July 2002

 

Tuesday, July 9 at 7:30p.m.
Denise Osborne
Positioned to Die (Berkeley)

There is good feng shui....then there is bad. Washington, D.C.'s hottest home decorator has been found dead-at home. Teaming up with a private eye, feng shui consultant Salome Waterhouse hopes to uncover negative energy and the truth. Salome has her suspicions, and her new neighbor is one of them. But so far, the only thing she can pin on him is bad taste. And that's not a crime -- yet. Acclaimed local author Denise Osborne is kicking off her tour and the second book in her series at the Book Cafe. Join us for a night of intrigue and pick up some good tips on how to make your home more harmonious.

---

Wednesday, July 10 at 7:30p.m.
Amulya Malladi
Breath of Fresh Air (Ballantine)

Amulya Malladi and her family were living in Bhopal, India in December 1984 when the infamous explosion of the Union Carbide factory occurred; only the blessing of favorable wind direction saved them from the poisonous gas that spilled into the air. This tragic event of her childhood was the impetus behind the novel, Breath of Fresh Air, a story of an Indian woman who survives the accident and goes on to a scandalous divorce from an arranged marriage, a successful teaching career, and a role of a mother to her son whose declining health reunites her with her ex-husband and the turbulent years of her marriage. This plainspoken, beautifully rendered novel illuminates the duality of the contemporary Indian woman and the human ability for forgiveness and perseverance.

---

Thursday, July 11 at 7:30p.m.
Jeffrey Meyers
Inherited Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Vietnam (Simon and Schuster)

On April 6, 1970, the charismatic Sean Flynn rode his motorcycle into a roadblock, was captured by the Vietcong, and vanished into the jungle. Errol's son shared his father's good looks, charm, athleticism, courage and artistic talent. But Sean also inherited his father's love of risk, compelling him to lead an equally romantic but tragically brief life. Jeffrey Meyer's astute new book is a brilliant father-son biography of the scandalous life of movie star Errol Flynn -- and of his son's equally glamorous yet doomed career as a war photographer in Vietnam.

---

Tuesday, July 16 at 7:30p.m.
Betty Auchard
Chocolate for a Teen's Spirit (Simon and Schuster)

You may remember Betty from our Steinbeck celebration earlier this year. Her enthusiasm and capable prose provoked strong praise. Now, along with various contributors, she joins us to celebrate her newest publication Chocolate for a Teen's Spirit. Seven of her tender and funny stories have already appeared in anthologies written by women called the "Chocolate for a Woman's Soul" series. She joins us now to share others and celebrate the writers published in this new charming collection for families and teens.

---

Wednesday, July 17 at 7:30p.m.
Peggy Vincent
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife (Scribner)

After fifteen years as a delivery-room nurse, ten as a natural childbirth teacher, and three as the director of the first alternative birth center in the East Bay, Peggy Vincent became a licensed midwife specializing in homebirths. And with every birth comes an unforgettable story. More than a collection of birth stories ranging from humorous to tragic to miraculous, Baby Catcher is a provocative, highly personal account of the ongoing difficulties midwives face in the U.S. and a deeper look into the resurgence of a mother's decision to stay at home -- allowing birth to be the way it was meant to be rather than what physicians say it should be.

---

Thursday, July 18 at 7:30p.m.
Tom Stone
Summer of My Greek Taverna: A Memoir (Simon and Schuster)

Meaning to stay one summer but seduced by the beauty of the tiny Greek isle Patmos and the love of his now wife Danielle, Tom Stone lived seven idyllic years in Greece before moving his family to Crete. Receiving an offer to partner a beach taverna on Patmos, Stone jumped at the chance to return to his isle of first love against the advice of his wife who warned him to be wary of the owner Theologos - a Greek bearing gifts. Stone no longer had leisurely oregano-scented lunches with friends, but slaved and sweated in his restaurant, urged on by the Theologos' promises of profits and the growing success of The Beautiful Helen. By the end of the season, however, the old adage came true: Stone had been cheated out of thousands of dollars and had been proved a modern-day innocent abroad. Complete with recipes, humor, and heartache, this is a Greek tragedy to savor!

---

Tuesday, July 23 at 5:30p.m.*
Tim Farrington
The Monk Downstairs (Harper San Francisco)

An old-fashioned love story with a twist... The Monk Downstairs is a smart and graceful telling of a unexpected love triangle involving an ex-monk, the divorced mother of a precocious 6-year-old, and God. Rebecca is a divorced mother with a room to rent and a sense she has used up her illusions of passion and dreams. Michael is a warm, sneakily attractive man divorced from 20 years of the contemplative life who needs a place to live while he fumbles towards a new approach to living in this world. The attraction and complications are undeniable, yet the story of this unlikely couple who can no longer hide from what really matters makes a charming, memorable tale. The author of Blues for Hannah returns with a Bay Area romance of unexpected warmth and intelligence.
* Please Note Time *

---

Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Wild Writing Women (Globe Pequot)

Edgy, spiritual, and courageous, Wild Writing Women is a tantalizing collection of free-spirited stories written by twelve dynamic women in motion. From the Left Bank of Paris to the lemur forests of Madagascar, these women--- united by their San Francisco writer's group and addiction to living fully--- have trekked, danced, and loved their way around the globe. As Tim Cahill says, this unruly collection is "...the most distinctive and appealing travel anthology of the year." Let's welcome back these irreverent and irrepressible women!

---

Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoons (NBM Publishing)

Join Clay Butler, Tim Egan and Lloyd Dangle as we celebrate the wealth of political cartoonists in Santa Cruz County. "To hell with those hackneyed mainstream political cartoons," our guest artists shout. "Donkeys and elephants are history!" Here is the next generation of alternative paper cartoonists out to save the world, uncensored and unafraid. Attitude includes editorial and political cartoons that hit dead-on and interviews with the artists who create them.

---

Thursday, July 25 at 7 p.m.
World Affairs Book Club

In March the Book Cafe began a new book club focusing on global current history with Graham Parsons facilitating the discussion. As always, we welcome people of all backgrounds and affiliations to come participate. This month's book selection is The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran by Robin Wright. Of this remarkable work The Washington Post says, "Wright's reporting is comprehensive and meticulous...The Last Great Revolution is an exceptional contribution to the understanding of a mysterious and much maligned nation." Please join us for a fascinating discussion.

Order this

---

Monday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Joelle Fraser
The Territory of Men (Villard)

The daughter of a beautiful flower child and an alcoholic writer, Joelle Fraser grew up in the wild drug and music-filled era of the 60's and 70's in California and Hawaii. She had no bedtime and no boundaries, but she did have "dads" in abundance as her mother went from boyfriend to husband to boyfriend, torn between the traditional role of mother and the new freedoms of the "me" generation. What Joelle learned is that a woman's life is played out on men's territory: men arrive, they make life matter, and then they go away. This clear-eyed memoir captures a childhood with no center in vivid, frank writing and illustrates the legacy a mother passes on to a restless girl now grown.