Max Barry
Monday, 2 April 2007 at 7:00 PM

Danville Area Chamber of Commerce board members Michael Barnard, Jonathan Watts, and Steve Wilcox invite you to come meet Max Barry, author of the hysterical novel, The Company, on Monday, 2 April 2007 at 7:00 PM.

Just published in paperback, The Company is the story of Stephen Jones, a shiny new hire at Zephyr Holdings. From the outside, Zephyr is just another bland corporate monolith, but behind its glass doors business is far from usual: the beautiful receptionist is paid twice as much as anybody else to do nothing, the sales reps use self help books as manuals, no one has seen the CEO, no one knows exactly what they are selling, and missing donuts are the cause of office intrigue. While Jones originally wanted to climb the corporate ladder, he now finds himself descending deeper into the irrational rationality of company policy. What he finds is hilarious, shocking, and utterly telling.

During his visit to Rakestraw Books, Max will be talking about the book, taking questions, and signing books.  Refreshments -- including beer from EJ Phair -- will be served. 
 

Kiran Desai
Wednesday, 4 April 2007 at 7:00 PM

Published to extraordinary acclaim, The Inheritance of Loss heralds Kiran Desai as one of our most insightful novelists. She illuminates the pain of exile and the ambiguities of postcolonialism with a tapestry of colorful characters: an embittered old judge; Sai, his sixteen-year-old orphaned grand­daughter; a chatty cook; and the cook’s son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one miserable New York restaurant to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the INS.

When a Nepalese insurgency in the mountains threatens Sai’s new-sprung romance with her handsome tutor, their lives descend into chaos. The cook wit­nesses India’s hierarchy being overturned and discarded. The judge revisits his past and his role in Sai and Biju’s intertwining lives. A story of depth and emotion, hilarity and imagination, The Inheritance of Loss tells “of love, longing, futility, and loss that is Desai’s true territory” (O: The Oprah Magazine). 

 Winner of both the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award, The Inheritance of Loss is one of the most honored books of the past year.  It is truly an honor to welcome Kiran Desai back to Rakestraw Books on Wednesday, 4 April 2007 at 7:00 PM.  Please reserve your space by calling the shop at (925) 837-7337.

 Note: We will begin the evening with a special discussion of the book at 6:00 PM.  Book groups that have read the book are welcome to join us for this meeting.

Sara Foster
Friday, 13 April 2007 at Noon

Sara Foster is one of the country’s most beloved and respected experts on simple, honest food prepared with fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.  Her warm, relaxed approach to food and cooking resonates with consumers across the country for its emphasis on authenticity and ease.  She is a firm believer that any home cook can prepare fresh, flavorful home-cooked meals with comfort and convenience.

 As the founder of Foster’s Market group of gourmet shops and cafes in North Carolina, Sara has gained national attention as a savvy businesswoman who creates some wonderful food.  Following the popularity of the market cafés, Sara wrote her first cookbook, The Foster’s Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night (Random House Publishing, Oct. 2002), sharing more than 200 New Southern recipes found at both Foster’s Market locations.  The cookbook won wide acclaim and left thousands of fans wanting more.  Sara’s second cookbook, Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster’s Market (Clarkson Potter), was released in May 2005 and has been a big hit, reaching the Top 10 on Amazon and the Los Angeles Times best seller lists.  It was frequently named one of the Top 10 cookbooks of 2005.  Sara’s third cookbook, Casual Cooking:  Simple Fresh Recipes for the Way We Eat Today (Clarkson Potter), was released in March 2007.  It features more than 100 new recipes.

 To celebrate the publication of Casual Cooking: Simple Fresh Recipes for the Way We Eat Today, we are delighted to invite you to a luncheon with Sara Foster on Friday, 13 April 2007 at noon.  We will be serving a luncheon created from recipes from Sara’s cookbooks.  Tickets are $13 and reservations are necessary.  Please make your reservations by calling the shop at (925) 837-7337.

A. M. Homes
Monday, 16 April 2007 at Noon

 Celebrated for writing fiction that takes risks — exploring the psychological worlds of the characters from the inside out — A. M. Homes takes her own life, and her adoption as a newborn, as the subject of her newest book The Mistress’s Daughter.  Praised for the acuity with which she draws characters, she has this to say about writing The Mistress’s Daughter:

 “The memoir was much more difficult. My greatest pleasure as a writer comes from inhabiting people whose experience is different from my own. In fiction one can travel the imagination, exploring the unknown, but in memoir — one essentially picks at a wound, again and again, revisiting the most painful complex moments of your life. Autobiography is limited where fiction is limitless and that’s why I love it. With this book I spent months, years really, trying to find language for what was the most ethereal and biological — almost chemical — emotional experience of my life to date — an experience that on many levels defies language. The degree of difficulty was very high … it was brutal, unbearable at times, which is why it took so long.”

 Novelist, essayist, travelogue writer, and now memoirist, A. M. Homes is one of the most versatile and talented writers working today, it is a thrill to introduce you to her.  We will be hosting a lunchtime event with her on Monday, 16 April 2007 at noon as we celebrate the publication of The Mistress’s Daughter.  Please join us for this special event.

Lauren Myracle
Thursday, 19 April 2007 at 10:00 AM

 I spend a good deal of time visiting various authors’ websites and, as far as I know, only novelist Lauren Myracle’s has a section entitled, “My Deepest, Darkest Secrets.”  What a wonderful introduction to her writing!  It’s smart, funny, and just so teen-girl friendly.

 Lauren Myracle’s “My Deepest, Darkest Secrets”:

 “Dudes. Get real. (And I mean that only in the friendliest way.) But, come on: you think I'm really going to spill my deepest darkest secrets ON THE INTERNET?!!! My parents might read this, for heaven's sake! Or else some creepy weirdo--ick. (Note to creepy weirdos: shoo. Go on, now. Shoo.)

I guess the biggest secret I want to pass on--which as I've already admitted is not really a secret--is that AUTHORS ARE JUST NORMAL PEOPLE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. Well, all right, maybe not normal. But, okay, listen. When I was in college, there was a girl in my psychology class who was always going on and on about how she knew Madeleine L'Engle. About how she'd had dinner with Madeleine L'Engle, how she'd received letters from Madeleine L'Engle, how she'd talked on the phone to Madeleine L'Engle. . .you get the point. (And if any of you are now saying, "Huh? Who's Madeleine L'Engle?", then go read A Wrinkle in Time, for heaven's sake. How have you survived thus far without it?!)

ANYWAY, that's very cool that that girl knew Madeleine L'Engle. Bully for her and all that. But we ALL know cool people. Hopefully we all ARE cool people (except for that girl in Psych who really needed some new conversation openers). But just because someone floats about in the public world, that doesn't make him or her any better than anyone else; and for the record, I think this applies as much to Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt as it does to Madeleine L'Engle. My point? Enjoy books, enjoy finding out about your favorite authors, enjoy life. But just remember that we're more alike than we are different, you know? We're all just doing the best we can.”

Bestselling teen novelist Lauren Myracle visits Rakestraw Books to present her new novels L8r, G8r and Twelve on Thursday, 19 April 2007 at 10:00 AM. Please let us know if you are interested in arranging a school visit.