Little-known fact: best-selling author Jonathan Lethem used to work at Moe’s Books. Now a celebrated novelist and noted Philip K. Dick fanatic, Lethem wrote his first novel while working at the beloved local shop, according to the Moe’s website.

Later this week, he’ll be returning to his old haunt for a reading (and maybe a signing?). Stop by the store on Thursday, October 29, at 7:30 to hear him read from his new novel “Chronic City.” This one’s set in New York, and he’s a New York writer by reputation, though his first couple of novels are set in NorCal. “Gun, With Occasional Music,” which I’ve been meaning to read for some time, takes place in SF and Oakland, according to Wikipedia.

I’ve seen Lethem speak before–on C-SPAN 2, oddly enough, not in person–and he’s engaging and clever, so this event should be fun. Besides, when was the last time you went to a reading?

More info on the Moe’s Readings & Events Page here.

Image source: Onion AV Club, photo by Peter Bellamy.

I’m a short story addict. I’m not afraid to admit it. I have no plans for recovery. This summer, I stumbled across “True Short Story” by Ali Smith. The author opens by describing a conversation she overheard in a cafe between two men sitting next to her. The  younger of the two proudly proclaimed to the elder that the novel was “like a flabby old whore”, whereas the short story “was a nimble goddess, a slim nymph. Because so few people had mastered the short story, she was still in very good shape”.

Whether you agree or not with the above-mentioned simile and metaphor, most authors will affirm that a truly great short story is, in fact, the hardest literary form to “master”. While they are by definition “short” and would seemingly fit into a busy reader’s schedule, these stories appear to be nearing extinction. (Click here to read more…)

So fashion may not be Berkeley residents’ primary creative interest, but I know there are some of you out there who love fashion, so I wanted to share my current favorite fashion/photography blog. The Sartorialist is Scott Schuman, who has worked in the fashion industry for over 15 years in sales and merchandising. He was also a long-time  photographer.

Now, unintentionally though very aptly,  he’s become an on the street fashion photographer. He photographs fashionable women and men on the streets of NY, Paris, Milan or wherever else he sees someone looking amazing. His photos are used for inspiration by normal folks in their day-to-day wardrobes and by designers themselves when conceptualizing their lines. He recently published a book of his favorite photos from the blog by the same name.  He is currently doing a book signing tour and will be in San Francisco tomorrow, Wed. 21st at Paul Smith from 7:30 pm to 8:30pm. Check it out!

Image, Link source: Scott Schuman, The Sartorialist

Having thought I had fractured my foot with a fifty pound suitcase, I found myself with a leg stretched up in the air as I lay on a check-up table in the Tang Center. Very few medical check-up facilities are what I would describe as cheery, but as I tried to feel as natural as possible as the nurse made small talk while examining my foot, I let my eyes wander to the ceiling and almost giggled by the cute decoration dangling above my head. Here it is, discreetly shot with my cell phone:

Drifting in the ceiling vent’s current was a little blue-spotted cow, leaping over fluffy white clouds and a golden sliver of smiling moon. (Click here to read more…)

As always, the Penny Arcade boys have said in three frames what would otherwise have taken three pages.

In addition to the Thursday print column, “Painting with Thought” will have a weekly multimedia portion, Sundays on this blog. This is intended to enhance the experience, like ginger in a wok.

This week, I will recommend a few choice fan fictions for your reading pleasure.

Harry Potter
“Harry Potter meets the King of the Monsters” by DJ Rodriguez:
This is a new HarryHarem fanfic. Harry and some special ladies go to take a vacation in Japan… and meet someone that could make even Voldemort shudder in fear. (31,152 words)

Pirates of the Caribbean
“False Identity” by Divinething:
Finished Michelle is a poor girl barely making a living in Tortuga until she meets Jack Sparrow and decides to dress up as a man and join the crew of the Black Pearl. (18,162 words)

The DaVinci Code
“Secrets in the Stones” by Lews-Therin-Telamon:
Robert Langdon is again dragged into another mystery, this time in Cairo. Surrounded by conspiries and murder, he finds an answer to a mystery that has been over ten thousand years in the making. (1,291 words)

Enjoy. I’ll see you next week!

As someone who started this summer with the modest goals of watching at least 50 movies and plowing through a few classic novels, I already had my work cut out for me. But perhaps you, gentle reader, were not so ambitious.  Perhaps you decided you’d get a job or travel or take a class or something equally blase. I take pity on you, and as one who has almost entirely avoided conventional productivity this summer–except for a bit of hard physical labor emptying my family’s storage space–I’m here to provide you with some resources for properly squandering your time. (Click here to read more…)

Dave Eggers has carved out an interesting place for himself in the zeitgeist. He’s a best-selling novelist, as well as editor in chief of McSweeney’s, a literary magazine that, for all the flack it gets, helped form the aesthetics of a generation of readers, this blogger included. He helped found 826, the hippest non-profit creative-writing tutoring program in the world. He recently offered to personally “buck up” anyone who doubted the future of print media. And now he’s got a hand in two high-profile film projects, one already in and probably almost out of theaters and the other coming to screens in October. (Click here to read more…)

Welcome, True Believers, to the inaugural post in our Study Break series, which will feature the study music favorites of several members of the Daily Cal’s Arts Staff just in time for finals (see this feature from the Daily Californian’s print edition for a preview of what’s to come).

I’ll be your soundtracker this evening. The following list of albums (and a couple individual tracks) should encourage any keen mind’s efforts to learn complicated material and then synthesize it, all while hyped up on inconceivable quantities of caffeine (or other substances).

Keep in mind, I’m an English major, so I am most often occupied with reading fiction or poetry and writing essays (and articles for the Daily Cal, to boot). The music on this list is chiefly intended to complement said activities, though hopefully it will help you focus on your problem sets, too.

1. Burial by Burial
The first album by this formerly anonymous dubstep/electronic master mixes ambient oddness, engaging beats, and even some incredibly convincing rain sound effects. I never really thought about how perfect it was for studying till my friend insisted, but I can basically listen to this music anytime. It creates an immersive backdrop, on speakers or headphones, which means fewer distractions–it’s the sort of music where people talking in the next room, sirens on the street, or strains of Guitar Hero from your already-finished-with-finals floormates just seem like part of the sound.

Listen to: Burial - “Southern Comfort”

2. The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky
This old stand-by always helps me focus. Maybe the only post-rock album I’ve ever really loved. You’ve probably heard strains of EitS’s life-affirming muscle in one or two movie trailers. The rousing melodies will motivate you and the soaring instrumentation will calm your overclocked neurons. I put it on during the home stretch–the last 100 pages of a book, the second half of a paper–and fist-pump as I work. Though when I put it on to plow through the final third of “Paradise Lost” in one night, I think I was a bit too tired to raise my arm . . .

Listen to: Explosions in the Sky - “First Breath After Coma”

(Click here to read more…)

Why, at the age of 19, have I taken a sudden fancy to tween/teen literature during my winter break? I fail to pore tirelessly over my textbooks, but I also refuse to melt my brains out by gluing my eyeballs to those addictive Bravo marathons that corrupted me last summer (ahem- “Millionaire Matchmaker,” “Kathy Griffin: My Life On the D-List,” “Project Runway,” “The Real Wives of Orange County/New York City/ Atlanta,” and other quality programs of a similar vein). The former is way more intellectual than I’m inclined to be as I take an academic breather; the latter merely satiated my lust for totally mindless entertainment. The perky happy medium is teen lit.

My gateway into this genre has been the work of New York Times best-selling author Lauren Myracle, a woman who is as real they come. She has a flair for defying the status quo in favor of pursuing her personal ideals. Even as her books are challenged and banned, the voices of the characters within them push through, advocating acceptance, independence and absolute love. Plus, she sports funky streaks of hot pink, maroon or blue in her hair, depending on her mood. Lots to love, no? (Click here to read more…)