She Is Too Fond Of Books ... » The 19th Wife

Spotlight on Bookstores: Rakestraw Books in Danville, California

sheistoofondofbooks — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:01:31 +0000

Today’s Spotlight on Bookstores is written by David Ebershoff, whose novel The 19th Wife has just been released in paperback. You can read my review of The 19th Wife, an interview with David, and a blurb about his reading at one of my local bookstores. He is an editor at Random House and author of The Danish Girl (which has been optioned for a film starring Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron) and Pasadena. Read on to learn about a special bookstore whose owner David Ebershoff has dubbed “Mr. Handseller of America” and where, as in many independent bookstores, he feels at home.

The first time I met Michael Barnard, the owner of Rakestraw Books in Danville, California, I messed up big time. It was several years ago, not long after I published my first novel, The Danish Girl, and I was in San Francisco to talk to a group of indie booksellers about the books I was editing for Random House and my own writing. I was seated next to Michael and immediately we found ourselves in a two-hour gab-fest about our mutual interests and experiences, including growing up in California, surviving bad dates, and, above all, books. After dinner Michael asked if I would walk him back to his car to a sign a copy of The Danish Girl. Of course! Outside on the damp street I happily uncapped my pen and began to inscribe the book while Michael looked on. For John, I wrote, while Michael’s face began to twist up. It was so nice getting to know you. That’s when Michael politely corrected me: My name’s not John.

I told that story the first time I spoke in Michael’s store, a few years later, while on tour for my second novel, Pasadena. Michael had packed the place with almost a hundred people, most of whom Michael knew personally. And that’s what makes Michael and Rakestraw special. He knows his customers (he’s much better with names than I am) and therefore he knows what books to put into their hands. If there were an award for Mr. Handseller of America, Michael would have already won it. Multiple times.

Earlier this year, Rakestraw moved locations, growing in square footage at a time when most businesses are cutting back. Recently I made my first visit to Michael’s new store on Hartz Avenue while on tour for the paperback of my most recent novel, The 19th Wife. Many stores are rectangles, with one of the short sides as the storefront. Michael’s new store is a rectangle, but a long side faces the sidewalk, giving the store an unusually long wall of windows that fill the store with easy sunlight. From the outside you can see much of the store, making it impossible to resist one of Michael’s many inventive displays. (Once Michael created displays of books organized not by subject but by color: a table of royal blues and another piled up with orange jackets and spines. Believe it or not, it worked.)

When I walked into the new store, Michael’s mom first greeted me, as she always does. One of the great challenges for any bookseller is how to clone the owners’ (or managers’) knowledge and passion in their staff. Michael figured that out awhile ago by hiring his Mom, Julie. Not only does Julie know her customers as well as Michael does, she looks like him (or, more accurately, he looks like her). Between the two of them, they will find a book you will love.

The best booksellers are curators; they carefully select the books for their stores based on their own personal taste and that of their customers. It’s a myth to think a bookstore’s role is to present all titles equally. Even if a bookseller had the noble ambition to do so, it would be impossible. Rather, the bookstores I fall in love with – bookstores like Three Lives in New York and Vroman’s in Pasadena and Towne Center in Pleasanton and Watermark in Wichita – have thoughtfully, almost magically anticipated the book I want to read next, even when I don’t know what I want to read next. That’s why I walked out of Copperfield’sin Sonoma County a few weeks ago with John LeCarre’s A Perfect Spy, which in turn led to Nancy Olson at Raleigh’s Quail Ridge handing me William Boyd’s Restless from a display at her cash wrap last week. This is how the best independent bookstores work. It explains how the best have managed to hold their own against all the unsettling forces books are facing in 2009. And it’s why whenever we step into a place like Rakestraw we should rejoice, for we are home.

Booking Through Thursday: reading resolutions

sheistoofondofbooks — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:44:03 +0000

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by deb. To join in, or to see other responses to this week’s question, visit the BTT site.

Happy New Year, everyone!

So … any Reading Resolutions? Say, specific books you plan to read? A plan to read more ____? Anything at all?

Name me at least ONE thing you’re looking forward to reading this year!

Well, Happy New Year right back atcha, Deb (and everyone else!!).

Reading Resolutions … hmm … I’m not a resolution maker per se, the word sounds too formal and inflexible to me! I prefer to talk about establishing better habits or changing my approach to something … fine-tuning the way I do things (I know it’s all semantics, but the words I choose really impact my attitude about things!).

I’ve joined a number of reading challenges this year; while I do hope to complete them all, I’m taking them with a spirit of fun, no-pressure, let’s-see-where-this-goes. I’m hosting a LibraryThing Author Challenge, and I hope the participants in this challenge have fun with it, too!

I’ve loved discovering new authors in 2008 (both new-to-me and debut novelists). I’m looking forward to more of the same in 2009, but I’d also like to read wider across an author’s body of work. For example, I read David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife last year, and plan to read his earlier novels, Pasadena and The Danish Girl this year.

Is there one specific book on your must-read list for 2009?

David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl is being adapted to film starring Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron

sheistoofondofbooks — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:23:32 +0000

David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl is being made into a film, starring Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron. Kidman will play the role of artist Einar Wegener, “the world’s first post-op male transsexual,” and Theron will act as Gerda, Wegener’s artist wife. Aside from her starring role, Kidman is one of the producers for the film. The full story is in this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s the publisher’s synopsis of The Danish Girl, Ebershoff’s debut novel (2000), which is loosely based on the true story of Elinar and Gerda:

Inspired by the true story of Danish painter Einar Wegener and his California-born wife, this tender portrait of a marriage asks: What do you do when someone you love wants to change? It starts with a question, a simple favor asked of a husband by his wife on an afternoon chilled by the Baltic wind while both are painting in their studio. Her portrait model has canceled, and would he mind slipping into a pair of women’s shoes and stockings for a few moments so she can finish the painting on time. Of course, he answers. Anything at all. With that, one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the twentieth century begins.

I found Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife to be entertaining and well-written; the author himself is very personable, as I discovered when I met him at an author event, and later during an interview. I’ve had both The Danish Girl and Pasadena on my wish list since I read The 19th Wife. Now that a film is in the works, I have a deadline to read the novel before seeing the movie (so many books, so little time …) Have any of you read The Danish Girl? What do you think of the casting for the film?

Author interview: David Ebershoff and The 19th Wife

sheistoofondofbooks — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:03:42 +0000

A few weeks ago I reviewed David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife when he stopped by my blog on his “TLC Book Tour.” David offered to answer any questions that readers might have. Without further ado, I present a wonderful collection of questions, in-depth answers, some humor, a lovely photo of the author, and a cute dog:

Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog: I just finished this book yesterday and loved it. My question for David is, “Have you been a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints?”

David: I’ve never been a member of the LDS Church, but I spent quite a bit of time studying LDS doctrine and attended Sunday services for awhile.

Alyce at At Home With Books: I am wondering what he did to research the book as far as how gay people are treated in LDS, and if he has actually met with any multiple wives from FLDS.

David: I know some gay Mormons, many of whom have remarkable stories about how they have reconciled their faith, their cultural background, and their sexual orientation. The character of Tom is partially inspired by a man I met: a devout LDS member who found himself rejected by his church because he was gay. But rather than turning his back on his faith, he found a way to hold onto it, despite the fact that his religious authorities excommunicated him. He said to me, Just because I can’t enter a temple doesn’t mean all of a sudden I stop believing what I’ve believed my whole life. Faith, he said, is about what is in my heart, not what a bunch of church administrators say about who I can or cannot be. In my heart, I know I am right and on this issue my church is wrong.

I found this man’s resolve inspiring, and a testament to both his character and the depths of his faith. He, and others, pointed out to me that until 1978 the LDS Church denied its black members the priesthood. They believe that future church leaders will come to recognize its gay members as they see themselves: true Latter-day Saints. I’m sure many of today’s leaders say to themselves, That will never happen. But I’m also sure past leaders said the same thing about blacks and the priesthood. Time will tell.

Before I began writing the novel I interviewed a number of former plural wives to understand the issue from their perspective and to get a sense of what an isolated community was like from the inside. Some had been part of the FLDS, otherwise were indirectly affiliated. I was denied full interviews with practicing plural wives, although I had many brief but revealing conversations with several.

annie at anniegirl1138: I haven’t any questions for David but wanted to add that I found the way in which he connected all the characters to each other personally was very well done.

David: Thank you. Believe it or not, when I began writing I wasn’t entirely sure how the stories would come together. But I had faith in the mysterious process of writing and that at the right stage I would see the connections. And that’s what happened. The surprises that the reader experiences are surprises that I experienced too as I was writing the book.

Nicole: With so many people fleeing polygamous lifestyles, do they “recruit” new blood, perhaps ‘lost souls’ or those needing a greater social connection? If so, how far do go to “recruit?”

David: Proportionately, the number of people who flee is relatively small. It might seem like many people flee because we’ve been hearing their stories in books and on TV in the last few years and so we think there are a lot who have escaped. Religious communities like the FLDS expand essentially two ways: each woman tends to have more children than the average American woman; and some men find brides outside the community. There are web sites that help connect men and women interested in polygamy.

Nicole: Some groups that frequently marry within a defined circle will increase the likelihood of genetic diseases or traits, eg. the prevalence of Tay-Sachs in the Jewish population. Has this been noticed in any of these polygamy populations?

David: Yes, there has been an unusually high occurrence of Fumarese Deficiency in polygamous communities such as Hildale/Colorado City. This is a rare condition that retards a child’s mental development. It also manifests itself in unusual facial features. Circumstantial evidence suggests these cases are the result of the limited gene pool.

Nicole: When David did research for this book, what obstacles did he face? What did he do to overcome these obstacles? In particular, when interviewing women that left a polygamous lifestyle, did David feel that his gender was a barrier to the interview?

David: I began my research almost five years ago. At that time, there was little national attention on the issue. (I should note that Jon Krakauer’s superb non-fiction book Under the Banner of Heaven came out in 2003, and the local media in Arizona and Utah have been covering the story for many years with great attention and care). The women I spoke to were eager to share their stories. They wanted the nation to know about their experiences and they wanted to affect the debate (much like Ann Eliza Young before them). Some of my interviews lasted for several hours. They had a lot they wanted to tell me about being a plural wife, about growing up in a polygamous household, about the religious system that brought them to plural marriage, about the difficult choices they made in leaving. I didn’t feel that my gender was an obstacle to these interviews. Interviewing is about trust. I believe the people I interviewed for this book – men and women – came to understand my interest was sincere that I wanted to write about the issue from many sides.

Shana at Literarily: Given the many characters and story lines did David work from an extensive and detailed outline?

David: Not exactly an outline. After about a year of researching I conceived of the book’s narrative structure – that is, the way I would tell it. There’s a clear pattern to who is narrating: Jordan, followed by Ann Eliza, followed by someone connected to Ann Eliza – a sort of ABC, ABC, ABC pattern. Once I convinced myself it would work (at first I feared it would be too confusing), I realized I needed to further connect Jordan’s story to Ann Eliza’s. That’s when I started writing the “documents” – the preface by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the interview with Joseph Smith, the devotional hymn. I put “documents” in quotes because these, of course, are fictional. I wrote them in a way that would make them feel like authentic documents from the archives. I wanted to give the reader a sense of what it’s like to spend time in the archives and on-line researching 19^th century polygamy. So when I began to write I had a rough draft of my table of contents. It changed as I discovered further connections in the story, but the table of contents served as my map as I made my way through the novel.

Sherry at Semicolon: In light of his research into polygamous groups, I’d like to know what Mr. Ebershoff thinks about the recent events in Texas when a whole group of children were taken from their FLDS parents and placed in the custody of CPS?

David: When those children in Texas were removed from their families several months ago, I, like the rest of the country, looked on with an admixture of sadness, regret, anger, and uncertainty. Because I’ve visited a polygamous community like the one in Eldorado, Texas, and interviewed people who were raised under similar circumstances, I know how difficult life can be for children growing up in such complex households. Yet at the same time, when I saw those children boarding the buses, I had to ask: is this really what’s best for them? Are they really better off in the court system, than home with their mothers?

Polygamy presses against many core American values. By that I mean, we, as a nation, cherish our right to religious freedom, our right to privacy, and the right of others to believe what they choose to believe. These are values central to the American identity. They are ideals first established by the Founding Fathers. And yet polygamy forces us to ask ourselves, Are there limits to those rights? And if so, what are those limits? And who gets to determine them? Those are complex questions without simple answers. That is why the recent debate about polygamy and the families in Eldorado, Texas, is so similar to the debate that swirled around Ann Eliza Young in the 1870s and 1880s. If you compare her media coverage to that of the polygamists in Texas, you’ll see many similarities. This tells us that the nation has not resolved these issues.

To my mind, the best way to think about this situation is not in terms of religious freedom, but in terms of the rights of children. State and local authorities have existing legal frameworks for assessing and helping children who are being abused, or who are at risk of abuse. Those should apply here. Look, if 19 adult women and a man want to live together in one household, who am I to say they can’t? If that’s what they believe, then I have no right, or inclination, to interfere. But as soon as children come into the picture, which they inevitably do, the picture gets more complicated; it is no longer simply a matter of the beliefs of those 20 adults. It becomes a matter of the welfare of children, and the larger community has an obligation to them to make sure they are okay. The only way to do that is case by case, one by one.

Dawn at SheIsTooFondOfBooks: If you were to describe yourself, without using your vocation as an author/editor, what would you say about yourself?

David: Today, on a cold Monday morning in November, I would use these words to describe myself: quiet, curious, serious/silly, slow, lazy but motivated, a little introverted, dog-loving, tennis-obsessed, a roamer, a dreamer, a planner, a frequently uninformed self-teacher, a space-cadet, a weird and unpredictable combo of optimistic and pessimistic with optimism usually winning out. But if you were ask me tomorrow, I’m sure I would add a few more words.

Dawn at SheIsTooFondOfBooks: Is there anything else you’d like to add? I read an interview at Musings of a Bookish Kitty where you talked about Joey being inspired by a real pooch, very sweet and personal.

David: Joey, Tom’s dog who first appears on p. 305, is inspired by a real dog, Joey Brownstein, a sweet Golden Retriever. (Here’s his picture.) Joey – the real Joey – was a very good dog, well-behaved, thoughtful, affectionate, dignified, cheerful. Jordan’s dog, Elektra, is inspired my actual dog, Elektra, who is, let’s just say, not as well-behaved as Joey. The contrast between the real Joey and the real Elektra struck me as somewhat representative of the contrasts between Jordan and Tom, and so it made sense to include the dog storyline. Joey Brownstein passed away in 2006 at the age of 14 ½. We miss him very much. He was a good boy.

Dawn at SheIsTooFondOfBooks: I want to thank everyone who left a comment, and to thank David for taking the time to chat with us. I really enjoyed learned more about you, your research, and The 19th Wife itself (I didn’t pick up on the ABC ABC ABC pattern of perspective when I read it!).

Friday Finds: November 7, 2008

sheistoofondofbooks — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:52:37 +0000

I’m happy to see Friday rolling around this week! That nasty conjunctivitis/virus that has been working its way through my house the past two weeks finally hit me Four family members down, two to go … although I’m hoping my husband and LW12 will be spared! I wasn’t able to get out for the dinner/discussion of The Scarlet Letter with my TriCon book group last night, but I’m really happy I re-read this classic (which I wouldn’t have done if it weren’t the book group pick). I think we’re reading The Book Thief next month, which has been on my radar for a while. Here are my Friday Finds for the week:

Safe Suicidewas sent to me by the author, DeWitt Henry. DeWitt saw my review of Revolutionary Road and offered me his collection of linked biographical essays, which include stories of his friendship with Richard Yates:

Against a background of suburban Philadelphia in the 1950s, and the family secret of his father’s alcoholism, Henry comes of age as the youngest of four children. He rejects his father’s course in managing the family chocolate factory for a third generation, and goes on to college, then to graduate school in the 1960s, becoming a writer and teacher. When Henry marries, and becomes a father himself, he is impacted by the social revolutions of the 1970s, and struggles to avoid his father’s flaws. He leads a literary life in Boston, founds the literary magazine PLOUGHSHARES, teaches writing and literature, and befriends novelist Richard Yates. During 1980s, Henry suffers the deaths of his parents, infertility, rejections of his work, and setbacks in his teaching career. In the 1990s, while his daughter and adopted son are swept up into trials of adolescence and young adulthood, and as his wife grieves the deaths of friends and family, Henry confronts a spiritual abyss similar to his father’s, and learns to surrender to life, to love, to aging and mortality.

I got a nice surprise – I won a copy of Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran (Azadeh Moaveni) from a drawing at the Random House Reader’s Circle website. I opened up the book to see a note from the editor, none other than David Ebershoff, author of The 19th Wife! (my review is here). That reminded me that I have interview questions to submit to David; I’ll get that done today. In the meantime, more about Honeymoon in Tehran, which will be published in February:

Both a love story and a reporter’s first draft of history, Honeymoon in Tehran is a stirring, trenchant, and deeply personal chronicle of two years in the maelstrom of Iranian life.

In 2005, Azadeh Moaveni, longtime Middle East correspondent for Time magazine, returns to Iran to cover the rise of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As she documents the firebrand leader’s troublesome entry onto the world stage, Moaveni richly portrays a society too often caricatured as the heartland of militant Islam. Living and working in Tehran, she finds a nation that openly yearns for freedom and contact with the West, but whose economic grievances and nationalist spirit find a temporary outlet in Ahmadinejad’s strident pronouncements. Mingling with underground musicians, race car drivers, young radicals, and scholars, she explores the cultural identity crisis and class frustration that pits Iran’s next generation against the Islamic system.

And then the unexpected happens: Azadeh falls in love with a young Iranian man and decides to get married and start a family in Tehran. Suddenly, she finds herself navigating an altogether different side of Iranian life. Preparing to be wed by a mullah, she sits in on a government marriage prep class where young couples are instructed to enjoy sex. She visits Tehran’s bridal bazaar and finds that the Iranian wedding has become an outrageously lavish–though often still gender-segregated–production. When she becomes pregnant, she must prepare to give birth in an Iranian hospital, at the same time observing her friends’ struggles with their young children, who must learn to say one thing at home and another at school.

Despite her busy schedule as a wife and mother, Azadeh continues to report for Time on Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West and Iranians’ dissatisfaction with Ahmadinejad’s heavy-handed rule. But as women are arrested on the street for “immodest dress” and the authorities unleash a campaign of intimidation against journalists, the country’s dark side reemerges. This fundamentalist turn, along with the chilling presence of “Mr. X,” the government agent assigned to mind her every step, forces Azadeh to make the hard decision that her family’s future lies outside Iran.

Powerful and poignant, fascinating and humorous Honeymoon in Tehran is the harrowing story of a young woman’s tenuous life in a country she thought she could change.

And for a work of fiction, I have Who By Fire, the debut novel by Diana Spechler. I discovered Diana’s book on Book Club Girl, where she’ll be part of the Authors on Air interview series on November 20. Diana wrote a fun post about Book Club Expo here. I’m looking forward to reading Who By Fire:

Bits and Ash were children when the kidnapping of their younger sister, Alena—an incident for which Ash blames himself—caused an irreparable family rift. Thirteen years later, Ash is living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel, cutting himself off from his mother, Ellie, and his wild-child sister, Bits. But soon he may have to face them again; Alena’s remains have finally been uncovered. Now Bits is traveling across the world in a bold and desperate attempt to bring her brother home and salvage what’s left of their family.

Sharp and captivating, Who by Fire deftly explores what happens when people try to rescue one another.

A great week, right? Autobiographical essays, memoir and fiction … everything from soup to nuts!

What books have found their way into your home and into your heart this week?

Book Review: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff…..AND….we need your help!

sheistoofondofbooks — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:26 +0000

I’d like to welcome David Ebershoff and his novel The 19^th Wife to today’s stop on his TLC Book Tour.

Faith … is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain.

— Ann Eliza Young, as channeled by David Ebershoff in The 19th Wife

About a month ago I posted about attending a reading of David Ebershoff’s The 19^th Wife. At the time I had read only about 30 pages of the novel, just enough to get a taste of his writing style. In those first 30 pages I read:

the title page and preface to a faux memoir titled The 19^th Wife: One Lady’s Account of Plural Marriage and Its Woes, ostensibly written by Ann Eliza Young the former wife of Brigham Young (summer 1874)
the introduction to Ann Eliza’s memoir, “penned” by Harriet Beecher Stowe
the prologue to a contemporary faux memoir titled Wife #19: A Desert Mystery, by Jordan Scott a 20-ish gay man who was raised in a polygamist community until excommunicated in his mid-teens
an email exchange imbedded in Jordan Scott’s story
newspaper headlines and articles from both time periods

Those are a lot of “voices” for one author to write; Ebershoff carries these and others with ease. He uses “excerpts” from newspapers, poetry, even a Wikipedia article to add texture and depth to his The 19^th Wife; these various perspectives make his novel feel real. (I considered writing this post as a faux Wikipedia article with the requisite References, Notes and External Links. I sketched it out, but I’m sorely lacking in those coding skills …. wouldn’t that have been neat, though?!)

I’m going to re-visit the evening of David’s reading and share some more of what he told the audience that night.

First is a little background on Ann Eliza (Webb) Young. She was raised a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) and was surrounded by plural marriage from a very young age. Her parents, Chauncey and Elizabeth Webb were devastated by the thought of it when it was first suggested to them, but they accepted the concept because their faith was so strong. Shortly after Chauncey took a second wife Ann Eliza saw the impact that the radical transformation of the family had on her mother.

She married at a young age, but the marriage was abusive and was annulled with the help of Brigham Young (the Prophet). Ann Eliza eventually became the 19^th wife of Brigham Young (these numbers are questionable, she may have been the 50^th!). This lasted only about five years; when she left Brigham in 1873 she left her faith and her family. Ann Eliza Young became an overnight sensation in the media, which called her “the rebel of the harem”; she was a strong force in the anti-polygamy movement educating people “outside the faith”.

Ann Eliza Young wrote two memoirs and spent ten years on the lecture circuit, deriding polygamy. She was a bit of a “showboater” and said almost nothing about the impact of plural marriage on the family. David Ebershoff gives a voice to the family’s perspective.

In The 19^th Wife, David imagines what it would be like to be “the 19^th wife” in a contemporary off-shoot of the LDS Church, and gives special consideration to the children of plural marriages. On one of his research trips he drove about five hours south of Salt Lake City into the town of Hilldale, hoping to interview plural wives. He found 12,000-16,000 square-foot homes, rough compounds built to house dozens of women and children. He saw women in their prairie style dresses, thick stockings and hair pinned up. In the local grocery store he passed groups of 2-3 “sister wives” with several children. No one would talk to him; he was ignored by all. All except the police car which literally ran him out of town. All these details are incorporated into Jordan Scott’s story in The 19^th Wife.

In 2005, Jordan is the son of a polygamist and his 19^th wife. He has been a bit of a drifter since being dropped by the side of the road around age 16, but has settled into a routine of sorts with new friends in Pasadena, a fairly steady job, and a loveable pet dog. One day while browsing the Internet at the library, Jordan checks the newspaper from his hometown. His mother’s face stares up at him; she has been arrested for the murder of his father.

David Ebershoff’s The 19^th Wife takes us back and forth between the stories of Eliza Ann and Jordan. He shares much about the history of polygamy in the LDS Church (although he cautions that the novel is not a substitute for a true history or biography), and tells the tale of Jordan’s return to “Mesadale” in an attempt to help his mother. It is a wonderful novel; don’t be put off by the size, as Lisa at Minds Alive on the Shelves says, “this book is the fastest 500 pages I’ve ever read.” After those first 30 pages I read to prepare for the author event, the rest of the novel unfolded quickly.

One last note, the author puts a lot of subtle ironic humor in the book, too, especially in Jordan’s voice (which is probably one of Jordan’s coping mechanisms). I appreciated that David inserted an anagram of his name into an “off-stage” character; there are documents that cite a Deb Savidhoffer as a contemporary archivist at the LDS Church archives.

You can read more about David and his novel at his website, aptly named The 19th Wife. A reader’s guide with discussion questions can be found here.

I asked David if he’d be interested in an interview here at She is Too Fond of Books. He’d like to do it, and we’d like your help. Leave a question for David – about The 19^th Wife, his research, his reading/writing habits … anything that will help you and other readers connect even more with this talented author and his novel. We’ll pull 10-12 of them for him to answer, and I’ll post this interactive interview in the next few weeks.

And, you can follow the rest of David’s TLC Book Tour on these fine blogs:

Wednesday, Oct. 15th: Maw Books
Friday, Oct. 17th: Reading, ‘Riting, and Retirement
Monday, Oct. 20th: She Is Too Fond Of Books
Tuesday, Oct. 21st: Age 30 – A Year in Books
Thursday, Oct. 23rd: A High and Hidden Place
Monday, Oct. 27th: It’s All About Books
Tuesday, Oct. 28th: Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Thursday, Oct. 30th: Books on the Brain
Monday, Nov. 3rd: The Cottage Nest
Tuesday, Nov. 4th: B&B ex libris
Wednesday, Nov. 5th: Anniegirl1138
Thursday, Nov. 6th: The Tome Traveler
Friday, Nov. 7th: Educating Petunia
Monday, Nov. 10th: The Literate Housewife
Wednesday, Nov. 12th: Diary of an Eccentric
Friday, Nov. 14th: Book Chase

The Week Ahead: October 19 – 26, 2008

sheistoofondofbooks — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:53:34 +0000

Yes, my planning weeks usually run Monday – Sunday, but I have a busy week and wanted to get this posted early; this is an 8-day week (if someone figures out how to get a 25-hour day, let me know!). Our town sponsors the Concord Festival of Authors, with events in Lowell and Concord from October 15 – November 2. I missed the opening night with Roy Blount, Jr. last Wednesday, but have plenty of events highlighted for the next two weeks.

Sunday 10/19 – This afternoon I attended a reading at our local bookstore by Julia Glass, who is on tour promoting I See You Everywhere. She read a lengthy excerpt from the novel, and was very generous with her time in answering lots of questions from the audience. I’ll have a full posting about this later in the week.

I stopped short of literally running into author Gregory Maguire who lives in town and was browsing in the shop and stayed for the reading. I am a huge fan of his and am looking forward to reading his latest novel, A Lion Among Men. I nearly ran into him as I walked into the store, realized who he was, issued a meek “Hi”, and fled to my seat. I am such a book geek!

Monday 10/20 – David Ebershoff’s TLC Book Tour stops off at my blog today! I’ll run a post about his novel The 19th Wife, give a quick review, add more info about his author event last month, and ask for your questions for an upcoming interview with him. That’s right, it’s audience participation time!

I’m attending a program called A Cross-Cultural Love Story at our branch library. Author Christina Thompson will be speaking on the experiences that led her to write Come on Shore and We Will Kill You and Eat You All. I’ve just started the book, what an amazing tale!

Tuesday 10/21 – If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium, does anyone else remember this classic flick? (disclaimer: I watched it on re-re-re-runs on an old black and white TV set when I was a kid!). OK, If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for the Boston Bibliophile’s TuesdayThingers. Check back to see what Marie asks us about our LibraryThing things.

Wednesday 10/22 – Spotlight on Bookstores runs on Wednesday … I’m not running a traditional Spotlight this week, but will offer pieces of my vacation experience, where I searched for a bookstore to spotlight!

Book Club Girl’s discussion of The Safety of Secrets and on-air interview with author Delaune Michel is tonight. If you’ve read the book, call in to ask Delaune a question, or post it on the BCG website.

Thursday 10/23 – Tonight is another Festival event. Literary critic James Wood will be discussing his philosophy of the novel, answering such questions as What makes a story a story? What is style? What’s the connection between realism and real life?

Friday 10/24 – I host Patricia Mendez’s EZ Entertaining today. This was a very fun book to review and “test-drive”. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

Saturday 10/25 – I’ll squeeze in a few other book reviews this week. Notably, Revolutionary Road is on my list, along with a few children’s books.

Sunday 10/26 – Another Festival event; this one hitches on me finding a babysitter though, so it’s not set in stone that I’ll attend The branch library is hosting a program called New Literary Voices with three novelists reading from their current works. They are:

Amy MacKinnon – Tethered
Margaret Cesair-Thompson – The Pirate’s Daughter
Peter Clenott – Hunting the King

OK, I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and have a nice quiet evening in preparation for this week (NOT! Our four kids are running around on a sugar high from the candy LW6 brought home from a birthday party!). It’s going to be a great week – cross your fingers that my husband gets home in time for “the changing of the guard” so I can do everything I have scheduled!

Friday Finds: September 26, 2008

sheistoofondofbooks — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:58:54 +0000

It’s been a fairly quiet week for adding books to my bookshelves and my wish list — I have several in my “to be read” stack, so I’ve been trying really hard to “just say NO.” It’s not as easy as Nancy Reagan said it would be …

On Tuesday I went to the Harvard Bookstore with my daughter to see David Ebershoff (The 19th Wife), while there, I did a little shopping, one book for me, and four to put away for Christmas gifts. By the way, if you read my post about Ebershoff’s event and were unable to leave a Comment, please visit again … I had a little technical glitch and had turned Comments “off” by mistake!

On the “remainder table” I found a nice paperback copy of Walden Pond: A History by W. Barksdale Maynard; this called to my interest in local history, so I picked it up without giving it much of a second look. I was pleased when I took the time to leaf through it at home … especially pleased because I got a real bargain, $5.99 for a $19.95 book! Here’s some info from the back of the book:

Perhaps no other natural setting has as much literary, spiritual, and environmental significance for Americans as Walden Pond. Some 700,000 people visit the pond annually, and countless others journey to Walden in their mind, to contemplate the man who lived there and what the place means to us today.

Here is the first history of the Massachusetts pond Thoreau made famous 150 years ago. W. Barksdale Maynard offers a lively and comprehensive account of Walden Pond from the early nineteenth century to the present. From Thoreau’s first visit at age 4 in 1821–”That woodland vision for a long time made the drapery of my dreams”–to today’s efforts both to conserve the pond and allow public access, Maynard captures Walden Pond’s history and the role it has played in social, cultural, literary, and environmental movements in America. Along the way Maynard details the geography of the pond; Thoreau’s and Emerson’s experiences of Walden over their lifetimes; the development of the cult of Thoreau and the growth of the pond as a site of literary and spiritual pilgrimages; rock star Don Henley’s Walden Woods Project and the much publicized battle to protect the pond from developers in the 1980s; and the vitally important ecological symbol Walden Pond has become today.

I received In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld. I’ve read so many great things about this book; it’s first in this week’s books for me! Here’s the publisher’s synopsis:

At 34 years of age, Scarlet has come home for the passing of her famous mother, the bird artist Addie Kavanaugh. The year is 2002. Though Addie and her husband, the world-renowned ornithologist Tom Kavanaugh, have made their life in southeastern Pennsylvania, Addie has chosen to die at the home of her dearest friend, Cora. This is because their ramshackle cottage in Burnham, Pennsylvania, is filled with so much history and because, in the last ten years or so, even birdsong has seemed to make Addie angry, or sad, or both. These are the things that Scarlet needs to understand. Cora and Lou (the third woman in Addie’s circle) will help Scarlet to see her mother in full. In addition, Scarlet carries her own secret into these foggy days-a secret for Addie, one that involves Cora, too.

Norton, the publisher of Diane Ackerman’s The Zookeeper’s Wife, sent me a review copy of this incredible work of non-fiction. The book has just been reprinted in paperback. Here’s a summary:

When Germany invaded poland, stuka bombers devastated warsaw—and the city’s zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen “guests” hid inside the Zabinskis’ villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.

So, a local history, a novel, and a non-fiction book … it’s a good mix, don’t you think?!?

Author Event: David Ebershoff and The 19th Wife

sheistoofondofbooks — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:43:51 +0000

My 12-year-old daughter and I had a great evening out in Cambridge on Tuesday night; we went in to the Harvard Bookstore for an appearance by David Ebershoff, author of the novel The 19th Wife.

We live just 15 miles west of Harvard Square, a straight shot down Route 2, about 20 minutes without traffic. But, the event was at 7pm, at the tail end of rush hour, surely there would be traffic! We left the house around 5:15, in plenty of time to drive and park before the event. It was smooth sailing into Cambridge; we even found a spot on the street, right near the intersection of Bow and Arrow … funny, huh?

We walked over to the Coop, LW12 tried to convince me that she “needed” a Vera Bradley backpack; then she did the math and realized that she would need to babysit for 40 hours to earn enough money to pay for the backpack. I guess the Lands’ End pack we bought her will suffice!

“The Coop” is the local name for “The Harvard Co-operative”, the official bookstore of Harvard University. The bookstore itself is now part of Barnes and Noble (but as the Boston Bibliophile says, not just any Barnes and Noble!). Both the Coop and the Harvard Bookstore (a completely separate indie bookstore, where the author event was held) will be featured in a future Spotlight on Bookstores.

Back at the Harvard Bookstore, the staff was setting out folding chairs for the event. Typical for the area, space is tight, and they make the best use of every nook and cranny. The first time I went to a reading here I thought “where will they put everyone?!”. Then I realized that the bookcases were on rollers and the booksellers slide them to the side to make a small event area. How do you like the announcement advertising the night’s event on the chalkboard sign out on the sidewalk?

We still had about 10 minutes before Ebershoff was scheduled to speak, so LW12 and I browsed a bit. I’d be good on one of those games shows that gives you a limited amount of time to shop for prizes – I gathered four books in that 10 minutes; look for them in my Friday Finds this week. LW12 picked up a book for herself, too.

Shortly after we slid into our seats a bookseller introduced David Ebershoff. You may wonder, as I did, if his name is pronounced “Ebers-hoff” or “Eber-shoff” … It’s Eber-shoff!

David opened with a ancedote from the previous weekend. He had been up in Boston attending the NEBA (New England Bookseller’s Association) trade show. At dinner he was seated next to the owner of the Harvard Bookstore, who related a story about an attempted robbery of the store a few years back. It was early evening and their were about four customers in line to check out. The next in line quietly showed a gun to the bookseller behind the check-out desk and said, “give me all your money or I’ll shoot”. The bookseller replied, “I don’t believe you.” The would-be robber repeated his request; the clerk repeated his reply. This exchange went back-and-forth three or four times; then the man brandishing the gun walked out in disgust. Lesson: don’t mess with the booksellers at the Harvard Bookstore (this might go for second-guessing their book recommendations, as well!)

We then got into the main part of the event, which was David’s introduction of The 19th Wife, reading of several excerpts, and a question-and-answer session. The novel combines two tales: one is the fictional memoir of Ann Eliza Young (who was, in reality, the nineteenth wife of Mormon Prophet Brigham Young, and denounced him and the Church’s practices after she left the sect around 1875); the second is the present-day story of Jordan Scott, a so-called “lost boy” of the splinter group of “Firsts”, who re-connects with the world that excommunicated him after his mother (another 19th wife!) is accused of murdering her father. The book goes back and forth between these narratives, never missing a beat.

The sections David chose to read really highlighted his ability to get into his characters’ heads and write faithfully in their voices. He started in the voice of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who “wrote” the introduction to Ann Eliza’s faux memoir (page 24, if you have the book); then we heard from the original nineteenth wife, Ann Eliza Young, in the “preface” to the memoir (page 5); lastly, David read the prologue to Jordan’s story (pages 7-9) which sets up the present-day murder scenario and gives us our first glimpse into the world Jordan came from.

When David finished reading the third section, he opened up the floor to questions. I won’t go into them here, as my notes may be used next month (October 20) when I review The 19th Wife for David’s stop at my blog on his TLC Book Tour. If you can’t wait until then to read more about David Ebershoff and The 19th Wife, check out the tour schedule, starting on October 15:

Wednesday, Oct. 15th: Maw Books
Friday, Oct. 17th: Reading, ‘Riting, and Retirement
Monday, Oct. 20th: She Is Too Fond Of Books
Tuesday, Oct. 21st: Age 30 – A Year in Books
Thursday, Oct. 23rd: A High and Hidden Place
Monday, Oct. 27th: It’s All About Books
Tuesday, Oct. 28th: Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Thursday, Oct. 30th: Books on the Brain
Monday, Nov. 3rd: The Cottage Nest
Tuesday, Nov. 4th: B&B ex libris
Wednesday, Nov. 5th: Anniegirl1138
Thursday, Nov. 6th: The Tome Traveler
Friday, Nov. 7th: Educating Petunia
Monday, Nov. 10th: The Literate Housewife
Wednesday, Nov. 12th: Diary of an Eccentric
Friday, Nov. 14th: Book Chase

I did promise pictures from the evening; LW12 makes a great “assistant”, but she focused on our faces and cut off the book I was holding … picture a copy of The 19th Wife front and center. (LW12 was very impressed, by the way, with the knowledge David shared about plural marriages and his research into Ann Eliza Young. She commented that was so much more involved than “just writing about something you already know” … like middle-school hi-jinks in her case, I suppose )

And, he inscribed my copy of the book. It says: For Dawn – With so many thanks for your support and your blog – thanks for coming to the Harvard Bookstore tonight! – David Ebershoff

The Week Ahead: September 22 – 28, 2008

sheistoofondofbooks — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:11:11 +0000

Yay! You found me! I moved SheIsTooFondOfBooks to a self-hosted site over the weekend, and left breadcrumbs for everyone to find me … I’m glad you’re here! I’ll be busy updating links and putting the finishing touches on the new site this week. It looks much like the old site, but I’ll have a bit more flexibility now. I’ve been bold and e-mailed a few of my fellow book bloggers asking them to update links to my blog on theirs. If you remember that you’ve linked to SheIsTooFondOfBooks (old site), would you consider updating the link to reflect the new site – thanks!

Monday 9/22 – I’m getting the package wrapped to mail to Melanie, winner of my BBAW House & Home giveaway package. I like to avoid the Post Office on Mondays, so this will go in the mail tomorrow. Congratulations, Melanie!

Tuesday 9/23 – Tuesday Thingers today! You know the drill – the Boston Bibliophile asks, we answer, and I learn more about LibraryThing each week

Also, I’m heading into the Harvard Book Store tonight to see David Ebershoff. He’ll be reading from his novel The 19th Wife and having a discussion about the book. I’m especially excited to meet David, as I’ll be hosting him via TLC Book Tours next month!

Wednesday 9/24 – Check back to read this week’s Spotlight on Bookstores, about Tattered Cover Books in Denver. This was written by Ti of Book Chatter and Other Stuff; I’m ready to hop a plane and shop!

My neighborhood book group meets tonight after taking the summer off. We have two books to discuss, The Big House by George Howe Colt and Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.

Also tonight, Book Club Girl hosts an interview with Ann Patchett, discussing her novel Run. If you’ve read the book, head over to Book Club Girl’s blog to get the details of how you can call in to ask your questions directly to the author!

Thursday 9/25 – Today I’ll be participating in the online discussion of Run hosted by Gayle at Everyday I Write the Book. Read Gayle’s blog to get several bloggers insight into this novel.

Friday 9/26 - There’s nothing “bookish” on my calendar; however, I have several pending reviews I’d like to get posted this week. I’ve been playing “catch up” since the move to the new site, so I’ll probably be saying TGIF and buckling down to check more items off my “to do” list!

What’s going on with you this week? Have you read any of the books I mention here? This week especially, SheIsTooFondOfBooks is “too fond of comments”, so please leave a note and let me know you found the new place!