Events

Join us for an evening with former Houstonian and two-time Pulitzer winner Jesse Katz, whose new book, The Opposite Field, is dropping jaws everywhere. Learn more at byjessekatz.com.

“You need two things to make a fine, fine book: a story and a teller. The Opposite Field
brings them together, like young love. It's a story about fathers and
sons, and good love and failed love, and baseball. If that isn't by God
a book I don't know what is....But the best thing about this book is
the teller. This guy can flat-out write.”
—Rick Bragg, author the New York Times bestseller All Over but the Shoutin’

"A love letter from a father to his son, The Opposite Field is
also a hymn to baseball, the new Los Angeles, the joy and pain of
modern parenting as well as one man's journey into wisdom and clarity,
and Jesse Katz shapes this material in such a way that he makes it as
dramatic as a movie. I never would have thought a book about a Little
League team could be this compelling, or that so much could be at
stake, or that La Loma could become--and it does in Katz's buoyant
prose--the stuff of legend."
—Bret Easton Ellis, author of Less Than Zero, American Psycho and Lunar Park

Here is one of the most remarkable, ambitious, and utterly original
memoirs of this generation, a story of the losing and finding of self,
of sex and love and fatherhood and the joy of language, of death and
failure and heartbreak, of Los Angeles and Portland and Nicaragua and
Mexico, and the shifting sands of place and meaning that can make up a
culture, or a community, or a home.

Faced with the collapse of
his son’s Little League program–consisting mostly of Latino kids in the
largely Asian suburb of Monterey Park, California–Jesse Katz finds
himself thrust into the role of baseball commissioner for La Loma Park.
Under its lights the yearnings and conflicts of a complex immigrant
community are played out amid surprising moments of grace. Each day–and
night–becomes a test of Jesse’s judgment and adaptability, and of his
capacity to make this peculiar pocket of L.A.’s Eastside his home.

While
Jesse soothes egos, brokers disputes, chases down delinquent coaches
and missing equipment, and applies popsicles to bruises, he forms
unlikely alliances, commits unanticipated errors, and receives the gift
of unexpected wisdom. But there’s no less drama in Jesse’s complicated
personal life as he grapples with a stepson who seems destined for
trouble, comforts his mother (a legendary Oregon politician) when she’s
stricken with cancer, and receives hard lessons in finding–and holding
on to–the love of a good woman.

Through it all, Jesse’s
emotional mainstay is his beloved son, Max, who quietly bests his
father’s brightest hopes. Over nine springs and summers with Max at La
Loma, Jesse learns nothing less than what it takes to be a father, a
son, a husband, a coach, and, ultimately, a man.

This is an epic
book, a funny book, a sexy book, a rapturously evocative and achingly
poignant book. Above all it is true, in that it happened, but also in a
way that transcends mere facts and cuts to the quick of what it means
to be alive.
 

Jesse Katz is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and a former staffer at the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles magazine. From 1994 to 1998, he was the Houston bureau chief for the LA Times and wrote dozens of stories about Texas arts and politics and vices, including the murder of Tejano star Selena, the controversy over novelist Sandra Cisneros's purple house, and the record number of executions on death row. He has also written for Texas Monthly and lived in Houston's Willowbend neighborhood. He now lives with his son, Max, in Monterey Park, California.

Please join Brazos Bookstore in welcoming John Coats for a reading and signing of his new book, Original Sinners: A New Interpretation of Genesis. 

In this vivid new interpretation of Genesis, former Episcopal priest
John R. Coats looks at the ancient text and its characters in a new
light, as stories about people whose day-to-day concerns, triumphs, and
failures are not unlike our own. In fact, understanding the people and
stories of Genesis can help you understand your own life, family, and
colleagues. In the relationships of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau,
Rachel and Leah, and Joseph and his brothers, for instance, you can see
an all too familiar escalation of the toxic sibling or even workplace
rivalries that tear at the fabric of contemporary life. And in
Abraham's ponderous response to the command to "Go forth," and Noah's
unquestioning commitment to build the ark, you can revisit the question
of your own life's path -- your calling.

Was Jacob a heartless grifter or simply clever? Was Eve the original
sinner or an innocent? Was Joseph a self-absorbed brat or a
forward-thinking leader? In Original Sinners, Coats pulls back the
wrappings that have hidden the humanity of biblical figures and reveals
the vibrant drama of these foundational narratives. "Different
clothing, yes, and language, and customs, yet at the human level," he
writes, "they were just as greedy and generous as we are, as gullible
and crafty, as moronic and brilliant, as cowardly and brave. They are
us, their stories, our stories, mirrors in which to see our best and
worst selves."

In Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present, Hank Stuever turns his unerring eye for the idiosyncrasies
of modern life to Frisco, Texas, a suburb at once all-American and
completely itself, to tell the story of the nation’s most over-the-top
celebration: Christmas.  Stuever starts the narrative as so
many start the Christmas season: standing in line with the people
waiting to purchase flat-screen TVs on Black Friday. From there he
follows three of Frisco's true holiday believers as they navigate
through the Nativity and all its attendant crises. Tammie Parnell, an
eternally optimistic suburban mom, is the proprietor of "Two Elves with
a Twist," a company that decorates other people's big houses for
Christmas. Jeff and Bridgette Trykoski own that house every town has:
the one with the visible-from-space, most awe-inspiring Christmas
lights. And single mother Caroll Cavazos just hopes that the
life-affirming moments of Christmas might overcome the struggles of the
rest of the year. Stuever's portraits of this happy, megachurchy,
shopariffic community are at once humane, heartfelt, revealing – and
very funny.  

Tinsel is a compelling tale of our
half-trillion-dollar holiday, measuring what we we've become against
the ancient rituals of what we've always been.

Hank Stuever is an award-winning pop culture writer for The Washington Post's Style section. He is the author of Off Ramp,
an essay collection, and has appeared on Today, The View, the CBS Early
Show and National Public Radio. Visit his website at hankstuever.com.

In 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched
Secretary of War William Howard Taft on the largest U.S. diplomatic
mission in history to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea.
Roosevelt's glamorous twenty-one year old daughter Alice served as
mistress of the cruise, which included senators and congressmen. On
this trip, Taft concluded secret agreements in Roosevelt's name. In
2005, a century later, James Bradley traveled in the wake of
Roosevelt's mission and discovered what had transpired in Honolulu,
Tokyo, Manila, Beijing and Seoul. The result is his new book, The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War. Join the World Affairs Council of Houston for an evening with James Bradley.

Registration: 6:00 PM

Program: 6:30 - 7:30 PM

Members: Free

Non-members: $20

Register here, email rsvp@wachouston.org, or call 713-522-7811.

More details here.

For many years, Deirdre Heekin has been creating an unusual, revitalist wine archive of rare and traditional Italian varietals at Osteria Pane e Salute, the nationally celebrated restaurant and wine bar she shares with her chef husband, Caleb Barber. Self-taught in the world of Italian wines, she is known for her fine-tuned work with scent and taste and her ability to pair wines and food in unexpected yet terroir-driven ways.

In Libation: A Bitter Alchemy, a series of linked personal essays, Heekin explores the curious development of her nose and palate, her intuitive education and relationship with wine and spirits, and her arduous attempts to make liqueurs and wine from the fruits of her own land in northern New England. The essays follow her as she unearths ruby-toned wines given up by the ghosts of long-gone wine makers from the red soil of Italy, her adoptive land; as she embarks on a complicated pilgrimage to the home of one of the world’s oldest cocktails, Sazerac, in Katrina-soaked New Orleans; as she attempts a midsummer crafting of a brandy made from inherited roses, the results of an old Sicilian recipe she found in a dusty bookstore in Naples.

Libation: A Bitter Alchemy was picked by Vogue as a "Best Summer House Gift," and its runaway success has prompted the publisher to do a second release of her first book, co-written with Barber, In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love, which Anthony Bourdain calls "an inspiring and informative personal quest and a deeply felt journey into the heart and soul of Italian artisinal cuisine."

Please join us for a Saturday afternoon with Deirde Heekin and Caleb Barber.

Please join the Progressive Forum for the national launch event for Dr. James Hansen's first book, Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity, on the same day as the opening of the Copenhagen Climate Conference designed to forge an international treaty to succeed the Kyoto Treaty.

Dr. Hansen was the first to create broad awareness of global
warming in his Congressional testimonies in 1988 and 1989. Hansen says the atmosphere has exceeded safe limits of
green house gases and is nearing tipping points "that would be
irreversible — if we do not promptly slow fossil fuel emission." In his
first book, Hansen details his experience in government, science, and
the influence of special interests. He lays out the science that says
the planet conducive for the rise of civilization is in "real peril."
He describes our historic moment as humanity's "last chance," and he
provides clear answers and solutions.

Hansen is Director of The Goddard
Institute for Space Studies in New York City, part of NASA. He is also
adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
at Columbia University. He is a member of the National Academy of
Sciences. His early work focused on the atmosphere of Venus before he
began studying Earth's atmosphere in the 1970s. Dr. Hansen is appearing
for the second time at The Progressive Forum. He will sign books and
greet fans at the end of the evening.

Originally scheduled for October 29, the event has been
rescheduled because of temporary health issues of Dr. Hansen. Tickets
already purchased for the previous date are to be used for December 7
event for the same seats. No replacement tickets will be issued. If
refunds are needed, please call the box office at 888-695-0888.

Tickets and details HERE, or call 832-251-0706.

Please join us from 5 to 8 pm on Thursday, December 10, 2009 for our annual Holiday Open House. The owners of Brazos Bookstore invite you to sip, snack, and browse, and pick up a copy of our holiday catalog. It's a great opportunity for you to check some people off of your list, and for us to tell you in person how much we appreciate your support every day of the year.

The Second Shepherd's Play

From the Wakefield Cycle

Directed by Julia Traber

Houston's own Classical Theatre Company's popular holiday comedy returns for a second engagement this season! Hilarity ensues when Mak, a sheep thief, preys on the beloved three shepherds from the classic Yuletide tale. This fun-filled story offers something for the whole family. Join us for this unique collaboration: a live reading of classical drama in the comfort of your neighborhood bookstore.