Written on the Dock of the Bay is your weekly guide to literary and bookish happenings in the pleasantly literary and bookish Bay Area.
BAY AREA BOOK WORLD BREAKING NEWS
New Octopus Literary Salon // If you try to find details for the Octopus Literary Salon online, a map of downtown Oakland will come up alongside the message, "We don't have a location or hours yet!" This is not a quirky way to run a business -- the Octopus Literary Salon is working on it. On July 3, they launched an Indiegogo Campaign to raise a portion of startup funding for Octopus. With your help, this Literary Salon plans to include a cafe, a bookstore, a publishing branch, and a space for public readings, discussions, and literary spontaneity.
BAY AREA BOOK WORLD HAPPENINGS
Friday, July 5
America's Cup book event // To get you in the spirit for the America's Cup Race, Green Apple Books and Sports Basement are hosting Julian Guthrie for a Happy Hour, book signing, and Meet and Greet with Oracle Racing Team members. In her new book, The Billionaire and the Mechanic, Guthrie tells the exhilarating story of the partnership between Larry Ellison (he would be the billionaire) and Norbert Bajurin (that would be the mechanic) that eventually led the pair to an America's Cup victory. // DETAILS: Friday, July 5, 5pm. Sports Basement Presidio. 610 Old Mason Street, San Francisco.
Beast Crawl // 140 writers. 31 literary events. Sounds like that could take awhile. But at this year's Beast Crawl, it will only take roughly 3 hours. If you are, for whatever reason, limited to only one literary getaway in your entire life, pick this one. Local literary rock stars Tourettes Without Regrets, Oakland Local, PAWA, Saturday Night Special, Quiet Lightning, East Bay on the Brain, Rad Dad, and loads more will be there waiting for you. // DETAILS: Saturday, July 6, 5 - 9pm. Various venues. Uptown Oakland.
Monday, July 8
Greil Marcus in conversation with Penelope Houston // To celebrate Greil Marcus' new book, The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years, Pegasus Books' First Person Singular is bringing together Marcus and Penelope Houston. Houston, as you may know, would be the lead singer from the legendary San Francisco punk group The Avengers. // DETAILS: Monday, July 8, 7:30pm. Pegasus Books. 1855 Solano Avenue, Berkeley
Tuesday, July 9
Mother Daughter Me reading // As a kid, Katie Hafner lived in Florida with her alcoholic mother, plus her alcoholic mother's many boyfriends. She escapes to live with her father, and decades later, she decides not only to let her mother back into her life, but to invite her to live with her and her teen daughter in San Francisco. You bet this is hard. You bet this is a tear jerker. // DETAILS: Tuesday, July 9, 6pm. Book Passage. 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco.
Thursday, July 11
Bits of Beckett // Who am I? Beginnings and endings are intertwined! Existence is cyclical! Nothing is funnier than unhappiness. Life is bleak. Indeed, that was my Samuel Beckett impersonation. Similarly, Hal Hughes and George Killingsworth are bringing Bits of Beckett to Diesel Books this Thursday, performing Beckett's Rough for Theatre I, a scene from Endgame, Molloy, and Ohio Impromptu. // DETAILS: Thursday, July 11, 7pm. Diesel Books. 5433 College Avenue, Oakland.