WILLIAM GIBSON / Zero History

September 9, 2010 - 7:30pm

 

Since his 1984 debut novel Neuromancer, in which he coined the term “cyberspace” and envisioned the Internet before it was a pervasive reality, William Gibson has gained a reputation as a trend-spotter with a unique ability to anticipate cultural and technological movements. In his two most recent novels, Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, Gibson trained those sensibilities on our contemporary, post-9/11 age. And the present, it seems, is only growing more astonishing in Gibson’s latest novel, Zero History. It’s a time defined by frenzied change, a world in which everything is growing faster and more connected at an exponential rate. If we were in Gibson’s 1996 novel Idoru, we might call it a “nodal point” – a key point in history after which everything will be different.

 

Zero History returns to the adventures of Hubertus Bigend, the twisted financial genius from Pattern Recognition and Spook Country. Bigend’s newest obsession is with the military culture that is trickling down to the streets. Military contracting is recession-proof, and Bigend wants in. But it seems that someone is one step ahead of him, and Bigend must uncover who that is if he’s to come out on top. His plan involves Hollis Henry, former rocker from the cult 90s band The Curfew, and Milgrim, a Russian translator, finally sober after a stint in rehab. It’s not long before Hollis and Milgrim find themselves entangled in a mesh of postmodern marketing and corrupt American military contracting that threatens to topple Bigend’s massive empire.

 

Gibson’s talent has always been his ability to spot our cultural trajectory – to locate what Bigend calls “the edge”. It’s that barest glimpse of the future at the far reach of the horizon, the cutting-edge that will soon become the norm. In Zero History, the edge is a place where boundaries between on- and offline have become blurred, where the parent-child relationship has migrated to twitter, and where brands generate attention not by marketing themselves but by eschewing marketing altogether.

 

Preferred seating with the purchase of Zero History at The Booksmith. Zero History is on-sale beginning September 7; you may pre-order now and receive a preferred seating card. Seating cards will be distributed at the time of purchase until supply is gone. Standing room and limited floor seating will be available as well. Please note that we’ll be at maximum capacity this evening; if you need special accommodations, please send a request to events@booksmith.com.

 

 

Please note that Mr. Gibson will sign copies of his previous books provided that a copy of Zero History is purchased from The Booksmith. Photographs of those attending with Mr. Gibson will be possible.

Location: 
The Booksmith
1644 Haight Street
San Francisco, California 94117

Zero History (Hardcover)

$26.95
ISBN-13: 9780399156823
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: Putnam Adult, 09/01/2010

Pattern Recognition (Paperback)

$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780425192931
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Berkley Trade, 02/01/2004

Spook Country (Paperback)

$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780425221419
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Berkley Trade, 06/01/2008

Neuromancer (Paperback)

$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780441007462
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Ace Trade, 07/01/2000

Burning Chrome (Paperback)

$13.99
ISBN-13: 9780060539825
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Eos, 07/01/2003

$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780441007554
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Ace Trade, 08/01/2000

An Evening with GUILLERMO DEL TORO and THE FALL

September 28, 2010 - 7:30pm

 

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW - DON'T MISS OUT!

 

THE BOOKSMITH PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH FILMMAKER & NOVELIST

GUILLERMO DEL TORO

at the Sundance Kabuki Theater

Tuesday, September 28

7:30 PM

 

 

 

GUILLERMO DEL TORO / THE STRAIN TRILOGY

 

Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, Guillermo del Toro made his feature directorial debut in 1993 with the film Cronos, and has since gone on to direct, among other films, Mimic, The Devil's Backbone, Blade II,Hellboy I, Hellboy II, and Pan's Labyrinth, which garnered enormous critical praise worldwide and won three Academy Awards. Del Toro has produced and written films numerous films. He is currently working on a remake of Frankenstein; it’s been announced that James Cameron will produce Del Toro’s 3-D At the Mountains of Madness, and that Del Toro will direct Disney’s The Haunted Mansion. 

 

With Chuck Hogan, Del Toro has become a novelist as well. Their first novel was The Strain, about which all that must be said is this:

 

They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come.

 

In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country.

 

In two months -- the world.

 

“I cannot wait to see where Del Toro and Hogan take us next.”  -- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Doomsday Key

 

The wait is over! Guillermo Del Toro returns with The Fall -- the second blood-chilling volume in their critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling Strain Trilogy. The Fall picks up where The Strain left off -- with a vampiric infection spreading like wildfire across America as a small band of heroes struggles to save the dwindling human race from the vampire plague. Horror fiction and dark fantasy fans will be swept up in this epic story that bestselling author Nelson DeMille describes as “Bram Stoker meets Stephen King meets Michael Crichton.”

 

In addition to his multiple screen ventures, Del Toro is, with Chuck Hogan, writing the third volume in The Strain trilogy.

 

Film fans, young filmmakers and vampire and horror novel fans alike won’t want to miss this very special event!


 

Advance ticket purchase encouraged; general admission tickets at the door may not be available.

 

General admission $12.[21+]

 

VIP ticket $75 for private pre-talk reception at 6:30 PM, also at the Kabuki,  with Mr. Del Toro, including delicious food, wine or beer, reserved seat, and a copy of The Fall (VIP ticket holders may pick up their book upon arrival at the Kabuki). [21+]

 

Kabuki Sundance Theater, 1881 Post Street at Fillmore, San Francisco. Doors open for general admission seating at 6:45 PM; VIP ticket holders will be seated in the theater after the reception, promptly at 7:15 PM.

 

Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets online or by phone at 800-838-3006, and at The Booksmith.

 

Copies of The Fall and The Strain will be available for purchase at the event. Mr. Del Toro will happily sign copies purchased that evening or from The Booksmith prior to the event.

 

 

 

Location: 
Sundance Kabuki Theater
1881 Post Street at Fillmore
San Francisco, California 94115

$26.99
ISBN-13: 9780061558221
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: William Morrow, 10/01/2010

The Strain (Mass Market Paperback)

$9.99
ISBN-13: 9780061558245
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper, 07/01/2010

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LITQUAKE’S COMING!


A Litquake Featured Event:

 

Monday, October 4

 

“[A] deadpan literary trickster.” – The New York Times

 

 

TAO LIN

Richard Yates

 

Tao Lin’s trademark minimalism takes on a much darker edge as he narrates the story of a young man dealing with the consequences of an affair with an underage girl, in a startling change of direction for this cult writer. Buried within Lin’s work is a troubling question – what exactly constitutes illicit sex for a generation with no rules?

 

Richard Yates is named after real-life writer Richard Yates, but it has little to do with him. Instead, it racks the relationship between writer Haley Joel Osment, a New Yorker in his early twenties, and Dakota Fanning, his 16-year-old lover. Moving between Fanning’s suburban New Jersey home and Osment’s Wall Street apartment, the couple increasingly shuns the outside world as they work to navigate the moral ambiguity of their relationship. But as that relationship grows more obsessive and Osment becomes more intimately involved with Fanning, she reveals her increasingly disturbing and self-destructive personality. Osment’s own guilt and anger entrap him as they find the relationship – and their lives – hurtling out of control.

 

Tao Lin is the author of numerous other books, including Shoplifting from American Apparel, Eeeee Eee Eeee, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

 

7:30 PM

The Booksmith / 1644 Haight Street / San Francisco / 415-863-8688

 

Preferred seating with the purchase at The Booksmith of Richard Yates beginning 9/7. Seating vouchers will be given with purchase while supplies last.

 

 

 

A Litquake Featured Event:

 

Tuesday, October 5

 

  NICK BILTON

I Live in the Future & Here’s How It Works

Why Your World, Work, and Brain Are Being Creatively Disrupted

 

Nick Bilton is the lead technology writer for The New York TimesBits blog and a reporter for the paper. At the Times, he has also worked in research and development labs, helping chart the path for the future of news; he is also an adjunct professor at New York University’s interactive telecommunication program. Bilton delivers a new and often counterintuitive understanding ho how a radically changed media world is influencing human behavior in his new I Live in the Future.

 

Bilton explains why social networks, the openness of the Internet, and handy new gadgets are not just vehicles for telling the world what you had for breakfast but are becoming the foundation for “anchoring communities” that tame information overload and help determine what news and information to trust and consumer – and what to ignore.

 

Exploring the way our brains are adapting and the positive effect of new media narratives on thinking and action, Bilton finds evidence in a study that shows that surgeons who play video games are more skillful than their nonplaying counterparts. He examines how the Internet is creating a new type of consumer, the “consumnivore”, living in a world where immediacy trumps quality and quantity, and discovers who is dictating the type of content being created. Bilton describes why the map of tomorrow is centered on “Me”, and why that simple fact means a totally new approach to the way media companies shape content -- and why people pay for experiences, not content…and why great storytelling and extended relationships will prevail and enable businesses to engage with customers in ways that go beyond merely selling information…and so much more.

 

Our intent is to welcome you to an energetic, engaging in-person discussion with the very savvy Nick; his further intent is to continue the discussion with readers online . (Bonus for book buyers: the I Live in the Future reading experience also includes access to additional original content – using your smart phone and one of many free applications available for download online, snap an image of the QR Code at the beginning of each chapter to see videos of Nick expanding on key ideas and controversies plus links to related articles, research, and interactive experiences.)

 

7:30 PM

The Booksmith / 1644 Haight Street / San Francisco / 415-863-8688

 

Preferred seating with the purchase at The Booksmith of I Live in the Future beginning 9/14. Seating vouchers will be given with purchase while supplies last.

 

 

A Litquake Featured Event:

 

THE BOOKSMITH BOOKSWAP, LITQUAKE EDITION

Thursday, October 7

6:30 to 9:30 PM at Martin Macks

EAT, DRINK, TALK, (SWAP) BOOKS!

 

Presented in collaboration Litquake and with fabulous wordsmith guests including Oscar Villalon, Holly Payne, and K.M. Soehnlein.

 

What:

Join The Booksmith for the only Litquake event that celebrates YOU, the Reader. The Bookswap is a truly unique event: participants have the chance to reflect on their most treasured reads and learn about dozens of new, fantastic books; the evening culminates in a rowdy (and always entertaining) swap – think cocktail party, with a bookish twist.

 

Since its inception last year, The Booksmith Bookswap has SOLD OUT every time and has received rave (“the most unique book event…ever!”; “a great place to meet smart, creative, like-minded people”) reviews from all who participate.

 

For the Litquake edition, bibliovores from across the city will convene at Martin Macks, a very fun Irish pub in the Haight Ashbury. We’ll have hilarious and interesting book-y conversation starters, amazing writers, wine and beer, and the best pub fare in all of San Francisco. Bring a book – one you passionately love but can part with – and we’ll provide the rest.

 

Who:

You! This event is for anyone who has ever loved a book and craved the chance to convince more folks to read it. You’ll also meet amazing writers and a big group of passionate readers like you.

 

Where:

Martin Macks (1569 Haight Street, between Clayton and Ashbury, San Francisco)

 

When:

Thursday, October 7, 6:30 – 9:30 PM

 

Tickets:

$25 at Brown Paper Tickets (online or by phone 800-838-3006) and at the store; advance tickets required; tickets available until space is filled.

Ticket price includes two drinks, appetizers, and a 20% discount card to purchase books after the event. Bookswap tickets sell out fast – please purchase early!