February 2001

 

Saturday, February 3 at 10:45 am
Storytime with Billie Harris and Brett Taylor

We invite children and adults alike to join us for a grand time. Billie Harris--whose marvelous, whimsical voice can be heard on KUSP's Castle Cottage---joins us for another monthly story time for young children. She is joined by the amazing Brett Taylor whose Latin beat can be heard on KUSP's The Global Village. He joins us to read some delightful books in Spanish for those who love to hear that lyrical language as much as English.
Note: We have moved Storytime to the First Saturday of every month! Mark your calendars.

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Saturday, February 3 at 7:30 pm
Marc Cooper
Pinochet and Me: A Chilean Anti-Memoir(Verso)

Marc Cooper, contributing editor and radio host for The Nation, was thrown out of the California State University system for anti-war activities in 1971. This young student traveled to Santiago, Chile to witness its political and social transformation under the first democratically elected Socialist President, Salvador Allende. Cooper served as a translator for Allende until the 1973 military coup, and found his life forever changed by the bloodshed that followed. Pinochet and Me follows the events of the coup, its confusing aftermath, and the sorted history of three decades of official stories, radical capitalism, and protected democracy. His insights into Chile's national psyche, both before and arrest the London arrest of Augusto Pinochet, are both prophetic and vitally important. In recounting his own relationship with Chile, Marc Cooper makes a strong case the nation's future lies in understanding its past.

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Monday, February 5 at 7:30 pm
Jett Psaris and Marlena Lyons
Undefended Love: The Way you felt about Yourself When you first Fell in Love is the Way You Can Feel All the Time (New Harbinger)

Veteran psychologists Jett Psaris and Marlena Lyons have created a clear and effective roadmap to enduring, supportive relationships and the intimacy they demand. With depth and warmth, this readable book leads us to disarm our emotional defenses and boldly share our innermost selves, creating a sustaining, unmediated love.

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Wednesday, February 7 at 7:30 pm
Deborah Copaken Kogan
Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War (Villard)

After dreaming of the dangerous life during her suburban childhood, Deborah Copaken Kogan jumped into wartime photojournalism with the same courage and wit that she pours onto the pages of her memoir. While covering issues like the Afghani freedom fighters and a Soviet coup, she faced the violence of wars, the sexism of her field, and the conflicts, as well as the beauty, of her fierce independence and her own lovers. A candid, mesmerizing drama.

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Thursday, February 8 at 7:30 pm
Tony Cohan
On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel (Broadway)

When Tony Cohan and his wife visited friends in central Mexico in 1985, they fell under the spell of an irresistible sixteen century mountain town where the cobblestone streets are splashed with bougainvillea and saturated colors and the sound of fiestas fills the air. From peso devaluations to earthquakes, water shortages to jail breaks, On Mexican Time captures the indelible characters, curious incidents, little tragedies and large delights of living in one of the world's most desirable travel destinations.

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Tuesday, February 13 at 7:30 pm
Dave Draper
Brother Iron, Sister Steel ()

Mr. Universe himself, Dave Draper, our local iron-willed and iron-muscled celebrity, has written a powerful book that covers training strategies as well as tells of his own trials and experiences from his humble beginnings. With wit and humility, Dave Draper delivers a motivating and factual program, inspiring new and experienced body-builders around the world.

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Thursday, February 15 from 6:30--8:00 pm
Writing Group

Every third Thursday of the month, join Book Cafe's Wendy Mayer as she leads our writer's group, which meets upstairs in the back of the store. These meetings are free and open to everyone. The intent is to provide an opportunity for local writers at any stage to come together and write. Due to the limited amount of time, the group will focus on short exercises and sharing of information rather than group critique. Putting pen to paper is the name of the game.

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Thursday, February 15 at 7:30 pm
Dagoberto Gilb
Woodcuts of Women (Grove Atlantic)

We're pleased to welcome back one of our favorite contemporary fiction writers. Of Dagoberto Gilb's newest collection, Sandra Cisneros says, "Woodcuts of Women portrays men in the brightness of rage, lousy jobs, divine lust, and especially, in the dazed sucker punch of love. Love, after all, is what this book is about, love from the heart, and from the other need vortex below the waist as well. Love 'that makes you sick like a flu'. Here is the Southwest without myth and sentimentality. And here are los hombres, with all their bravado and hungry hurt." Need we say more?

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Friday, February 16 at 7:30 pm
Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., M. S.
Kindred Spirits: How the Remarkable Bond Between Humans and Animals Can Change the Way We Live (Broadway)

Once facing deep criticism for his unorthodox belief that animals possessed emotions and feelings, conventionally trained veterinarian Allen M. Schoen brings new compassion and healing to the lives of humans and their pets. With a plea for respect of all species and the medical proof that sensitive, holistic treatment works, Dr. Schoen's book dramatically shows how the animal-human connection is a manifold blessing.

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Sunday, February 18 at 7:30 pm
Tracy Hogg
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate With Your Baby (Ballantine)

Well-rested parents call Tracy Hogg the "Baby Whisperer" and for good reason. In 1997, she founded Baby Technique, through which she consults with parents individually, organizes and teaches group classes, and provides nanny training and referrals. With her vast knowledge of maternity nursing, she teaches new parents how to communicate with infants so everyone gets to nap and eat when needed! Her easy-to-follow instructions combined with a profound respect for children, make her new book a terrific, inspiring resource for nannies and parents alike.

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Monday, February 19 at 7:30 pm
Eesha Williams
Grassroots Journalism (Apex Press)

Praised by Ralph Nader and coveted by journalism professors and reporters alike, Eesha Williams' Grassroots Journalism instructs news writers how to survive in the fierce field of journalism to cover the stories that truly matter. As NYU Associate Professor William Serrin says, "Business and government have long paid people to help get their sides of the issues to the public. Grassroots Journalism aims to balance the scales."

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Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 pm
Sara Miles
How to Hack a Party Line: Democrats and Silicon Valley (FSG)

Silicon Valley's industrial economy and its embrace of the values of globalism and innovation make for a powerful political scene. With acute political analysis and a strong narrative style, Sara Miles explores how democracy reacts when traditional area liberalism and aggressive high-tech business grow together.

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Sunday, February 25 at 7:30 pm
Lois-Ann Yamanaka
Father of the Four Passages (FSG)

Known for her dynamic writing as well as her memorable, dramatic readings, Lois-Ann Yamanaka will give the best theaters a run for their money. Her impressive, wrenching fourth novel takes us into the personal anguish of a drug-hazed Hawaiian woman raising an infant son in Las Vegas. The quick, punch-throwing prose recreates the pathos of the woman's existence as her wandering father's letters begin to reawaken her. A daring, moving novel.

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Tuesday, February 27 at 7:30 pm
John Isbister
Capitalism and Justice: Envisioning Social and Economic Fairness (Kumarian Press)

In our capitalistic world, where is the social justice? Fellow UC Santa Cruz professor Dana Frank feels that within his Capitalism and Justice "John Isbister dares to imagine taming capitalism in the name of equality and fairness...[building an] important argument for placing social justice and environmental health before the logic of profit." Provocative yet possible, Isbister's ideas are an achievement for social and economic justice worldwide.

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Wednesday, February 28 at 7:30 pm
Carol Field
Mangoes and Quince (Morse Partners)

This alluring fiction debut is gorgeously written with delicious exotic recipes scattered throughout the narrative. Award-winning cookbook author Carol Fields has written a sensual and intense debut novel. From the rains of Amsterdam to the sweet breezes of the South Seas, Mangoes and Quince sings of beauty and pain in this story of mothers, daughters, sorcery, and sexual violence.