motoring expectations are constantly confounded

....The book is full of wonderful close observations, such as the hitch-hiker with a "crooked moustache that crossed his lip like a calligrapher's mistake". The broader picture is of a culture being simultaneously destroyed and created before our eyes. The decor in Wei Jia's family living room in Sancha becomes a symbol of the cultural and social mayhem. Progress has brought a motley accumulation of ornaments: a pig's fetus in a bottle, two Ming-dynasty cannons rescued from the Great Wall, a Buddhist shrine, two bottles of Johnnie Walker whisky, and pictures of a People's Army tank opposite one of the Denver skyline. The author looks around and reflects: "How could anybody hope to make sense of this world?"

We can only be grateful that we have Peter Hessler to try.

New York Social Diary Interviews Duane Hampton

2010-04-30T13:22:00.000-04:00

Sian Ballen opens with:

From the very start of my interview with Duane Hampton, widow of renowned decorator Mark Hampton, I felt like I was chatting with an old girl friend. She’s a witty, charming woman with a keen sense of humor who sees life for what it is and makes it work.

After the early death of her husband in 1998 she was left holding the (beautifully decorated) fort at the age of 55. As she herself says: “You have to figure out a new life for yourself—and it’s not all terrible.” While their youngest daughter, Alexa Hampton, continued to head the family design firm, Duane returned to her earlier career as a writer. Her latest book, Mark Hampton, An American Decorator, is released this week by Rizzoli. It is, as one might expect, a tribute to a man of many talents: a famous decorator, loyal friend, devoted father and a marriage to wife who was his equal partner on every stage.

TAG Fine Arts en route to New York!!!!

2010-04-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

Agency friends Hobby and Diana of TAG Fine Arts return once again to this year's AAF NYC. They will be exhibiting new and exclusive works from their stable of artists including Adam Bridgland, Robin Duttson, Gonkar Gyatso (check out Gonkar's blog here), Hazel Nichols, John Pasche, Rob Ryan and David Spiller. They will also be bringing over from the UK previously unseen prints by established British artists including: Sir Peter Blake (featured here), Sir Terry Frost and Damien Hirst.

In a happy collaboration with the agency, TAG and Tibetan artist Gonkar Gyatso have given permission to Dzogchen Ponlop for him to use Gonkar's "The Buddha Sakyamuni," on the cover of REBEL BUDDHA: On the Road to Freedom, which will be published starting in November in numerous languages around the world. About the book, Pema Chödrön, author of WHEN THINGS FALL APART, says REBEL BUDDHA "shatters old myths and sweeps away cultural baggage, presenting the essence of the Buddha's teachings in a fresh, contemporary voice. With uncommon clarity and authority, he offers a new vision for the future of Buddhism that is at once shocking and hopeful. This is a small book with a big message that is timely and important."

The Moderate Voice Embraces the Suck: Matt Gallagher's KABOOM

2010-04-26T20:30:00.000-04:00

Kathrine Tomlinson of California Literary Review tries to compare Gallagher’s book to other war literature – she misses the point. Ms Tomlinson has never been in the military or close to war and doesn’t understand that this is not a book about war but a book about soldier’s relationships in war. It’s about what they refer to in the military as esprit de corps. It’s about those personal relationships – looking out for others in your unit regardless of politics. -- Ron Beaseley

Check out this interview with Matt by Mr. Everything Eruptin:

"Logrolling in Our Time?" Bonnie Tsui on Jim Meehan, Others in Boston Globe

2010-04-25T22:58:00.000-04:00

Intrepid explorer client Bonnie Tsui happens to write about Jim Meehan, mixologist client, in "Straight-up retro" in this pleasing coincidence.

Three Golfers' and An Agent's Journey to London

2010-04-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

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William Clark Associates--also known as me, myself, and I--represented at the volcano-challenged London Book Fair this year, which took place from the 20th through the 22nd of April, and from which so many Americans and Europeans were absent and missed. Many associates--family, friends, and colleagues--have inquired after our attendance, so setting aside the attentions of our wife on a Sunday evening, here goes...

Preparations for the fair had consumed many preceding weeks, among them proofing the rights lists, selling in translation rights, and developing new projects and strategy for selling their primary rights while there. Equally determined to take our annual guest room at The Charles Lamb in Islington, run by our impeccably gracious friend Camille Hobby-Limon, and even enjoy a cocktail or two at her and Professor Tony Conigliaro's new bar, 69 Colebrooke Row, upon arrival on Thursday evening, we woke to a cancelled flight at five o'clock that morning, and booked the only available flight on Aer Lingus to London via Shannon on Friday night. With things shutting down throughout Friday, passage was only guaranteed to Shannon by takeoff. If Ireland, then England!

By takeoff the flight was diverted to Dublin, and it was there we shivered in windbreaker at ten to six on Saturday morning, before taking a taxi to Dun Laoghaire, one of the ferry ports to the United Kingdom. A minivan of guys who had behaved convivially on the flight over were unfolding onto the curb in front of the taxi, and they were made agency associates as they worked their cell phones and laptops intently. The obviously capable trio were golfers heading home from a tour, including The Masters at Augusta, and several rounds at Pinehurst. Including Rich, the affable golf pro from Roehampton, their American-style country club outside London; Adam, a derivatives trader who works in Islington, and the original Mr. "Can Do;" and "Mr. Church" from Wandsworth, who married Ms. Church of Church's Shoes, otherwise known as Jeremy. All kind and generous fellows, who were happy to have my contribution to the effort, if not my company.

A port officer showed up at the quay and unlocked the doors, though the ferry ticket windows would remain closed until 11:00. As other hopeful travellers were arriving at this desolate port, my acquaintances determined we needed to go as far north as possible to definitely get a ferry to Scotland. Such a port would be Larne, somewhere somewhat north of Belfast, and a three hour trip from where we were. Negotiating a fare with the golfers' driver from the airport, we fitted into the minivan already piled high with three set of golf clubs and three weeks' luggage and embarked for the north.

From Larne, Ireland we were ferried to Stranraer, Scotland; driven to Carlisle; and entrained at Carlisle for London, England. On the way down Jeremy pointed out the Church's factory as we passed by Northampton. Via air, land, and water, it was an olfactory and visual tour of those three countries, and our companionable quartet smelled each of their manures while taking in the most verdant vistas on a spectacularly cloudless day. We exchanged contact details before parting ways on the platform at Euston Station.

Stumbling down Elia Street around nine o'clock that evening, we gained a spring in our step reviewing the accomplishment, and were sufficiently revived to pursue that schedule fantasied prior: drinks and a visit to the new bar with Camille's husband, the irrepressible art dealer Hobby, regular guest in our house, also resident of the pub, of course, and partner in TAG Fine Arts.

Peter Ginna, Publisher and Editorial Director of Bloomsbury Press whose nom de plume de blog is Dr. Syntax, took a similar route, which you may read about here.

AMERICAN CHINATOWN author Bonnie Tsui covers In the Wild, With Tent and Tablecloth in The New York Times

2010-04-23T11:12:00.000-04:00

In today's Travel section Bonnie writes about the increasing number of expedition companies that offer culinary instruction along with outdoor adventure.

On GQ, Jim Meehan posts on The Platinum Age of the Cocktail

2010-04-22T13:30:00.000-04:00

Bartender Jim Meehan of New York's PDT on the people and cocktails that started a drinking revolution. Today: A modern classic from an industry legend

COUNTRY DRIVING by Peter Hessler on Samuel Johnson Prize Longlist

2010-04-22T04:43:00.000-04:00

We are happy to share the news that Peter Hessler's COUNTRY DRIVING has made the longlist for the UK's most prestigious non-fiction award, the Samuel Johnson Prize!

Penelope Green is At Home With Duane Hampton in The New York Times

2010-04-22T04:18:00.000-04:00

On the eve of the publication by Rizzoli of MARK HAMPTON: An American Decorator, Penelope Green speaks with author Duane Hampton about her "love letter to her late husband and a vivid portrait of the times he lived and worked in."

In The New Yorker, Peter Hessler Goes West

2010-04-13T07:08:00.000-04:00

Read Peter's "Go West," his New Yorker Personal History piece, about his return to the U.S. after living in China for fifteen yeards, never having lived here as an adult. Read as he changes his name while signing up for phone service and receives calls as Peter Chang, has some fun on a cold call with an NRA representative, then has his picture taken with a fake Elvis marathon runner in Vegas.

KABOOM's Matt Gallagher discusses The Things Civilians Don't Understand About War on NPR'S Talk of the Nation

2010-04-13T06:40:00.000-04:00

Join Matt, author of KABOOM: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War and former Captain, U.S. Army, and Gary Solis, author of THE LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT and adjunct professor of law, Georgetown University, in a conversation with Neal Conan about the response to the leaked video of U.S. gunners in an Apache helicopter killing 12 people in Baghdad.

Join Rev. Billy at the Highline Ballroom for a MOUNTAINTOP REVIVAL!

2010-04-12T16:36:00.000-04:00

The earth is a communications field, a sky of soaring voices, oceans of articulate echoes. With mountain-top removal JP Morgan Chase is creating these hulking vaults of silence. But silence never exists in the thick tapestry of intelligence that is nature. The earth fills up its space with talking and listening beings. We are invited to talk and listen too. --Rev

Author of THA DOGGFATHER hits New York

2010-04-12T07:27:00.000-04:00

Snoop is much less controversial than he was when I sold his autobiography written with Davin Seay THA DOGGFATHER: The Times, Trials, And Hardcore Truths Of Snoop Dogg to William Morrow back in 1997 (Publishers Weekly: "Like the verses Snoop raps, his book comes fast and full of insight;" Kirkus: "an amusing, contemplative memoir"), and The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones describes what I've always liked about his music nicely in his mention of his upcoming shows at the Brooklyn Bowl on April 19th and Irving Plaza on the 20th, writing: "few rappers have an instrument that matches Snoop’s: an easy baritone with a high ceiling that dominates any beat it faces but never tightens. Snoop’s sense of how words land is unerring, and he moves with a physical confidence that betrays a lifetime of knowing—and expecting—that he is being watched."

A HEARTBEAT AND A GUITAR author Antonino D'Ambrosio in Philadelphia and CUNY

2010-04-12T06:44:00.000-04:00

On Saturday the 17th at 4PM he will be presenting A Heartbeat and a Guitar at the prestigious Philadelphia Book Festival. This will be a bigger, expanded show with Martin Perna, Anthony Roman, David Milone, and Gustavo Rodriguez.

On Saturday, April 24th, Antonino presents his visual art film series La Terra Promessa (Part 1 In Sun & Shadow, Part II Diamanti nel di Massima), will be screened at the CUNY's Calandra Institute as part of Terre Promesse: Excursions Towards Italian Topographies.

11–12:15 PM

LA GALLERIA CREATIVE SPACES
For further information call (212) 642-2094.

Artist Shepard Fairey (book cover art for A Heartbeat and a Guitar and film art for Let Fury Have the Hour), has invited Antonino to write the essay for his upcoming NYC exhibit "MAY DAY" opening May 1 at the Deitch Gallery. The essay , "May Day Calling," will be printed on the back of the signature piece of the exhibit and offered as a print by Fairey in the coming weeks.

Alan Tanksley on Open House NYC

2010-04-11T08:32:00.000-04:00

Join my brother-in-law as he discusses the many design challenges he faced while designing a 3,000 square foot apartment ccupying the entire fourth floor of a cast-iron building in Soho.

the stranger reviews PINK NOISE by Tara Rodgers

2010-04-08T17:38:00.000-04:00

Read Ponlop Rinpoche on how the Buddha wasn't a Buddhist in The Washington Post

2010-04-06T16:27:00.000-04:00

John Meacham and Sally Quinn's conversation on religion and politics continues with Ponlop Rinpoche, author of the forthcoming REBEL BUDDHA: On the Road to Freedom (Shambhala, Fall 2010). The agency is currently holding auctions for German and Dutch language rights. REBEL BUDDHA addresses a younger generation of readers interested in Buddhism, and describes the Buddhist path from a personal, experiential point of view. At the same time, its message is radical and no-nonsense: strip your cultural clothing and expose the naked wisdom and compassion at the core of your heart. It's smart, funny, hip, and provocative, easy to read, full of heartwarming stories, and intelligence.

Zak Pelaccio discusses the History of BBQ and the Way of Fatty Cue on Heritage Radio Network

2010-04-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

And join Linda Pelaccio (who, aside from being Zak's mom, is a former producer of talk radio and TV food shows, and is a member of Culinary Historians of New York, New York Women's Culinary Alliance, Les Dames d'Escoffier, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP)) for A Taste of the Past for a half hour each week as she indulges her curiosity about food, cooking, drinking and dining of the past by taking a journey through culinary history. Linda interviews authors, scholars, friends and chroniclers to learn about what was eaten, where, and how, from as long ago as ancient Mesopotamia and Rome right up to the grazing tables and deli counters of today. The show underscores food as a lively link between present and past cultures.

Learn more at: www.culinaryhistoriansny.org

On NewYorker.com, Peter Hessler's "The Great Whatnot of China"

2010-04-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

As a personal decision, Google’s stance toward China is admirable, because the company turned down profits in order to make a statement. And it’s an effective way for Sergey Brin to express valuable lessons that he learned during the past in the Soviet Union. But his statement might have less relevance to the China of today and especially to the China of tomorrow. It reflects a frustration that is common among more idealistic foreigners, who have always hoped to provide a guiding light to the Reform years. By now it’s obvious that the Chinese reality is far murkier—all that whatnot, the great gray zone of personal improvement without political advancement. And the country has shown a strong and stubborn tendency to resist following any political model imported from abroad. Outsiders might have a great deal of influence, but it’s often indirect; foreigners can provide key tools, but the Chinese are determined to figure out how to use them on their own. And now, when it comes to the Internet, there’s one less tool out there.