Reading Recap: Dave Eggers, “Zeitoun”

Vermont Avenue’s Skylight Books overflowed last night with Los Angeles literati eager to catch a glimpse of indie lit ambassador Dave Eggers. If you had arrived on time, you’d have gotten your copy of his latest nonfiction book, Zeitoun, about one family’s incredible survival of Hurricane Katrina, and a place in line to get it [...]

Reading Recap: Attica Locke, “Black Water Rising”

Almost as thrilling as getting your own book published (I can imagine) is seeing the publication of a friend’s. Last night I got to experience what every writers group participant hopes to one day—seeing the same words that had been developed and honed in a workshop finally appear between hard covers.
Years ago I participated in [...]

Reading Recap: Glen David Gold, “Sunnyside”

Just two degrees separate author Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil) from Charlie Chaplin, the subject of his follow-up novel Sunnyside: Gold’s great aunt Ingrid lived next door to the iconic silent film star in Switzerland. (Although it’s true that Chaplin was known to read portions of his autobiography to friends and neighbors and [...]

“Every Life Is Worthy of a Novel”

At a special event curated by novelist Mona Simpson at the Hammer Museum in Westwood last week, Michael Cunningham (Specimen Days, The Hours, A Home at the End of the World) gave the audience an early holiday present: a reading from his as-yet unpublished, untitled next novel. The passage was enthralling, and he cut it [...]

Glowing Bags of Poison

“Hey, look, Ma! I’m a writer!”
This is how Ron Carlson, author of four novels (most recently Five Skies) and four collections of short stories, characterized the writing in his first book, Betrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, last night at a literary salon moderated by Janet Fitch (Paint It Black, White Oleander). The event, hosted by [...]