Behind the Book Reading Series

Join us on Thursday, January 11th, when Comedy Central "Daily Show" regular John Hodgman and award-winning novelist Darin Strauss read in the Behind the Book Reading Series at KGB Bar.

WHEN: Thursday, January 11, from 7:00-9:00pm.   FREE.

WHERE: KGB Bar, 85 East Fourth Street

(between Second & Third Aves.; take the F/V to Second Ave. or the No. 6 to Astor Place).

CONTACT: 212-924-0654/readingseries@behindthebook.org or www.kgbbar.com

WHO:

John Hodgman is the author of the best-selling book of fake trivia, The Areas of My Expertise, and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine, where he is also the humor editor. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney's, and The New York Times Book Review. He currently curates and hosts the Little Gray Book Lectures—a monthly series that has been broadcast on NPR’s This American Life. He appears regularly on Comedy Central'sThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart as the Resident Expert and stars as the hapless PC computer user in the "I'm a PC" Apple ads. He lives in New York City with his wife and children on the Upper West Side.

Darin Strauss is the author of the international bestselling Chang and Eng, which was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year, and The Real McCoy, which was a New York Times Notable Book of 2002 and one of the New York Public Library's "25 Books to Remember of 2002." His work has been translated into fourteen languages. Darin teaches writing at New York University, for which he won a 2005 "Outstanding Dozen" teaching award. Also a screenwriter, he has worked with the director Julie Taymor and, after selling the rights to Chang and Eng to Disney, is currently adapting the novel for the screen with the actor Gary Oldman. He was awarded a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction writing, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

REVIEWS:

John Hodgman, The Areas of My Expertise
“What looks like an almanac of deep thoughts is actually a compendium of entirely made-up and useless facts and trivia. Hodgman—a contributing writer to the ‘New York Times Magazine’ who frequently appears on National Public Radio's ‘This American Life’—has a knack for making readers laugh; his witty, entertaining, and handy desk reference for those needing a dose of nonsense includes a list of 700 hobo names, a guide to the worst men's haircuts, a dictionary of shortened words used on submarines to preserve oxygen, and a chart for struggling writers containing the 55 known dramatic situations (e.g., ‘Boy v. Girl’ and ‘Cyborgs seek fortune on Broadway’). This is one of the funniest and most entertaining books to play on readers' imaginations in recent memory.”
—Library Journal

“Hodgman, ‘resident expert’ on Comedy Central's ‘The Daily Show’ with Jon Stewart and a ‘New York Times Magazine’ contributor, prides himself as a leading authority in the realm of informative false world knowledge….Hodgman's distinct brand of offbeat humor somehow manages to spoof yet ultimately embrace an intellectual thirst for the esoteric….connoisseurs of the Schott's ‘Miscellany’ titles and the ‘Onion’ will still find more than enough deliciously absurd faux facts to make for a worthwhile….experience.
—Publishers Weekly

Darin Strauss, Chang and Eng
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In his stunning novel, Darin Strauss combines fiction with astonishing fact to tell the story of history's most famous twins. Born in Siam in 1811—on a squalid houseboat on the Mekong River—Chang and Eng Bunker were international celebrities before the age of twenty. Touring the world's stages as a circus act, they settled in the American South just prior to the Civil War. They eventually married two sisters from North Carolina, fathering twenty-one children between them, and lived for more than six decades never more than seven inches apart, attached at the chest by a small band of skin and cartilage.

Woven from the fabric of fact, myth and imagination, Strauss's narrative gives poignant, articulate voice to these legendary brothers and humanizes the freakish legend that grew up around them. Sweeping from the Far East and the court of the King of Siam to the shared intimacy of their lives in America, Chang and Eng rescues two of the nineteenth century's most fabled human oddities from the sideshow of history, drawing from their extraordinary lives a novel of exceptional power and beauty.

REVIEWS
"A story of heroic longing… its humor, its humanity, its aching sadness… makes for a fine memorial."
—The New York Times Book Review

"Bold… Imaginative… A daring story from a brave new voice in literature."
—The Wall Street Journal

"A spirited and promising debut."
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"As lyrical as it is daring."
—The New Yorker

"Haunting and thoroughly entertaining."
—Los Angeles Times

"A dazzling piece of fiction….full of grace and sorrow."
—Winston-Salem Journal

"Sublime….Strauss’s elegant prose soars…."
—The Boston Globe

"Astonishing….a dazzling consistency of voice and sensibility.…"
—The Raleigh News & Observer

"Ambitious and accomplished."
—Esquire

"Precise, powerful prose….vivid imagination….a provocative story ."
—Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Imposingly original….very moving indeed."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Truly remarkable….brilliant… wonderful….A novel not to be missed."
—Booklist

"One of the most riskily imagined and successfully realized novels I’ve read in years."
—Joyce Carol Oates, author of numerous books, including You Must Remember This, We Were the Mulvaneys, The Falls, and Expensive People

"Chang and Eng rocks with twisted passion….and a sly and powerful wit. A righteously deft and intelligent first novel."
—James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential, Black Dahlia, and American Tabloid, among others

"Powerful and affecting….A marvel of psychological insight and historical imagination."
—Tom Perotta, author of Little Children and Election, among others

Darin Strauss, The Real McCoy
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Loosely based on the real life of "Kid" McCoy—icon and charlatan, championship boxer, jewel thief, scam artist, and one of the most married men in America—The Real McCoy unfolds against a backdrop of history. "Kid" McCoy's audacious and unforgettable story becomes a fascinating mirror of the times as he becomes a legend and a symbol of all that's true of America.

REVIEWS
"Jaunty, highly entertaining….The whole idea of conjuring up on the printed page a Ragtime-esque mix of actual and make-believe people who readily punch and swindle other such people could be just another flimflam. But in Strauss' ingenious concoction, it's sure a lot of fun to be the dupe."
—Newsweek

“Strauss is….ambitious…A good storyteller, too, with shrewd notions about what makes people tick.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Superb….Strauss has crafted another brilliant book, peopled with memorable characters and vivid settings….This book would read well in a marathon session, but I chose to savor it over several days. Either way, its title is fair billing: This is the Real McCoy.”
—Rocky Mountain News

“Strauss writes strong and evocative prose, and his result is a tightly built world that feels historically and emotionally right.”
—The Denver Post

"Darin Strauss is one of America's handful of great young novelists….If [‘Chang and Eng’] was a carnival, [‘The Real McCoy’] is a World's Fair. It's that ambitious, that fun."
—The Austin Chronicle

“Ingenious….’The Real McCoy's’ strength, dynamism and sorrow will make it one of the most quintessentially American novels published this year.”
—San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

“Beautiful writing, memorable phrases and good old-fashioned storytelling.”
—Chicago Tribune

"Just as he did in his brilliant debut, ‘Chang and Eng,’ Strauss takes a piece of history—in this case the go-go 1900s—and pumps it up with punchy prose and gritty period detail….Like E.L. Doctorow's ‘Ragtime,’ McCoy is nostalgic without feeling like a textbook lesson."
—Maxim

"Lauded ‘Chang and Eng’ author Strauss whips up a bustling story….Strauss has an obvious affection for this time in American history and the period's electric hum of optimism surges through these pages with a crackling intensity."
—Book

"Like his acclaimed first novel, ‘Chang and Eng,’ Strauss takes a curious historical footnote and carves from it a sprawling, quirky, and delightful story."
—Booklist

"Daring, unique….This book is well-written, comprehensively researched, and stylish, sure to score."
—Publishers Weekly

"Strauss remains one of the most interesting and promising of younger American novelists."
—Kirkus Reviews

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