Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Superior Person's Tuesday!


PEEN, n. The wedge-shaped or thin end of a hammer head. A ridiculous word.




Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Peen appears in the first.


Monday, July 28, 2014

Literary Happenings: 7/28-8/2

Where has the summer gone?  Make the most of what remains by attending events put on by some of our favorite bookish locations!

Monday July 28

Tuesday July 29

Wednesday July 30

Thursday July 31

Friday August 1

Saturday August 2

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Superior Person's Tuesday!


Lucifugous (a.) Avoiding daylight. A botanical term. "I'm afraid John's not up yet, Mrs. Applecore; he overindulged somewhat last night and the poor dear is distinctly lucifugous this morning." 

Monday, July 21, 2014

Literary Happenings: July 21-27

Monday July 21

Tuesday July 22

Wednesday July 23

Thursday July 24

Friday July 25 

Saturday July 26


Sunday July 27

Monday, July 14, 2014

New Release: Wesley McNair's "The Lost Child"

We all feel lost at times, and Wesley McNair helps reground us with his newly released book of poems, The Lost Child, Ozark Poems.
 
His accolades are many, including being the recipient of fellowships from the Rockefeller, Fulbright, and Guggenheim Foundations; he was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in literature, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships for Creative Writers, and a United States Artists Fellowship.  He has served four times on the jury for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, a testament to his ability not only to write, but also to judge others' writing.  Oh, and he is the Poet Laureate of Maine (1).
Are you convinced he knows what he's doing yet?  Well, instead of reading all that he's earned through his writing (only a small handful of his achievements are listed here), why not try reading one of his poems.  It is not the prizes earned by the artist that you remember, but the way he makes you feel.
And McNair will certainly make you feel.  Donald Hall calls McNair's art an experience in "the strangeness of the ordinary."  McNair's language "is our speech observed-preserved in poetry" (2).
McNair declares in an interview, "there is the America of Britney Spears and CNN and the so-called mainstream culture, and there’s the America of those who live around us in what we call the margins of our society, though there are far more of them than the term implies" (3).
Most of us probably do not fall into the Britney Spears bracket, with our own break downs passing by mostly unnoticed, and as much as we may deny it, associate with the marginal more than we realize.  McNair gives us a reason to turn away, however briefly, from mainstream culture, for a moment of quiet reflection, with his newly released The Lost Child, Ozark Poems.
Set in the Ozarks of Southern Missouri, a place far from the world we see represented in the media around us, we find a cast of characters that seem uncannily familiar: a veteran of six tours of duty who comes unraveled at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, two newlyweds who pin their dreams for the future on a long-haul semi, and Ruth, confused in her aging mind - abducted by aliens.  Through it all runs a theme of reconciliation, providing comfort and humor, forces that penetrate through the sorrow conveyed by McNair as he copes with the loss of his mother.
This collection of poetry follows many others, most recently Lovers of the Lost (2010) and The Ghosts of You and Me (2006), both published by David R. Godine.  See our website for more information and to order: www.godine.com.

Literary Happenings July 13 to July 19


Sunday July 13


Monday July 14


Tuesday July 15
  • Porter Square Books: Lorenz Finison’s Boston's Cycling Craze, 7 pm
  • Harvard Bookstore: Gary J. Bass discusses The Blood Telegram:
 Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide, 7pm
  • Newtonville Books: Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers, and Paul Harding, author of Enon, 7 pm


Wednesday July 16


Thursday July 17
  • Porter Square Books: Gregory Flemming, At the Point of a Cutlass, 7 pm
  • Harvard Bookstore: David Rose discusses Enchanted Objects:
Design, Human Desire, and the Internet of Things, 7 pm
  • Brookline Booksmith: Small Press Book Club, 7 pm 
  • Newtonville Books: Amy Sohn, author of The Actress, and Julie Wu, author of The Third Son, 7 pm 


Friday July 18


Saturday July 19



Friday, July 11, 2014

Godine's Meet the Authors Series: Llewelyn Howland III, No Ordinary Being

We sat down with Llewellyn Howland III, author of No Ordinary Being, to talk about his upcoming Godine book. No Ordinary Being tells the story of W. Starling Burgess, "an authentic American polymath," who designed everything from yachts to airplanes and even helped Buckminster Fuller in designing and building the famed Dymaxion car. No Ordinary Being, a biography long in the making and packed with beautiful illustrations and photographs of Burgess' designs, is due to publish in December.

Watch Howland discuss Burgess and No Ordinary Being below and shed insight on just what makes Burgess so worth reading about.

This post is a part of our Meet the Authors series. Be sure to check back as we post more interviews with Godine authors!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Upcoming Meet the Authors Series!

Have you ever read a book and ended up dying to know more about the story? Did you ever write the author and ask them what happens next or wanted to know why they wrote a plot twist the way they did? Maybe you haven't. Perhaps you are a reader who assumes that most authors of the books you read are dead or of no importance to the story. Authors can be some unknown entity that weave you so well into their magical worlds that you no longer pay attention to the real world around you.

Here at Godine, we enjoy getting to know our authors and seeing what enticed them to share the stories that fascinated them. We would like to share the same opportunity, this glimpse into the minds that create our books, with you.

In the upcoming weeks we will be posting our Meet the Authors series. In these short videos you can hear what sparked the inspiration for our authors to write some of the big upcoming works this season. Our interviews can give you a bit of insight into the work that it takes to research and write a book.

The authors scheduled for this series during our current season are Llewellyn Howland III, author of No Ordinary Being; Belinda Rathbone, author of The Boston Raphael; and Valerie Lester, author of Giambattista Bodoni.

No Ordinary Being is about the Boston-born aviation pioneer and yacht designer W. Starling Burgess. He was a personality of enormous charm, physical courage, and energy. Here is a book that covers the entire fascinating career of a genuine native polymath.

The Boston Raphael is the riveting story of a museum director caught in a web of local and international intrigue while secretly pursuing a forgotten Renaissance painting.

Giambattista Bodoni is a lively, lavishly illustrated biography of the great printer Bodoni, vividly describing his work, life, and times while justifying his reputation as the "prince of typographers."

Be sure to look out for our videos! Thanks!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Battology (n.) The continual reiteration of the same words or phrases in speech or writing. A battologer is one who battologizes. One of those words whose lack of wider currency seems undeserved and puzzling in the light of its wide potential for application to television commercials, sales pitches by car and encyclopedia vendors, spouse's homilies, etc. 




Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Ergasiophobia appears in the first.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Summer Reading

Need something to read this summer?  Follow along with The Guardian as they discuss Laurie Lee's Cider With Rosie, a fantastic choice for their July reading group.

The Guardian says, "I'd be delighted if anyone has suggestions for ways to approach the book, topics we might discuss and further reading. I'm also keen, time allowing, to press on into the war territory of Lee's later volumes of autobiography, so let me know if there's demand for that."

Whether you're a first time or repeat reader of Lee's classic, this is a great opportunity!  As a bonus, readers in the UK have a chance to snag a free copy, but don't worry, David R. Godine will have copies in stock for readers in the US soon.  Get more information from the link below.

July's Reading Group: Cider With Rosie


Thursday, July 3, 2014

Literary Happenings, July 7 - July 11


Monday July 7
  • Brookline Booksmith: Rachel Bertsche'sJennifer, Gwyneth & Me, 7 pm
  • Porter Square Books: Lauren Clark's Crafty Bastards with craft beer samples, 7 pm 


Tuesday July 8
  • Porter Square Books: Hiawatha Bray's You Are Here, 7 pm 
  • Harvard Bookstore: Kim Elkins reads from What Is Visible: A Novel, 7 pm 
  • Newtonville Books: Craig Davidson, author of Cataract City, 7 pm 


Wednesday July 9
  • Porter Square Books: C.L. Fornari's Coffee for Roses, 7 pm 
  • Newtonville Books: Sue Miller, author of The Arsonist, 7 pm 


Thursday July 10


Friday July 11
  • Brookline Booksmith: BASH Reading Series with Matt Hart, Stephen Burt, and Francesca Chabrier, 7 pm 
  • Porter Square Books: Kate Racculia's Bellweather Rhapsody, 7 pm 
  • Harvard Bookstore: Grub Street Launch Lab: Thieves, Idealists, Scholars, and Sleuths featuring Michael Blanding, Christine Cipriani, Jennifer de Leon, and Deborah Halber, 7 pm