ZYZZYVA Events
January 9, 2020Joan Didion: The 1960s & '70s: A Conversation
Time: 6:30 pm
– 7:30 pm
Location: The Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, San Francisco
Description: ZYZZYVA Contributing Editor David L. Ulin will be in conversation with Managing Editor Oscar Villalon about Didion and the first volume of her work published by the Library of America and edited by Ulin. For more info: https://bit.ly/33kqu47
January 14, 2020Bay Area Issue Celebration
Time: 7:00 pm
– 8:00 pm
Location: City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco.
Description: Featuring Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Kevin Simmonds, Rita Bullwinkel, Chia-Chia Lin, Meg Hurtado Bloom, and Paul Wilner. Free. More info here: https://bit.ly/2pOClJN
January 24, 2020Bay Area Issue Celebration, East Bay
Time: 6:00 pm
– 7:00 pm
Location: East Bay Booksellers, 5433 College Ave., Oakland
Description: Featuring Matthew Zapruder, Lydia Conklin, Nina Schulyer, sam sax, Andrew Roe, and Sara Mumolo. Free.
February 6, 2020Bay Area Issue Celebration
Time: 6:00 pm
– 7:00 pm
Location: Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, San Francisco
Description: Featuring Luiza Flynn-Goodlett, Michael Sears, Gloria Frym, and W.S. Di Piero. Free.
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Monthly Archives: September 2015
Blind Faith in the Power of Beauty: ‘The Prize’ by Jill Bialosky
For Edward Darby, the meaning of life can be found in the curve of a well-crafted watch, in an antique table’s warm weight, or in the balancing stroke of paint on a chaotic canvas. The protagonist of Jill Bialosky’s new novel, The Prize (Counterpoint; 325 pages), lives his life according to the principle of cultivating beautiful things. Edward believes structure, attention to detail, and erudite emotion will bring him happiness. He looks to art to reveal the importance of ordinary life, but also as a means to transcend it. Over the course of the novel, the lacquer of Edward’s curated …Continue reading
Making (and Making Sense of) a New Life: ‘After the Parade’ by Lori Ostlund
If it’s true that a good man is hard to find, Lori Ostlund’s first novel, After the Parade (Scribner; 352 pages), demonstrates that leaving one might be just as difficult. As the book opens, Aaron Englund has finally worked up the nerve to break up with Walter, his older lover/Henry Higgins of 23 years, with whom he long ago fell out of love. Having packed his possessions, Aaron steers his U-Haul away from the security of their home in Albuquerque toward San Francisco. Not because he wants to join the city’s famous gay scene, but because Taffy, a colleague, lives …Continue reading