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The Odyssey Bookshop |
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The Odyssey Bookshop |
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Pictures of recent events
The Odyssey Bookshop is one of five independent
bookstores participating in WAMC's Roundtable on Tuesday mornings,
just after the 10:00 news. People from the Odyssey will be on about once a
month, talking about our favorite books. The Odyssey Bookshop 413-534-7307 email odysseybks@aol.com
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Late April / May Calendar of All events are free and open to the public and, unless otherwise noted, are held at The Odyssey. Call (413) 534-7307 to reserve a space. If you can’t attend, we can reserve a signed book for you. Printer friendly Calendar with details This requires Acrobat Reader. Acrobat
Reader can
be Please call the Odyssey at 534-7307 or email us to reserve a place for an event. (If emailing, please give us your phone number.) If we have your name and telephone number, we'll be able to call you with last-minute cancellations or changes. Click on an event in the calendar for details. Late April / May 2008
Sundays with Shakespeare The monthly Shakespeare discussion group, led by UMASS English professor Arthur F. Kinney, will discuss Measure for Measure. The month’s selection is discounted 20%. Rosalie Winard Wild Birds of the American Wetlands For over a decade, photographer Rosalie Winard has traveled the country by foot, canoe, airboat, and ATV, taking pictures of large birds of the wetlands from Florida to California, Louisiana to North Dakota. Her intimate portraits—tethered to an ethereal palette of white, gray, and black—are alight with Winard’s passion for the avian world and its endangered terrain. Alternately meditative and exhilarating, abstract and literal, they capture the birds’ remarkable habits and prehistoric forms, as well as their ineffable elegance and humor. Wild Birds of the American Wetlands is a monumental and breathtaking study of some of the country’s most beautiful birds. “Rosalie Winard cares about what she photographs. She understands the relationship between habitat and human encroachment and what we stand to lose if we don’t stop and marvel at these avian primitives. She has captured something ancient and time-sensitive in her stunning black-and-white photography.” --Sebastio and Lelia Salgado, Founders, Instituto Terra James Gurney Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara In Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara, artist and author James Gurney escorts readers— adults and children alike— to the wondrous lost island of Dinotopia, an enthralling world of art, science, exploration, and invention in which humans and dinosaurs live peacefully together. In the spirit of Marco Polo and Gulliver’s Travels, Journey to Chandara recounts the adventures of explorer Arthur Denison and dinosaur Bix through the exotic eastern realm of Dinotopia. “With lush settings reminiscent of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, colorful characters cast from Norman Rockwell, and vivacious dinosaurs conjured from the spirit of Charles Knight, Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara is a window into this modern master’s mind.” —Tony DiTerlizzi, Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide April 29• Tuesday • 7 pm Barbara Zurer Pearson Raising a Bilingual Child If you would like your children to experience the benefits of becoming bilingual, but you aren’t sure how to teach them a second language, then Raising a Bilingual Child is the perfect step-by-step guide for you. Raising a Bilingual Child provides parents with information, encouragement, and practical advice for creating a positive bilingual environment. It offers both an overview of why parents should raise their children to speak more than one language and detailed steps parents can take to integrate two languages into their child’s daily routine. “A timely and well-written book! . . . [It] helps parents prepare their children for the future [. . .].” —J. Kevin Nugent, Professor, Child and Family Studies, University of Massachusetts–Amherst April 30 • Wednesday • 7 pm Meredith Hall Without a Map: A Memoir Meredith Hall’s moving memoir begins in 1965, when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is then kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East, where she survives by selling her possessions and finally her blood. She returns to New England and stitches together a life that encircles her silenced and invisible grief. “Nostalgic for the good old days of Norman Rockwell America? Without a Map may forever change the way you look at small-town life. Meredith Hall’s memoir is a sobering portrayal of how punitive her close-knit New Hampshire community was in 1965 when, at the age of 16, she became pregnant in the course of a casual summer romance…”– Francine Prose, O Magazine The Odyssey Bookshop’s Signed First Edition Club Selection for April May 1 • Thursday • 7 pm Hillary Jordan Mudbound It is 1946, and Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm—a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura's brother-in-law, returns haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion. “Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still.” – Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible Min Jin Lee Free Food for Millionaires Casey’s four years at Princeton gave her many things, 'but no job and a number of bad habits.' Casey's parents, are Korean immigrants working in a dry cleaner, desperately trying to hold on to their culture and their identity. After graduation, Casey sees the reality of having expensive habits without the means to sustain them. As she navigates Manhattan, we see her life and the lives around her, culminating in a portrait of New York City and its world of haves and have-nots. Inspired by 19th century novels such as Vanity Fair and Middlemarch, Min Jin Lee examines maintaining one's identity within changing communities in what is her remarkably assured debut. “Min Jin Lee has won the praise of literary critics...the book is a true page-turner, with a Korean-American protagonist and a compelling plot involving the universal clash of cultures, adultery and class distinction.” – Jae-Ha Kim, Chicago Sun-Times May 3 • Saturday • 10:30 AM May 7 • Wednesday • 10:30 AM May 17 • Saturday • 10:30 AM May 21 • Wednesday • 10:30 AM May 31 • Saturday • 10:30 AM Odyssey Bookseller and children’s buyer, Rebecca Fabian, reads from her favorite children’s picture books. Kids “Crafternoon” Calvin Chen Some Assembly Required: Work, Community, and Politics in China's Rural Enterprises One linchpin of China's expansion has been township and village enterprises (TVEs), a vast group of firms with diverse modes of ownership and structure. Based on the author's fieldwork in Zhejiang, this book explores the emergence and success of rural enterprises. The author argues that the resilience of these factories has as much to do with how authority is defined and how people interact as it does with the ability to generate profits. How social capital was deployed and replenished at critical moments was central to the eventual rise and consolidation of these enterprises as effective, robust institutions. Without mutual respect, company leaders would have found it impossible to improve their firms' productivity, workplace stability, and long-term viability. Michael Klare Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy Three great trends will define the geopolitical landscape of the 21st century: The rise of new economic dynamos like China and India, with voracious appetites for energy and other raw materials; the reluctance of the mature industrial powers, led by the United States, Europe, and Japan, to abandon their privileged status atop the resource-consumption pyramid; and the gradual depletion of many of the world's vital resources. How these three trends interact will largely determine the shape of the future world order. “If you want to understand the future of international relations, worry less about ideology and more about oil reserves. Michael Klare’s superb new book explains, in haunting detail, the trends that will lead us into a series of dangerous traps.” — Bill McKibben, author The Bill McKibben Reader Bryan Mealer All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo After covering a brutal war that claimed four million lives, journalist Bryan Mealer takes readers on a harrowing two-thousand-mile journey through Congo, where gun-toting militia still rape and kill with impunity. Amid burned-out battlefields, the dark corners of the forests, and the high savanna, where thousands have been massacred and quickly forgotten, Mealer searches for signs that Africa’s most troubled nation will soon rise from ruin.“Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and redemptive. Mealer has given us a story of a people and a land nearer to our hearts than we know. An immensely honest job of reporting, wonderfully told by a writer who feels as much as he sees.” — Robert Kurson, New York Times best-selling author of Shadow Divers Chris Bohjalian Skeletons at the Feast In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a small group of people begin the longest journey of their lives: an attempt to cross the remnants of the Third Reich, from Warsaw to the Rhine, to reach the British and American lines. Among the group is Anna Emmerich, the daughter of Prussian aristocrats, her lover, Callum Finella, a Scottish prisoner of war who was brought from the stalag to her family’s farm as forced labor. And, there is a twenty-six-year-old Wehrmacht corporal, who the pair know as Manfred–who is, in reality, Uri Singer, a Jew from Germany who managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz. As they work their way west, they encounter a countryside ravaged by war. Their flight will test both Anna’s and Callum’s love, as well as their friendship with Manfred–assuming any of them even survive.“Careful research and an unflinching eye. . . Bohjalian's well-chosen descriptions capture the anguish of a tragic era and the dehumanizing desolation wrought by war.” -- Publisher’s Weekly Reeve Lindbergh Forward From Here: Leaving Middle Age and Other Unexpected Adventures In her funny and wistful new book, Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Charles Lindbergh, contemplates entering a new stage in life, turning sixty, the period her mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, once described as "the youth of old age." It is a time of life, she writes, that produces some unexpected surprises. Age brings loss, but also love; disaster, but also delight. Forward from Here is a brave book, a reflective book, a funny book -- a book that will charm and fascinate anyone on the journey from middle age to the uncertain future that lies ahead.“Reeve's essays are suffused with a sly, gentle humor…” — Publisher’s Weekly May 13 • Tuesday• 11 am The Odyssey Bookshop’s Daytime Fiction Book Group and Open Fiction Book Group will discuss Third Girl from the Left by Martha Southgate. From the acclaimed author of "The Fall of Rome" comes a bold, breakout novel about the lives of three generations of African-American women, linked across time by the pull of desire and the transformative power of the movies. The Odyssey Crime Club will discuss Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein. New York Times best-selling author Fairstein delivers her finest thriller to date--a riveting fusion of gritty authenticity, urban intrigue, and courtroom drama, starring the intrepid Alex Cooper. The month’s selection is discounted 20%. The Odyssey Bookshop’s “Breakout Fiction” Selection for May May 13 • Tuesday • 7 pm Marisa Silver The God of War Ares, age 12, lives with his mother and his younger brother in a trailer at the edge of the Salton Sea. It is a desolate, forgotten place, whose inhabitants thrive amidst seemingly impossible circumstances. Where birds fly by day across the desert sky, by night government fighter planes and helicopters make training runs using live ammunition, and an anonymous dead body floats in from the sea. These events inspire Ares, on the cusp of his adolescence, to enact elaborate fantasies of mortal combat. His brother, Malcolm, age 7, is mentally handicapped, and Ares’ struggle with the burden of responsibility -- to himself and to others -- draws him into a world of drugs, violence, and sex that he is not prepared for, launching him into a very personal battle for his own identity, one that has a lethal outcome. “Marisa Silver's The God of War is a novel of great metaphorical depth and beauty. It stays with you like a lesson well and truly learned.” -- Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls. A selection of Wine and Cheese will be served prior to the event in honor of The God of War’s publication. Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge In a voice more powerful and compassionate than ever before, New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Strout binds together thirteen rich, luminous narratives into a book with the heft of a novel, through the presence of one larger-than-life, unforgettable character: Olive Kitteridge. “Easy to read and impossible to forget. Its literary craft and emotional power will surprise readers unfamiliar with Strout.” – Publisher’s Weekly Gary Hirshberg Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World In Stirring it Up, Gary Hirshberg calls on individuals to realize their power to effect change in the marketplace – “the power of one” – while proving that environmental commitment makes for a healthier planet and a healthier bottom line. Drawing from his 25 years’ experience growing Stonyfield Farm from a 7-cow start-up, as well as the examples of like-minded companies, Hirshberg presents stunning evidence that business not only can save the planet, but is able to simultaneously deliver higher growth and superior profits as well. “Gary Hirshberg has done a masterful job telling the stories of cutting-edge companies that have found a way to increase profits and environmental sustainability at the same time.” — Ben Cohen, former CEO, Ben & Jerrys Sundays with Shakespeare The monthly Shakespeare discussion group, led by UMASS English professor Arthur F. Kinney, will discuss As You Like It. The month’s selection is discounted 20%. Margot Livesey The House on Fortune Street It seems like mutual good luck for Abigail and Dara when they meet at St. Andrews University and, despite their differences, become fast friends. Years later they remain an unlikely pair. Abigail, an actress who confidently uses her charms both on- and offstage, believes herself immune to love. Dara, a counselor, throws herself into romantic relationships with frightening intensity. Yet now each seems to have found "true love"—another stroke of luck?—Abigail with her academic boyfriend, Sean, and Dara with a tall, violinist named Edward. But soon after Dara moves into Abigail's downstairs apartment, trouble threatens both relationships, and their friendship. “I loved this book. The House on Fortune Street pulled me in and kept me rapt from start to finish. Margot Livesey is writing at her very best.” – Ann Patchett, author of Run and Bel Canto Nam Le The Boat A stunningly inventive, deeply moving fiction debut: stories that take us from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran; from New York City to Iowa City; from a tiny fishing village in Australia to a foundering vessel in the South China Sea, in a masterly display of literary virtuosity and feeling. Brilliant, daring, and demonstrating a jaw-dropping versatility of voice and point of view, The Boat is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what it means to be human, and announces a writer of astonishing gifts. “An accomplished debut…” - Publisher’s Weekly Mameve Medwed Of Men and Their Mothers All men have mothers is a hard truth that Maisie Grey has learned the hard way. When she finally gets rid of her mama's-boy husband and happily settles down with her teenage son, Tommy, she's still stuck with her irascible mother-in-law, a woman who never liked her, criticized her every step of the way, and yet, as Tommy's grandmother, refuses to exit the family stage gracefully. But along comes September, with her piercings, short skirts, black nail polish, and stay-out-all-night attitude, completely unsuitable for Maisie's teenage son. When September's mother kicks her out, Maisie is forced to take a look at class differences, preconceived notions of men and women, and what it means to be a wife, a friend, and a nonjudgmental mother.“Quirky characters keep this drama of relationships in their many forms interesting. A quick and satisfying read.” — Library Journal Christopher Benfey A Summer of Hummingbirds: Love, Art, and Scandal in the Intersecting Worlds of Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Martin Johnson Heade A surprising and scandalous story of how the interaction within a group of exceptional and uniquely talented characters shaped and changed American thought. “A scholarly yet intimate behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lives of some of our most important artists.” - Kirkus Reviews and Elizabeth Young and Anthony Lee On Alexander Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War First Edition Club Selection - May May 27 • Tuesday • 7 pm David Benioff City of Thieves Lev Beniov, is small, smart, and insecure Jewish virgin, too young for the army, who spends his nights working as a volunteer firefighter. When a dead German paratrooper lands in his street, Lev is caught looting the body and dragged to jail. He shares his cell with the charismatic and grandiose Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested on desertion charges. Instead of a death sentence, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous request: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful colonel to use in his daughter's wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt to find the impossible. “This gut-churning thriller will sweep you along and, with any luck, propel Benioff into bestseller land.” —Kirkus Starred Review
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