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Long Island LitFest Book Club with Author: June 12, 2016

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We are thrilled to launch the Long Island LitFest Book Club, an Island-wide book club with author appearances at the book discussions, followed by book signings!  To be a part of one of these events and discuss the book with the author, please register in advance.  Space is limited! ADVANCE REGISTRATION: JUST SEND US AN EMAIL HERE.

BOOK:  The Dinner Party

AUTHOR:   Brenda Janowitz

DISCUSSION DATE:  June 12, 2016, 2 pm

LOCATION:  Barnes & Noble, 4000 East Jericho Turnpike, East Northport, NY

Dinner Party The

About The Dinner Party:

This Passover Seder is not just any Passover Seder. Yes, there will be a quick service and then a festive meal afterwards, but this night is different from all other nights. This will be the night the Golds of Greenwich meet the Rothschilds of New York City.

The Rothschilds are the stuff of legends. They control banks, own vineyards in Napa, diamond mines in Africa, and even an organic farm somewhere in the Midwest that produces the most popular Romaine lettuce consumed in this country. And now, Sylvia Gold’s daughter is dating one of them.

When Sylvia finds out that her youngest of three is going to bring her new boyfriend to the Seder, she’s giddy. When she finds out that his parents are coming, too, she darn near faints. Making a good impression is all she thinks about. Well, almost. She still has to consider her other daughter, Sarah, who’ll be coming with her less than appropriate beau and his overly dramatic Italian mother. But the drama won’t stop there. Because despite the food and the wine, despite the new linen and the fresh flowers, the holidays are about family. Long forgotten memories come to the surface. Old grievances play out. And Sylvia Gold has to learn how to let her family go.

About the Author:

Brenda Janowitz is the author of five novels, including THE DINNER PARTY. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Salon. She lives on Long Island with her family.

Brenda Janowitz photo credit Hy Goldberg

Note:  Barnes & Noble Members receive a 10% discount on the book purchase.

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We look forward to reading with you!

Long Island LitFest’s 2016 Lineup

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BUY TICKETS

What to expect at Long Island LitFest 2016:

For writers and those who dream of writing, from 11:30-12:15, join an informative panel discussion on Writing Inspiration with four popular Long Island authors:  Talia Carner, Ellen Meister, Liza Burby and Christine O’Hagan.   Their books will be available for purchase and signing right after the panel.

Then, Long Island LitFest begins at 1 pm.  This is a day to disconnect from gadgets and connect with each other as stellar authors such as Alan Zweibel, Amy Ferris, Elinor Lipman, Adam Resnick, Susan Shapiro and many more take the stage one by one with readings of their works.

A short break after Session 1 will allow audiences to get snacks, meet the authors, purchase books and have them signed.  Our on-site bookseller is Turn of the Corkscrew Books & Wine.  Then onto Session 2, for more heartwarming and humorous readings by our featured authors, followed by book signings.

LI LitFest poster

The panel discussion is free with LitFest ticket purchase.  Tickets are $30 and available here — https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10038206.

Have questions?  If so, please send it under Comment.

Just Added to Featured Readers: Former Long Islander Alan Zweibel

He lives in Jersey but grew up in Wantagh, and on May 31st, he’s coming back to Long Island to read two essays at Word Up: Long Island LitFest!

Alan Zweibel

Alan Zweibel has had a prolific career, which began when be became one of the original writers for “Saturday Night Live.”   Alan has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America, and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” (which he co-created and produced), “Monk,” “PBS’s Great Performances,” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

A frequent guest on all of the late night talk shows, Alan’s theatrical contributions include his collaboration with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award winning play (and Emmy nominated HBO special) “700 Sundays,” Martin Short’s Broadway hit “Fame Becomes Me,” and the off-Broadway plays “Happy,” “Comic Dialogue,” “Between Cars,” “Pine Cone Moment,” and “Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy,” which he adapted from his best-selling book.

Other books by Alan are the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel “The Other Shulman,” the popular children’s book “Our Tree Named Steve,” “North,” a collection of short stories and essays titled “Clothing Optional,” and the novel “Lunatics” that he co-wrote with Dave Barry.

Alan’s humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Op-Ed page, The Huffington Post and MAD Magazine. He has also penned two best selling e-books titled “From My Bottom Drawer: Vols. I and II.”

The co-writer of the screenplays for the films “Dragnet,” “North,” and “The Story of Us,” Alan has received an honorary PhD from the State University of New York and because of the diversity of his body or work, in 2010 the Writers Guild of America, East gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Alan is currently an executive producer on Showtime’s documentary series “Inside Comedy” starring David Steinberg, is writing and producing a pilot for IFC, is awaiting publication of a forthcoming Young Adult novel titled “Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain In My Ass” (Hyperion) that he co-wrote with Adam Mansbach, and is writing the book for a Broadway musical version of “Field of Dreams.”

And in addition to the late night talk shows, on the TV screen he’s also appeared in episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Law & Order”.

But the production that Alan is most proud of is the family he’s co-produced with his wife Robin; their children Adam, Lindsay and Sari; and their grandchildren Zachary, Alexis, Jordan and Kylie.

LitFest in Hamptons.com

The word is spreading about Word Up: Long Island LitFest.

Here’s a lovely write-up in Hamptons.com.

“The festival is also looking for a few lucky Long Island writers to be featured during one of the readings. “We’ve left a few spots open for selected voices from the community,” said Copquin, who will also be in the line-up. To be considered, previously published writers must submit their essays online by Wednesday, April 1st. Writers will be chosen to participate by a blind judging process.”

The entry deadline is coming up quickly — April 1st.  No fooling!  To send in your essay for consideration, click here.

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Just Added to Featured Readers: Long Islander & Best-Selling Author Susan Isaacs

We are thrilled to announce that Long Island favorite and best-selling author Susan Isaacs has just been added to our incredible list of Featured Readers!   She will be reading in Session 2.

Susan Isaacs

Susan Isaacs was dubbed “Jane Austen with a shmear” on NPR’s Fresh Air. Among her thirteen novels are Almost Paradise, Shining Through and After All These Years.  She has written screenplays for two films, Compromising Positions (adapted from her novel) and Hello Again as well as a nonfiction work, Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women are Really Doing on Page and Screen.

Currently, she serves as chairman of the literary organization Poets & Writers.  A member of the National Book Critics Circle, she has reviewed for New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, and Newsday.  She is a past president of Mystery Writers of America and belongs to the Creative Coalition, PEN, and the International Association of Crime Writers.

Susan is a trustee emerita of the Queens College Foundation and on the board of the Jewish Theological Seminary.  Among her honors are the John Steinbeck award, the Writers for Writers award, and the Marymount Manhattan Writing Center prize.  She has worked gathering support for the National Endowment of the Arts Literature Program and on many anti-censorship campaigns.

Our Keynote and Emcee’s Brief Encounters

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Our master of ceremonies, Barry Dougherty of The Friars Club, and our Keynote Reader Dick Cavett, have had a number of “Brief Encounters” over the years.

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“Dick and I have crossed paths at various events both at the Friars and also when I was employed at the Museum of Television and Radio,” now The Paley Center for Media, says Dougherty.  “He’s a Friar and he’s come to Roasts and many events at the Club.”

But Dougherty turned the tables on Cavett, who interviewed hundreds of luminaries including Bette Davis, John Lennon, Janis Joplin and Groucho Marx, as host of “The Dick Cavett Show,” which aired on ABC from 1968 to 1975 and on public television from 1977 to 1982.

Dougherty interviewed Cavett while writing “The New York Friars Club Book of Roasts.”

“Dick is as engaging and expressive as an interviewee as he is interviewer. He’s such a wonderful raconteur, so this gave him an opportunity to share stories with me about his experiences at various Friars Club events. He was the Master of Ceremonies at the Carol Burnett Testimonial Dinner; he introduced Joe Piscopo to Frank Sinatra at a Dean Martin Dinner, noting that Frank was a little “frigid” to the man who spoofed him on Saturday Night Live; and has been privy to behind-the-scenes moments at many Roasts so I welcomed his witty insights.”

We look forward to their reunion at Long Island LitFest on May 31, 2015!

Featured Reader Roger Rosenblatt’s Book in The New York Times

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We’re thrilled Roger Rosenblatt, a Long Island LitFest Special Reader, has received a good review of his latest, “The Book of Love,” by The New York Times.

The Book of Love

“The book defies convention: It’s part jazzlike improvisation; part prose poem; part mash-up of music, art, literature, history, philosophy and pop culture. Rosenblatt sprinkles in references to Cole Porter and Vermeer, van Gogh and Goethe, polar bears and baseball, and whips it all into a swirling meditation.”

Rosenblatt is reading during Session 3 (4:00 pm) of LitFest, on May 31.