West Sound Reads event features Andre Dubus III and his new book “The Garden of Last Days” June 27 at Island Center Hall on Bainbridge.
It’s amazing what can happen when readers rally around a book.
Take, for instance, probably the largest and most famous book group ever — Oprah’s Book Club.
Here’s how it works: the daytime television diva suggests a book to her legions of adoring fans, who in turn tell everyone they know about this great new book that Oprah recommended, which gets even more people talking and piques even more interest in bookstores across the country. Then the media leaches on, and the beast of popularity grows bigger and bigger until the book is, of course, a No. 1 bestseller.
Such was the case for Massachusettes-based author Andre Dubus, III.
About nine years ago, Oprah picked his book “House of Sand and Fog,” for her club.
Dubus — (pronounced Duh-Byoose) the son of the late legendary short story writer Andre Dubus — was a very low profile author at the time. Working a varying slate of night jobs during the book’s construction, he made time for his writing in the morning, penning short stories, essays and such, while also teaching at Emerson College.
When “House” was released in 1999, it was a surprise New York Times’ No. 1 bestseller. It steamrolled on to become a National Book Award finalist in 2000, a Booksense Book of the Year that year, and a major motion picture in 2003 — all sparked, in large part, by that one little book club.
Now, consider a lesser known, smaller scale, but similarly significant book consortium for readers in the West Sound — the West Sound Independent Booksellers.
The WSIB is made up of seven different local independent bookstores from Port Gamble to Shelton which have combined forces and pooled their respective customer bases in order to keep the West Sound reading and elicit high profile authors out for appearances.
Speaking of … Dubus will be featured at the next West Sound Reads event, discussing his newest novel “The Garden of Last Days” at 7 p.m. June 27 at the Island Center Hall, 8395 Fletcher Bay Road on Bainbridge.
While the event may not catapult “The Garden” to the top of the Times’ bestsellers list, it will likely make it and Dubus the talk of the town around the West Sound.
Released earlier this month, “The Garden” began in Dubus’ mind with the singular image of a wad of cash on a bedroom bureau.
Set in September 2001 — around the day that changed the world — the story of that wad of cash developed into the hands of a stripper, who, the night before had entertained, unknowingly, one of the notorious terrorist hi-jackers of the Sept. 11 attacks.
What’s more, she’d been forced to bring her daughter to work that day.
In his nerve wrenching and excitingly depressing style, Dubus explores the chasm that exists between cultures through those characters, consistently fueled by the feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
Local author goes inside the operating room, inside humanity
The patient is prepped for surgery, laying horizontal on the operating table, staring up into a pinpointed vastness of bright light.
The anesthesiologist readies the syringe and flushes the drug into the IV. She watches the patient’s face and posture slacken as they drift out of consciousness, and everything fades to black … .
It’s an intimate moment, says Dr. Marie Heaton, a moment of transferred power.
But what if the patient doesn’t wake up?
Heaton’s an anesthesiologist in Bainbridge authoress Carol Cassella’s debut novel, “Oxygen,” in bookstores July 1.
Heaton’s at the top of her profession when an 8-year-old patient dies under the knife and she is left staggered in the aftermath and ensuing malpractice suit. Sounds like a real downer on the surface, but its actually rather insightful.
The real hook, Publisher’s Weekly says, is Cassella’s in depth knowledge of the complex inner workings of the health industry. She’s spent 25 years in the medical field, currently an anesthesiologist/freelance medical writer in Seattle.
What’s more, she’s the mother of two sets of twins born 15 months apart.
And she writes novels.
Check out a full story on Cassella in the Bainbridge Review today. She’ll be reading from her debut novel “Oxygen” at 3 p.m. June 29 at Eagle Harbor Books, 157 Winslow Way E on Bainbridge. The next day at 7:30 p.m., she’ll be reading at Elliot Bay in Seattle. Info: www.carolcassella.com, www.eagleharborbooks.com or call the Bainbridge bookstore at (206) 842-5332.
The patient is prepped for surgery, laying horizontal on the operating table, staring up into a pinpointed vastness of bright light.
The anesthesiologist readies the syringe and flushes the drug into the IV. She watches the patient’s face and posture slacken as they drift out of consciousness, and everything fades to black … .
It’s an intimate moment, says Dr. Marie Heaton, a moment of transferred power.
But what if the patient doesn’t wake up?
Heaton’s an anesthesiologist in Bainbridge authoress Carol Cassella’s debut novel, “Oxygen,” in bookstores July 1.
Heaton’s at the top of her profession when an 8-year-old patient dies under the knife and she is left staggered in the aftermath and ensuing malpractice suit. Sounds like a real downer on the surface, but its actually rather insightful.
The real hook, Publisher’s Weekly says, is Cassella’s in depth knowledge of the complex inner workings of the health industry. She’s spent 25 years in the medical field, currently an anesthesiologist/freelance medical writer in Seattle.
What’s more, she’s the mother of two sets of twins born 15 months apart.
And she writes novels.
Check out a full story on Cassella in the Bainbridge Review today. She’ll be reading from her debut novel “Oxygen” at 3 p.m. June 29 at Eagle Harbor Books, 157 Winslow Way E on Bainbridge. The next day at 7:30 p.m., she’ll be reading at Elliot Bay in Seattle. Info: www.carolcassella.com, www.eagleharborbooks.com or call the Bainbridge bookstore at (206) 842-5332.
