The Year of the Death of Jose Saramago

Please forgive the absence of any relevance this post has with Muni, but one of my favorite living authors has passed out of that category today.  Probably most well-known for his book “Blindness,” which I think was made into a movie at some point, Saramago was both unique and a natural extension of great Portuguese authors in the line of Pessoa.  He will be missed. 

From Amazon.com

Many of his books, such as “Blindness” and “All the Names” are wonderfully written and instantly accessible and engaging.  But if I may be so bold to make a recommendation, brush up a bit on the life and poetry of Fernando Pessoa and then read “The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis” by Saramago.  It will pleasantly loosen your grip on your sense of self.

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Tonight: Bars

As in this woman has been behind them.  In what promises to be an interesting look behind the scenes gigantic walls of a women’s prison, Piper Kerman’s “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison” will be presented at the Booksmith tonight.

The Booksmith 1644 Haight St. 7:30 pm.

You can get there on the 71, or the 6 or N-Judah if you don’t mind walking a bit.

from piperkerman.com

Spotted: The Patient’s Privates (c)*

From randomhouse.com

Rather, The Private Patient by P.D. James, in my continuing discovery of prolific and well-read authors of which I have never heard.  Apparently, this is the 14th book in the Adam Dalgliesh series.  P.D. James seems to specialize in detective and mystery novels, though, according the authoratative wiki, also seems to dabble in the real deal.   According to her website, she has been inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame.

My inner (nerdy and bookish) 12 year-old who loved the Hardy Boys and Three Investigators series became slightly excited at the prospect of a series of detective stories.  So how about it?  Would these be some good Muni reads?

* When this is inevitably turned into some sort of xxx parody, I want 10% James!!!

De la mano de dios

El Diego

After having been flummoxed for a good while now in my attempts to somehow bring up the World Cup on here (notwithstanding my last discussion of the intersection of sports and words), Alan Black and David Henry Sterry have come to the rescue (via SFist).

Alan will be at the Booksmith tonight at 7:30 pm to discuss his book The Glorious World Cup which involves tales of the “underdogs, overachievers, maniacs, and miracles” that make this event so much fun (and often so heart-wrenching and hair-pulling) to watch.

The Booksmith 1644 Haight St.

And the World Cup itself begins on June 11, and the U.S. plays England the very next day on June 12.   Soccernomics anyone?