Events
The Big Picture House presents:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Come join us for a film in our breezeway space! Starts at 7pm.
Bring a donation for the Big Picture House.
Join us for the Ozark Poets & Writers Collective in our breezeway space!
The last Tuesday of every month at 7pm - The OPWC presents open mic and featured readers.
Join the Staff Favorites Book Club on Thursday May 30 at 6:30pm to discuss Tom Drury's The End of Vandalism.
Tom Drury is a Nightbird favorite author, and The End of Vandalism is the starting point for his Grouse County novels. Highly recommended.
Look for The End of Vandalism on our front shelf in the Book Clubs section.
Description
Ten years ago, Tom Drury's groundbreaking debut, The End of Vandalism, was serialized in The New Yorker, was compared to the work of Sherwood Anderson and William Faulkner by USA Today, and was named a Best Book of the Year in multiple publications. Now, appearing simultaneously with his first new novel in six years, Drury's debut is back in print.
Welcome to Grouse County — a fictional Midwest that is at once
familiar and amusingly eccentric — where a thief vacuums the church
before stealing the chalice, a lonely woman paints her toenails in a
drafty farmhouse, and a sleepless man watches his restless bride scatter
their bills beneath the stars. At the heart of The End of Vandalism
is an unforgettable love triangle set off by a crime: Sheriff Dan
Norman arrests Tiny Darling for vandalizing an anti–vandalism dance and
then marries the culprit's ex-wife Louise. So Tiny loses Louise, Louise
loses her sense of self, and the three find themselves on an epic
journey.
At turns hilarious and heart-breaking, The End of Vandalism is a radiant novel about the beauty and ache of modern life.
Wooden Indian Burial Ground (Portland, OR)
Native American (Fayetteville)
Saturday, June 8
9pm - $5 - all ages
Invite your friends
Join us at the bookstore on Tuesday June 18 at 6pm for a reading by Nightbird favorite Scott Phillips. Scott will be reading from and signing copies of his new novel Rake.
Author bio:
Scott Phillips is the author of three of the most highly acclaimed crime novels of recent years. His debut novel, The Ice Harvest,
was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the California
Book Award, a Silver Medal for Best First Fiction, and was a finalist
for the Edgar Awards, the Hammett Prize and the Anthony Award. It is now
a major motion picture from Focus Features. Its followup The Walkaway continued his success, with The New York Times calling it "wicked fun." His third novel, Cottonwood, is now out in paperback.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, where
much of his first two books are set, Scott lived for many years in
Paris, and then in Southern California, where he worked on screenplays.
Those who frequent Showtime in the middle of the night may see his name
on Crosscut (1996). He now lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.
Rake
The landscape of
contemporary Paris, the best restaurants, the trendiest bars and
clubs, is usually filled with the wealthy, the famous, and le rake or
le roué, the charming, educated sophisticate with little or no
conscience. Into this cushy world bursts “Dr. Crandall Taylor” —or
rather the actor who plays him — the star of a dated American soap
opera that is now one of the hottest primetime shows in France. And
this newfound fame, as enriching as it is unexpected, is not wasted on
Crandall, eager to put his dark and often violent American past behind
him and enjoy all the fruits —and the women —that Paris and fame have
to offer him.
But TV fame isn’t enough. Randall wants a
feature film. Every actor wants a feature film, and so Crandall uses
his charm and intellect to draw into his narcissistic web four
different women: an executive at the network that runs his show; an
American porn star reaching new heights on the internet; a bookish
university student with a slightly nasty bent; and the beautiful
would-be actress wife of an arms dealer. Against his better judgment,
Crandall accepts both the arms dealer’s cash and his beautiful wife’s
advances. Soon, Crandall is on the run through the alleys and streets
of Paris, trying not only to fund a film but simply to stay alive. But
this is no ordinary chase —and Crandall is no ordinary mouse — and soon
his penchant for violence, sex, and megalomania erupts into full blown
war.
Rake is the latest noir classic from the author of The Ice Harvest.
It features a charming, despicable anti-hero and a funny, satiric take
on modern entertainment culture. Phillips turns his gimlet eye on the
lush life of an actor who, on his destructive tour through Paris,
crosses the line from garden variety narcissism into full-fledged
psycopathy.
Review
Praise for Rake
"With Rake, Scott Phillips
proves himself the unparalleled master of the noir anti-hero. Mad, bad,
and dangerous to know, his Crandall Taylor is the quintessential
American huckster on the scene, and in Phillip’s sly, deft hands we
find ourselves sinking down eagerly with him, glorying in the beautiful
muck." —Megan Abbott
Invite your friends on Facebook
Water Liars (Oxford, MS)
- Water Liars on Ozarks at Large
- Water Liars play "The Hanging Gardens" on Ozarks at Large
Phillip Farris (Fayetteville)
and more.
Saturday, June 29
9pm - $5 - all ages
Invite your friends
Sunday July 14
9pm - $5 - All Ages
Join us for live music in the breezeway by
Opportunist (Hot Springs)
Fauxnz (Fayetteville)
Invite your friends!
