3/31/15:
KAZUO ISHIGURO
THE BURIED GIANT
4/2/15:
BARNEY FRANK
FRANK: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
4/29/15:
SAM KEEN
PRODIGAL FATHER WAYWARD SON: A Roadmap to Reconciliation
Tuesday, March 31
KAZUO ISHIGURO
THE BURIED GIANT
Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day, comes to the US with an extraordinary new novel awaited for over ten years.
"You've long set your heart against it, Axl, I know. But it's time now to think on it anew. There's a journey we must go on, and no more delay . . ."
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.
Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.
Ishiguro's seven previous books have won him wide renown and numerous honors. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. Both The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go have more than 1,000,000 copies in print across platforms, and both were adapted into highly acclaimed films. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear and meet a unique, sublimely talented master writer.
7:30 PM at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (2345 Channing Way at Dana, Berkeley
Tickets $25 - $45, available only at Brown Paper Tickets online or 800-838-3006
Thursday, April 2
BARNEY FRANK
FRANK: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
America’s smartest, feistiest, and funniest politician tells his own story.
How did a disheveled, intellectually combative gay Jew with a thick New Jersey–Massachusetts accent become one of the most effective politicians of his time?
In Frank, a candid and witty political memoir, Barney Frank relates his journey from the outskirts of New York City to Boston’s city hall and the Massachusetts legislature, and then to the U.S. Congress, where he played a vital role in the struggle for personal freedom and economic fairness for more than four decades. With his trademark directness and insight, Frank explores the emotional toll of living in the closet and how he became the first member of Congress to voluntarily disclose his homosexuality. And he chronicles his lifelong struggle against inequality, which culminated in cowriting the most significant Wall Street regulations since the Great Depression. He also demonstrates how he used his rhetorical skills to expose his opponents’ hypocrisies and delusions, and details the endless favors, grudges, and fears that compose a legislator’s career. From the Clinton impeachment to the economic meltdown of 2008 to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Frank’s words and deeds mattered, and Frank shows why. Here is a guide to how political change really happens—composed by a master of the art—and a testament to how Democrats, if they reject purism and passivity, can rebuild trust in an active government.
Barney Frank represented the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts for nearly five decades, and chaired the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2013. He is the first member of congress to enter a same-sex marriage while serving in office. He is a regular commentator on MSNBC and lives near Portland, Maine, with his husband.
7:30 PM at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (2345 Channing Way at Dana, Berkeley
Tickets $44 - $54, available only at Brown Paper Tickets online or 800-838-3006
Wednesday, April 29
SAM KEEN
PRODIGAL FATHER WAYWARD SON
Bestselling author, co-founder of the men’s movement, former enfant terrible of American philosophers, and trapeze artist: at age 83 Sam Keen is adding another layer to his already impressive resume. Written with his son Gifford, Prodigal Father Wayward Son is the definitive roadmap to reconciliation between fathers and sons.
The long awaited sequel to Sam's bestselling Fire in the Belly and a crowning achievement of a remarkable literary career, it's also an impressive debut of a young writer that proves the adage “the apple doesn't fall far from the tree”. The rebellion of the 60s and 70s is writ large in the struggles between a driven father and an irrepressible son, from adventures to marriages to split ups to drugs to abandonment and to finding a way back. Sam helps define a movement while wreaking chaos at home; Gifford, a wild-eyed blond California surfer boy, has a knack for doing things the hard way until he stumbles into great success. A surprise reconciliation awaits.
A moving account of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation, Prodigal Father Wayward Son provides guidance and inspiration to those looking for positive role models and teaches new ways to move beyond old wounds by offering concrete methods to overcome long standing enmities and misunderstanding.
Sam Keen is the author of a baker’s dozen other books. When not writing or traveling around the world, he lectures and leads seminars on a wide range of topics. He lives on his farm in the hills above Sonoma.
Gifford Keen has had careers as a software executive, a, carpenter and a real estate investor. He is the father of a teen age son and daughter and lives with his wife in Santa Fe, where he writes, meditates, practices yoga, and takes long walks in the high-country.
Tonight, Sam Keen introduces their story and offers hope to others.
7:30 PM at Hillside Club (2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley)
Tickets $10 - $20, available only at Brown Paper Tickets online or 800-838-3006
