The Regulator Bookshop: Dave Barry and Colson Whitehead: Coming in September!

We have two very special, ticketed events coming in September

First we host humorist DAVE BARRY on Wednesday, September 7, with his brand new book, Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.

Then on Thursday September 22 we'll be welcoming COLSON WHITEHEAD, who will be reading from and discussing his acclaimed new novel, The Underground Railroad.

To accommodate the expected crowds, both of these events will be held at the Durham Armory, 220 Foster Street downtown.

These will be ticketed events. For each event, two tickets will come with the purchase of a copy of the book, (they both sell for $27.00) or admission-only tickets are $10.00 each. We strongly recommend pre-purchasing the book/ticket combinations-at the store, on our web site, or on the phone--to avoid a long line at the armory. Admission-only tickets will not go on sale until a week before each event. Both events start at 7:00, and doors will open at 6:30.

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I've read an advance copy of Dave Barry's Best. State. Ever and it was so funny that I found myself almost falling out of my chair from laughing so hard. (By "Best" here, Dave Barry really means weirdest..). Carl Hiaasen has called Dave Barry "the funniest damn writer in the whole

country," and Carl Hiassen has some cred when it comes to funny. And we can all stand a little more laughter in our lives these days, right? Come on out and let Dave Barry raise your laughter quotient! You'll be oh so happy that you did.

And send us your entry for our "North Carolina: Weirdest State Ever" contest! We can't let Florida lay claim to the title of weirdest state ever without a fight! See contest rules and deadlines at this link to our website! http://www.regulatorbookshop.com/event/weirdest-state-ever-contest-deadline

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The reviews for Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad have been deservedly over the top.

The New York Times calls it "[A] potent, almost hallucinatory novel..He has told a story essential to our understanding of the American past and the American present." The Boston Globe says "The first thing to say about Colson Whitehead's new novel, The Underground Railroad, is that it's really good - good, in fact, in just about every way a novel can be good...[It is] a fully realized masterpiece.". The Washington Post says The Underground Railroad marks a new triumph for Whitehead...The canon of essential novels about America's peculiar institution just grew by one." And oh yes, someone named Oprah is over the moon about this book as well...

I say that Colson Whitehead's amazing book is impossible to put down, and no one who reads it will come away from it unchanged. Come hear Colson Whitehead and get a signed first edition of this great American novel.

Learn more about these events by clicking on the following links to our web site:

Dave Barry, Wednesday September 7

Colson Whitehead, Thursday September 22

Events for the rest of August

ZINE WORKSHOP with TRISTAN MILLER (Ages 16 and up)

Sunday, August 21; 2:00PM -- 4:00PM
For ages 16 and up. There is a $15 materials fee payable to the instructor. Pre-registration is recommended. To register, email Tristin Miller: tristin.miller@gmail.com -- Please note the time and fee.

Have you ever wanted to create your own ZINE? Join arts educator Tristan Miller at The Regulator Bookshop for a hands-on Zine Workshop. Learn how to use found materials, daily writings, original drawings, and collaging to design your own zine. $15 for workshop fee and all materials will be provided. Ages 16+

What's a Zine??? A zine (/ˈziːn/ zeen; an abbreviation of fanzine or magazine) is most commonly a small circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images usually reproduced via photocopier.

Tristin Miller, of Greensboro, NC, is an illustrator & fine arts instructor who loves to read and make zines. www.tristinmiller.tumblr.com

To register for workshop email: tristin.miller@gmail.com. Pre-registration is recommended.

LIZ McGUFFY

Thursday, August 25 at 7:00PM

Durham resident and Tar Heel native Liz McGuffy will give a talk on Mary Hancock: One of North Carolina's Most Successful Unknown Writers, based on McGuffy's article on Mary Hancock in the latest edition of the North Carolina Literary Review. Mary Hancock lived most of her life in the foothills of North Carolina, and wrote a number of popular historical novels. Her first novel, "Menace on the Mountain," was made into a Walt Disney productions television movie in 1970, with an eight year old actress named Jodie Foster in a supporting role.

CRAIG WERNER & DOUG BRADLEY

Monday, August 29 at 7:00PM

Explore the music that made Vietnam "the rock 'n' roll war" through the recollections of those who fought the war and survived it. Co-author Craig Werner will be at The Regulator Bookshop to discuss their new book, We Gotta Get Outta This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War.

Bradley and Werner explore how and why U.S. troops turned to music as a way of connecting to each other and the World back home and of coping with the complexities of the war they had been sent to fight. They also demonstrate how music sometimes united and often exposed deep and contentious divisions between soldiers of different racial and regional backgrounds. Many of the voices are those of ordinary soldiers, airmen, seamen, and marines. But there are also "solo" pieces by veterans whose writings have shaped our understanding of the war-Karl Marlantes, Alfredo Vea, Yusef Komunyakaa, Bill Ehrhart, Arthur Flowers-as well as songwriters and performers whose music influenced soldiers' lives, including Eric Burdon, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Country Joe McDonald, and John Fogerty. Together their testimony taps into memories-individual and cultural-that capture a central if often overlooked component of the American war in Vietnam.

Craig Werner, a professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaches literature, music and cultural history, as well as a course on war with Vietnam War veteran and co-author, Doug Bradley (We Gotta Get Outta This Place). Werner is also the author of Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul, A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America (revised edition); and Up Around the Bend: An Oral History of Creedence Clearwater Revival, among others. Werner is a member of the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has won numerous teaching awards.

Doug Bradley has written extensively about his Vietnam, and post-Vietnam, experiences. Drafted into the U. S. Army in March 1970, he served as an information specialist (journalist) at U. S. Army Republic of Vietnam headquarters at Long Binh from November 1970-November 1971. Doug relocated to Madison, WI in 1974 where he helped establish Vets House, a storefront, community-based service center for Vietnam era veterans. In addition to writing a blog for Next Avenue.org, Doug is the author of DEROS Vietnam: Dispatches from the Air-Conditioned Jungle.