The next Bushwick event, Original Music Inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah , is happening this Friday at Elliott Bay Book Co. This is a powerful novel by an insightful author who’s adept at crafting layers of story. It’s difficult to find a page that lacks an impacting passage, but we’ve narrowed it down to ten thought-provoking quotes. Take a look! Read more
The next Bushwick event, 3 for 3: Music Inspired by Books; Books Inspired by Water, is just around the corner. It’s a special show because it will feature nine songwriters performing a song inspired by one of three authors and is supported by four local Seattle organizations. Let’s take a closer look at each of the featured books by exploring four quotes from each title. Read more
Bushwick’s next event, original music inspired by Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band, is just about a month away. That means there is still plenty of time to read this great book. It’s my favorite book we’ve read this season so far. It has themes of love and heartbreak, performance, feminism, art and fashion, and fame. These quotes from Girl in a Band touch on all those themes. There is also one particular quote that displays Gordon’s raw writing style. Enjoy!
The main themes of Persepolis, family and revolution, stuck out to me as I picked my favorite quotes from Marjane Satrapi’s work. Those that I connected with the most revolve around Satrapi wanting to change both the world and herself through reading and education and being inspired by her family’s struggles. She looks to her Grandma and other loved ones for her ideas on politics and revolution and for reasons why she wants to change her world.
We’ve got a steamy one for you today folks. I hope you’re ready for this. I do have to admit that a lot of the quotes from Anaïs Nin’s Delta of Venus make me giggle. Call me prude; Call me a child; I am just drawn to those passages that describe people in animal terms and speak of fleshy parts.
When rounding up quotes for this month’s Bushwick Book Club Selection, Douglas Adams’ The Hitcherhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I was immediately struck by the many passages which our timely in this election year. With each passing debate and candidate’s statement or press conference, I wonder if Adams had some sort of window into 2016 when he was writing the book. My first five picks all remind me of our currently political climate.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a coming of age story that uses magical realism to illustrate how main character Oscar navigates adolescence, finding love and an ancient family curse. Author Junot Díaz won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel and the Pulitzer Board described the book as “a dazzling, richly layered novel about an overweight, nerdy Dominican-American teenager who comes of age in a multi-generational immigrant family, devouring comic books, spinning fantasies and searching for love.”
Steve Martin’s career has been long and varied from his start in stand-up comedy to acting and writing screenplays and books. In his memoir Born Standing Up, Martin recounts his early life and the beginning and end of his stand-up career. More than just an autobiography, the anecdotes in Martin’s book illustrate what it takes to get from performing stand-up in a tiny club to an empty room to selling out large concert halls. Read more
A central theme of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild is grief and the human response to it. Due to a recent unexpected death in my family, the quotes I’ve chosen lean to the darker parts of the book. That’s what makes the book powerful and explains some of Cheryl’s more reckless behavior. Cheryl also has an advice column called Dear Sugar where she tackles a variety of readers’ questions including those about recovering from grief. I’ve pulled some quotes from there as well. Sprinkled in amongst the grief themed quotes are some about love, faith, forgiveness and survival. Read more
Annie Proulx’s short story Brokeback Mountain is chock full of beautiful descriptions of sex, love and longing. Choosing quotes to highlight was easy; just pick the prettiest ones. I’ve focused on those that describe Ennis and Jack’s relationship and their lives. Since these quotes are lengthier than our normal picks, I’ll cut this short so you can get to reading and then cogitating over their story.
One other thing — come on out and celebrate Valentine’s Day with Bushwick this Saturday when we present original music inspired by Annie Proul’x Brokeback Mountain — bring your sweetie! Get your tickets here!
Connect With Bushwick