Party Hopping

Photographer Miriam Berkley went to last Sunday's Gay Pride parade along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue where she spotted bestselling novelist Susan Isaacs (top row, with the hat) holding up a banner for the National Organization of Women and historian Blanche Wiesen Cook (bottom row, center) being interviewed by a member of Queers for Economic Justice. That's Virginia Woolf scholar Jean Mills and playwright Clare Coss on either side of Cook, by the way...

The parade took place on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, widely recognized as the tipping point which set the modern gay rights movement in motion.

Say, remember that "radioactive book party" for Tom Zoellner's Uranium we told you about a while back? Well, it went off without a hitch Tuesday night, and mediabistro.com has got the pictures, including a shot of Zoellner with his celebratory "yellow cake."

mediabistro.com throws parties like this all the time, and not just in New York City: check the list of upcoming events to see if there's something planned in your neighborhood.

On Tuesday, June 23rd, mediabistro.com instructor and author Tom Zoellner will host a party to celebrate the release of his new book, "Uranium." The party lasts from 6:30 to 8:30pm, and will be held at Katra in New York City.

The author will sign books, share Yellow Cake, and toast readers with his specialty cocktail, the Uranium Drop. Drink specials and complimentary appetizers provided by Katra. You can RSVP here. Earlier this year, Zoellner appeared on The Daily Show to talk about his book about this unstable element.

Here's more about the book: "Uranium is a riveting journey to the heart of this eerie mineral, taking us from slave camps in Africa, to desert mesas, war councils, smugglers' routes, doomsday cults, jungle mines and secret enrichment plants over five continents in a narrative that is equal parts history, investigative journalism and nonfiction thriller."

GalleyCat caught up with Mike Edison's I Have Fun in Brooklyn Five-Star Super Tour last night, a raucous mix of storytelling, book promotion, and rock & roll crammed into a skinny Fort Greene bar.

The tour already hit the neighborhoods of Cobble Hill and Williamsburg, as musicians helped Edison pitch the paperback version of his memoir, "I Have Fun Everywhere I Go." He'll make two more Brooklyn stops--a burger flipping music event at Red Hook's Freebird Books and a final party at Roberta's Restaurant in Bushwick.

After the show, GalleyCat caught up with Edison to find out why New York book tours should spend more time in Brooklyn. He explained: "Everywhere I hit on this tour, no one is jaded, no one is suffering from the typical seen-it-all ennui that so many literary types seem to suffer from. Everyone is genuinely appreciative that we are coming out, and and working hard for them, doing something different. No kidding, this is the future of book touring. Forget fancy 'name' bookstores, you gotta go where the people are--where they sell drinks."

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On Friday night, former Publishers Weekly publisher, David Nudo and Priot Entertainment Group literary manager, Donna Bagdasarian hosted their swingin' Literati-a-go-go party to help support local independent bookstore, Idlewild Books during BEA.

In attendance were mixed media representatives from television, fashion, magazine and book publishing. They included editors, publishers, literary agents, producers and writers from companies such as St. Martin's Press, Weinstein Company, Wiley, Tommy Hilfiger, Macmillan, Publishers Weekly, GQ, Library Journal, Genre Magazine, and even Mediabistro's own Chris Ariens.

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While some of us were taking a last-minute stroll through the Javits Center to close out BookExpo America, John Oakes (with the bullhorn) and Colin Robinson took a bunch of their friends out on the historic fireboat John J. Harvey—you may remember the upcoming memoir by its mechanic, Jessica Dulong—to celebrate the launch of their new publishing company, OR Books. The two plan to dedicate themselves to publishing in print-on-demand and electronic formats, focusing their attention on independent bookstores and direct consumer sales. They also plan to publish no more than two books a month, preferring content with "a distinctive progressive edge, reflecting the new era of the Obama presidency and the economic and environmental challenges it faces," according to their press release. ("As in the wake of 9/11," the announcement continued, "the severity of these crises is pushing wide audiences to engage at new levels with what is happening in the world around them. OR Books will be positioned to satisfy this demand.") You can find out more about their vision in a video they shot earlier this spring; the first books are scheduled to ship in September.

Among the others who've signed on are novelists Lisa Dierbeck, Josh Furst, and Dale Peck and the journalist Choire Sicha, all of whom were aboard the boat—along with Obama's favorite new novelist, Joseph O'Neill, and several other supportive authors, agents, and publishing executives.

(photo: Miriam Berkley)

UPDATE: Sicha emails to clarify, "Mischief & Mayhem, a new publishing outfit composed of the four authors you name plus the wonderful D.W. Gibson, is now working towards an agreement with OR Books. After all, we share a common vision of how book publishing desperately needs to be changed radically, and we're looking forward to coming to an arrangement with John and Colin where we join forces to bring exciting, risk-taking books to readers."

BEA week is like a business convention, county fair, prom, and class reunion all rolled into one for the publishing world. Like a business journalist, high school reporter, small town newspaper, and nerdy kid from high school all rolled into one, GalleyCat covered a few pre-BEA parties last night.

The night began the Melville House, Small Beer Press, The Feminist Press, NYRB Classics and Little Bookroom, and Stop Smiling Books party in Brooklyn. Melville's publisher Dennis Johnson worked the bar all night, as agents, artists, writers, and journalists mingled on the raining evening.

GalleyCat concluded the night at the Overlook Press' "Party Like It's 1975" party for Allan Tannenbaum's "New York in the 70s" photography collection. Gorgeous black and white photos covered the walls, and literati were packed elbow-to-elbow at the popular party. In the photo above, Details writer Ian Daly, Village People cowboy Randy Jones, Overlook's Vida Engstrand, and GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan attempted to spell "YMCA" for posterity.

As BookExpo America consumes New York City this weekend, three literary journals--The Rumpus, McSweeney's, and Smith Mag--teamed up for an epic literary event at Highline Ballroom on May 30th. The line-up includes: comedians Todd Barry and Eugene Mirman, Nada Surf musician Matthew Caws; authors Anthony Swofford, Jessica Anthony, James Hannaham, and Amy Tan.

To find out more about the event, GalleyCat caught up with Stephen Elliott, the founder of the online literary site, The Rumpus. "Sometimes, especially in recent times, I'll be hanging out with a bunch of writers or publishing people, and they're so sad. For writers that not unusual. As a group we're generally dissatisfied and the failing bookstores and magazines is just one more peg to hang that coat on. That has nothing to do with the state of the economy or how many books we've sold. It's just part of our makeup and it's probably one of the things that drives many of us to write," Elliott explained.

"We think we'll publish a book and it will make us happy. We've always thought that and it's never been true ... From the beginning The Rumpus has been a boost for everyone that cares about good books. One of our mottos is 'Three celebrations for every complaint ... We wanted to have a really positive event, do something fun, cheer everybody up if they're feeling down, and celebrate celebrating if they're not."

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Two summers ago, we told you about HarperCollins editor Rakesh Satyal and his occasional moonlighting as a cabaret singer; it turns out that he was also working on a novel, Blue Boy, based ever so loosely on his own childhood as an Indian-American coming to terms with his sexual identity in Ohio. That novel's out now, and he's been doing a series of readings and musical performances—which leads us to tonight's event at The Slipper Room. (Full disclosure: This event was put together by senior editor Ron Hogan in his other capacity, as the curator of the literary website Beatrice and a reading series with the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction.)

Satyal will be reading from Blue Boy, and he'll be joined by his longtime friend and editorial colleague Sarah Rainone, who's also just published a debut novel, Love Will Tear Us Apart, about a group of high school "friends" reuniting years later when two of them get married. But that's just half the evening's entertainment: Several singer/songwriters from the Bushwick Book Club will be on hand to perform original songs based on the two novels—and there are plans in the works for both Satyal and Rainone to show off their musical chops as well. (The words "Disney" and "showtunes" have been mentioned.)

As pre-BookExpo America parties go, and we admit to a total lack of objectivity here, this is going to be one fabulous event, so come by the Slipper Room (167 Orchard St) tonight starting at 6 p.m. It's a cash bar, but there's no cover, and the entertainment begins at approximately 7 p.m.

Simon Van Booy celebrated the publication of his latest short story collection, Love Begins in Winter, with a reception at Partners and Spade, NoHo's only-by-appointment deluxe thrift store/art gallery. The texts of stories like "Tiger, Tiger" and "The Missing Statues" formed a backdrop for the reading—and we're told at least one person in the audience had a Flip video camera, so there's a good chance we might all get to see it soon. In the meantime, Van Booy advocates the enjoyment of short fiction as part of a series of "public service announcements" from HarperPerennial authors.

(photo: Alyssa Robb)