AltWeeklies Wire
The Founder of Bitch Magazine Brings Her Feminist Sensibility to a New Cookbooknew

For Lisa Jervis' first single-author book -- recently released on PM Press -- she took a surprising turn: She published a cooking manual. Or, to put it more accurately, Jervis published a "manualfesto."
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
08-12-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Kate Christensen Assesses BFFs in 'Trouble'new
Writing about female friendship appealed to Christensen, whose previous novel The Great Man won a 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award, "because of a very painful misunderstanding I had had with my own best friend."
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
07-02-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Novella Carpenter Raises Goats, Pigs and Produce in Oaklandnew
When they moved into their Oakland apartment a few years ago, Carpenter and her partner "definitely had our eyes on the abandoned lot next door, with an eye toward farming it," Carpenter says. As they set to work, Carpenter charted the project in a blog and in a memoir, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
06-17-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
California's Indie Booksellers Take On Amazon.comnew
Berkeley Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner wants the giant online retailers to stop cheating both California and independent booksellers.
East Bay Express |
Robert Gammon |
03-04-2009 |
Books
PM Press Goes Beyond Anarchynew

Twenty-five years after launching AK Press, Ramsey Kanaan took his democracy elsewhere.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
02-18-2009 |
Books
David Thomson's Memoir Invokes '50s London, Fave Films and an Absent Fathernew
Born in London during World War II, Thomson grew up in its rubble-strewn aftermath, a time and place when "people were steadily unwell in ways that made illness seem the norm," he remembers in his new memoir Try to Tell the Story.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
02-18-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Steve Fainaru's New Book Gives the Mercenary in Iraq a Face and a Soulnew
Although mercenaries have a bad rap around the world, "I didn't really blame most of them," Fainaru recalls, "even though a lot of people did, demonizing them and calling them all kinds of names."
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
01-14-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Leslie Carol Roberts Insists We Can All be Antarcticansnew
"I was tired of coffee-table books and BBC documentaries that showed Antarctica as this haunted, blue ice world -- that insisted Antarctica was 'not of this world,'" says Roberts, who teaches at California College of the Arts.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
11-19-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Henry H. Neff's Fantasy Fiction for Kids Mixes Magic, Mythology and Fearnew
Although comparisons to the Harry Potter books are inevitable, Neff points out that his series isn't "defined solely by spells and wizardry."
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
11-06-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Nate Powell on His Descent into Madnessnew
Powell has long used mental illness as an artistic muse. His new graphic novel Swallow Me Whole has a story line that's entirely inside the main character's head, with no explanation of what she is thinking.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
10-29-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Poachers Meet Their Match in Kirk Russell's Eco-Thrillersnew
For Russell, writing about a California Department of Fish & Game Special Operations Unit -- and creating his protagonist, sensitive-but-tough Lieutenant John Marquez -- isn't a mere gimmick.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
10-29-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Bucky Sinister Explores Self-Help's Sinister Undersidenew

Get Up: A 12-Step Guide for Misfits, Freaks, and Weirdos shows how compelling the self-help format can be.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
10-22-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Joshua Henkin's Novel 'Matrimony' Celebrates the Writing Lifenew
"Although Matrimony isn't autobiographical, it's about things that are close to me," the author asserts. "It's about the writing life."
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
10-22-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Joshua Henkin, Matrimony
'What Rhymes With Bastard?': Best. Book. Title. Ever.new

Linda Robertson's memoir recounts the crash-and-burn of her relationship with a tall, thin, slope-shouldered, coke-snorting, ecstasy-swallowing, vodka-swilling chainsmoker who loved anal sex. (She hated it.)
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
09-24-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Religions Battle it Out in 'Wag the Dog' Author Larry Beinhart's New Thrillernew
From the outset, Salvation Boulevard was meant to be much more than a garden-variety murder mystery. "I woke up one morning in the 21st century and thought I was having a bad acid flashback of the 12th," Beinhart muses now.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
09-17-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews