Skylight Books Podcast Series

Panorama City (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Acclaimed local author Antoine Wilson (The Interloper) will read and sign his highly anticipated new novel, Panorama City.  Booksellers have been buzzing about this book since advance copies went out in the spring, and with its strong early reviews, it has all the earmarks of a hit in the making! "Wilson's second novel (after Interloper) is fresh and flawlessly crafted as well as charmingly genuine." --Publishers Weekly "God bless Oppen Porter! His innocence and lack of pretense are our good fortune and our delight. Under his observation, our follies and schemes and manias go up in the brightest, funniest, heartrending flames. This is precisely (and artfully) because he does not judge them. Panorama City is charming and absurd, very funny and, best of all, humane through and through." --Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers Antoine Wilson is the author of the novel The Interloper, and his work has appeared in The Paris Review, StoryQuarterly, and Best New American Voices. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he is a contributing editor of A Public Space and the recipient of a Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin. Wilson lives and surfs in Los Angeles. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS, OCTOBER 17, 2012. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE:  http://tinyurl.com/ba8a3u3

THESE THINGS HAPPEN (Unbridled Books) Set among Manhattan’s high-powered liberal elite and told through an ensemble of endearing voices, These Things Happen is a not-quite-coming-of-age story about a modern family. Fifteen year old Wesley, a tenth grader, has moved from his mother and stepfather’s home to live with his father and his father’s male partner for a school term so that father and son might have a chance to bond again.  But when Wesley finds himself unexpectedly at the center of an act of violence, everyone around him must reexamine themselves, their assumptions and attitudes. “Emotionally resonant . . . The humanity and love between two people thrown together by circumstance is Kramer’s triumph” -Publishers Weekly “Richard Kramer’s These Things Happen is a jewel of a book: incisive, funny, wise, and moving. It prompted me, on almost every page, to ask the question I’m most glad to find myself asking of a novel, How did the writer know that?” - -Michael Cunningham Richard Kramer is the Emmy and multiple Peabody award winning writer, director and producer of numerous TV series, including Thirtysomething, My So-called Life, Tales of the City, and Once and Again. His first short story appeared in the New Yorker while he was still an undergraduate at Yale. This is his first novel. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS, NOVEMBER 17, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/ae42qa9

Out of Reach (Simon Pulse) CONGRATULATIONS TO CARRIE ARCOS! OUT OF REACH IS A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD! L.A.-based writer Carrie Arcos will launch her debut young adult novel Out of Reach, about a girl's search for troubled older brother, who has suddenly gone missing. Carrie Arcos lives with her family in Los Angeles, California, where she is an adjunct professor. Visit her at CarrieArcos.com. Photo of the author by Hank Fortener. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON OCTOBER 16, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/avmy3tb

The Fiddler on Pantico Run (Free Press) Award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Joe Mozingo will discuss and sign his book The Fiddler on Pantico Run, about his search for the history behind his African last name. Mozingo discovers that he is decended from a Jamestown slave who sued for his freedom, married a white woman, became a tobacco farmer, and fathered one of the country's first mixed-race family lines.  It's a uniquely American story, revealing the unusual history of race in our country. "Vividly fascinating … [Mozingo] unpacks our mixed-race colonial history and its heartbreaking consequences…. Mozingo’s most revelatory finding—the fundamental arbitrariness of racial designations—implicitly raises another question: What, if anything, does our genealogy really say about us?” —Elle Magazine Joe Mozingo is a projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He won a Robert F. Kennedy Award for his coverage of the earthquake in Haiti and helped lead a Miami Herald reporting team whose investigation into the crash of the space shuttle Columbia was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Fiddler on Pantico Run was named a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, administered by Columbia University and Harvard Nieman Foundation.  He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 15, 2012. Books from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/b325kdt

Sammy Harkham: Everything Together (PictureBox) Comics artist and Kramers Ergot editor Sammy Harkham will discuss and sign the brand new anthology of his short story work, Everything Together. Sammy Harkham is regarded as one of the most influential cartoonist/editors of his generation. After a decade of work and groundbreaking anthologies, Everything Together collects his short stories. These comics condense vast amounts of emotion and information into nuanced cartoon narratives. Harkham's classic style is both articulate and expedient. At the center of the book are two vastly different tales: Poor Sailor, a sea-faring myth of a man gone to find wealth for his love; and Somersaulting, a kind of fever dream of teenagers in love, wiling away the summer. Around these stories shorter comic strips tackling everything from Napoleon (if he was a tortured artist) to touching examinations of Jewish mysticism and life in a shtetl, to satires of contemporary University life. Through all these works, Harkham maintains a light touch and emotive wit. The works in this book confirm his place among the best storytellers of his generation. Sammy Harkham was born in Los Angeles in 1980, moving to Sydney, Australia, at the age of 14. He soon started making his own comics and a zine, Kramers Ergot, which has evolved into one of the most influential comics anthologies published today. His comic strip Poor Sailor, originally published in Kramers Ergot 4, was subsequently included in Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2004 and has been published in French, Korean and Italian. Kramers Ergot has been on numerous “best of the year” lists including the LA Weekly, Time, The New York Times, Dazed and Confused, The Comics Journal and Publishers Weekly. In 2006 Harkham started the ongoing comic series, Crickets, and edited The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror, and most recently the eighth volume of Kramers Ergot. A partner in both the renowned bookstore Family, and the movie theater, Cinefamily, Harkham lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 11, 2012. Copies of the book can be purchased here:  http://tinyurl.com/acdrgv6

May We Be Forgiven (Viking Books) Highly acclaimed novelist, short story writer, and memoirist A.M. Homes (The End of Alice, The Mistress's Daughter, This Book Will Save Your Life) returns to Skylight to read and sign her first work of fiction in six years, May We Be Forgiven. Praise for The Mistress's Daughter: "To my generation of writers, Homes is a kind of hero, and The Mistress's Daughter is the latest example of her fearlessness and brilliance. It is a compelling, devastating, and furiously good book written with an honesty that few of us would risk." --Zadie Smith Praise for This Book Will Save Your Life: "Homes is a top-drawer writer, knowing and economical." --Seattle Times A.M. Homes is the author of the memoir The Mistress’s Daughter and the books This Book Will Change Your Life, Music For Torching, The Safety of Objects and many others. She lives in New York City. Photo of the author by Marion Ettlinger. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON OCTOBER 10, 2012. Copies of book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/baqkg4s

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 and astonishing thing, the kind of book that makes child laugh and adult chuckle, and both smile in appreciation. A charmingly wicked little book." --The New York Times "Indubitably hip, this will find plenty of admirers." --Kirkus Reviews Jon Klassen is the creator is the #1 New York Times bestseller I Want My Hat Back, which was named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor book, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year, and most recently wond the E.B. White Read-Aloud Book Award. He is the illustrator of House Held Up by Trees, a piture book written by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Ted Kooser (published by Candlewick Press), as well as Cats' Night Out by Caroline Stutson, which won the Governor General's Award; Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett; and the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood. Klassen has worked as an illustrator for feature animated films, music videos, and editorial pieces. His animation projects include design work for DreamWorks Feature Animation as well as LAIKA Studios on their feature film Coraline. Other work includes lead designs for a BBC spot used in the coverage of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, which won a 2010 BAFTA award. Originally from Niagra Falls, Ontario, Jon Klassen now lives in Los Angeles. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 9, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/a3vuvse

Lady Business: A Celebration of Lesbian Poetry (Sibling Rivalry Press) Cassandra Christenson and Ronna Magy, both contributors to the new poetry anthology Lady Business, will read from their selected pieces.  Local favorite Steven Reigns (Inheritance) will introduce them! Cassandra Christenson's published work has appeared in My Life is Poetry, E-33, and The Chronicles. Her life work is about providing love, support, and dignity through the last hours of life. As a Registered Nurse, she founded Project Nightlight, a non-profit organization dedicated to no one dying alone. Ronna Magy is a lesbian senior who came onto the planet as the colors of World War II were fading from Detroit’s skyline and Sputnik orbited the skies. She began writing at mid-life. Her stories and poetry have appeared in Sinister Wisdom; Best Lesbian Romance; My Life is Poetry; Hers 2; Love Shook My Heart II; Heatwave; and The Bilingual Review. She’s the author of several English as a Second Language textbooks. Steven Reigns is a Los Angeles-based poet and educator.  Reigns organized and taught the first-ever autobiography poetry workshop for GLBT seniors and edited an anthology of their writings, My Life is Poetry.  Visit him at www.stevenreigns.com. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 7, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/b4tn9rc

Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix (Chicago Review Press) We're pleased to welcome back Steven Roby, co-author of Becoming Jimi Hendrix, for another great event on the rock icon, featuring Roby's new book, Hendrix on Hendrix. "The Voodoo Child speaks. Nobody will ever be able to fully explain a phenomenon like Jimi Hendrix, but Hendrixologist Steven Roby gives us the next best thing--and the one person almost least heard from on the subject--Hendrix himself." --Joel Selvin, senior pop music correspondent, San Francisco Chronicle "I've read the majority of books published on Jimi Hendrix. They all only reflect a minute glimpse of his thoughts and his life. This compilation of his interviews does a superlative job of promoting and understanding his character." --Juma Sultan, Hendrix's friend and percussionist (1969-1970) Steven Roby is a respected Jimi Hendrix historian, archivist, and author. He has written feature articles and reviews for Goldmine and Guitar World and was editor of Straight Ahead: The International Jimi Hendrix Fanzine and the Hendrix family's authorized fanzine, Experience Hendrix. His previous books include Becoming Jimi Hendrix and Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix. He lives in Oakland, California. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 6, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/b32ptdx

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 voices of her literary generation. It's a fun, honest read that spans continents, relationships and life decisions. I loved it." --Chris Ware "As she watches other people living life, and watches herself watching them, Bell's pen becomes a kind of laser, first illuminating the surface distractions of the world, then scorching them away to reveal a deeper reality that is almost too painful and too beautiful to bear." --Alison Bechdel Gabrielle Bell’s work has been selected for the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Houghton-Mifflin Best American Comics and the Yale Anthology of Graphic Fiction, and has been featured in McSweeney’s, The Believer, and Vice magazines. “Cecil and Jordan In New York,” the title story of her most recent book, was adapted for the screen by Bell and director Michel Gondry in the film anthology Tokyo! Her newest book, The Voyeurs, will be in stores September 2012. She lives in Brooklyn. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 5, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://tinyurl.com/b225tek