Some Sad News

St. Paul author, and CGB customer, Daniel Hardy died of a heart attack on Saturday (Read his obituary here).

Daniel had been working on a book about a man who he thought--and had pretty strong evidence to back it up--was the basis for Fitzgerald's Gatsby. According to the obituary Daniel had just finished the book, which is little consolation, but if you are involved with writing, you know that this fact offers at least some.

According to the obituary, his wife, Mary, is going to try to publish the book posthumously. I hope she can. I was always severely interested in Daniel's updates on the progress of the book. I would see him at Ninas or in the bookstore, and he would excitedly--well, as excitedly as he got, he seemed a pretty laid back guy--tell me some far fetched story that he had learned through his research about his Gatsby's escapades.

It really does seem like a fascinating book. Hopefully it will (and I think it will) see its way into print.

But that's for another time.

Now is a time to offer our condolences. To say our thoughts are with all of Dan's loved ones. To mourn the loss of a literary St. Paulite. And to celebrate his life's work and passion.

-David

Geoff Herbach & Sam Osterhout on the Road for The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg

Our friends over at mnartists.org are doing a cool travel diary with Geoff and Sam as they tour the country in celebration of The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg. Geoff and Sam, along with their fellow Electric Arc Radio stars, Steph and Brady, will be at CGB on Thursday, June 12 at 2008. We're all considering this a welcome home of sorts from this long book tour, which you'll see, once you read some of these diary entries, will be greatly needed.


Debut novelist Geoff Herbach sets off with his buddy and Electric Arc Radio castmate, Sam Osterhout, on a book tour around the country. Over the course of the next few weeks, Geoff and Sam will be sending in a road diary documenting their travels.

SAM
I stood in the doorway of my apartment in Minneapolis and looked in at all my stuff—the coat hooks, my bookshelves, my kitchen and my beloved kitchen appliances, the little rug in front of the kitchen sink that makes me fall over every afternoon during lunch—and then I backed out the door and let it shut, trying keep the image of all that stuff in my brain. Why is it so sad to leave home?
Herbach pulled up and I heaved my giant princess bag into his hatchback and we got a sandwich and hit the road for Madison, Wisconsin, the first stop on the extended Miracle Tour.

GEOFF
When books come out, the author goes on a book tour. There are authors from all over the place constantly stopping everywhere – bookstores, amphitheaters, etc. – all the time. Right? Apparently, most of them aren’t first-time authors. And, apparently, those authors who stop at a bookstore and find crowds there to greet them already have a readership. The crowd knows the author’s other works. The crowd is jacked to read more. The crowd wants to meet this fabled writer. I am a first-time author. Don’t expect jack for audience. I’ve been told that over and over. Don’t expect jack. Outside of the Twin Cities crowds won’t magically appear. That’s okay. I think. Actually I’m filled with anxiety. Why am I going on a book tour?
Because I’ve always wanted to go on a book tour. And it’s going to be really great. Sam is my pal. He’s agreed to go with me. He’s a great writer and reader. He’ll make it fun. We drive towards Wisconsin, my home state.

READ MORE HERE>>>

Cathy Sultan -- Author of Upcoming Event @ CGB

Press Release:

Cathy Sultan and her husband, Michel, were in Beirut last week when fighting broke out between Hezbollah and US-backed government forces. She was fortunate to be able to leave Beirut for Paris, since Hezbollah had closed the airport. After five days of sometimes intense fighting, the city is now relatively calm.

Cathy was interviewed on the Diane Rehm show WAMU 88.5 FM American University Radio, Monday, 5/12/08, along with David Ignatius, columnist for the Washington Post, and Hesham Melham, Washington correspondant for An Nahar, the Lebanese daily. On 5/22/08 she will be a guest on KFAI's "Write On! Radio" 90.3 FM in Minneapolis and 106.7 in Saint Paul and live on the web at www.kfai.org

Cathy will appear at CGB on Thursday, May 22 at 7pm.

Riding Shotgun with Kathryn Kysar

Common Good Books presents Kathryn Kysar, Shannon Olson, Susan Power, and Ka Vang at the Virginia Street Swedenborgian Church on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 11th, 2:00 pm; free, bring mom). We asked Kathryn to tell us a bit more about her book, Riding Shotgun.

What do you want the Common Good Books readers to know about your anthology?
Riding Shotgun: Women Write about Their Mothers is of the complexities of the mother/daughter relationship. The anthology features twenty-one unique essays that defy the June Cleaver/Hallmark cliche that mothers are perfect. These essays create a mosaic of portraits of women in the 20th century who do their best to raise their children and live fulfilling lives. Some essays are filled with love and joy, others pain and suffering, but they are all honest and soul-searching.

What do you love about this book?
The authors wrote amazingly well crafted essays that are intimate, thoughtful, and probing. I love the diversity of voice, experience, and form.

What do you want to the book to accomplish?
I hope readers will get a glimpse of their lives in these essays and continue the conversation about mothers as we challenge the "mother" stereotype and paint portraits of flawed, brave, fragile, strong, resourceful, smart real women.