Malaprop's November events

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.