Laila Lalami

Tonight I’ll be reading from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits and having a lit-blog discussion with Kevin Smokler, Michelle Richmond, and Francis Dinkelspiel in Berkeley, California. Here are the details:

Thursday the 23th
7:30PM
Black Oak Books

Hope to see you there!

And you know why? Because they send me cool pictures like this. Here is reader Nina M. at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Texas posing with HODP.

And here is James H. at the same store.

Meanwhile, reader and translator Isabella M. sends this picture of HODP on her desk, in Amsterdam:

Want to share your pix? Email me.

For those of you wondering about that snafu at Barnes and Noble, I’m happy to report that it was fixed and the book has been in stores for the last week. I even have photographic evidence:

This was taken, on my crappy camera phone, at the B&N in Encino. (I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. People do read in the Valley.) As for Borders, I have it on good authority that the books will be in stores on Monday. Some stores already have it, in fact.

The November issue of Elle, with Jennifer Anniston on the cover, has a nice review of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits in the Elle Recommends section. It was kind of neat to see a picture of my book sitting on top of the latest by an author named Gabriel Garcia Marquez–you might have heard of him?

I’m still out of town, but if I wasn’t I’d be at Reading Frenzy tonight to hear Jim Ruland read from his new collection, Big Lonesome.

The fun starts at 7pm, so go and say hi for me.

Audience: About 30.
Anxiety index: 4 (out of 10).
Surprise guest(s): Two obstetricians and one pediatric neurologist.
Book given away: Instead of a book, I gave away a silver khamsa, a talisman that’s supposed to protect its wearer from the evil eye.
No. of Moroccans who said hello: 3. And they were hugely vocal and supportive. Thanks!

Last night’s reading at Beyond Baroque was a smashing success: great venue, great organization, and great crowd. I read scenes from two stories, “Acceptance” and “Homecoming,” to give people a taste of what my character Aziz was going through before trying his luck on one of the lifeboats, and after he came back to Casablanca, five years later. And I talked about how I came to writing in general, and the process of writing this book in particular.

Thanks to the Levantine Center, we had a great turnout. And we had some great questions, particularly from the Moroccan members of the audience, who seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. It’s been really pleasurable to meet readers on the tour, and I feel very fortunate that so many people have come out to support Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.

Tonight I’ll be reading from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits at Beyond Baroque in Venice, California. Here are the details:

Laila Lalami
Thursday the 20th
7:30PM
Beyond Baroque

This reading is co-sponsored by the Levantine Cultural Center. Aside from the reading, there may even be some live music.

Audience: About 30.
Anxiety index: 5 (out of 10).
Surprise guest(s): Gil E., my ex-boss at ASI. And Fred S. who was in one of my writing classes at UCLA back in 2001.
Book given away: Veronica by Mary Gaitskill.
No. of Moroccans who said hello: 1/2.

I hadn’t been back in Los Angeles more than an hour when a Land Rover honked at me for actually stopping at an intersection. Ah, I’m back home, I thought. The smell, the sounds, the smog, the three or four languages I could hear at the coffee shop while I was waiting for my order, the big headlines that read “Storm Watch 2005″ because there’s been, like, two inches of rain, the surly actors slash waiters, the lights of the big city all around me–I’d missed it all. And, above all, I got to see all my family and friends and catch up with everyone.

It was a special treat, too, to be able to read at Dutton’s, which was one of my regular hang outs during the many years I lived in L.A. There were quite a few familiar faces at the reading, and I had a great time talking about the book and answering questions. The photo above was taken by my buddy Ibarionex Perello, a fine writer and photographer. (You can read some of his fiction here, and see some of his photo work here.)

Tonight I’ll be reading from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits at Dutton’s in Brentwood. Here are the details:

Laila Lalami
Tuesday the 18th
7:00PM
Dutton’s Brentwood

I lived in L.A. for eleven years, and a part of me will always consider it a hometown of sorts, so it feels wonderful to be back. Hope to see you at the reading!

Literary radio show Word by Word now has its own blog. Host Jordan Rosenfeld recently asked me a preview question about my writing. For the full interview, tune in to KRCB on November 2nd.