Skylight Books Podcast Series

This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick Press) Jon Klassen, author of I Want My Hat Back, one of last year's most beloved children's books, launches his brand-new picture book, This Is Not My Hat, here at Skylight! Light refreshments will be served, courtesy of the publisher. Praise for I Want My Hat Back: "I Want My Hat Back is a marvelous book in the true dictionary sense of 'marvel' it is a wonderful an...

The Voyeurs (Uncivilized Books) Acclaimed graphic novelist Gabrielle Bell will discuss and sign her latest work, The Voyeurs.  Bell is the immensely talented artist behind Cecil and Jordan in New York and Lucky, and we're eagerly anticipating her new book, a memoir covering a turbulent five years in the author's life. "The Voyeurs is the work of a mature writer, if not one of the most sincere voic...

What Are You Laughing At?: A Comprehensive Guide to the Comedic Event (Continuum) Attention comedy fans and comedy writer! Modern Family writer and executive producer Dan O'Shannon will discuss and sign his book What Are You Laughing At?, a fascinating new approach to comedy. "As hard as it would be to define 'the meaning of life,' defining 'comedy' is harder. And somehow Dan O'Shannon does it in...

The Cutting Season (Harper) Attica Locke, whose first novel Black Water Rising was nominated for major book prizes from Los Angeles to the UK, now launches her highly anticipated second novel, The Cutting Season, a riveting thriller that intertwines two murders separated by over a century as it tackles the themes of race, class, and justice in contemporary America. Praise for Black Water Rising: "...

Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace (Viking Books) D.T. Max, a New Yorker staff writer and author of The Family That Couldn't Sleep, will discuss his highly anticipated biography of David Foster Wallace. "This book is vey well-researched, deeply sympathetic, and incredibly painful to read. We should feel grateful that this story was told by someone as talented and res...

Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West (Metropolitan Books) Rubén Martínez, the acclaimed author of Crossing Over and the Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature and Writing at Loyola Marymount University, will discuss and sign his revelatory new book on the 21st century American West, Desert America. "No book that I've read in the last twenty years has inspired so much genuine hope for the...

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures (Riverhead Books) Brooklyn-based writer Emma Straub, author of the short story collection Other People We Married, returns to Skylight to read and sign her debut novel, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures. "Emma Straub is a magician, full of brilliance and surprise." --Lorrie Moore "An exquisite debut novel that brings Depression-era Hollywood to life with startling imm...

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving (Algonquin Books) Jonathan Evison, author of the novels West of Here and All About Lulu (both Skylight staff picks), returns to Skylight to read and sign his new book, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is the funniest and most tough-minded novel I’ve read in a long time. Jonathan Evison is a great lyri...

What Happened to Sophie Wilder (Tin House Books) Christopher Beha, author of the memoir The Whole Five Feet, will read and sign his debut novel, What Happened to Sophia Wilder. "A thoughtful journey about the place of intellectual curiosity in relation to faith, friendship, and love." --Publishers Weekly "Christopher R Beha's What Happened to Sophie Wilder manages, somehow, to read both like an au...

You Take It From Here (Gallery Books) Los Angeles-based author Pamela Ribon (Why Girls Are Weird) launches her new novel You Take It from Here! Pamela Ribon is the bestselling author of the novels Why Girls Are Weird, Why Moms Are Weird, and Going in Circles. A writer for stage, screen, and television, her credits include the Emmy Award-winning Samantha Who? Visit her popular blog at pamie.com , o...

Venice: A Contested Bohemia in Los Angeles by Deener; Operation Fly Trap: L.A. Gangs, Drugs, and the Law by Phillips (both books published by University of Chicago Press) Andrew Deener and Susan Phillips will discuss and sign their new books, which take a fresh look at Los Angeles neighborhoods and culture. Praise for Venice: A Contested Bohemia: “In this tour de force of dialectical observation,...

The People's Pension: The Struggle to Defend Social Security Since Reagan (AK Press) Journalist Eric Laursen will discuss and sign his new book on the decades-long attempt to dismantle or diminish Social Security. "Laursen has given us a comprehensive account of the three decade long war against Social Security. . . . This is a fascinating history that progressives must learn, not only to protect...

Herself When She's Missing (Soft Skull Press) "Herself When She's Missing explores the irrationality of sex with uncommon wit and fearlessness. I can never resist the story of a bad romance and this one grabbed me by the collar and dragged me through a love-sick mind's tilted, temporally disordered terrain. Don't forget to drink a glass of water and eat a protein bar before reading. This book migh...

Four Fathers Tony Abatemarco’s award-winning monologue, Four Fathers, developed at Highways Performance Space and Stages Theatre Center, was first produced at the Tiffany Theatre in West Hollywood, directed by Don Amendolia and produced by Suzi Dietz and Paula Holt in 1992. The set consisted of original paintings and sculpture by John Nava. Excerpts are published in Michael Kearns’ book, Getting Y...

The Truth Is Bad Enough, What Became of the Happy Hustler? Actor and writer Michael Kearns (The Drama of AIDS) will discuss and sign his brand-new autobiography, The Truth Is Bad Enough, What Became of the Happy Hustler? "Hollywood's first openly gay actor . . . puts most other show-biz autobiographies to shame." --Sir Ian McKellen Michael Kearns is an actor-writer-director-teacher who has been an...

Afterlives of the Saints (Unbridled Books) Colin Dickey (Cranioklepty) returns to Skylight Books to launch his new book Afterlives of the Saints, an unusual and highly entertaining history of the canonized. "An unusual and quite fascinating collection of tales." --Booklist Colin Dickey is the author of Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius and Afterlives of the Saints. His fiction...

America the Philosophical (Knopf) Carlin Romano, a distinguished book critic and professor of philosophy, will discuss and sign his new book, America the Philosophical. “Carlin Romano's review of the American contribution to real philosophical thinking is genuinely exciting and provocative.  If Romano wanted to discombobulate the traditional landscape of American philosophy, he managed to achieve...

God Bless America: Stories (Lookout Press) Steve Almond, a perennial Skylight favorite, returns to the store to read and sign his latest short story collection, God Bless America, with a performance from the amazing singer-songwriter Dan Bern ! Praise for God Bless America: Stories: "A comic masterpiece." --Library Journal "God Bless America showcases Almond's fascination with the dark underbelly...

Poet in Andalucia (University of Pittsburg Press) PEN Center USA and Skylight Books present internationally acclaimed poet Nathalie Handal, reading from her new collection, Poet in Andalucia.  Handal's book revisits Federico Garcia Lorca's classic collection Poet in New York by examining Handal's own journey through Spain. "Poems of depth and weight and the sorrowing song of longing and resolve."...

I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts (University of Minnesota Press) Essayist Mark Dery reads and signs his new collection, I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts. "Mark Dery's cultural criticism is the stuff that nightmares are made of. He's a witty and brilliant tour guide on an intellectual journey through our darkest desires and strangest inclinations. You can't look away even if you want to." --Mark Frauenfe...

RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born (University of California Press) Los Feliz-based author Richard Jewell discusses and signs his fascinating history of RKO, the company that produced King Kong, Citizen Kane, and other classics of Hollywood's golden age. "Enjoying exclusive access to RKO archives before they were dispersed to the winds, Rick Jewell has crafted a powerful and unprecedented company...

The Year of the Beasts (Roaring Brook) Award-winning young adult author Cecil Castellucci launches her new book The Year of the Beasts, featuring a tale of love and jealosy told in alternating chapters of prose and comics (drawn by Nate Powell!). "Castellucci and Powell make a powerful team.... What emerges is a map that leads into the maze of grief, and an elegant evocation of the monster crouche...

A Sense of Direction by Lewis-Kraus (Riverhead) Magic Hours (McSweeney's) by Bissell Essayists Gideon Lewis-Kraus and Tom Bissell will discuss and sign their new respective books, A Sense of Direction and Magic Hours. Praise for A Sense of Direction: "A very honest, very smart, very moving book about being young and rootless and even wayward. With great compassion and zeal he gets at the question:...

Invitation to the Bold of Heart (Seagull Books) Skylight Books and Villa Aurora are thrilled to present young Swiss author Dorothee Elmiger, reading from her translated literary collection Invitation to the Bold of Heart. Dorothee Elmiger, born 1985 in Wetzikon, Switzerland, grew up in Appenzell. She studied at the Swiss Institute of Literature in Biel and spent one semester at the German Institut...

Radio Iris (Two Dollar Radio) Anne-Marie Kinney will read from and sign her debut novel, Radio Iris. "Radio Iris brings new shimmer and depth tot he word 'sensory'--Iris' perceptions are both keen and open, so mysterious and grounded, and the book builds to a narrative of mystery and longign with visceral, ringing precision." --Aimee Bender "Radio Iris is a revelation, a whimsical, charming and be...