Skylight Books Podcast Series

Imperial Bedrooms (Vintage) The iconic novelist Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, Less Than Zero) returns to Skylight Books to read and sign his latest book, Imperial Bedrooms, just out in paperback! “Brutally conceived, and effectively done. . . . There is no doubt that Ellis retains the ability to startle and disquiet.” —The Times Literary Supplement (London) "Enough talk of [Ellis's] literary...

Blind Sight (Pantheon) Los Angeles-based author Meg Howrey comes to Skylight to read and sign her debut novel, Blind Sight. "An engaging first novel filled with the nuance and yearnings of adolescence." --Marisha Pessl, author of Special Topics in Calamity Physics Meg Howrey is a classically trained dancer who has performed with the Joffrey, Los Angeles Opera, and City Balley of Los Angeles. She m...

Toward You (Tin House) The wonderful storyteller and local favorite Jim Krusoe returns with a new book! Toward You completes Jim Krusoe’s bittersweet trilogy about the relationship between this world and the next. Bob has spent several years trying to build a machine that will communicate with the dead. He’s gotten more or less nowhere, but then two surprising things happen: he receives an importa...

Serpant's Storm (Ace) by Benson; The Wise Man's Fear (Daw) by Rothfuss Authors Patrick Rothfuss and Amber Benson will be vigorously debating urban fantasy vs epic fantasy, as well at taking questions and chatting about whatever else comes to mind. We're excited to have these two creative folks here at Skylight Books to do one of our rare Speculative Fiction events. Patrick Rothfuss burst onto the...

Black Clock 13 An amazing lineup of writers -- Aimee Bender, Janet Fitch, Jonathan Lethem, Susan Straight, and Lisa Teasley --  will read from their pieces in Black Clock 13, the latest issue of this great literary journal.  Author Steve Erickson, Black Clock's editor, will moderate. Aimee Bender is the author of four books; the most recent is The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, winner of the SC...

Injuring Eternity (World Nouveau) Millicent Borges Accardi will read and sign her most recent poetry collection, Injuring Eternity. Millicent Borges Accardi, a Portuguese-American poet, is the author of two books: Woman on a Shaky Bridge (Finishing Line Press chapbook) and Injuring Eternity (World Nouveau). She has received literary fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the C...

If You're Not Yet Like Me (Flatmancrooked) Edan Lepucki, a writer for book blog The Millions (and a former Skylight staffer!) presents her acclaimed debut novella. "Edan Lepucki's sly, smart novella is never quite a love story—in fact, rarely has the edict 'only connect' seemed more difficult to enact than among her small tribe of underachievers.  Sex, however, retains its reliable consequences.  ...

Girl Must Die: A Monster Girl Memoir (Monster Girl Media) A launch party for this new book -- "a love letter to those who've hit the skids but clawed back to kick the world in the crotch . . . tenderly" -- from self-proclaimed monster girl Erika Lopez. Erika Lopez lives a much too happy life in San Francisco being the sidekick to her two best friends, Mark and Mary. They all live on the same block...

Mary Ann in Autumn: A Tales of the City Novel (Harper) Armistead Maupin, author of the Tales of the City novels, returns to Skylight to read from and sign his latest, Mary Ann in Autumn! "Perhaps the most sublime piece of popular literature America has ever produced … As with the Beatles, everyone seems to like Maupin's Tales – and, really, why would you want to find someone who didn't?" --Laura M...

Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae (Titan Books) A launch party for the new photo book by Kim Gottlieb-Walker! The photographer will discuss and sign her book of rare and never-before-seen photos of Bob Marley and other reggae musicians and producers. Kim Gottlieb-Walker’s incredibly varied career has covered everything from classic rock and roll, reggae and politics in the 60’s and 70’s to w...

Air Kissing on Mars (Red Hen Press) Local poet Kim Dower will read and sign her new collection, Air Kissing on Mars. "Kim Dower writes jazzy, sassy, sexy poems that move fast, are full of surprise and tweak the heartstrings like Arkhipovsky tweaks the balalaika.: --Stephen Dobyns "Kim Dower's poetry is absolutely charming and compelling. She combines humor and heartbreak, while exploring the perso...

The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Are So Important in a Distracted Time (Sasquatch Books) Los Angeles Times book critic David L. Ulin will discuss and sign his new boook on the importance of reading in a digital culture, The Lost Art of Reading. Reading is a revolutionary act, an act of engagement in a culture that wants us to disengage. In The Lost Art of Reading, David L. Ulin asks a number of...

Full Frontal Nudity: The Making of an Accidental Actor (Scribner) Actor Harry Hamlin (LA Law) will discuss and sign his highly entertaining new memoir Full Frontal Nudity. "Hamlin’s life has been filled with drama in more ways than one, and his skill at colorful, vibrant storytelling makes this a rewarding read." —Publishers Weekly Harry Hamlin is an American film and television actor. Born in Pas...

The Reversal (Little, Brown & Co.) Michael Connelly returns to Skylight to read from and sign his new novel The Reversal, in which lawyer Mickey Haller and LAPD detective Harry Bosch reunite for another case! Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of the Harry Bosch mystery novels as well as the recent #1 bestsellers The Lincoln Lawyer, The Brass Verdict, and The Scarecrow. He is a former news...

Make Me a Woman (Drawn & Quarterly) Vanessa Davis will discuss and sign her new graphic novel, Make Me a Woman. "In fact, if you don’t like [Vanessa Davis], you don’t like anything good." —Vice "What distinguishes Davis's take is a reflective hunger for meaning and connection in the very mundane." —Bust "Vanessa Davis’s autobiographical slice-of-life drawings are both totally relatable and sweetly...

Half a Life by Strauss; The Instructions by Levin (both books published by McSweeney's) Darin Strauss, author of More Than It Hurts You, will discuss and sign his heartbreaking memoir about how one outing in his father's Oldsmobile during his last month of high school resulted in the death of a classmate and the beginning of a different, darker life for the author. Joining him, Adam Levin will rea...

Richard Yates (Melville House) We're thrilled to have Tao Lin here for the first time, to read and sign his new novel, Richard Yates (yes, named after the famous author of Revolutionary Road). Several of his books have staff recommendations here, and we're really looking forward to this new one! Tao Lin was born in 1983, and raised in Orlando, Florida. In 2007 Melville House published his first tw...

The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women (Knopf) James Ellroy returns to Skylight to discuss and sign his new memoir, The Hilliker Curse! James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His L.A. quartet -- The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz -- were international bestsellers. American Tabloid was Time's Novel of the Year in 1995; his memoir My Dark Places was Time's B...

How to Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocodor from World War II to Hip Hop, the Machine Speaks (Stop Smiling Books) Dave Tompkins will discuss and sign his fascinating history of the vocodor! The vocoder, invented by Bell Labs in 1928, once guarded phones from codebreakers during World War II; by the Vietnam War, it had been repurposed as a voice-altering tool for musicians and soon became the ubiquitous...

Termite Parade by Mohr; The Orange Eats Creeps by Krilanovich (both published by Two Dollar Radio) Joshua Mohr, whose last novel (Some Things That Meant the World to Me) was a staff favorite, and Grace Krilanovich, whose debut novel (The Orange Eats Creeps) is the only one to be excerpted twice in Black Clock, will read from and sign their new novels! Praise for Termite Parade: "The book is simila...

Citrus County (McSweeney's) by Brandon; The People of Paper (McSweeney's hardcover, Houghton Mifflin paperback) by Plascencia John Brandon will read from and sign his acclaimed new novel, Citrus County, with special guest Salvador Plascencia, author of The People of Paper! "With Citrus County John Brandon joins the ranks of writers like Denis Johnson, Joy Williams, Mary Robison and Tom Drury, writ...

My Hollywood (Knopf) Acclaimed Los Angeles novelist Mona Simpson (Anywhere But Here) will read from and sign her long-awaited novel My Hollywood -- her first in ten years! "Funny, smart, and filled with razor sharp observations about life and parenthood, Simpson's latest is well worth the wait." --Publishers Weekly Mona Simpson is the author of Anywhere But Here, The Lost Father, A Regular Guy, an...

The Four Fingers of Death (Little, Brown & Co.) Rick Moody (The Diviners) will read and sign his sprawling new novel -- an "adaptation" of a (fictional) 1960s pulp horror movie. This one's for readers of Vonnegut and Pynchon, and we know there are a lot of you out there! "The book is entertaining and often poignant, probing the limits of technology, consciousness, and language in the face of grief...

Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby (Soft Skull Press) Meet two of L.A.'s own Derby Dolls, Alex Cohen a.k.a. Axles of Evil (also of KPCC renown) and Jenny Barbee a.k.a Kasey Bomber, as they discuss and sign their new book on roller derby, Down and Derby! Alex “Axles of Evil” Cohen is the host of "All Things Considered" on KPCC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to National P...

Door to the River: Essays and Reviews from the 1960s into the Digital Age (Black Sparrow Books) On the occasion of the release of this new book of nonfiction by the acclaimed writer Aram Saroyan, and the fortieth anniversary of Black Sparrow Press, we're pleased to present Aram Saroyan in conversation with Black Sparrow publisher David Godine. Aram Saroyan is an internationally known poet, novelis...