Mary Mackey & The Widow's War: Book Talk Sept 3

Time Tested Books is pleased to announce a reading & book signing with Mary Mackey for her new book, The Widow's War.

Last year saw Mackey’s historical novel The Notorious Mrs. Winston. Now in The Widow’s War (Berkley Trade Paperback Original), she presents a novel of a woman’s fierce spirit, rebellious love, and struggle for justice set against the backdrop of the early days of the Civil War.

Mary Mackey’s published works include five volumes of poetry, a novella, and twelve novels. Her works have sold over a million copies and have been translated into eleven foreign languages. A screenwriter as well as a novelist, she has sold feature-length screenplays to Warner Brothers as well as to independent film companies. Mackey’s nonfiction and memoirs have appeared in various anthologies. She has reviewed books for The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the American Book Review, and a variety of other publications; has lectured at Harvard and the Smithsonian; and has contributed to such diverse print and on-line publications as The Chiron Review, Redbook, and Salon.

Mackey is related through her father's family to Mark Twain. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. During her twenties, she lived in the rain forests of Costa Rica. In the‘90s she served as Chair of PEN American Center, West. She is a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and has recently served on the Governing Board of PEN Oakland. Mackey is a Professor of English and Writer in Residence at California State University where she teaches creative writing and film.

The event is on Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 7 pm. It is free to the public. The Widow’s War will be available for purchase at Time Tested Books on the first of September.

August 16: Ann Menebroker & Joyce Odam

For our last poetry reading of the Summer (though not of the year!), we have two great poets: Ann Menebroker and Joyce Odam!

Ann Menebroker has published over 20 collections of poems, has appeared in hundreds of literary journals, and........very rarely give readings. A longtime resident of Sacramento, she is much loved by the poetry community and well respected worldwide.

Joyce Odam is another longtime voice in Sacramento's literary community. Like her friend Ann, Joyce has been much published. She is also an editor for the California Quarterly, Rattlesnake Press, and her own monthly Brevitities. We are very excited to host Ann and Joyce.

The reading starts at 7 pm. Donations suggested, money goes to poets.


Turtle Man by Ann Menebroker

The turtle man writes me about the dog, Lucy,
getting old and beginning to limp, and how his
friend, Wolfgang, in Germany, caught the train
to Paris for the ping-pong games. “Wouldn’t it
be nice,” turtle man says, “to be a train ride away
from Paris?” Then he spoke of Radar, the cat, who
recently got neutered and how he refuses
to look at any of the family, or allow them
near him. In answer I, the dog girl of summer,
write back and tell him how my barking
annoys the neighbors and how it used to be
when I thought about more than food or barking.
The BART goes underneath the bay
from Oakland to San Francisco. I lick water
from my bowl.

Hide & Seek by Joyce Odam

He wanted me to find him. I found him in
gold weeds, in a field so wide it took all day.
He left no paths. He could have been anywhere,
widespread, asleep, or looking at the sky while he
waited for me. I looked 'til coolness came over the
searching—came low and covered the bright weeds
with its soft blue shadowings. I called, but he would not
answer, lying there like a cross. He wanted me to find him.

Bookstore friend Shon Mackfessel dodges Iranian jail thanks to cold!

You know the story of the Americans who were nabbed hiking across the Iran/Iraq border? Part of that story is that one guy got sick and didn't go on the hike. His name is Shon Meckfessel and he is a Sacto guy. We've known him for years. He was member of Cake early on and after that went traveling around wartime/postwar Yugoslavia and wrote a book about it called Suffled How it Gush. Great guy! Lucky guy! We're glad he got that cold!