The St. Mark’s Bookshop has now officially announced what we broke news of two weeks ago — that it’s facing eviction by the New York City Housing Authority. In an email sent yesterday, co-owner Bob Contant asks followers to donate money so that the troubled shop can restock its shelves, get an interested investor to take over its lease, and fulfill the terms of a settlement with the city. So far, a crowdfunding campaign has raised just over $21,800 of the desired $150,000.
But don’t fire up that “print is dead” thought piece just yet. While things look pretty dire for the Bookshop, its East Village neighbor, Strand Book Store, is touting its best holiday season ever, and has announced that yearly traffic was up by 30,000 people.
The Dogist Tuesday, October 20 at 7 p.m. Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway (NoLIta).
The Dogist himself, Elias Weiss Friedman, will be talking with Stacie Grissom of the BarkPost newsletter about the release of The Dogist: Photographic Encounters with 1,000 Dogs. The event is being held in celebration of the book’s release and in recognition of October being Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, so the ASPCA will be there, too, with a few furry friends in need of a home. Strand asks that you please keep your own pooch at home, but BarkBox will be on hand with all the materials you need to make a pup-friendly doggie bag to take home, so you don’t have to feel too bad about Fido missing out. Brews will be on hand from Radiant Pig Craft Beers, so buy a copy of The Dogist or a $15 gift card for admission and stop by Strand for a doggone good time.
Elvis Costello Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 33 East 17th Street (Union Square).
Hear the story of little Declan Patrick MacManus and how he grew up to become Elvis Costello in the musician’s long anticipated memoir written entirely by Costello, Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink. In it he writes about his family, his songwriting, and his fellow musicians (the book’s description name drops Johnny Cash, The Specials, Van Morrison and The Clash, to name a few). The memoir will be accompanied by a two-disc “soundtrack album” culled from his expansive catalog. Rolling Stone recently reported that Costello himself curated the 38-song collection, which includes two previously unreleased tracks. Don’t miss your chance to meet one of rock’s greatest, most unlikely elder statesmen.
Robert Goolrick’s most recent novel, The Fall of Princes, finds retired 1980s ad man Rooney writing his memoir after an era of American Psycho-style unrepentant debauchery and greed (but without the murdering). Join the author for a discussion with the undeniably fabulous author and actress Joan Juliet Buck. (She played Madame Elisabeth Brassart in Julie & Julia and wrote an essay about being intimidated by Nora Ephron during the audition, and she’s written for a bunch of fancy publications, including Vogue, W, and The New Yorker.) And Algonquin’s publisher Elisabeth Scharlatt will be there, too. Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway (Noho).
It’s the 20th Anniversary of everyone’s favorite ’90’s teen classic, the one that taught us it’s okay to be a confused, hymenally challenged teenager who can’t drive because as long as you stay true to thyself, at the end of the day your smokin’ stepbrother will still have the hots for you.
What better way to celebrate Clueless than with writer/director Amy Heckerling, who was rollin’ with her homies, a throng of dedicated Clueless fans, at Strand? Heckerling appeared at the bookstore Monday for a Q&A with Jen Chaney, author of As If: An Oral History of Clueless. Here’s what Heckerling, who despite creating the definitive Valley girl is a New Yorker through and through, had to say about the making of the movie and her plans for future Clueless projects. More →
Almost Famous, except about a girl. And set in the ’90s. And British. How to Build a Girl,described by the New York Times’ Dwight Garner as “a British version of ‘Almost Famous,’ delivered from a female perspective and set two decades later,” is celebrating its paperback release with a reading by author Caitlin Moran. She’s often compared to Tina Fey and Lena Dunham, “which is fair so far as it goes,” according to Garner, “though I’d add Amy Winehouse and the early Roseanne Barr to the mix.” Watch her read excerpts from her comic novel about a poor teen determined to reinvent herself as a rock critic in 1990s London. Tuesday, July 7 at 7 p.m. Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway (East Village).
As we get ready to watch Kate Bolick read from Spinster, “a revelatory and slyly erudite look at the pleasures and possibilities of remaining single,”tonight at 20 Cooper Square (6-8 p.m.), here’s a selection of other feminist-esque literary happenings this week. There are talks from a social critic and women’s rights advocate, an outspoken actress/poet, the folks at The Feminist Press, and of course there’s a modern take on Jane Eyre. All that and more, straight ahead.
After tearing through St. Vitus on Tuesday, John Lydon settled into one of the Strand’s big leather chairs to rap about his new memoir, Anger Is an Energy, with Buzzfeed Books editor Isaac Fitzgerald. First things first, he announced that Public Image Ltd. is putting out a new album titled What the World Needs Now… and will tour in October and November. Then he explained the chef’s outfit he was wearing: “We were on our way to an interview and I seen the store that said ‘Uniforms Going Cheap’ — not kidding: $30.”
We have to admit, we steered clear of Russell Brand’s reading at Strand Book Store last night. Had we gone to see the hyperactive, hyperbolic comic-turned-crusader, we probably would’ve been the guy mentioned in this tweet: “Huge line outside the Strand; I ask a man what for, and his voice is noticeably ashamed as he says, ‘it’s for a Russell Brand reading.'” More →
Who says girls can’t be crime writers? Well, no one actually, because that’s clearly not a valid argument. But just in case some loser out there is preparing his talking points, let me present a succinct rebuttal: Megan Abbott and Chelsea Cain. Abbot is author of recently released The Fever(“a chilling story about guilt, family secrets, and the lethal power of desire” set in a small town whose female teenage inhabitant are in the throes of a mysterious plague), while Cain has produced numerous best-selling books. Her latest, One Kick, is the first in a new series featuring protagonist Kick Lannigan—famously kidnapped as a child, and now called upon to help solve a new missing child case. These ladies are clearly queens of suspense: The Guardian called One Kick “a dark, dangerous journey into evil to find the vanished children, and entirely hide-away-until-you-finish-it gripping,” while the New York Timesfound The Fever “a gripping and unsettling novel.” See the terrible two in conversation at The Strand.
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