Local LIT

  David Sedaris

Michael Fox of Joseph Fox Bookshop just e-mailed me with the news he will be hosting  

a special in-store signing (no talk 

. This will be Sedaris’ only bookstore event in Philadelphia, according to Fox, and the new title, Indefinite Leave to Remain, will be out only four days at the time. “We expect a huge crowd, and plans will be made for crowd control,” Fox wrote. “Of course, anyone who wants to reserve a signed book can do this – and I would even encourage it. [David] will sign as long as necessary and I will guarantee a signed copy.” For more details, keep an eye on the Joseph Fox website.

Robin’s Book Store, known as “Philadelphia’s Oldest Independent Book Store,”  has begun selling books online. To access the online store go to www.robinsbookstore.com, and click on the word “sales” in the top right corner.

The Free Library of Philadelphia has made podcasts of past author events available on its website. Featured authors include Norman Mailer, Steven Pinker, Dave Barry, Khaled Hosseini, Carlos Eire, Nikki Giovanni, Calvin Trillin, Richard A. Clarke, Alice McDermott, Wole Soyinka, Frank McCourt, Maureen Dowd and Ernest J. Gaines. See complete list HERE.

   Dave Egger’s What is the What, a novel of Darfur, has been chosen as the One Book, One Philadelphia title for 2008.  READ MORE

The 2007 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNERS, announced November 14, include Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner, for non-fiction; Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson for fiction; and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indianby Sherman Alexie for Young People’s Literature. Robert Hass won the poetry award for Time and Materials.
READ COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

Note: 2006 National Book Award fiction finalist and Philadelphia author KEN KALFUS will be reading from his novel, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, which is set in New York after 9/11, at Bookcourt, 163 Court Street, Brooklyn, New York, at 7 PM, November 15. For more information call 718-875-3677 or visit www.bookcourt.org.