InBerkeley

Books Inc opened its Berkeley store at 1760 Fourth Street today. The doors opened early to welcome the crowd that had gathered outside eager to experience a new book store after witnessing so many go the other way in recent years.

Co-owner and president Michael Tucker told Carolyn Said at the Chronicle: “I’m a Berkeley boy, so for me it was absolutely anathema that there wasn’t a general-interest bookstore left here.”  Said’s story also explores why an independent chain like Books Inc has managed to survive against the odds. Read it here.

o Books Inc coming to Fourth Street – August 6, 2009

Books, Retail, West Berkeley Books Inc

To mark Banned Books Week, the Berkeley Public Library is inviting people to come tomorrow between 3 and 5 to read passages from their favorite banned or challenged books. The mass public reading will be in front of the Central Library on Kittredge Street.

The American Library Association promotes Banned Books Week each year to focus on the importance of freedom of access to information and ideas. Mike Pope posted a good perspective on the radicalism of librarians today (hat tip Nancy).

Any suggestions for readings?

Photo by Ingorrr from Flickr

Books, Events

Berkeley, as we know, has more than its share of well-regarded authors. A cluster of them have had the call from Hollywood recently and the resulting movies will hopefully be appearing at a theater near you soon.

This month’s Diablo Magazine rounds up the movies that have emanated from four noted Berkeley writers.

The screenplay for “Where the Wild Things Are”, directed by Spike Jones and adapted from the much-loved children’s book by Maurice Sendak, was written by Berkeleyite  Dave Eggers.

Berkeley resident Ayelet Waldman recently attended the premiere of “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” based on her novel of the same name.

Her husband Michael Chabon is seeing two of his books translated to the silver screen: “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”, directed by Stephen Daldry, and “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union”, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

And Michael Lewis, who also lives in Berkeley, is hoping to see Brad Pitt play the role of Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane in an adaptation of his bestselling book “Moneyball”.

[Photos, left to right: Waldman, Chabon, Eggers and Lewis.]

Arts, Books, Celebrity, Movies Ayelet Waldman, Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Michael Lewi

“We keep doing it because we’re stubborn.”

Christina Creveling, co-manager and a partner in University Press Books on Bancroft just below Telegraph, is frank about the difficulties her jewel of a bookstore faces. An idle observer would think that Berkeley — with 35,000 students and a population filled with academics and literary types — should be a haven for bookstores. Indeed there was a time when that was the case. But in recent years book lovers in Berkeley have seen the peregrinations and eventual closure of Cody’s, the closure of Black Oak Books and even the closure of Barnes & Noble on Shattuck. Are we cursed?

I hope not. University Press Books is celebrating its 35th year and, for all the struggles, is a fantastic bookstore. It stocks 16,000 titles, about 70 per cent of which are the academic works that give the store its name. The other 30 per cent are so-called trade books, such as you’d find in any ordinary bookstore. The stock is a superb mix of books you might read about in The New York Times Book Review and more arcane volumes (very much to my taste) you could uncover through TLS or review pages in academic journals.

According to Creveling, University Press Books has been hit by a number of factors. The rise of Amazon.com and other web-based booksellers has hurt bookstores everywhere. In academic books, there are additional problems. Most books are sold to bookstores at a discount of around 40 per cent. That’s the bookstore’s potential for profit. In academic books, however, more and more books are now sold on “short discount”, only 20 per cent off. Sales are made directly to libraries and university courses. There’s insufficient profit at that discount for stores like University Press Books. Creveling also recognizes that the store faces particular difficulties with its location. Many potential customers no longer come to the Telegraph Avenue area to shop, even though stores like University Press Books provide parking validation.

So what can the store do? Creveling and her colleagues have been innovative. The store has launched a Friends of UPB program. An annual donation of $35 gives members 10 per cent off on one day’s purchases as well as an invitation to a members-only party. Lifetime memberships are $350 — ten people have signed up for lifetime memberships so far. Additionally the store has a program for local authors: donate two copies of your book and University Press Books will display one copy for at least a month and commit to always reordering copies of the book should it sell, so that one copy will remain in stock.

University Press Books is precisely the kind of store that Berkeley needs to support and retain if we want to keep some of the best aspects of the city’s character. I hope it’s here to celebrate its 70th anniversary.

Books, Business

If understated, sardonic humor is your style, you’ll enjoy Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket. Handler is speaking for free tomorrow at the Morrison Library on the UC Berkeley campus from 5pm.

One caution: if you have a child who is a Lemony Snicket fan (and someone has bought 53 million Lemony Snicket books), they may find Handler in person a more difficult character to enjoy. My son devoured all 13 in A Series of Unfortunate Events and was excited to see Handler in Walnut Creek, of all places, earlier this year. I thought he was hilarious, but his dark, dead-pan style totally eluded my 10-year old.

Handler’s talk is the first in a series of readings by Bay Area writers at the Morrison Library. Future readings include Annie Barrows and Dave Eggers.

Books

One of my favorite spots in Berkeley is Greenwood Common, a grouping of perfectly preserved mid-century modern homes — one or two of which have killer Bay views — masterminded by architect William Wurster.

Waverly Lowell, curator of the Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley, has a newly published book about this idyllic place. It is Living Modern: A Biography of Greenwood Common.

Architecture, Books, UC Berkeley Architecture, North Berkeley, William Wurster

Berkeley Arts & Letters has only been around for a year, and if this fall’s line up is any indication, it has already moved into the top echelon of Bay Area speaking series. Twelve months to becoming a major cultural force.  Wow.

I attended my first Berkeley Arts & Letters talk this spring, when I went to hear Michael Pollan talk food and farms with Novella Carpenter. The event was held in the First Congregational Church in Berkeley, on Channing and Dana, which is an extremely pleasant place to be. The nave is airy and light and there is ample seating with good sight lines.

The event truly felt like a Berkeley community shindig. In the hallway, I recognized and chatted with lots of people. Michael Pollan stood by the front door for a bit, which meant people could approach him informally to ask questions. (He was also available during the book signing.) Anne Leyhe, a co-owner of Mrs. Dalloway’s on College, was selling books. The producers of Berkeley Arts & Letters, Melissa Mytinger, the former events manager at Cody’s Books,  and Praveen Maden, the owner of the Booksmith in San Francisco, have made the lecture series inclusive by inviting a rotating roster of booksellers to sell books at the events. In addition to Mrs. Dalloways, Moe’s Books on Telepgraph, University Press Books on Bancroft Avenue, and Pegasus and Pendragon Books  participate in the series.

This fall’s line-up is exciting. More than a dozen instantly recognizable public figures will be talking, including 2006 Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, God-doubter Richard Dawkins, Rebecca Solnit, who has a new book out on the human reaction to natural disasters,  Diane Ackerman, the nature writer, Po Bronson, who has a book out on the dos and don’t and unexpected perils of praising children, Depak Chopra, Terry Tempest Williams, Sherman Alexie, Stewart Brand, the creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, and Mary Karr, to name a few.

Other interesting authors include Peter Richardson and Robert Scheer, who will discuss Richardson’s new history of Ramparts Magazine, called A Bomb in Every Issue. Max Blumenthal, whose new book deals with the Republican Party and the religious right, will talk, as will Gary Vaynerchuk, a wine writer who has created a huge following through the innovative use of social media, (at one point he had 17,000 pending friend requests on Facebook), Irene Kahn, the International Secretary General of Amnesty International, and more.

(Mary Karr)

You can see some previous talks on Fora.TV.

Arts, Books

American Surveillance, a new book by Richard Gordon, seeks to explore privacy in America in the post-9/11 era.   Join Fotovision on the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks upon the twin towers of the World Trade Center to celebrate Richard Gordon’s new book of photographs, which graphically explores the most profound legacy of that tragedy, the USA Patriot Act. Hear author Richard Gordon and UC Berkeley geography professor Jake Kosek talk about the book, about what it means to be “free,” and what it means to be a lone person among millions.

The event takes place at the UC Berkeley Grduate School of Journalism, and there will be a reception before the talk and a book signing after the talk. Registration is required, and space is limited. For more information and to register, visit the Fotovision web site.

Books, Education, Events, UC Berkeley

Book lovers rejoice!

Books, Inc. an independent bookstore chain with roots stretching back to the Gold Rush, is going to open a new store in Berkeley’s Fourth Street shopping district.

The new store, the chain’s twelfth outlet, will open in mid- October, according to a press release issued by CEO Michael Tucker, who grew up in Berkeley. It will be a general interest bookstore with a large collection of cookbooks and children’s titles as well. The store will also host author events.

Tucker credited the “right location, the right lease and the right landlord for allowing expansion in this challenging economic climate.”

It will be interesting to see if Books, Inc can be successful on a street that was not profitable for the venerable Cody’s Books, which shuttered its Fourth Street outlet in early 2008. The press release did not state where Books, Inc would open, but at 4,000 square feet it will be smaller (and with much lower rent) than Cody’s massive store. Tucker did say Books, Inc. will hire 12 new employees.

The bookstore landscape in Berkeley has changed in the past year. Black Oak Books on Shattuck closed down, removing one of the best venues for authors to speak. Mrs. Dalloway’s on College Avenue is expanding and a café will open next door, which will create a leisurely ambiance conducive to browsing. Moe’s celebrated its 50^th birthday in July.

Melissa Mytinger, the former events coordinator at Cody’s, started Berkeley Arts & Letters, which showcases premier authors in venues around town. Some of the authors coming to their fall series include Mary Karr, Sherman Alexie, Rebecca Solnit, Deepak Chopra, Diane Ackerman and Po Bronson.

The good news about Books, Inc comes on the heels of the bad news that Christopher Lee, the owner of Eccolo, will be shuttering his Fourth Street restaurant on August 22.

Books, Business, General Fourth Street

The entrance to Doe library

As a writer, I often need to research esoteric aspects of one topic or another. The Internet provides a surface-level introduction to many subjects, but for depth (and copyrighted texts that don’t appear on the net) I go to the library.

The Berkeley Public Library, which any California resident can get a library card for, offers a great collection and a wealth of databases for the researching writer. InfoTrac One File, for instance, gives indexing information (and often full text) for thousands of magazine, newspaper, and journal articles. Library users can also search the paywalled Oxford Reference site, Safari Online, and more.

But the pinnacle of local libraries is the system on the UC Berkeley campus, home to one of the country’s top research libraries. In addition to the ten million volumes it houses, the library has computers with access to some of the best article databases in existence. My own articles often require me to dig into Web of Science, which indexes high-quality papers from academic journals, and UC Berkeley’s agreements with publishers often allow me to retrieve the full articles with campus computers. A quick look at the full list, however, makes me want to write about new subjects just so that I can rummage through these other, specialized resources.

How do you get access to that?

Surprisingly, the answer is often, “You walk in the door.” “Many campus libraries have open stacks,” says the official site, “and visitors can use most collections on site, such as all government depository publications.” The site also makes a point of saying that Doe, the main library, is open to the campus community and general public. (Government depositories are locations that receive free federal publications, and UC Berkeley has a few with different focuses. Federal law requires that depositories make their collections available to the general public.)

Students and faculty obviously get priority for any resource and any visitor may be asked to show ID, but I’ve never seen a lack of computers even at Doe and no one’s ever asked to see my ID at the Biosciences library I frequent, which has open stacks.

Doe’s beautifully austere reading rooms and computer terminals are a useful antechamber. However, the main attraction is the treasure horde of the UCB libraries: the Gardner Stacks. But you can’t just saunter into those, so what can you do?

First, the university’s library site urges researchers to request materials through their local library’s reference desk when possible. You can use OskiCat, the online catalog, to find books in the collection. Getting material this way is easy and requires nothing more than a public library card, but it does take time that a writer on deadline may not have.

For more immediate needs, you can request day passes to the stacks if you have a demonstrable research need. Go to Doe’s Reference Desk or use the online form to request access.

For more permanent access, you have a few options. If you’re an alumnus of any of the UCs, you can gain access as an active member of your alumni society. But even if you’re not, you can buy a community access library card for $100 per year. For each of these access types, go to the Library Privileges Desk to obtain your card. Note that these special library cards don’t give you some of the deeper privileges that students and faculty enjoy. In particular, you don’t get to use the interlibrary loan facilities.

Specialized groups may also offer discounted library cards. InBerkeley’s Lance Knobel notes that The Institute for Historical Study may fall into this category.

Don’t be intimidated by the UC Berkeley library: Make use of it. Your brain and your readers will thank you for it.

Books, Education, General, UC Berkeley

Vintage Berkeley on College Avenue

If you stop into Vintage Berkeley, the new wine shop on College Avenue near Ashby, and pick up some wine, say from Spain, you can use your receipt to get a discount on that movie you rent from Videots down the street.

In August, that same purchase will get you a cut rate price on a ticket to see the new movie Julie & Julia. A few months ago, it was a discount at Mrs. Dalloway’s bookstore.

It’s all part of an effort among Elmwood merchants to encourage their customers to shop in the neighborhood. “There is a lot of new energy in the Elmwood,” said Ann Leyhe, a co-owner of Mrs. Dalloways. “There are lots of new vendors and we’ve said “Let’s cross-promote.”

The bookstore has taken to displaying books that are linked to the movies being show at the Elmwood Theater. Right now, Food, Inc. is on the marquee and in the window.

On August 7, there will be a neighborhood merchant party to celebrate the opening of Julie & Julia, a new film about Julia Child and Julie Powell,  a New York blogger who cooked her way through Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The movie will play at the Elmwood Theater. Vintage Berkeley will be serving wine and cheese at a 5 pm reception. And Mrs. Dalloway’s will be at the reception, selling Child’s biography, My Life in France, Powell’s book, Julie & Julia, and the memoir by the editor who first published Childs, The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones.  Child’s cookbooks will be for sale as well.

Liam Reilly and Matt Stevenson sell wine at Vintage Berkeley

Books, Business, Food, The Elmwood

Michael Lewis

Berkeley author Michael Lewis must have a smile on his face.

In addition to having his memoir on fatherhood, Home Game, on the New York Times bestseller list, it looks like the movie version of Moneyball, another one of his bestsellers, is on again.

Sony Pictures co-boss Amy Pascal green-lighted the movie on July 9 – after having canceled it on June 22. She did an about face because Steven Soderberg is no longer attached as director. He had done a rewrite of the script that Pascal didn’t like.

Now Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame will rewrite the script.  He may have been tapped because his script for  The Social Network, about the founding of Facebook, is getting accolades. There is no word yet on the new director for Moneyball.

Brad Pitt will star in Moneyball

Brad Pitt is still scheduled to star as Billy Bean, the Oakland A’s manager.

Just one question: will they film the movie in the aging Oakland Coliseum?

Maybe Alameda County can charge a fee to use the stadium and recover a fraction of the millions it lost in luring the team here from Los Angeles.

Other Berkeley writers who have movies based on their books coming out include Ayelet Waldman and Michael Pollan. Natalie Portman stars in a film based on Waldman’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It wrapped up shooting last year but no release date has yet been scheduled..

PBS will screen a film on October 28 based on Pollan’s Botany of Desire.  Of course, Pollan fans already know he shows up as a commentator in two current films, Food Inc, and Fresh.

Arts, Books, Movies