from Press Street's Room 220

Like any historical novel—even one set in recent history—Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers is a convergence of the past and the present, the time before now rendered with the help of research but intrinsically influenced by the contemporary moment that shapes the author’s daily life. And like many novels, The Flamethrowers is an amalgam of the author’s personal interests strung together by her character’s movements—in this case, the downtown New York art scene in the late 1970s and the Movement of ’77, a leftist revolt that rocked Italy that year.

Infomercials, seminars, Oprah, Chopra, Phil, and Laura: self-improvement in America is an impressively sturdy industry. According to a study by Marketdata, the self-improvement market was worth an estimated $11.17 billion in 2011, and specifically, self-improvement book sales were worth $776 million. Even Augusten Burroughs is getting into the act.

from Room 220

Mexican novelist Carmen Boullosa will give a presentation related to her new Spanish-language novel, Tejas, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, in Nunemaker Auditorium on Loyola University New Orleans’ campus (6363 St. Charles Ave.). Boullosa is one of Mexico’s leading novelists, poets and playwrights.

by Room 220's Nathan C. Martin

I’m tempted to say that what attracts me most to Rebecca Solnit’s writing is its pitch—it’s poised, and drives relentlessly through her myriad subjects. Her prose reminds me of a dancer whose supreme athleticism is most obvious in its flourishes, but who truly impresses in her ability to sustain grace through a long routine.

by Nathan C. Martin of Room 220

A recurring theme among conversations I have with my friends is that New Orleans largely lacks—and this phrase has almost become a joke among certain folks I know—an “elevated level of discourse.” One friend went as far as to move back to Mexico City after trying to relocate to New Orleans, having realized, after a short trip back to D.F., that a conversation he had there with a cleaning lady was more interesting than any he’d had in New Orleans in the eight previous months.

Like most things in New Orleans, the men and women of the MelaNated Writers collective aren’t simply just writers—among them you will find musicians, students, journalists, lawyers, professors, activists, and citizens who live and work in a city where some were born but ultimately all have chosen to call home.

from Press Street's Room 220

The Black Widow Salon continues its monthly literary event series at Crescent City Books in February with a group of “emerging” local writers: Christopher Hellwig, Jenna Mae, M’Bilia Meekers, and Ingrid Norton. The reading takes place on Monday, Feb. 6, from 7 – 9 p.m. (230 Chartres Street). Click through for more about the writers:

With the holidays upon us, Nathan C. Martin of Press Street's Room 220 pulls some gems from his bookshelf that you (or, rather, your friends and family) might like, too. 

My bookshelf is full of books I’ve never read. Books are the only things I buy on impulse, and I rarely enter a bookstore I like without buying something. Not only that, but if I like a book I’ve read, I’ll often give it away to a friend.

Around this time of year, David Sedaris is usually associated with his oft-rehashed curmudgeonly classic about the erosive effects of elf duty, The Santaland Diaries. But, as it turns out, Sedaris is the author of other works, and A.J. Allegra has Santaland covered locally anyway. So, when the acclaimed essayist rolls into the Garden District Book Shop Tuesday, the focus will turn to animal anxiety instead of Macy's Mayhem.

from Press Street's Room 220

Self-described “wandering poet” Naomi Shihab Nye will read as part of Tulane’s Poet Laureate Series on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. in the Lavin-Bernick Center (which, if it’s the same place Robert Hass read last winter, is pretty hard to find, so head over early if you’re not a Tulane student).