Talking Volumes, 2007-2008

Upcoming selections

"Cool Zone with Pain and the Great One"

By Judy Blume

Kerri Miller talks with author Judy Blume, who divides her time between New York City and Key West, Fla., is perhaps best known and loved for her frank and funny take on preteens in "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." Now she's launched "The Pain and the Great One" series of four books aimed at ages 5 to 7. The series, an equally frank and funny take on sibling dynamics, features Abigail (The Great One) and her brother, Jake (The Pain). Like siblings everywhere, they needle, aggravate, tease and compete with each other. And, when you're not looking, they even like each other.

Live appearance: Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Blume talked about her new series with Kerri Miller and the audience at the Fitzgerald Theater.

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Previous selections

"Divisadero"

By Michael Ondaatje

Michael Ondaatje, who was born in Sri Lanka and now lives outside Toronto, has written four novels (including "The English Patient"), one memoir and several books of poems. His most recent novel, "Divisadero", begins in Northern California in the 1970s with a man and his two teenage daughters. An act of violence splinters the family, and from these shards Ondaatje spins more tales — which send us spinning from the past to the present, and from the casinos of Nevada to the French countryside. Reviewers have called it "lyrical," "finely chiseled," "prismatic" and "mesmerizing." A Vintage paperback edition will be released in April.

Live appearance: Tuesday, May 27th
Ondaatje talked about "Divisadero" with Kerri Miller and the audience at the Fitzgerald Theater.

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"Blonde Faith"

By Walter Mosley

Mosley, "One of our great novelists" (The Guardian), returns with the 10th novel in the Easy Rawlins series ("Devil in a Blue Dress"). "Blonde Faith" opens as Easy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Christmas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems. Easy's investigation brings him to Faith Laneer, a blonde woman with a dark past. As Easy begins to put the pieces together, he realizes that Black's disappearance has its roots in Vietnam, and that Faith might be in a world of danger.

Live appearance: Thursday, November 15, 2007
Mosley talked about "Blonde Faith" and his character Easy Rawlins with Kerri Miller and the audience at the Fitzgerald Theater. Audience Q&A with Walter Mosley

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"Run"

By Ann Patchett

The author of "Bel Canto" and "The Patron Saint of Liars" and winner of the Orange Prize and Pen/Faulkner Award comes to Talking Volumes to discuss her fifth novel, "Run." "Run" tells the story of Tip and Teddy Doyle, raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father since their mother's death. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children-all his children-safe.

Live appearance: Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Patchett discussed "Run" with Kerri Miller and the Talking Volumes audience at the Fitzgerald Theater.

Author Ann Patchett Needs First Reader
Morning Edition, September 20, 2007

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"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" and "Flight"

By Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie, author of "Reservation Blues" and screenwriter for "Smoke Signals," will discuss his two most recent books with host Kerri Miller. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," Alexie's first book for young adults, tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. This heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written tale, coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, is based on the author's own experiences and chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he seems destined to live.

Live Appearance: September 26, 2007
Alexie discussed his books with Minnesota Public Radio's Kerri Miller and the Talking Volumes audience at the Fitzgerald Theater.
Audience Q&A with Sherman Alexie

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Public ticket price is $20. MPR Member tickets are $18. More ticket information available from the Fitzgerald Theater Web site or by phone at 651-290-1221.