Corner Bookstore

Elizabeth L. Block launches her new book Beyond Vanity
2024-09-10 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
In the nineteenth century, the complex cultural meaning of hair was not only significant, but it could also impact one’s place in society. After the Civil War, hairdressing was also a growing profession and the hair industry a mainstay of local, national, and international commerce. In Beyond Vanity, Elizabeth Block expands the nascent field of hair studies by restoring women’s hair as a cultural site of meaning in the early United States. With a special focus on the places and spaces in which the hair industry operated, Block argues that the importance of hair has been overlooked due to its ephemerality as well as its misguided association with frivolity and triviality. As Block clarifies, hairdressing was anything but frivolous.
Using methods of visual and material culture studies informed by concepts of cultural geography, Block identifies multiple substantive categories of place and space within which hair acted. These include the preparatory places of the bedroom, hair salon, and enslaved peoples’ quarters, as well as the presentation places of parties, fairs, stages, and workplaces. Here are also the untold stories of business owners, many of whom were women of color, and the creators of trendsetting styles like the pompadour and Gibson Girl bouffant. Block’s ground-breaking study examines how race and racism affected who participated in the presentation and business of hair, and according to which standards. The result of looking closely at the places and spaces of hair is a reconfiguration that allows a new understanding of the cultural power of hair in the period.

Sadek Wahba launches his debut, Build: Investing in America's Infrastructure
2024-10-09 18:00 - 19:30
America’s infrastructure—its essential roads, bridges, ports, airports, power grids, and telecommunications systems—were once the pride of the nation and an example for the world. But now, after years of neglect and oversight, this infrastructure is crumbling and causing catastrophic changes in the US quality of life. Build seeks to explain how American infrastructure collapsed and what can be done to repair it.
In a series of colorful, rarely told cases, Build takes readers on a revealing tour behind the scenes of the successes and debacles of key infrastructure projects to show what works, why the United States has failed in recent decades to invest in infrastructure, and how the private sector can help revitalize the sector, spur job growth, and contribute to climate resilience.
Sadek Wahba examines the private origins of US infrastructure and the federally funded megaprojects that came after the New Deal, investigating the role the private sector can and should play in building infrastructure. By drawing comparisons with systems in the United Kingdom, France, India, and China, Wahba shows that while privatization and public-private partnerships cannot solve all infrastructure challenges, they are essential for closing funding gaps, overcoming political paralysis, and driving major infrastructure advances.
Build will appeal to readers interested in public finance, domestic policy, the role of the federal government, tax policy, and urban affairs.

Benjamin Swett launches his new book The Picture Not Taken
2024-10-16 18:00 - 19:30
In an age when most of us carry a device seemingly capable of freeze-framing the world, Benjamin Swett writes with refreshing clarity on the way of the true photographer. The Picture Not Taken combines cultural criticism with personal revelation to examine how the lived experience of photography can endow the mundane with meaning while bringing attention to the beauty of both the natural world and the world we build.
Having photographed trees of Manhattan, Shaker dwellings, and the landscapes of upstate New York, award-winning photographer and writer Swett brings an ecological sensitivity to these expansive and profound meditations on how to document the world around us. Accompanied by nearly three dozen black-and-white photographs and illustrations, the essays in The Picture Not Taken take us from the meatpacking plants of Chicago at the turn of the last century to Coney Island to early 1980s Madrid. By turns literary criticism, art history, and memoir, they draw from writers such as Eric Sanderson, Max Frisch, and John Berger to uncover truths about a life spent in pursuit of art.
In essays such as “The Picture Not Taken,” “The Beauty of the Camera,” and “My Father’s Green Album” Swett gives us a picture of photography over generations and how we can or should relate to the mechanical devices so often fetishized by those interested in the subject. In “What I wanted to Tell You About the Wind” we understand photography’s importance in understanding our place in larger environmental and social systems; and in “VR” and “Some Observations in the Galapagos” Swett challenges us to think through problems of perception and knowing central to the experience of photography, looking to the past and into our future for answers.
Poignant and deftly crafted, The Picture Not Taken brings to mind the fearless ambition of Annie Dillard and the grand scope of Rebecca Solnit’s Field Guide to Getting Lost. Swett’s writing will appeal to readers who have enjoyed Geoff Dyer’s work, and Susan Sontag’s writing on photography.

Lily Tuck signs copy of her new novel The Rest is Memory
2024-12-12 18:00 - 19:00
First glimpsed riding on the back of a boy’s motorcycle, fourteen-year-old Czeslawa comes to life in this mesmerizing novel by Lily Tuck, who imagines her upbringing in a small Polish village before her world imploded in late 1942. Stripped of her modest belongings, shorn, and tattooed number 26947 on arriving at Auschwitz, Czeslawa is then photographed. Three months later, she is dead.
How did this happen to an ordinary Polish citizen? This is the question that Tuck grapples with in this haunting novel, which frames Czeslawa’s story within the epic tragedy of six million Poles who perished during the German occupation. A decade prior to writing The Rest Is Memory, Tuck read an obituary of the photographer Wilhelm Brasse, who took more than 40,000 pictures of the Auschwitz prisoners. Included were three of Czeslawa Kwoka, a Catholic girl from rural southeastern Poland. Tuck cut out the photos and kept them, determined to learn more about Czeslawa, but she was only able to glean the barest facts: the village she came from, the transport she was on, that she was accompanied by her mother and her neighbors, her tattoo number, and the date of her death. From this scant evidence, Tuck’s novel becomes a remarkable kaleidoscopic feat of imagination, something only our greatest novelists can do.

Todd Almond launches his debut Slow Train Coming
2025-01-28 18:00 - 19:30
Bob Dylan and Conor McPherson’s musical Girl from the North Country weaves two dozen songs from the legendary catalog of Bob Dylan into a story of Duluth during the Great Depression, to create a future American classic. Despite historic, seemingly insurmountable setbacks of four openings, the musical was hailed as an experience “as close as mortals come to heaven on earth,” by The New York Times.Opening on Broadway in the middle of an unprecedented moment, Slow Train Coming is a book about pressing on in the face of extreme adversity. Todd Almond’s behind-the-scenes oral history weaves his personal first-hand account of starring in the show with exclusive interviews and reflections from fellow cast members and the creative team.Told through personal stories, anecdotes from the cast, production shots, behind-the-scenes photos, and insights from the creators, this book is both an inside look at a perilous moment of one of America’s proudest institutions, Broadway, and a true story of American grit and determination lived by the company of this quirky musical-that-could.

Dr.'s Robert Jaffe, Alexander Kolevzon, & Pillar Trelles launch their debut A Parent's Guide to Psychiatric Medication for Kids
2025-03-06 18:00 - 19:30
For parents and caregivers, considering psychiatric medications for your child can be scary and overwhelming as they weigh the risks and benefits. A Parent’s Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids boils down the process of evaluating children and deciding whether to use medication, and then explores different classes of medications in detail, from the side effects to ongoing monitoring. Three child psychiatrists from New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Alexander Kolevzon, MD; Robert Jaffe, MD; and Pilar Trelles, MD, combine their years of research and experience to deliver a straightforward, accessible Q&A guidebook for parents and caregivers.
Whether you are considering medications for ADHD, anxiety, depression, or autism, this guide empowers you to ask your provider all the tough questions to ensure you are comfortable and confident in your journey of exploring psychiatric medications for your child.

Claudia Lebenthal launches her new book Surfer Stories: 12 Untold Stories By 12 Writers About 12 of the World's Greatest Surfers
2025-03-18 18:00 - 19:30
From the monstrous walls of water at Teahupoo, to the reef-scraping barrels of Pipeline, to the endless peeling break of Jeffreys Bay, legendary surfers have made their mark on surf history, distinguished by the fearlessness, grace, and artistry displayed while riding the most exalted waves.
Each surfer’s story is told by a different writer—fellow surfers, famed authors, celebrities, musicians, and surf journalists—who shares a passion for surfing. Surfer Stories offers an insightful perspective on the life of each surfer, both in and out of the water, as could only be told by the writer with whom they are paired:
Shaun Tomson on Kelly Slater
Sam George on Laird Hamilton
Holly Peterson on Robert “Wingnut” Weaver
Gerry Lopez on Garrett McNamara
Chris Carter on Shaun Tomson
Liza Monroy on Keala Kennelly
Chris Shiflett on Tom Curren
Jamie Brisick on Derek Hynd
Brett Crozier on Bethany Hamilton
Jim Kempton on Gerry Lopez
Karen Rinaldi on Rell Sunn
Selema Masekela on Michael February
The sport of surfing has a mystique and allure that has transformed many of these icons into mythical figures. Surfer Stories brings them together in one definitive collection that will appeal to those who surf and those who don’t!

Kate Swenson, Adrian Wood and Carrie Cariello celebrate the publication of Autism Out Loud
2025-04-01 18:00 - 19:30
Kate Swenson, Adrian Wood and Carrie Cariello are from different parts of the country and backgrounds, but they were brought together by a singular experience: they are each a mother to a child with autism. Together they have shared laughter, tears, victories and the unconditional love that molds their lives.
Kate, Adrian and Carrie have children with very different autism profiles, and in Autism Out Loud they write about their unique experiences on a variety of topics, from diagnosis to caregiving, schooling and aging. Through their varied stories and lessons they’ve learned, these incredible women provide a glimpse of what to expect on the autism journey and show parents that they are not alone.

Amanda Eisenberg launches her debut People Are Talking
2025-04-22 18:00 - 19:30
Mallory Shepard has her back against the wall. Her girlfriend dumped her, her landlord wants to evict her and her literary agent is about to drop her—unless she can come up with a compelling follow-up to her debut novel. A book deal would solve her problems, which is why she agrees to attend an estranged college friend’s wedding in Texas. It’ll be the first time she’s seen that friend group since an incident tore them apart nine years earlier, and Mal intends to secretly squeeze her ex-friends for information. The plan is nearly foolproof, except that her still-raw hurt and righteous anger threatens to expose her agenda, as does her weakness for her college nemesis: Andrew Rosen.
Danit Leibowitz is—was Mal’s best friend. Together they transformed the Newts, a secret society, into a group that tracks alleged rapists long after they graduated from the prestigious halls of Weston College. Now a rising lefty political star, Dani is asked to come up with another plan to reinvent the Newts, which Gen Z deems out of touch amid ever-changing gender and sex politics. When she learns Mal will be there, Dani hatches a plan to appease the Newts and win back her friend, all in 72 hours.
Crammed into an Austin rental for the weekend, the six friends seek to settle old scores and win back ex-friends and lovers. But when the Newts infiltrate the wedding, with deadly consequences, Mal and Dani are forced to consider whether they’re willing to separate the personal from the political—even at the expense of protecting the people they love.

Lisa Greenwald signs copies of her new book The Summer of the Fortune Tellers
2025-05-08 16:30 - 18:30
Is the magic really back?
When Mille, Nora, and Bea found fortune tellers popping up in unexpected places—with eerily accurate fortunes—they reunited as best friends. Now that they’re back to being besties, they’re excited to spend the summer together outside the city. Recruited into babysitting eight-year-old triplets and staying with Millie’s family, the girls are hoping this will be their own private summer camp, one where they’re in charge, away from annoying siblings and toxic frenemies.
But nothing perfect can last. When everything from homesickness and boy craziness to real estate developers threaten their summer, Millie, Nora, and Bea start stumbling upon fortune tellers in the strangest places. And once again it feels like these fortune tellers are speaking to them: Sometimes in life you just have to jump in. Speak your mind and stand up for what you believe in! You are here for a reason. If they speak up, can Millie, Nora, and Bea really save the summer—and the community—before it’s too late?

Amy Larocca launches her How to Be Well
2025-05-14 18:00 - 19:30
Peloton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashwagandha. Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion behemoth that touches us all. In this timely and clear-eyed book, journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the wellness movement and reckons with its promises and profits. How did we get here and how did the idea of wellness become integrated with women’s lives? And how did we end up spending so much money on products that may not work at all?
Amy Larocca takes readers into the communities that swear by their activated charcoal toothpaste and green juice enemas, explaining what each of these practices really is—and what the science says. Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions — and tries a lot herself along the way — ultimately delivering an assessment of how the wellness industry embodies our (gendered, class-based, racialized) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys on our unshakable fear of the unknown. She traces the history of how the beauty and fashion industries have peddled snake oil to women for decades—and why we keep coming back for more.

Christine Mott launches her debut picture book Free Bird
2025-05-15 16:00 - 18:00
Embark on an exciting journey with Flaco the owl in Free Bird: Flaco the Owl’s Dreams Take Flight! This captivating picture book, perfect for children ages 4-8, is based on a true story that will inspire and delight young readers.
Flaco, a brave and determined owl, dreams of breaking free from his cage at the zoo and soaring through the sky. One day, he seizes the opportunity to escape and finally experience the freedom he has always longed for. Follow Flaco as he navigates the bustling streets of New York City, learns to fly, and makes new friends along the way.
Through Flaco’s eyes, children will learn the importance of following their dreams and showing compassion for wild animals. This heartwarming tale is beautifully illustrated and will leave a lasting impression on readers of all ages. Join Flaco on his incredible adventure and be inspired to reach for the stars!
This book comes with a bonus educational section in the back for all the curious readers. Discover amazing facts about owls that will make early learning fun and help connect the story to the real world.
50% of author’s book royalties will be donated to the Wild Bird Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that rehabilitates sick, injured and orphaned wildlife and releases them back to the wilds of New York City.

Jena Kingsley launches her debut Darcy Dates
2025-06-03 18:00 - 19:30
Darcy Dates is a hilarious and unfiltered dating diary based on the popular 2010 blog of the same name. Written at a time when people clung to their BlackBerrys, Instagram didn’t exist, and there was no debate over whether or not skinny jeans were cool. They just were. Seven years of marriage, one child and one divorce later, Darcy found herself back in the dating pool of New York City. Only things were different. She was a single mom living on the Upper East Side, navigating dating as an adult, where people carried more baggage than any bellhop at the Pierre could handle. One night, alone in her room, she began to document her dates in the form of a blog. The blog became her diary. This book is her diary. Darcy Dates is the perfect balance of comedic, cringey and touching. You will belly laugh, you may tear up, you may want to look away at times. Most importantly the reader will be cheering Darcy on in her quest for love. But over time she starts to wonder… maybe it’s not love she was looking for all along. Maybe she was just looking for herself. Names and locations have been changed to protect the innocent.

Sabrina Kleckner launches her new book The Complex Art of Being Maisie Clark
2025-06-09 16:00 - 18:00
All eighteen-year-old Maisie Clark wants to do is leave her tiny town in upstate New York. Crescent Valley is home to Glenna’s, the family-run portrait shop she loves more than anything. But after years of imitating her dad’s artistic style, Maisie fears she will never find her own voice. So, she comes up with a plan: quit working at Glenna’s, go to art school in London, and, most importantly, stop painting portraits. If she can’t find her voice by the end of the year, she’ll give up art entirely.
Unfortunately, pushing outside her comfort zone is (surprise!) uncomfortable. Maisie struggles to connect with her eccentric new flatmates, feels farther away from her best friend than ever, and hates every art course she signed up for—especially photography, where her talented but prickly partner, Eli, is not afraid to point out her every mistake on their semester-long project. Maisie is already questioning all her life choices when a crime strikes Glenna’s, reopening old family wounds she thought she’d long healed from. It’ll take even more discomfort, as well as help from Eli, her older brother, Calum, and his earnest boyfriend, Benji, to confront the layers she’s painted over the past. But maybe, just maybe, the keys to finding herself lie closer to home than she realized.

Dr. Harry Agress, Jr. launches his book Next Years Best Years: Taking Your Retirement to the Next Level
2025-06-17 18:00 - 19:30
Following a 36-year medical career in the field of Radiology, Dr. Harry Agress Jr retired at age 68. He is an experienced teacher and nationally recognized lecturer who takes great joy in passing on what he has learned and experienced both in medicine and life.

Dr. Agress has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal and appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show,” lectured at the 92NY in New York City and been featured in Marquis Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who’s Who in America and America’s Top Doctors.

In Next Years Best Years Dr. Agress dives into the many exploits he and others have embraced as they create a new post-career life from reassessment and self-reflection to volunteering, photography, teaching, sports, coaching, acting and much more.

Leslie Cohen & Sean Avery launch Summer Skate
2025-09-09 15:30 - 17:30
Summer has begun on the East End of Long Island and bestselling author Jessica Riley finds herself unable to deliver on her highly anticipated second book. Her children are demanding. Her husband is preoccupied. With a deadline looming, she fakes a mental breakdown to get away . . . only to find that the house next door is filled with rowdy hockey players.
One of those players is Carter Hughes, a soon-to-be rookie on the New York Rangers, and in Carter and his friends, Jessica discovers a treasure trove of material for her next book. But she quickly finds herself in over her head, as her connection with Carter spirals out of control and his behavior becomes more erratic. Meanwhile, as Carter mixes with the power scene in the Hamptons, one false move could turn what was supposed to be a summer of training and good times into a game he can’t afford to play.
Sexy and addictive, Summer Skate is the sun on your skin in a string bikini. It’s the sound of skates cutting across the ice of a hockey rink, chasing victory. It’s an answer to the question: How bad do you want it?

Melissa Dassori signs copies of her latest middle grade novel Greta Ever After
2025-09-11 15:30 - 17:00
Greta Starr has one dream: to be a famous reporter. Unfortunately she’s been assigned to write for the paper’s most boring beat, and she feels stuck. Then, on her twelfth birthday, Greta receives a mysterious cuckoo clock with a wooden dancer named Lulu inside. Every hour, the doll twirls in time with the music—until one night she comes to life. Lulu is infused with magic and mischief. With Lulu’s sly encouragement, Greta engineers a feel-good story to report, setting in motion a series of remarkable, if deceitful, happy endings at school that help Greta gain popularity. But when the truth threatens Greta’s friendships, she is confronted with very real consequences that Lulu’s magic can’t fix.

Emily Hurd & Michael Mitnick launch their debut Hello, Broadway: A Young Person's Guide to the World of Musical Theater
2025-09-25 16:00 - 18:00
Visit New York City and take in your first Broadway show. This illustrated soundbook is your guide to the world-famous theater district!

Join Eleanor and Harry as they head to New York City for their first Broadway show.
Discover what it’s like to attend a show, enjoy the performance and delight in the magic of musical theater.
Beautifully illustrated scenes are accompanied by sound buttons that play iconic musical song clips performed by Broadway stars!
Ideal for caregivers who want to share their love of Broadway with their children, Hello, Broadway! is the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of musical theater.

Celebrate the launch of Emily Saw a Door with author Mel Rosenberg and illustrator Orit Magia
2026-02-24 16:00 - 18:00
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
It’s me, Emily. May I come in?
And so begins Emily’s search for a door that will open. The first door is blue, and the voice behind the door tells Emily that she doesn’t sound very bluish. The second door says it only opens for tigers, crocodiles, and snakes. But she is a girl named Emily– and the animals are hungry–and so she moves on. The third is only for people who speak very quietly, and the door can hear Emily.
Finally, Emily comes to a place without a door. She gets out her chalk and draws one, then adds a doorknob, and goes right in. And when someone knocks on her door, she says, “The door is open!”
Here is a wonderful book about inclusion, acceptance, and opening doors for others.

Madeline Hart launches Mobilize: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III
2026-03-19 18:00 - 19:30
America is in an undeclared state of emergency. Not since the Cold War has the US faced such powerful enemies—and our military isn’t ready. Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer of Palantir, issues an urgent call to action: Mobilize.
The American industrial base once underwrote American victory. Builders and workers rallied to win World War II. For most of the twentieth century, great American companies from General Mills to Chrysler had defense businesses that sent mankind into space and won the Cold War. But the forges fell silent and the furnaces went dark. America’s innovators and warfighters were ripped apart. Now China, not America, leads the world in manufacturing. America is the underdog. The good news is, we’ve been here before.
Mobilize tells the remarkable true stories of the Americans who moved heaven and earth to produce for our troops and help our country win the twentieth century. And it exposes the shocking blunders that broke the Pentagon and weakened our military.
There’s a war for America’s future, stymied between the forces of complacency and change. If we empower exceptional individuals and harness the power of capitalism and competition, America can unleash the brains and brawn we need to resurrect our industrial base, stop World War III, and help our country build—and win.

Jimmy Lebenthal launches How to Ride the Subway: Getting Around on Wall Street and in Life
2026-03-24 18:00 - 19:30
Jimmy Lebenthal grew up in New York City in the ’70s and ’80s, a hardscrabble time for Gotham. As a youth, the city’s extensive subway system drew his attention to a degree that can only be described as passionate. It was in those years that Jimmy first started investing in public equities. From the perspective of a seasoned subway rider, Jimmy shares his hard-fought wisdom in investing and building successful business relationships. Part how-to guide and part memoir, the whimsy, charm, and intelligence of Jimmy Lebenthal makes this book a must-read for any investor.

Connor Martin launches his debut The Silver Fish: A Thriller
2026-04-07 18:00 - 19:30
Journalist Danielle “Dani” Moreau has spent a lifetime trying to outrun the privilege she was born into. Fresh off a personal tragedy, she lands in Ghana to uncover corruption in the local oil industry. But when she crosses paths with James Aidoo, an idealistic young Ghanaian whose father is a local populist politician, Dani remembers what drew her to journalism in the first place: you go looking for a story, but when the real story appears, it’s never the one you expected.
Dani soon finds herself chasing a scoop that involves an American operative with a violent past, a Ghanaian double agent, and a fight between the United States and China over one of the world’s most dangerous and least-known technologies: fiber optic cables. Underwater tubes as thick as a garden hose, the cables snake along the seafloor carrying the world’s information at the speed of light from one continent to another, and the fight to control them is increasingly visible on the world’s front pages. Amidst this world-changing struggle, Dani and her new associates will be forced to make deadly choices that impact each other and their own lives in ways nobody expects.
A twisty double-cross narrative, The Silver Fish opens with a spy operation going horrifically off course and takes the reader sprinting through crowded markets, darkened bars, bustling ports, and steaming jungle on the way to a startling conclusion. It will leave the reader shocked, moved, better-informed—and eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the story.

Lisa Greenwald and Goldy Moldavsky celebrate the publication of their new Middle-Grade Books
2026-05-11 16:00 - 18:00
Sadie and Olive have never been part of their class’s popular friend group. Those girls—Pella, Annabelle, Cleo, and The Other Sadie—seem like creatures from another planet. They wear the trendiest clothes, have the best hair, flirt with the cutest boys, and speak their own language. By comparison, Sadie and Olive are invisible . . . until Sadie is accidentally added to the popular girls’ group chat. Armed with an inside perspective, Sadie sets out to join the friend group—IRL—before they figure out that they’ve got the wrong Sadie.

Gigi and her older sister, Yasmin, are spending the summer at a Jewish bungalow colony in upstate New York, thanks to their dad, who will be the handyman there. Sure, there will be day camp to go to, and the forest to explore, and maybe new friends to make. But Gigi doesn’t feel she fits in. Despite the fact that she’s Jewish too, she can’t help but feel that her Judaism is totally different from the other kids’. It doesn’t help that Mom isn’t around to talk to—she’s back in Brooklyn working. Yasmin has her own friends, and even though her dad speaks five languages, he and Gigi never seem to be speaking the same one.
There’s only one thing Gigi can do—escape. So, she hatches a plan to run away. But unexpected surprises keep drawing her back. Like, why do the boys at the camp keep doing flips? What kind of lake has fish with mustaches? Can Gigi sneakily use her dad’s tools to build a secret treehouse?
Try as she might, Gigi can’t figure out why everyone else loves this place so much. Will she eventually find her way back home, or will she—just maybe—discover something special hidden within the colony?

Bill Keenan launches his new book The Swan and the Sentinel
2026-06-15 18:00 - 19:30
What happens when the one thing that defines you is ripped away, and you’re forced to rebuild from the ground up?
When NHL forward Liam LeClerc’s career-threatening injury refuses to heal, desperation drives him to an unlikely solution: ballet lessons from Petra Montgomery, a talented soloist overlooked due to her company’s politics.
In secret, after-hours studio sessions, Petra teaches Liam that strength comes in unexpected forms while he reminds her why she fell in love with dance, before ambition complicated everything. But when their unconventional partnership threatens both their careers, they must decide if the connection they’ve found is worth risking everything they’ve worked for.
The Swan and the Sentinel is a story that reminds us sometimes the best comebacks require learning an entirely new discipline, even if it’s performed in fifth position.

Celebration for I Liked Rex by Diane Williams
2026-09-08 18:00 - 19:30
Diane Williams is one of the great masters of the American short story: her tiny, coruscating tales are among the most tender, funny, peculiar, and searching works in all of contemporary literature. I Liked Rex is Williams’s newest collection, which explores sex, love, marriage, and all that comes after; it is a book about living, but more importantly, about how to be alive.
In these stories, a woman sees her soon-to-be ex-husband on the street, walking patiently at the end of a line of geese; a mother implores a total stranger to watch over her small child at the beach; a guest arrives at an orgy uninvited, and takes a nap beneath a dusty carpet; a woman reflects on her life with a man who used to belong to another, but is hers now—though can anyone really possess anyone else, truly?
Williams’s genius lies as much in what is left unspoken as in what is laid out on the page; behind images of startling beauty and strangeness, entire chamber dramas of the heart unfold, and the pleasure of these sphinx-like tales comes from their unremitting mystery, which is the same mystery fundamental to life and to love. A collection of rare originality and daring, I Liked Rex is a complete and utter delight.

Launch Party and Book Signing for Oh Ho OH NO!: Twelve True Tales of Tinsel, Bedlam, and unconditional Love
2026-10-28 18:00 - 19:30
The holiday countdown has begun! Join author and Christmas maximalist Danny Lettieri in celebrating the official launch of his humorous memoir, Ho Ho, OH NO!: Twelve True Stories of Tinsel, Bedlam & Unconditional Love (Hedge Jumper Press, July 2026). Danny will read passages from the book in his inimitable style, and there’ll be wine and Christmas cookies for attendees. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Learn more about Danny and the book at www.dannylettieri.com.
