Skylight Books Podcast Series

We Only Know So Much (Harper Perennial) Acclaimed short story writer Elizabeth Crane will read and sign her debut novel, We Only Know So Much, about four generations of an eccentric family living under one roof. "Crane has a distinctive and eccentric voice that is consistent and riveting." --The New York Times Book Review Elizabeth Crane is the author of three collections of short stories, When the Messenger is Hot, All This Heavenly Glory, and most recently You Must Be This Happy to Enter.  She is a recipient of the Chicago Public Library 21st Century Award. Her work has been featured on NPR’s Selected Shorts and adapted for the stage by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater.  Her debut novel, We Only Know So Much, is forthcoming in June from HarperPerennial 2012. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 11, 2012.

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 and nonfiction have appeared in Lapham’s Quarterly, Cabinet, TriQuarterly, and The Santa Monica Review. He is also co-editor (with Nicole Antebi and Robby Herbst) of Failure! Experiments in Aesthetic and Social Practices. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives in Los Angeles. Photo of the author by Seth Sherwood. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 19, 2012.

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 his goal.” --Umberto Eco “Engaging . . . With illuminating anecdotes and an addictive prose style, Romano renders complex ideas lucid without sacrificing depth of understanding or his splendid sense of humor. His breathtaking intellectual range and passion will make every reader want to be a philosopher.” --Starred review, Publishers Weekly Carlin Romano, Critic-at-Large of The Chronicle of Higher Education and literary critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer for 25 years (1984-2009), is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Ursinus College. His criticism has appeared in The Nation, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Harper’s, the Times Literary Supplement, and many other publications. A former president of the National Book Critics Circle, he was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, cited for “bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics.” THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 15, 2012.

Student members of the local King Middle School Writers Club, run by author and teacher Steve Abee (Johnny Future) will read from their work! Steve Abee began writing as an orderly at St. John's hospital in Santa Monica. He has published four books: Johnny Future, King Planet, The Bus: Cosmic Ejaculations of the Daily Mind in Transit, and Great Balls of Flowers. He teaches middle school English and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 8, 2012.

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 of American life. Sometimes he laughs at it; sometimes he stares directly into the abyss and produces something stunning. What's obvious is that Almond creatively inhabits the confused soul of modern American life. Whether he finds comedy or tragedy there, the result is provocative and memorable." --The Boston Globe Praise for Dan Bern: "An amphetamine folkie with a provocateur's wit." --Entertainment Weekly "[He's] just drunk on words, like the young Dylan. And the young Beck." --Robert Christgau Steve Almond is the author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction, three of which he published himself. This Won’t Take But a Minute, Honey is composed of 30 brief stories, and 30 brief essays on the psychology and practice of writing. Bad Poetry and Letters from People Who Hate Me are exactly what they sound like. His stories have appeared in the Best American and Pushcart anthologies. In October, Lookout Press published his third story collection, God Bless America. Dan Bern is the musician behind the albums Dan Bern, Smartie Mine, Breathe, and many more. He contributed several songs to the Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story soundtrack, the Get Him to the Greek sountrack, and other films. He has a devoted following and is known for his live shows, so don't miss this one! Visit danbern.com for discography, lyrics, tour info, the opportunity to commission a custom song or ringtone, and more. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON JUNE 5, 2012.

As part of the city's celebration of LGBT Heritage Month, Skylight Books hosts And Proud of It: Gay and Lesbian Writers Who Inspired Us. A gathering of Los Angeles writers read the work of Gay and Lesbian author who inspired them. Writers Hope Edelman, Leslie Schwartz, Frederick Smith, Lisa Yee, Imani Tolliver, Steven Reigns, and Raquel Gutierrez will explore the work of lavender literati, from Truman Capote to Octavia Butler. The reading is curated by Noel Alumit. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON JUNE 7, 2012.

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." --Alice Walker "If there is such a thing as a Renaissance figure among younger poets writing in America, that person is Nathalie Handal." --Ed Ochester Nathalie Handal is an award-winning poet, playwright, and editor. Her poetry collections include, The NeverField; The Lives of Rain, shortlisted for The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize and the recipient of the Menada Literary Award; and Love and Strange Horses (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), winner of the Gold Medal Independent Publisher Book Award 2011, and an Honorable Mention at the San Francisco Book Festival and the New England Book Festival. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, such as, The Guardian, Virginia Quarterly Review, Poetrywales, and Ploughshares; and has been translated into more than fifteen languages. She has read her poetry worldwide, and has been featured on PBS The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NPR Radio as well as The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, Mail & Guardian, The Jordan Times and Il Piccolo. She has been involved either as a writer, director or producer in over twenty theatrical or film productions worldwide, most recently her work was produced at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Bush Theatre, and Westminster Abbey in London. She is currently a professor at Columbia University and part of the Low-Residency MFA Faculty at Sierra Nevada College. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS SEPTEMBER 8, 2012.

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 Frauenfelder and David Pescovitz, Boing Boing Mark Dery is a cultural critic, whose books include The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium: American Culture on the Brink and Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century, which has been translated into eight languages, and was a New York Times “New & Noteworthy” book. He edited the scholarly anthology Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture. His most recent book is the essay collection I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts. He is writing a biography of the artist Edward Gorey for Little, Brown. Photo of the author by Jorge Madrigal. Copyright Mark Dery; all rights reserved

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 history that is rich in detail and sharp in insight. Pinpointing both industry ambitions and corporate shenanigans, Jewell offers a tale both gripping and instructive. A major contribution to Hollywood studio history in the classic era." --Dana Polan, author of Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film

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 crouched at its center." --Booklist "Sophisticated readers will eat this . . . right up." --Kirkus Cecil Castellucci is the two-time MacDowell Colony fellow and award-winning author of five books for young adults including Boy Proof (Candlewick, 2005), The Plain Janes (Minx/DC Comics, 2007), and Beige (Candlewick, 2007). This year she also accepted a position as YA and children’s books editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books, a newly launched online magazine. Cecil Castellucci's books have been on the American Library Association's (ALA's) BBYA, Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, Great Graphic Novels for Teens lists, as well as the NYPL Books for the Teen Age and the Amelia Bloomer list. Born in New York City, Cecil lives in Los Angeles. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 22, 2012.