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 Times’ Bits 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!