ARTS

Kaleidoscope


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Published: Dec 15, 2010

[ biblioscope ]

novel

For a young guy from New Jersey, Eric Smith knows his way around the tart, wiry contours of 1970s NYC. The Geekadelphia co-founder's witty rom-com, Textual Healing (AuthorHouse, Nov. 19), finds novelist/scribe support group attendee "Ace" Connor regaining his mojo by hanging out with someone less neurotic. Fans of Annie Hall and Crossing Delancey will love the smartly smarmy New York state of mind, while indie kids will dig Smith's characters — like the gun-loving children's book author and the floral arranger/ninja. Very cinematic, this.

—A.D. Amorosi

book drive

While you're out browsing bookstores for readable holiday gifts, stop by the kids' section to pick up something for Philadelphia Reads ' Holiday Book Drive, happening now through Jan. 17. The local children's literacy champions have five drop-off points throughout Center City for folks to bestow new and gently used books to supply their Children's Book Bank, a library that benefits underprivileged kids in citywide public and charter schools. Call their office (215-279-7450) for donation center locations.

—Josh Middleton

disaster awareness

By now we've read enough headlines and watched enough disaster movies to expect an extinction-level event any day now. But won't we be embarrassed if civilization ends not by fire or ice, asteroids or aliens, but by some dark-horse apocalypse we didn't even see coming? This sounds like a job for Richard Horne, and his glossy, graphic A Is for Armageddon (Harper Paperback, Dec. 21). Yay. Now I'm afraid of animal zoonosis, food chain collapse and gray goo. Yep. Gray goo.

—Patrick Rapa

launch party

In her new book, Spit That Out! (Lombard, Nov. 4), Philly PR maven (and once-upon-a-time CP intern) Paige Wolf provides eco-conscious parents a one-stop resource on child-rearing in the "Age of Environmental Guilt" — from avoiding fast food and brain-rotting television to the lowdown on cloth diapers. It's getting launch-party treatment tonight at NoLibs' Arcadia Boutique (Dec. 16, spitthatoutthebook.com), where guests can swap parenting stories, munch on green apps and win raffle prizes donated by local, eco-friendly boutiques.

—Josh Middleton

Comments

Thanks for the write-up - and love that you dug up my old CP intern days. Some truly tragic music reviews. :)

by Paige on December 17th 2010 11:51 AM

Also In This Week's Arts Section

Full Exposure:

Confidence Game

by John Vettese

Leah Macdonald's In My Body at Wexler Gallery

Arts Picks:

Taxidermy Ornaments

by Eric Schuman

Tue., Dec. 21, 6-8 p.m., free (RSVP to nicole@artintheage.com), Art in the Age, 116 N. Third St., 215-922-2600, artintheage.com.

Arts Picks:

Blue Man Group

by A.D. Amorosi

Dec. 22-Jan. 2, 2011, $25-$85, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-731-3333, kimmelcenter.org/broadway.

Arts Picks:

Miss Witherspoon

by Mark Cofta

Through Jan. 9, $20-$24, Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-7500, newcitystage.org.

Arts Picks:

Poetry N Pottery

by Eric Schuman

Sat,. Dec. 18, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., $15, The Expressive Hand, 622 S. Ninth St., 267-519-2626, expressivehand.com.

Arts Picks:

A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play

by Laura Weber

Fri., Dec. 17, 8 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 18, 4 and 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 19, 2 and 6 p.m.; $18-$20, Allens Lane Art Center, 601 W. Allens Lane, 215-248-0546, allenslane.org.

Arts Picks:

Mummenschanz

by Deni Kasrel

Thu., Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 17, 8 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 18, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 19, 2 p.m.; $24-$48, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org.