The BookReport

Winter Series: Alec Baldwin Reads from Oliver Twist

As an avid and unrepentant Dickens fan, my heart was full to see our community come together to hear our great friend, Alec Baldwin, read from Oliver Twist. With his wry sense of humor perfectly matched to Dickens's own, Baldwin jumped right in to the opening chapters of this beloved masterpiece.

The SRO crowd in BookHampton was treated not only to Dickens's words, but also to Baldwin's ongoing and amusing thoughts and commentary. 

At one point, he introduced his own fourth grade teacher, Bernice Hoffman, whom he credited with introducing him to the joy of Dickens and other great classics. He asked her to comment on just how important the reading of classics is to our young readers.  This, of course, is the definition of a BookHampton friend.

Baldwin called up several youngsters to read alongside him, and these wonderful children proudly dared to take on the often bumpy, but always thrilling, ride of Dickens's prose.

They beamed. They bumbled (there's a Dickensian word!)  As one young man said, "I want to get this right!" As I choked up a little, I thought, "Mission accomplished all around."

— Chris Avena

Jeremy is Reading: An Ermine in Czernopol

I was delighted to come across an announcement a couple of weeks ago from the estimable, admirable New York Review Books that it was publishing — for the first time in English — a novel by Gregor von Rezzori entitled An Ermine in Czernopol, which is to be understood as something of a major event. Rezzori is perhaps best known for his novel, Memoirs of an Anti-Semite, but he was a prolific writer and, according to the introduction to the new translation (by the wonderful young German novelist, Daniel Kehlmann) became a kind of star on German television late in his life. A memoir entitled The Snows of Yesteryear is also very special and is also published by New York Review Books.

Linda is Reading: A Book of Secrets

When our customers are excited about a book they've read, they'll often share their enthusiasm. In this post we present a piece from guest reviewer Linda James:

The acclaimed biographer Sir Michael Holroyd has written a fascinating tale, A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers (Farrar, Straus & Giroux ) about the lives of the famous Bloomsbury women: Vita and Virginia, the hidden life of Eve Fairfax and the life-in-novels of Violet Trefusis. A master craftsman of the biography, Holroyd offers his reader the intensity of a various and diverse love stories and intrigues; and the the literary achievements and mystery of lost letters and unread manuscripts.

Jeremy is Reading: Hope: A Tragedy

I was very intrigued by the great reviews accorded to Shalom Auslander's novel, Hope: A Tragedy (Riverhead), and am delighted to have read it. I had not read the author's two other books (a short story collection called Beware of God, and a memoir, Foreskin’s Lament), but as far as I can tell from a bit of research he was brought up in a deeply Orthodox Jewish community in upstate New York, from which he vehemently rebelled when he reached adulthood.

The new book tells the story of Solomon Kugel and his family, who have just moved from the city to a rustic farmhouse in a town called Stockton, New York, where, the author tells us, nothing ever happened and no one famous ever lived.

On Our Website: The Daily Specials

We all love the Daily Specials at our favorite restaurant — when we walk in the door, we check the chalkboard first thing. What’s the kitchen going to surprise us with today? What’s fresh, and what’s intriguing?

BookHampton presents its own Daily Specials — we post a new selection on our chalkboard every day, and the books are available at 20% off for one day only. We’re serving up great books from throughout the store, from the latest novels and nonfiction, to gorgeous art and cookbooks, to classic children’s stories. And several times each week you’ll find a CD or DVD, too.

Make BookHampton.com a regular stop as you surf the Internet — browse our tables, check out our events schedule, and see what’s on today’s Daily Specials! Get a taste of what’s new in our stores and on the website, and save 20% on some delicious books!

Jeremy is Reading: The Quality of Mercy

A few months ago I was delighted to receive an advance copy of Barry Unsworth's latest novel, The Quality of Mercy (Nan A. Talese), especially because it was said to be a sequel to his best-known book, the Booker Prize-winning Sacred Hunger. Thinking that it would very worthwhile to revisit Sacred Hunger I wound up rereading it in its entirety and then describing my reaction.

Oddly enough, however, I didn't read The Quality of Mercy at the time, I can't recall why, and now it has been published so my would-be advance review is a month or so after the fact.

Winter Lecture Series: Doron Weber and Ali Wentworth

BookHampton hosted two full-house book signings with Doron Weber and Ali Wentworth on Presidents’ Day weekend.
 
On Saturday, Doron Weber read from his book Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir (Simon and Schuster). The book is the life story of Weber's son Damon, who died after a heart transplant when a common infection went undetected.
 
A combination of the author's remembrances and Damon's blog posts (which give Damon a voice that's not just typical kid but also one whose illness made him wise), Immortal Bird relates Damon's early illnesses (he was born with a malformed heart), successful surgery and flourishing of health, spirit and personality that led to Damon's acting career. Fans of the HBO show "Deadwood" may remember the kid with the shock of red hair featured early in the series — that was Damon, whose natural instinct as an actor was a predictor of a strong career to come.
 
However, as some children with Damon's heart trouble do, he developed PLE, which results in the body's inability to absorb protein, in effect starving itself. There is no cure.

Weber began writing Immortal Bird as a way to deal with Damon's illness and death. "Without the book, I don't know how I could have gone on. I was so happy language existed; it gave me a place to go. Writing was essential to me. It was salvation."
 
Immortal Bird tells a personal story of a child lost too soon, and of the medical professional whose arrogance led to an unnecessary and untimely death. It's told with grace and humor and lets us all get to know Damon Weber, whose light went out too soon. (Note: Jeremy's recent blog post about Immortal Bird is here.)
 
On Sunday, Ali Wentworth regaled the packed bookstore with stories of growing up in Washington, DC and returning as an adult, (with stops in Hollywood, stage and screen in between), all included in her New York Times best-selling memoir, Ali in Wonderland (Harper).

Ali's mother, Muffy Cabot, was social secretary for Ronald Reagan, as well as the only Democrat in the Reagan White House. Ali grew up surrounded by newsmakers and world leaders — her stories of swimming with Henry Kissinger are unsettling and funny: while he used their pool for exercise, Kissinger was convinced Ali's stepfather was a spy, so their phones were tapped as well.
 
Ali went on to become an actress and comedian; you've seen her on "In Living Color," "Seinfeld" (Schmoopie from the infamous "Soup Nazi" episode) and much more. However, her marriage to George Stephanopolous brought her back to the world of her childhood in Washington, one that's very different from what she remembers.
 
"When you marry a Greek, you marry Greece," Ali laughed , as she told the story of their oldest daughter's baptism as an infant in the Greek Orthodox tradition. Involving oils and full immersion, it shocked the WASP-y Cabot side of her family. She had the standing-room only crowd in stitches as she poked loving fun at George and her daughters, who were also in attendance.
 
Afterward, during a question and answer session, an audience member asked Ali what makes a good sketch comic. "A good sketch comedian isn't afraid. You have to have a lack of inhibition. You can't be afraid to get ugly. And a lot of it is good instinct."
 
Signed copies of Immortal Bird and Ali in Wonderland are available at BookHampton.
 
This Saturday, February 25th at 2:00pm in East Hampton, join us for a very special event: Alec Baldwin returns to BookHampton to read selections from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, in honor of Dickens' 200th birthday. Our full calendar of events is available on our website.

Photographs © Jeremy Nussbaum

Jeremy is Reading: The Lord Chandos Letter and Other Writings

In my review of John Banville's The Newton Letter I mentioned that in the book Banville speaks of two letters from Newton to John Locke, although in historical fact there was only one. At the end of the book Banville provides a "Note" in which he states that the second letter is a "fiction" and then adds that it's "tone and some of the text...is taken from Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Ein Brief ('The Letter of Lord Chandos')." I'm not sure why I hadn't focused on this at the time I finished the book or when I was writing it up a few days ago, but in a kind of delayed reaction this "Note" popped in to my head and with a bit of searching in my own library the explanation became clear: a few years ago the wonderful New York Review Books published a collection of Hofmannsthal's shorter prose pieces under the title The Lord Chandos Letter and Other Writings, with an introduction by...John Banville!

Winter Lecture Series: Michael Striffler Plays from the American Songbook Part II

Pianist Mike Striffler returned for a standing-room-only performance of selections from the American Songbook at our East Hampton store on Saturday.

Focusing on post-WWII and Broadway composers and their songs, Mike played selections from West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Guys & Dolls, the Sound of Music and more as listeners sang along. It was a cozy and friendly way to spend the afternoon. He also discussed the era, the composers and the songs, putting them in historical context.

If you missed the chance to hear Mike play, and you'd like to do some singing with your family, friends and neighbors, he'll be repeating his series on the American Songbook in BookHampton in Southampton (93 Main Street). Part One will be performed at 2:00PM this Saturday, February 18th, and part two will be at 2:00PM on Sunday, February 26th. For information on all our news and events, visit our website at bookhampton.com.

Jeremy is Reading: Immortal Bird

I just finished reading Doron Weber's remarkable book Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir (Simon and Schuster), an experience which is both exhausting and exhilarating. It deals with what is surely every parent's nightmare, the illness and eventual death of a child, but as we come to know the child and his family it becomes inspirational as well.

The author's first child, Damon, was born with a heart defect and was saved by a very complex operation while still an infant. The next few years (in which two other children were born, neither with any comparable health problem) allowed the family to exist in a normal life; indeed to any onlooker they would seem to have had everything: devoted parents, gifted children, a house in a nice neighborhood in Brooklyn, extensive travels, many friends.

Winter Lecture Series: Michael Striffler Plays from the American Songbook

BookHampton readers were treated to a trip back in time via talented pianist Michael Striffler's selections from the American Songbook in East Hampton Saturday afternoon.

Featuring the romantic, silly and wonderful songs of composers Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin, listeners hummed and sang along while the multifaceted Striffler played. Between songs, he described the times and lives of the composers, postwar America's prosperity, the relaxed morals that led to Prohibition and the influence of a burgeoning African American musical culture that caught the ear of many a New York musician.

Striffler, who hails from Long Island and studied music at SUNY Stony Brook, has played at many local venues. He'll return to BookHampton this Saturday the 11th at 4 PM to pick up where his musical timeline left off, featuring Broadway hits (and more) from the 1950's and 1960's.

———

Also this weekend, join us as we help celebrate HarborFrost, Sag Harbor's winter festival of ice, music, and fireworks.

Our Winter Lecture Series schedule, and all of our upcoming events, are listed on our website.