Sunday, November 1 at 3 pm
POETRIO
Join us for our monthly series of readings and signings
by 3 poets at
3 pm! This month will feature JOHN HOPPENTHALER (Domestic
Garden), NANCY DEW TAYLOR (Sleeping on Air), and DIANA PINCKNEY (Alchemy).
Tuesday, November 3 at 7 pm
VIRGINIA PYE READING & SIGNING
Virginia Pye's latest novel, Dreams of the Red Phoenix,
takes place in a China torn apart by war. It's a story of love and loss set
against the sweeping backdrop of the summer of 1937 as Japan invades the
northern part of the country and Communism starts to gain a foothold.
Kirkus Reviews praises it as "unflinching," and
it has been hailed as "powerfully evocative." Virginia's own family
history is connected with China in this period, and she brings her own
perspective to her narrativization of the country's rich history.
Wednesday, November 4 at 11 am
POUT-POUT FISH PARTY with MR. FISH!!
Please join us to celebrate the release of The Not Very
Merry Pout-Pout Fish, the delightful new installment in Deborah Diesen's wildly
charming and "perennially popular" Pout-Pout Fish series of books.
This book has Mr. Fish trying to get into the spirit of the holidays. He's soon
to find out that the best gifts come from within.
Filled with "holiday highlights," it's a clever
take on this festive season that offers "a calming, sensible approach to
holiday gift giving" and highlights the value of handmade gifts. Mr. Fish
will be joining us for this event--don't miss it! Snacks and laughter
guaranteed.
Thursday, November 5 at 7 pm
ELLEN HOPKINS READING & SIGNING
Ellen Hopkins will be here to celebrate the release of
Traffick, the unflinching sequel to her moving young adult novel, Tricks. The
narrative switches between a cast of close-knit characters whose experiences in
the sex trade are portrayed in "heartwrenching and hopeful" prose
poetry. Ellen doesn't shy away from hard topics like sex trafficking, violence
against transgender characters, and drug use, and the result is a work of
"raw emotion" that will resonate with "mature teens [who] will
hang on to every word." Ellen is a
bestselling author of adult and YA books. She also founded Ventana Sierra, a
nonprofit youth housing and resource initiative.
Friday, November 6 at 7 pm
LAURA WRIGHT DISCUSSION & SIGNING
Laura Wright's compelling, controversial Vegan Studies
Project is being celebrated as "the foundational text for the nascent
field of vegan studies." Published by the University of Georgia Press, it
examines vegans and veganism in contemporary culture, analyzing the lifestyle
and movement in the context of gender and sexuality studies, ecofeminism, and
pop culture to evaluate the conflicted role of veganism in our cultural moment.
Ultimately, Laura criticizes the boundaries created by the labels of
"vegetarian" and "vegan" and calls for a revision of the discourse
surrounding how and what we eat. Laura is head of the English Department at
Western Carolina University. She will be joined by Carol J. Adams, ecofeminist
author of The Sexual Politics of Meat.
Saturday, November 7 at 11 am
LUCY ROZIER READING & SIGNING
The delightful tall tale of Jackrabbit McCabe & the
Electric Telegraph comes to Malaprop's with Lucy Rozier's new children's book!
The narrative follows fast-as-the-wind Jackrabbit McCabe, He's a vital member
of Windy Flats, delivering messages and medicines and helping the town run
smoothly. But this small-town hero's super speed is challenged by the arrival
of the telegraph. What will happen to Jackrabbit and the town? Publisher's
Weekly hails it as "a terrific tale about the costs and opportunities of
technology."
Saturday, November 7 at 7 pm
DIANE CHAMBERLAIN READING & SIGNING
In her new novel Pretending to Dance, local author Diane
Chamberlain introduces us to Molly Arnette, whose own childhood in the Blue
Ridge Mountains continues to haunt her as she and her husband try to adopt a
child. Alternating between two narrators--Molly's teenage self in the 90's and
her adult self as an attorney in San Diego--the book is a "multilayered,
poignant" exploration of growing up, and it ultimately reveals that
"coming of age" can happen at any point in life.
Chamberlain's previous novel, The Silent Sister, was
hailed "a powerful story." She is the author of more than 25 novels.
Sunday, November 8 at 3 pm
JAMES TATE HILL READING & SIGNING
James Tate Hill's debut novel, Academy Gothic, was just
chosen as the recipient of the 2014 Nilsen Prize for a First Novel. Combining elements of hard-boiled noir and
academic satire, it's the story of jaded faculty member Tate Cowlishaw, who
discovers the dean's body and finds himself fighting to keep his job--and his
life. Will our unlikely hero save the day? The novel is being praised as
"uproarious," combining "the wit of Kingsley Amis with the
absurdist vision of Nathanael West" and "infused with impeccably
timed, deadpan humor."
Monday, November 9 at 7 pm
MARK DE CASTRIQUE READING & SIGNING
Local author Mark de Castrique celebrates the new
installment in his Sam Blackman series, A Specter of Justice. The story, set in
Asheville, incorporates local legends of ghosts and hauntings (including
Helen's Bridge) and weaves a thrilling tale about a murderer anxious to
recreate the events surrounding the historical Helen's death. Tinged with the
supernatural and steeped in regional lore, it's a fast-paced tale that, as the
Chicago Tribune writes, "captures the geography--both physical and
human--of a unique part of the American South." Mark grew up in
Hendersonville and has written over 15 novels. He also won an Emmy for his work
in documentary film.
Tuesday, November 10 at 7 pm
ROBERT J. NORRELL READING & SIGNING
Alex Haley and the Books That Changed a Nation is the
first biography of one of the most influential authors of our time, Alex Haley.
Haley was the author of Roots and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and local
author Robert J. Norrell documents his
life in lucid detail, offering "a highly readable" account of a man
who changed a nation's perceptions of race. It's a "deeply researched and
compelling" book that "offers a perfect opportunity to revisit
[Haley's] authorship"
and this period of American history. Robert's previous
work, Reaping the Whirlwind: The Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee, won the
Robert F. Kennedy Award. He teaches at the University of Tennessee.
Wednesday, November 11 at 7 pm
THE LITERARY SEASON WITH THE ASO: A DISCUSSION OF
GALILEO'S DAUGHTER Please join us for a discussion of Dava Sobel's Galileo's
Daughter with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, hosted by Bernard Arghiere, of
UNCA's Lookout Observatory and a second host TBA. This discussion is scheduled
to happen a few days before the Symphony's performance of Holst's The Planets.
The Symphony is pairing literary works with performances this season, and we
are very excited to host this pre-performance discussion group! Symphony
director Daniel Meyer chose this book "because it so deftly weaves
[together] an important period in science history . . . and a beautiful
relationship between a father and his daughter," making it a wonderful
accompaniment to Holst's piece.
Thursday, November 12 at 7 pm
JODI LYNN ANDERSON BOOK LAUNCH AND SIGNING Local YA
author Jodi Lynn Anderson's newest book, My Diary From the Edge of the World,
is being praised as an "ever-so-clever coming-of-age fantasy" that
will appeal to all ages. Heroine Gracie Lockwood's life is filled with
adventure as she explores a world not so different from our own, but which
features dragons, ghosts, and Sasquatches running amok. As Gracie's family
tries to flee an ominous Dark Cloud and escape into the "Extraordinary
World," a place with no supernatural occurrences, Gracie must face her
fears and follow her heart.
Friday, November 13 at 7 pm
TAKE BACK THE NARRATIVE
Take Back the Narrative showcases creative pieces written
by survivors of sexual assault in order to create space for their stories and
open up conversation around sexual violence in the community. This event is a
collaboration between OurVOICE, Asheville's advocacy and support group for
survivors of rape and sexual assault in the city and county, and UNC
Asheville's Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program.
Saturday, November 14 at 7 pm
DAVID GILBERT READING AND SIGNING
David Gilbert's new work, The Product of Our Souls:
Ragtime, Race, and the Birth of the Manhattan Musical Marketplace, is a
fascinating history of how music and performance by black musicians in the
early 20th century shaped constructions of black identity. Focusing on the
period between the height of minstrelsy and the Harlem Renaissance, the book
gives readers "an entirely fresh look at this musical expression of
African American modernity." It's being hailed as "one of the most
important works of cultural history produced in the last twenty years."
Gilbert is Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Mars Hill University.
Sunday, November 15 at 3 pm
WRITERS AT HOME READING SERIES
Join host Tommy Hays for the monthly reading series
featuring work from UNCA's Great Smokies Writing Program and The Great Smokies
Review.
Sunday, November 15 at 5 pm
JAMIE MASON READING AND SIGNING
We are celebrating the launch of local mystery author
Jamie Mason's newest paperback, Monday's Lie. The author of Three Graves Full
returns in full force with the tale of a woman who discovers that her husband
may be out to kill her. Dee is the daughter of a spy who must reach into the
darkest corners of her past to save her own future.
Jamie's work has been praised by Peter Straub as
"crisp, surprising,"
and filled with "Hitchcockian menace." Tara
French of the New York Times raves that the book is "dotted with moments
of black comedy and pulsing with an undercurrent of deep sadness."
Monday, November 16 at 7 pm
DIDN'T SEE IT COMING: AN EVENT WITH THE WRITERS BLOCK
PROJECT Please join us for an event with the Perry Correctional Facility's
Writers Block Project--the release of the anthology Didn't See It Coming. The
product of an advanced creative writing workshop at this maximum-security
prison in South Carolina, the anthology includes poetry, short fiction, and
non-fiction from the Project. This is a unique opportunity to hear wholly
original work from some truly talented voices. Come out and support the Writers
Block Project with us!
Tuesday, November 17 at 7 pm
CHARLIE LOVETT READING AND SIGNING
The perfect story to get you in holiday mode, Charlie
Lovett's The Further Adventures of Ebeneezer Scrooge is, like Charlie's
previous book First Impressions, "a loving homage to one of literature's
most beloved authors." It tells the story of Scrooge after the events of
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Scrooge's Christmas spirit is so exuberant
that he's still at it twenty years later--in July. Can he help his old friend
Jacob Marley find peace after all these years?
Join us for an evening with Scrooge, Dickens, and
Charlie--a teacher, a playwright, and a former antiquarian bookseller.
Wednesday, November 18 at 7 pm
GEORGE SINGLETON READING AND SIGNING
In Calloustown, the seventh short fiction collection from
regional author George Singleton, readers get a sneak peek into the
hilarious--and deeply human--lives of the titular town's citizens, who face
trials and welcome joyous moments in stories that "range from deeply
affecting to wildly absurd and back again." The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution praises George as "the unchallenged king of the comic
Southern short story." George teaches writing at South Carolina Governor's
School for the Arts and Humanities. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim
Fellowship and a Hillsdale Award for Fiction.
Thursday, November 19 at 7 pm
J. SCOTT BROWNLEE LAUNCH PARTY
The recipient of this year's Orison Poetry Prize, J.
Scott Brownlee is celebrating the launch of his first full-length poetry
collection, Requiem for Used Ignition Cap. Judge C. Dale Young praises J.
Scott's work as "devotion[al] . . . pay[ing] close attention to details
and transform[ing] them into something organic, whole, and incredibly moving."
Focusing around the author's native Llano, Texas, Brown's poems locate "in
the particulars of place the vehicles of transcendence." J. Scott is the
author of Highway of Belief, recipient of the 2013 Button Poetry Prize, and
Ascension, recipient of the Robert Phillips Poetry Prize.
Friday, November 20 at 7 pm
JIMMY GUIGNARD READING AND SIGNING
In Jimmy Guignard's sobering Pedaling the Sacrifice Zone:
Teaching, Writing, and Living Above the Marcellus Shale, the author, a
professor at Pennsylvania's Mansfield University, takes readers on a cycling
tour "through the fraught landscape of his family's life in the 'sacrifice
zone'" of the Marcellus Shale, ground zero of the natural gas industry and
fracking. Bill McKibben calls the book "a real act of witness" that
allows us to travel alongside Jimmy in "some of the country's loveliest--and
hardest used--countryside."
Saturday, November 21 at 3 pm
ROBERT BEATTY SIGNING
Robert Beatty will join us from 3-5 pm to sign copies of
his phenomenally popular Serafina and the Black Cloak, the tale of a mysterious
girl who lives in the basement of Asheville's own Biltmore Estate! Come and
pick up one or more for the holidays!
Sunday, November 22 at 3 pm
BOOKSELLER PICKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Gift giving got you stumped? Join a panel of Malaprop's
booksellers to hear about our favorite picks for the holidays! We're ready to
spread holiday cheer with our hand-selected book and gift recommendations,
which will be paired with an assortment of delicious winter refreshments!
Monday, November 23 at 7 pm
BYRON BALLARD LAUNCH AND SIGNING
Asheville's Village Witch Byron Ballard will be here to
celebrate the publication of her new book, Asfidity and Mad-Stones: A Further
Ramble Through Hillfolks' Hoodoo. Her follow-up to the engaging, spirited
Staubs and Ditchwater, the book is a must-have for anyone interested in the
"hillfolks' hoodoo" of our area. Dorothy Morrison raves that it's
"akin to a chat with your grandmother over a mug of homemade cider."
Byron's poetic, conversational style and her deep knowledge of local lore make
this essential reading for people who want to connect to the magic of our
beloved mountains.
Saturday, November 28 from 10 am - 4 pm
SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY CELEBRATION!
Please join us as Malaprop's hosts its third annual
Indies First Small Business Saturday! Your favorite local authors will be here
to share their picks for books and gifts with you! They'll also be wrapping
presents and sharing in our celebration of the holiday season. Don't miss a chance to meet your favorite
author and check out their curated collection of favorites! Full list of
participating authors TBA.
