Mireille Guiliano is at the Sorrento Hotel today. Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility is a book about women at work. The price of this event—$50—includes champagne, food, and a signed copy of the book.
Eoin Colfer reads at University Village Barnes & Noble. He has written a sequel to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Constant Reader is all about my disgust for Eoin Colfer this week. Here's a taste:
Why did Colfer agree to continue a work considered by many to be one of the highlights of late-20th-century humorous writing? Promotional materials provided to The Stranger with the book offer one answer: Colfer says, "My aim is to introduce H2G2 to a new generation!" But that, of course, is bullshit. Teenagers will always find and adore Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide series, the way generations of children always manage to find S. E. Hinton and Homer Price and the Chronicles of Narnia and all the other classics. Colfer's addition is more likely to confuse prospective buyers than to bring new readers to Adams's best-selling series. No, the money was probably too good to ignore, and since somebody else would have done it anyway, Colfer stepped up to the corporate publishing machine as a willing whore.
There's much more bile over here. Colfer reads with Ridley Pearson and (gag) Dave Barry, who have co-written several unnecessary sequels to Peter Pan. They should've had this reading on Halloween. it's an example of what can go horribly wrong if you become a writer.
And Elliott Bay Book Company hosts Sarah Dunant. She wrote a solid book called The Birth of Venus a few years ago that was very well-received. Her newest book, Sacred Hearts, is a novel set in a convent in 1570. Based on her previous work, this is the reading of the night.
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.
