Each week, we offer a roundup of the best literary events in the city. All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Want to submit an upcoming event for consideration? Go here.
Miranda Kennedy (Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India)
Thursday, July 14th, 6 pm, at Book Passage SF (1 Ferry Building)
Kennedy, a reporter for NPR, has spent the past six years of her life in New Delhi. Her new book explores the role of women in India's culture, contrasting the lives of a diverse group of native women with her own difficulties fitting in as an expatriate. In a society that's changing quickly but still makes it difficult for single women to perform basic tasks like renting their own apartments, Kennedy explores how Indian women try to navigate their personal contradictions.
Amy Snyder (Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World)
Monday, July 11th, 7:30 pm, at The Booksmith (1644 Haight St.)
Thursday, July 14th, 7 pm, at Green Apple Books (506 Clement St.)
The Race Across America, a 3,000-mile bike journey across the country, is known for claiming the health, sanity, and even the lives of its competitors. Completing the race takes a minimum of nine days for even the strongest competitors, and finishing first requires getting by on as little as an hour a day worth of sleep, meaning contestants often hallucinate or face serious health issues by the time they near the finish line. Former Ironman triathlete Snyder embedded with the bicyclists, following them across the country as they fought against their own limits.
Vietnamese-American Identity in California
Thursday, July 14th, 7:30 pm, at The Booksmith (1644 Haight St.)
Three Vietnamese-American authors join forces at this event to discuss the nature of identity and writing between the two cultures. Fiction writer Angie Chau (Quiet As They Come), critic Andrew Lam (Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora), and SF State professor Isabelle Pelaud (This Is All I Choose to Tell: History and Hybridity in Vietnamese-American Literature) will each read from their work, then take questions from the audience.
Lois Goodwill (Entangled: A Chronicle of Late Love)
Tuesday, July 12th, 7:30 pm, at The Booksmith (1644 Haight St.)
Entering one's golden years doesn't necessarily mean giving up passion. After 22 years in a monogamous-but-unmarried relationship with her 80-year-old partner, the then 69-year-old Goodwill found herself falling head over heels for another man: a 70-year-old former Jesuit priest. The relationship quickly fizzled, and when Goodwill returned to her former partner, jazz pianist Don Asher, they found themselves confronted by issues of trust and fidelity. Their resulting memoir was written by both Goodwill and Asher, though Asher has since passed away.
