Cody's September 2006 Events Calendar

bringing writers and readers together since 1956. Help us celebrate our 50th Anniversary this year!

Our events are primarily free of charge. If a particular program requires tickets or reservations, or if a donation is suggested for a particular group, that information will be listed here. Seating is offered on a first-come, first-served basis, approximately 45 minutes in advance, unless otherwise noted.

Partially validated parking with minimum purchase is available the Spenger's lot on Fourth Street in Berkeley. We do not currently validate parking around Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco.

If you are unable to attend an event but would like to reserve an autographed copy, you may do so by calling either of our stores, or order at codysbooks.com. We're happy to hold your book or ship it to you.

Please note both time and location for all our events!

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Thursday, September 7 - Lynn Peril
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

LYNN PERIL investigates the disparity between the cultural image and the real lives of COLLEGE GIRLS: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now, assembling women's history and popular culture in a witty study of the first women to take that socially controversial step toward educational equality. Gawky geeks in denial of their femininity or sex kittens prowling around campus under the guise of diligent scholarship? Join the discussion about the cultural ambivalence that still exists around women in higher education. Lynn Peril's previous book was PinkThink, a smart history of the perilous path to achieving the feminine ideal. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Friday, September 8 - Jonathan Kirsch
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

JONATHAN KIRSCH examines A HISTORY OF THE END OF THE WORLD: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization. Kirsch follows the path of the Book of Revelation, the surprising little book that was almost cut from the New Testament. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Black Death, the Inquisition to the Protestant Reformation, the New World to the rise of the Religious Right, A HISTORY OF THE WORLD captures the undeniable and often alarming impact of the Book of Revelation throughout history. Jonathan Kirsch is the author of ten books, including The Harlot by the Side of the Road, a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times, an attorney specializing in intellectual property and publishing law, and a three-time past president of PEN Center USA West. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Sunday, September 10 - Michael Shermer
4:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

MICHAEL SHERMER explains WHY DARWIN MATTERS: The Case Against Intelligent Design. Shermer, founder of Skeptic magazine and of the international Skeptic Society, has made a career out of debunking pseudoscience and examining the blurred line between science, philosophy, fact, and fiction. In his most politically aware book to date, Shermer draws on the substantiated argument behind evolution, and closely examines what is really occurring when the science behind the origins of human life is replaced with the newest brand of creationism; he decodes the scientific evidence to show evolution is not "just a theory", and presents an incisive examination of what is at stake in this debate. Note time: 4:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco.

 

Monday, September 11 - Alissa Quart
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

ALISSA QUART investigates HOTHOUSE KIDS: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child. As a former gifted child, Quart is intimately familiar with the pressures exerted on children to excel at an early age. She now investigates the current trend to nurture and even create giftedness in children, from Baby Sign Language to IQ testing for toddlers, and examines the troubling long-term effects they experience in adulthood, including performance anxiety and self-esteem problems. Quart also looks at how the No Child Left Behind Act is rapidly eroding and cutting back programs for gifted children in our public schools, and is ultimately ensuring that privileged gifted kids become ever more enriched while poorer children are neglected. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Monday, September 11 - Myra MacPherson
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

MYRA MacPHERSON delivers the definitive "ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE": The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I.F. Stone. A vivid and lively description of a man who changed how we think about journalism, a thoughtful distillation of political forces from the 20s through the 70s, MacPherson's comprehensive biography of Izzy Stone shows a new version of the 20th century through Izzy's wholly original perspective. Stone was an iconoclast and a rebel, a pariah chased by the FBI and Joe McCarthy, a most talented newspaperman who became rich and famous with his exposes of government lying about the Vietnam War, a furious supporter of workers and the common man, an elegant writer favored by both Eleanor Roosevelt and Marilyn Monroe, and the brains behind the I.F. Stone Weekly, a legendary paper that gave him a platform to oppose McCarthyism, cold war policies, the horrors of segregation and eventually the Vietnam War. MacPherson's biography is one to savor. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Monday, September 11 - Jim Wallis
Note time: 6:00 PM in the Sanctuary, First Congregational Church of Berkeley

JIM WALLIS continues to consider GOD'S POLITICS: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, and LIVING GOD'S POLITICS: A Guide to Putting Your Faith Into Action. Founder and editor of Sojourners Magazine, author Jim Wallis has been a leading voice at the crossroads of faith and politics in Washington for nearly 30 years, but it was in GOD'S POLITICS that Wallis called for each of us to hold our political leaders and policies accountable by integrating our deepest moral convictions into our nation's public life. Readers heeded the call and packed events all over the country, sparking dialog about crucial issues facing America. Wallis postulates that the Right in America has hijacked the language of faith for its political agenda, and the Left hasn't done much better by largely ignoring faith and continually separating moral discourse and personal ethics from public policy. The issues of poverty, war, and economic justice have simply become too large to be used be used as wedges for political gain. Jim Wallis, an evangelical, is a public theologian, a nationally renowned preacher, faith-based activist and author of seven books. He is the founder of Sojourners, a nationwide network of Progressive Christians; he is also the Convener of Call to Renewal, a national federation of churches and faith-based organizations working to overcome poverty by changing the direction of public policy. Wallis has been an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and has taught on faith, politics and society both there and at the Harvard Divinity School. Time Magazine once named Wallis one of the fifty faces for America's future. He lives in inner-city Washington D.C. Note time: 6:00 PM in the Sanctuary, First Congregational Church of Berkeley (2345 Channing Way at Dana); reception follows in Large Assembly. This evening is presented jointly by Cody's and FCCB; a $10 donation is suggested to help offset FCCB's costs, but no one will be turned away for lack of donation.

 

Tuesday, September 12 - Joan Roughgarden
7:30 PM in the Large Assembly, First Congregational Church of Berkeley

JOAN ROUGHGARDEN deliberates on EVOLUTION AND CHRISTIAN FAITH. Evolutionary biologist and professor of biological sciences and geophysics at Stanford University, Dr. Joan Roughgarden offers an elegant reconciliation of the theory of evolution and the wisdom of the Bible. Roughgarden leads readers through the facts of evolutionary biology; explores current limitations of evolutionary theory; examines challenges posed by creationists and intelligent design proponents; and looks at Christian teachings and scripture. From mutation rates and lizards to the Epistles of St. Paul, Roughgarden distills complex scientific and theological arguments into everyday understanding. Roughgarden's many other books include Evolution's Rainbow and Primer of Ecological Theory. 7:30 PM in the Large Assembly, First Congregational Church of Berkeley (2345 Channing Way at Dana). This evening is presented jointly by Cody's and FCCB; a $10 donation is suggested to help offset FCCB's costs, but no one will be turned away for lack of donation.

 

Tuesday, September 12 - Amy Meyer
312 Sutter Street, San Francisco; reception 5:30 PM, program 6 PM

AMY MEYER celebrates NEW GUARDIANS FOR THE GOLDEN GATE: How America Got a Great National Park, and SPUR's role in developing the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). National parks are a distinctively American idea. But it takes people to make them happen. This unique, insider's account tells how Bay Area activists forged bipartisan local and national support for an unprecedented campaign to create a great new national park. In 1970, beginning with the former Army lands originally reserved to protect San Francisco Bay, the grassroots People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area succeeded in preserving all of the spectacular land that frames the Golden Gate. Presented by SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association - www.spur.org), 312 Sutter Street, San Francisco; reception 5:30 PM, program 6 PM. There is no charge to attend; RSVP by September 4 to 415-781-8726 or events@spur.org.

 

Wednesday, September 13 - Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

LISA JERVIS and ANDI ZEISLER celebrate BITCHfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of BITCH Magazine. In the wake of Sassy and as an alternative to the more staid reporting of Ms., Bitch was launched in the mid-nineties as a Xerox-and-staple zine covering the landscape of popular culture from a feminist perspective. Both unabashed in its love for the guilty pleasure of consumer culture and deeply thoughtful about the way the pop landscape reflects and impacts women's lives, Bitch grew to be, today, a touchstone of hip, young feminist thought, looking with both wit and irreverence at the way pop culture informs feminism - and vice versa. BITCHfest offers an assortment of the most provocative pieces from the past along with new pieces - smart, nuanced, cranky, outrageous, and clear-eyed all. Lisa Jervis is publisher; Andi Zeisler is editorial/creative director. Let's celebrate! 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Wednesday, September 13 - Susan Page
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

SUSAN PAGE explains WHY TALKING IS NOT ENOUGH: 8 Loving Actions That Will Transform Your Marriage. Drawing on more than twenty years of popular relationship workshops and five relationship books, Susan Page offers a book of remarkably effective, easy-to-do relationship strategies that do not involve communication, turning conventional wisdom on its head by presenting Loving Actions that can be done by one partner, acting alone. If "better communication" as a remedy for relationship conflicts has failed you, Susan Page's strategies and suggestions are not to be missed. 7:00 at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Thursday, September 14 - Lynne Cox
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

LYNNE COX introduces GRAYSON, her first book since Swimming to Antarctica. She tells the story of a miraculous ocean encounter that happened to her when she was seventeen and in training for a big swim (she had already swum the English Channel, twice, and the Catalina Channel). It was the dark of early morning; Lynne was in 55-degree water as smooth as black ice, two hundred yards offshore, outside the wave break. She was swimming her last half-mile back to the pier before heading home for breakfast when she became aware that something was swimming with her. The ocean was charged with energy as if a squall was moving in; thousands of baby anchovy darted through the water like lit sparklers, trying to evade something larger. Whatever it was, it felt large enough to be a white shark coursing beneath her body. It became clear that it was a baby gray whale-following alongside Lynne for a mile or so. Lynne had been swimming for more than an hour; she needed to get out of the water to rest, but she realized that if she did, the young calf would follow her onto shore and die from collapsed lungs. If Lynne didn't find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death. Something so enormous -the mother whale was fifty feet long- suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. How could Lynne possibly find her? This is the story -part mystery, part magical tale- of what happened. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Thursday, September 14 - Amy Goodman & David Goodman
7:00 PM at First Congregational Church of Oakland

AMY GOODMAN and DAVID GOODMAN on STATIC: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back. Amy Goodman, host of the TV and radio news show Democracy Now! and investigative journalist David Goodman once again take on government liars, corporate profiteers, and the media that has acted as their megaphone. They expose how the Bush administration has manipulated and fabricated news and how the corporate media has worked hand in glove with the powerful to deceive the public. STATIC is a hopeful, fighting rallying call for people to take back our government, our media, and our world. This event celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Democracy Now!, KPFA's Terra Verde, and CorpWatch. Tickets $10 advance, available at Cody's, $15 door. 7:00 PM at First Congregational Church of Oakland (2501 Harrison Street, Oakland).

 

Friday, September 15 - Irwin Redlener
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

IRWIN REDLENER on AMERICANS AT RISK: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Need to Do Now. June's Homeland Security report declared the US unprepared for catastrophes. Five years after 9/11 and one year after Katrina, we continue to hit what Dr. Irwin Redlener calls the "snooze alarm": rather than treating these disasters as true wake-up calls, our government has done little to prepare our nation for natural and man-made acts that are all but inevitable. What OHS's report shows is that the government in not prepared to protect its citizens. Redlener, co-founder of The Children's Health Fund and head of Columbia's National Center for Disaster Preparedness, states that individuals must be their own first responders. Redlener details five megadisaster scenarios, underscoring our vulnerability and clarifying what will happen during every stage of an earthquake, chemical spill, nuclear terrorist attack, pandemic, and a terror attack on a school. He demonstrates that knowledge, some supplies, and a state of mental readiness can make a difference in surviving a disaster. In short, AMERICANS AT RISK provides a blueprint for survival. It is a call to arms from the world's leading disaster-response expert, a physician and Washington insider with extensive on-the-ground experience. Don't miss either talk or book. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Saturday, September 16 - Madeleine Dunphy
11:00 AM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

MADELEINE DUNPHY introduces kids to the planet's major ecosystems and the interdependence of wildlife in HERE IS THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST and HERE IS THE AFRICAN SAVANNA. Dunphy's series has won awards from the National Science Teacher's Association and the Children's Book Council; these revised editions offer new wildlife information guides, and contact details for environmental organization in addition to wonderful illustrations. From swinging monkeys and upside-down-hanging sloths, Rain Forest envelops readers in a stunning jungle; in Savannah, young readers will learn how all living things in this ecological community rely on one another for existence. Grab all the kids for this special time with slides, games, and artifacts! 11:00 AM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Sunday, September 17 - S. Beth Atkin
Note time: 4:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

S. BETH ATKIN talks about GUNSTORIES: Life-Changing Experiences with Guns. Guns are present in homes - for protection, sport, hunting - and also on the street. They can cause accidents, injuries, death. Guns are a fact of life for young people growing up in the US, and their impact is life-changing and undoubtedly twofold. Atkin presents an array of young people who candidly share the mixed consequences of guns in their lives. S. Beth Atkin is a writer and photographer whose work focuses on children and at-risk youth; her earlier books are Voices from the Fields and Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories, an ALA Best Book for young adults. Note time: 4:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Sunday, September 17 - Adam Mansbach & T Cooper
6:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

ADAM MANSBACH and T COOPER gather A FICTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES WITH HUGE CHUNKS MISSING. As political dishonesty continues to infect the ongoing process of history's creation, a diverse group of America's best fiction writers take on the challenge of creating counter-narratives; the result seeks to challenge, tease, and expand upon the hegemonic, single-narrative of mainstream American history. Here are the moments and the people left out of the textbooks. And here is what else happened - on the margins of American life - on the dates and during the historical moments we were all forced to memorize. Providing original stories and artwork are VALERIE MINER, who will read this evening with the editors, Amy Bloom, Daniel Alarcon, Sarah Schulman, Keith Knight, Ron Kovic, Kate Bornstein, Alexander Chee, Paul La Forge, Felicia Luna Lemus, Thomas O'Malley, Neal Pollack, David Rees, Darin Strauss, Benjamin Weissman, and editors Mansbach (author of Angry Black White Boy and Shackling Water) and Cooper (author of Some of the Parts and Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes). 6:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Monday, September 18 - Anthony Horowitz and Alex Pettyfer
Note time: 4:00 PM at Cody’s Fourth Street, Berkeley

ANTHONY HOROWITZ is possibly the busiest writer in the UK. He juggles being one of the most successful writers of fiction for kids and high-profile writing for TV and the stage. Anthony's first novel was Enter Frederick K Bower, published in 1979 when Anthony was just 23. He has now written 26 books for young people, including the Diamond Brothers trilogy (The Falcon's Malteser, South By South East and Public Enemy Number Two), The Switch, and The Devil and His Boy. But it was Anthony's creation of Alex Rider in 2000 that really set the world on fire. Reluctant super spy Alex made his electric debut in STORMBREAKER, followed by Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, and Ark Angel. And now the first film installment of the Alex Rider adventures, ALEX RIDER: OPERATION STORMBREAKER, opens in theaters nationwide October 6. It's the story of a normal teenager who lives with his uncle, a nondescript bank manager...or so it seems until his uncle disappears under mysterious circumstances. Alex soon learns that his uncle was a spy of Britain's secret intelligence service, MI6, and he is recruited to take on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the organization of a sinister billionaire. Within days he'd gone from schoolboy to super spy – but will Alex's first assignment be his last? We're thrilled to bring Anthony Horowitz to the hundreds of young readers who have devoured his books for his only Bay Area signing (if you have to miss soccer, you have to miss soccer!) Note time: 4:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

Joining author Horowitz will be young actor ALEX PETTYFER who plays Alex Rider! Alex Pettyfer, in his feature film debut, is undertaking only his second acting role. A former child model, he appeared in a number of high-profile campaigns for major brands such as Gap. In 2002, he was cast in the title role of ITV's film of TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS, which was filmed on the Isle of Man. Alex starred opposite Stephen Fry, who played Rugby School's legendary headmaster, Dr. Arnold. The success of Alex's performance in this classic television film brought him to the attention of Anthony Horowitz and the producers of ALEX RIDER: OPERATION STORMBREAKER and, after several auditions and the elimination of some 500 rivals, he was cast as Alex Rider in Spring 2005.

 

Monday, September 18 - Mary Gaitskill
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

MARY GAITSKILL visits with VERONICA, a novel about flesh and spirit, vanity, mortality, and mortal affection set mostly in Paris and Manhattan in the desperately glittering 1980s. Gaitskill dazzles with psychological insight and a mystical sense of the soul's hurtling passage through the world. A novel unlike any other, VERONICA is a tour de force about the fragility and mystery of human relationships, the failure of love, and love's abiding power. An astute reviewer in the Oregonian wrote, "People write their whole lives in the hope of coming up with just one sentence that rises to the level of this book." Mary Gaitskill's previous books include Because They Wanted To, Two Girls Fat and Thin, and Bad Behavior. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Tuesday, September 19 - Kelly Link
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

KELLY LINK spins MAGIC FOR BEGINNERS. In her celebrated debut collection Stranger Things Happen, Kelly Link's prose is beautifully imaginative and starkly human, deftly exposing the existence of both within the other. Her new collection continues on the haunting path where she treads best - zombies, witches, conjurers, saddled alongside grief, love, and family, in a medley of the extraordinary: gothic, paranormal, mystic, and horror. Link rides a trajectory through the world of an enchanted mind but gripped fast to a heart that's resolute. The opening story, The Faery Handbag, won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, and the book itself was chosen as a Time Best Book of 2005 and a Salon Top 10 Book of the Year. We've long awaited a visit from Kelly - we hope you'll celebrate this one with us. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Tuesday, September 19 - Dylan Schaffer
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

DYLAN SCHAFFER bakes his way to truth, reconciliation, and forgiveness in LIFE, DEATH & BIALYS. A mystery writer and his strange (and estranged) father hadn't spent much time together - not since Flip left Dylan and his siblings in the care of their crazy mother thirty years before. The idea of taking an intensive bread baking class together seemed considerably less than half-baked: neither knew the first thing about making bread, and Flip's end-stage lung cancer was expected to kill him long before the class began ... but between the French Culinary Institute and a shabby Bowery hotel, they came to something like terms of forgiveness. As moving as it is irreverent, LIFE, DEATH & BIALYS is about how an imperfect father said goodbye to his son and to his city and how a reluctant son discovered the essence of forgiveness. Dylan Schaffer is the author of the legal thrillers Misdemeanor Man and I Right the Wrongs, and in his spare time is a criminal defense lawyer who has served as appellate counsel in hundreds of cases ranging from drunk driving to multiple murders. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Wednesday, September 20 - Edward P. Jones
7:30 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

EDWARD P. JONES returns with ALL AUNT HAGAR'S CHILDREN. The author of the literary and widely-read and award-winning The Known World returns to the short story form that served him well in his first book Lost in the City. Jones offers a prismatic look at life among the denizens of Washington DC, both today and in the past. But while they are circumscribed by the same Beltway, Jones's characters are not the wealthy powerbrokers and media hounds who define the most visible aspect of the capital. Instead they inhabit the segregated neighborhoods, often struggling to get by, as they navigate the racially stratified world that life in the city offers. His writing is, as ever, layered and elegiac. And the characters will haunt you for years to come. It's as if the descendants of people in The Known World are now living in Washington - ordinary "folk" who become palpably real, their overturned, once-quiet lives taking on the layered intensity of entire novels within the limited pages of a short story. We're thrilled to welcome Edward Jones back to Cody's. 7:30 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Wednesday, September 20 - Marina Benjamin
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

MARINA BENJAMIN traces the journey of Iraqi Jews from Baghdad's elite to displaced exiles in LAST DAYS IN BABYLON: The History of a Family, the Story of a Nation. Benjamin grew up in modern London feeling estranged from her family's exotic Middle Eastern ways, refusing to speak the Arabic that her mother and grandmother spoke. She rejected the food they ate in favor of hamburgers and beer. But when she had her own child a few years ago, she realized that she was losing a link to her past. Benjamin looks through the eyes of her grandmother, traveling to Baghdad in 2004 to recapture and appreciate Regina's Jewish Baghdadi childhood – and what she found was a city that had erased all traces and memories of a Jewish presence. More than a stirring story of survival, LAST DAYS IN BABYLON is a bittersweet portrait of Old World Baghdad and its colorful Jewish community, whose roots predate the birth of Islam by a thousand years and whose culture did much to make Iraq the peaceful desert paradise that has since become a distant memory. An adventure story, a riveting family history, and a timely reminder that behind today's headlines are real people whose lives are caught – too often tragically – in the crossfire of misunderstanding, age-old prejudice, and geopolitical ambition. 7:00 PM at Cody’s Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Thursday, September 21 - Cindy Pawlcyn
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

CINDY PAWLCYN delivers BIG SMALL PLATES. Chef Cindy Pawlcyn (Mustards Grill, Fog City Diner, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Go Fish Grill) fabulous new cookbook is full of the sampler-size recipes she loves to make and serve in her own kitchen, all meant to be passed around so that each person can enjoy a few bits of this and a few of that, and not come away feeling stuffed. BIG SMALL PLATES is all about variety and flavor and freshness in recipes simple and sophisticated. Cindy's bringing some samples for you to taste during her talk, including Chile-Garlic Peanuts and chocolate biscuits! 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Thursday, September 21 - David Shenk
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

DAVID SHENK unwraps THE IMMORTAL GAME: A History of Chess, or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain. Shenk chronicles the history of chess's unique influence and modern relevance, from its earliest roots in 500 A.D. India, though its spread through feudal Christian Europe and into the lives of notables such as Karl Marx, Voltaire, Abraham Lincoln, Woody Allen, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Norman Schwarzkopf. He notes its remarkable achievements: its use as a moral guide in the Middle Ages, its role in the political unity in the Enlightenment, its crucial importance in the birth of neuroscience, its role in 20th century art, its importance in the development of artificial intelligence and its use as a teaching tool in inner-city America. THE IMMORTAL GAME is an utterly fascinating look at a simple game. David Shenk is the author of four previous books, including "the definitive work on Alzheimer's", The Forgetting, which inspired an Emmy Award-winning PBS film of the same name. PLUS! David will be raffling off an extraordinary reproduction of the 12th century Lewis Chessmen, the most vivid and important historical chess pieces of all time. Found in early 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland they are believed to be a Norse design carved from walrus tusk and whale teeth. Click here to learn more. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Thursday, September 21 - Philip Jenkins
7:30 PM in the Large Assembly, First Congregational Church of Berkeley

PHILIP JENKINS examines THE NEW FACES OF CHRISTIANITY: Believing the Bible in the Global South. Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History of Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University, called the world's attention to the little-noticed fact that Christianity's center of gravity was moving inexorably southward in his highly influential book The Next Christendom, noting the shift is so much to the south that soon Africa may be home to the world's largest Christian populations. In this brilliant sequel, Jenkins takes a much closer look, expanding his research and presenting graceful and intelligible findings. Jim Wallis writes, "[T]his is absolutely essential reading for all who are seeking to understand the future of the church in the 21st century." 7:30 PM in the Large Assembly, First Congregational Church of Berkeley (2345 Channing Way at Dana). This evening is presented jointly by Cody's and FCCB; a $10 donation is suggested to help offset FCCB's costs, but no one will be turned away for lack of donation.

 

Saturday, September 23 - Robert Harris
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

ROBERT HARRIS recreates IMPERIUM. The author of Pompeii, Enigma, and Fatherland tells the story of Marcus Cicero's rise to power, from radical young lawyer to first citizen of Rome. A famous wit and philosopher, Cicero launched himself into the violent, treacherous world of Roman politics, a world startlingly similar to our own - a world of Senate intrigue and electoral corruption, special prosecutors, and political hostesses, in which ancient rights of free speech and liberty are being threatened as a result of military adventures abroad. Compellingly written in Tiro's -- the inventor of shorthand and author of numerous books, including a celebrated biography of his master (which was lost in the Dark Ages) -- voice, IMPERIUM is the re-creation of his vanished masterpiece, recounting in vivid detail the story of Cicero's quest for glory, competing with some of the most powerful and intimidating figures of his -- or any other -- age: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and the many other powerful Romans who changed history. Robert Harris, the world's master of innovative historical fiction, lures us in this tale of how one clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable man fought to reach the top. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Monday, September 25 - Words Upon The Waters
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

WORDS UPON THE WATERS: A Poetic Response to Katrina by Bay Area Poets. In September 2005, just weeks after the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, a group of writers and artists came together to voice their grief and rage about the devastating effect of the levee breaks, as well as to the government's blatant disregard for the people who suffered in this tragedy by holding a benefit for Katrina survivors at La Pena in Oakland. Many of them banded together to create WORDS UPON THE WATERS, produced by donated time, energy, and funds. We welcome the amazing writers who have contributed to the Hurricane Katrina benefit book from which they read this evening: REGINALD LOCKETT, PABLO ROSALES, TENNESSEE REED, KIM SHUCK, CLAIRE ORTALDA, FLOYD SALAS, GERALD NICOSIA, ADAM DAVID MILLER, NINA SERRANO, STEPHANIE JT RUSSELL, SARA BIEL, devorah major, SHARON DOUBIAGO, DIANE QUARTERMAINE, SELENE STEESE, MARK STATES, KAYLAH MARIN, KAREN FOLGER JACOBS, GARY GACH, JEANNE POWELL, RAFAEL JESUS GONZALEZ, AVOTCJA, WANDA SABIR, and KARLA BRUNDAGE. One hundred percent of the sales of WORDS UPON THE WATERS benefit the Center for Independent Living in Biloxi, Mississippi. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Tuesday, September 26 - Brady Kiesling
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

BRADY KIESLING discusses DIPLOMACY LESSONS. In February 2003, John Brady Kiesling publicly resigned his position as political counselor of the US Embassy in Athens to protest the Bush administration's impending invasion of Iraq. He was certain the security, economic, and moral costs of this war would far outweigh any benefit to the American people. Events quickly seemed to prove him right. DIPLOMACY LESSONS is inspired by Kiesling's conviction that disasters like Iraq are foreseeable and preventable. He calls for foreign policy realism that recognizes the limits of US power and considers what is possible and affordable in a world Americans share with more than six billion other people. Brady Kiesling was a US Foreign Service officer for twenty years, serving in Israel, Morocco, Armenia, Washington, and Greece. Since resigning, he has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and a columnist and speaker on international political affairs. He lives in Athens, Greece. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Wednesday, September 27 - John Stauber
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

JOHN STAUBER offers THE BEST WAR EVER: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Mess in Iraq. Co-author with Sheldon Rampton of the popular Weapons of Mass Deception and several other recent books, and founder and director of the Center for Media & Democracy, John Stauber reveals the potent cocktail of deceit, arrogance, and wishful thinking that got us where we are today, and further reveals the way in which the media, by refusing to question a good deal of information coming from the Bush administration, has played a significant role. THE BEST WAR EVER proves that the entire war has been predicated upon willful misinformation and propaganda - and also teaches us how to wake up and not be misled again. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Wednesday, September 27 - Aminatta Forna
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

AMINATTA FORNA captures ANCESTOR STONES. While Aminatta Forna was interviewing relatives for research on her memoir, The Devil That Danced on the Water, some of her family's oral history began to take the shape of what would become this breathtaking debut novel. It limns a multigenerational tale of a woman in her homecoming to West Africa from another life in England, and of her foremothers, whose stories weave together to form a sensuous and forceful portrait of family and county. When Abie's four aunts deed her the family coffee plantation in West Africa, Abie returns to Sierra Leone to oversee the business. But this new calling brings more than simple labors to Abie, as her elders, whom she found intimidating in her youth, open up to tell her their stories, which soon become one story. As the women's tales cross generations, knitting all five lives together, Abie begins to feel the place she once called home is again home. In the narrative tradition of The Joy Luck Club and The God of Small Things, the women's lives unfold into Abie's existence, and she sees post-colonialism, patriarchal society, and religion both in the context of her family and her newly returned-to-country. Aminatta Forna's memoir told the story of her life and that of her activist father in Sierra Leone. She currently divides her time between London and Sierra Leone. "Gorgeous and dreamlike...A richly patterned mosaic of African culture and history." – Kirkus Reviews. 7:00 PM at Cody’s Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Thursday, September 28 - David Thomson
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

DAVID THOMSON looks at NICOLE KIDMAN. From the brilliant film historian and critic comes an amazing new book that reinvents the star biography in a singularly illuminating portrait of Nicole Kidman - and what it means to be an actress today. Part biography, part love letter, part critical analysis, David Thomson's life of Kidman is not merely a book about who she is but what she is: in our culture and our minds, on- and off-screen. The details of her career are here, as are the details of an actress's life, and also here are Thomson's scintillating considerations of what celebrity means in the life of an actress such as Kidman, of how the screen becomes both barrier and open sesame for her and for her audience, of what is required today of an actress of Kidman's stature if she is to remain vital to the industry and to the audiences who made her a celebrity. Impassioned, opinionated, dazzlingly original in approach and ideas, NICOLE KIDMAN is perhaps David Thomson's most remarkable book yet. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Thursday, September 28 - Jane Bay
7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street in San Francisco

JANE BAY tells the tale of LOVE & LOSS: A Story About Life, Death, and Rebirth. Jane Bay gives us a glimpse of the invisible web of connectedness between us and its power to help heal even the deepest of wounds. In sharing the loss of her Tibetan foster daughter, Namgyal Youdon, Bay offers a rare opportunity to travel through the agonizing process of grieving, and to experience the power and healing of unconditional love. Namgyal, thirteen when Jane met her in Dharamsala, was forced to return to Tibet by a directive issued by the Chinese Communist government in Lhasa; Bay lost all contact with her for three years. When they were reunited, vowing they'd never be separated again, no one knew that Namgyal's life would be cut short, just ten days before coming to the US for the first time. This is their story, about the bond between a childless mother and a motherless child. Daniel Goleman writes, "This book will be a balm for anyone whose heart still aches from a profound loss." Jane Bay has worked at Lucasfilm Ltd. in Marin Country for twenty-nine years. The author of a previous book, Precious Jewels, she considers herself a Sunday writer and doesn't intend to quit her day job. 7:00 PM at Cody's Stockton Street, San Francisco

 

Friday, September 29 - David Kamp
7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street in Berkeley

DAVID KAMP tells the rich, raucous story of how Epicureanism in American evolved from a pursuit of elitist gourmands to an everyday practice and mindset of the masses in THE UNITED STATES OF ARUGULA: The Sun Dried, Free Range, Extra Virgin Story of How We Became a Gourmet Nation. One day America woke up to find that its squishy Wonder Bread had become passé, its Shake 'n' Bake dinners were an embarrassment, and its children were clamoring for salsa at the expense of the time-honored bottle of ketchup. We were suddenly fluent in a new language: mesclun, sushi, radicchio, balsamic vinegar, and lattes served venti. How it was all brought about over the last several decades by some of the most charismatic, passionate, brilliant, colorful, flamboyant, and contentious people in America - James Beard, Julia Child, Craig Claiborne, Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, and more - is Kamp's irreverent and engaging tale to tell, and the Vanity Fair contributing editor dishes behind the scenes of what really is the cultural success story of our time: how we became a gourmet nation. 7:00 PM at Cody's Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Saturday, September 30 - Liz Hockinson & Kathryn Otoshi
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled due to family reasons. We hope to reschedule.

LIZ HOCKINSON and KATHRYN OTOSHI introduce MARCELLO THE MOVIE MOUSE, an adorable story about a little mouse with a big dream to become a filmmaker. No one seems to believe that a little mouse like Marcello Mousetriani can write and direct his own movie. But nothing will stand between him and his dream - not the discouragement of others, not his tiresome day job at the cheese factory, and certainly not the looming threat of Ravioli, the theatre cat! Tiny but tenacious, Marcello is no quitter - and his efforts will inspire dreamers of all ages to keep their whiskers to the grindstone. Author Liz Hockinson travels the world, writing for newspapers and teaching English, and finding lots of stories to tell. Illustrator Kathryn Otoshi is a former art director for Industrial Light and Magic, and loves watching movies and won't leave her seat until she's seen the final credits. Round up the kids for story and skit and drawing! Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled due to family reasons. We hope to reschedule.

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