Steve Wasserman's TELL ME SOMETHING, TELL ME ANYTHING, EVEN IF IT'S A LIE

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Friday, October 11th at 7:00 PM when Berkeley author and publishing icon Steve Wasserman comes to the store to share his new book Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's a Lie: A Memoir in Essays. Steve will read from and discuss his memoir and will sign copies after the presentation. Steve will be joined in conversation by Mark Danner.

to preorder a copy of Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's A Lie

"A troublemaker of the good kind since his youth, Wasserman continues to inspire with his vigorous dedication to the life of the mind, exhibited with clarity and grace in this book." —Viet Thanh Nguyen

Born on the West Coast, the son of Bronx-born parents, Steve Wasserman is a generalist and public intellectual but is perhaps less well known as a cultural essayist and social critic of the first rank. In thirty splendid essays, originally published in such diverse publications as The New Republic and The Nation, The American Conservative and The Progressive, The Village Voice and The Economist, Wasserman delivers a riveting account of the awakening of an empathetic sensibility and a lively mind. Taken together, they reveal the depth and breadth of his enthusiasms and range over politics, literature, and the tumults of a world in upheaval.

These essays include the remarkable tale of a bookstore owner who wouldn't let him buy the books he wanted, to his brave against-the-grain take on the Black Panthers, to his shrewd assessment of the fast-changing world of publishing. Here is, as Joyce Carol Oates notes, "arguably the very best concise history of Cuba and the legendary Fidel Castro; beautifully composed eulogies for two close friends, Susan Sontag and Christopher Hitchens; sharply perceptive commentary on Daniel Ellsberg; a thrillingly candid interview with W. G. Sebald."

STEVE WASSERMAN is publisher of Heyday. A 1974 graduate of UC Berkeley, he holds a degree in criminology. His past positions include being deputy editor of the op-ed page and opinion section of the Los Angeles Times; editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review; editorial director of New Republic Books; publisher and editorial director of Hill and Wang at Farrar, Straus & Giroux and of the Noonday Press; editorial director of Times Books at Random House; and editor at large for Yale University Press. A former partner of the literacy agency Kneerim & Williams, he represented many authors, including Christopher Hitchens, Linda Ronstadt, Robert Scheer, and David Thomson. He is the author of Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's a Lie.

MARK DANNER is a writer, reporter and educator who for more than three decades has written on war, politics and conflict. Danner holds the Class of 1961 Distinguished Chair in Undergraduate Education at the University of California, Berkeley and is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and the Humanities at Bard College. Among his books are The Massacre at El Mozote, Torture and Truth, The Secret Way to War, Stripping Bare the Body and Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War. Danner was a longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, and his work has also appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times, Aperture and many other newspapers and magazines. He has written and co-produced two hour-long ABC News documentaries and an eight-part documentary series on US foreign policy and genocide. Danner’s work has received, among other honors, a National Magazine Award, three Overseas Press Awards, Guggenheim and an Emmy. In 1999 Danner was named a MacArthur Fellow. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Century Association, and a resident curator at the Telluride Film Festival.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is requested. Registration ends at 5:30 pm on October 11th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mrs Dalloway's, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, United States