THE BIG READ COMES TO THE MERC
We are proud to announce that the National Endowment for the Arts has chosen The Merc to receive a grant to host a Big Read celebration of one of 16 classic novels from January-June 2008.
The Merc, along with our partners – the Grand Central Partnership, Mystery Writers of America, NY and the USO of Metropolitan New York – will celebrate Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel The Maltese Falcon during the month of April, 2008.
Kick-off Party
April 9 at 6-8pm
Join us after work as we launch The Big Read in Manhattan.
Complimentary wine, hors d’oeuvres and giveaways...
Location: Commerce Bank,
317 Madison Avenue (corner of 42nd Street)
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Authors Talk
April 3 at 6:30pm
The Influence of the Maltese Falcon on Your Writing, moderated by Chris Grabenstein. Panelists include Peggy Ehrhart, Jack Getze, Chris Knopf, and SJ Rozan.
Location: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
Chris Grabenstein did improvisational comedy (with Bruce Willis) in New York before James Patterson hired him at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. His Anthony Award-winning debut Tilt A Whirl (A John Ceepak mystery) was followed by Mad Mouse and Whack A Mole. Look for Hell Hole in August. Chris has also written two thrillers: Slay Ride and Hell for the Holidays. Random House will publish his Middle Grades ghost story The Crossroads this May. www.ChrisGrabenstein.com
Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor with a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature who now writes mysteries and plays blues guitar. Her publications include a prize-winning nonfiction book dealing with Greek myth in the Middle Ages; she has also won awards for her short fiction. As a guitar player, she has performed with bands in the New York City area. Her blues mystery, Sweet Man is Gone, will be published by Five Star in July 2008.
www.PeggyEhrhart.com
Jack Getze spent nine years as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a total of twelve years covering national business and economic issues for the Times, the L.A. Herald-Examiner, and the London Times. Getze later sold stocks and bonds for a regional securities firm on the New Jersey Shore. Big Money, published by Hilliard & Harris is the second installment in his Austin Carr Mystery Series. The first, Big Numbers, came out in March 2007.
www.jackgetze.com/
Chris Knopf writes the Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery series – The Last Refuge, Two Time and Head Wounds, to be released May, 2008. Two Time was listed in Marilyn Stasio's NYT "Recommended Summer Reading". Publishers Weekly chose it as one of the “Best 100 Books for 2006.” Knopf is a principal of Mintz & Hoke, a marketing communications agency. He lives with his wife Mary and dog Samuel Beckett in Connecticut and Southampton, NY, where he writes on the front porch until it’s too cold to tap the keys. www.sameddie.com
SJ Rozan is a life-long New Yorker and the author of ten novels whose work has won multiple awards, including the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony. She's served on the National Boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and as President of Private Eye Writers of America. In 2003 SJ was a speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and in 2005 she was Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime in El Paso, TX. Her latest book is In This Rain. www.sjrozan.com
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Tough Gals
April 8 at 6:30pm
The Influence of Sam Spade on the Contemporary Female Detective.
Moderated by Jane K. Cleland with authors Jillian Abbott, Alafair Burke, Cordelia Frances Biddle, Karen E. Olson and Sharon (S.L.) Linnea.
Locaton: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
Jane K. Cleland - Antiques to Die For [St. Martin’s Minotaur], the third Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery, has been called an Antiques Roadshow for mystery fans. The Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries are set on the rugged seacoast of New Hampshire where Jane owned an antiques business for many years. Consigned to Death, the first in the traditional series, was nominated for an Agatha, a David, and a Macavity Award for Best First Novel. Jane is the Chair of the Wolfe Pack’s literary awards and is President of the MWA/NY Chapter. She and her husband live in New York City. www.janecleland.net
Jillian Abbott has published short stories and won awards in the U.S. and Australia, including the anthology, Queens Noir (fall, 2007). She’s taught a workshop on adaptation for CinewomenNY a nonprofit for women filmmakers based in New York and run a panel on the topic for the New York Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
A former deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, Alafair Burke is a professor at Hofstra Law School, where she teaches criminal law and procedure. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Samantha Kincaid series. Her most recent novel, Dead Connection, introduced a new series featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher. A graduate of Stanford Law School, she lives in Manhattan and serves as a legal and trial commentator for various radio and television programs. www.alafairburke.com.
Cordelia Frances Biddle’s The Conjurer (Thomas Dunne Books of St. Martin’s Press) is a series debut. The setting is early Victorian-era Philadelphia. The Conjurer was an IMBA best-seller, and was compared to Caleb Carr’s The Alienist and Jacqueline Winspeare’s Maisie Dobbs series. Deception's Daughter will be published in August 2008. Cordelia’s other works include Beneath the Wind (Simon & Schuster), and The Crossword Mystery Series (Berkley/Prime Crime) penned with her husband, Steve Zettler, under the nom de plume Nero Blanc. Prior to her writing career, Cordelia was an actress in New York. www.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com.
Karen E. Olson is the author of the Annie Seymour mysteries: the award-winning Sacred Cows, Secondhand Smoke and Dead of the Day. She spent 20 years in newsrooms across Connecticut and lives in a suburb of New Haven with her husband and daughter.
Sharon (S.L.) Linnea is the author of the Eden Thrillers. The first, Chasing Eden, was released by St. Martin's Press in May 2007, followed by Beyond Eden in October 2007. The next, Treasure of Edendebuts in October 2008. Sharon has written award-winning biographies of Raoul Wallenberg and Hawaii's Princess Kaiulani, has been a staff writer for 5 national magazines, co-authored Chicken Soup books and ghostwritten for too many celebrities.
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Reading Groups – Come and talk, or just listen
April 10 at 7:00pm
One of the best things about reading a great novel is talking about it with other readers. Join the Mercantile Library ’s Director and fellow readers for a lively group discussion of this great novel. Everyone is welcome.
Evening discussions at the Mercantile Library include complimentary wine and cheese.
Location: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Classic Film Screening
April 12 at 1pm
The Maltese Falcon was made into one of the greatest films of all time—join us for a special screening of John Huston’s legendary 1941 film, starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade.
The film will be shown in 1930’s high style at one of New York City’s most glamorous locations, The Campbell Apartment at Grand Central Terminal. Originally built as an office for the early 20th century tycoon John W. Campbell and now reborn as a cocktail lounge, this is one of New York’s great hidden spaces. Stay for drinks after the film!
SOLD OUT
Location: The Campbell Apartment
15 Vanderbilt Avenue (near 43rd Street)
(212) 953-0409
www.hospitalityholdings.com
Seating is limited, please RSVP to info@mercantilelibrary.org or 212-755-6710. $8 Suggested Donation to support the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction.
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Letting Go: Books into Film
April 15 at 6:30pm
Moderated by Jonathan Santlofer with authors Megan Abbott, Charles Ardai, Lorenzo Carcaterra and Jill Abbott.
Location: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
Moderator Jonathan Santlofer, the author of four novels, The Death Artist, Color Blind, The Killing Art and Anatomy of Fear. His fifth, The Murder Notebook, will be published in June 2008. Before writing Santlofer was an artist, his work in such collections as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, a Visiting Artist at the American Academy In Rome, Vermont Studio Center, and serves on the board of Yaddo, the oldest arts community in the U.S. Currently he spends his days – and nights - trying to balance art and writing. www.jonathansantlofer.com
Megan Abbott is the Edgar-nominated author of the novels, Queenpin, The Song is You and Die a Little. Her stories have appeared in Damn Near Dead: An Anthology of Geezer Noir, Wall Street Noir, Detroit Noir and Queens Noir. Her nonfiction book, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir, was published in 2003. She is the editor of A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir, featuring original tales by 25 mystery and crime authors, which was published in December 2007. www.meganabbott.com
Charles Ardai is the Edgar Award winning author of Little Lost Girl and Songs of Innocence (under the pen name "Richard Aleas") as well as founder and editor of the Hard Case Crime series of pulp-style crime novels. Several Hard Case Crime titles have been optioned for film or television, including Say it with Bullets by Richard Powell and The Colorado Kid by Stephen King, in connection with both of which Ardai is acting as a producer. Ardai's film career in front of the camera began and ended with his role as a extra in Woody Allen's "Radio Days." www.hardcasecrime.com
Lorenzo Carcaterra has published seven books (A Safe Place, Sleepers, Apaches, Gangster, Street Boys, Paradise City, Chasers) with an eighth, Midnight Angels, due in stores in March 2009. He has worked as a producer and writer on a number of television shows (Cop Talk, Top Cops, Law&Order, and a dozen pilots that never made it to air), written six TV pilots that managed to get near a camera, six feature scripts in various stages of development (including adaptations of three of his books), six short stories and a video game (Alone in the Dark, July 2008). One of his books (Sleepers) was made into a 1996 feature film and has, to date, grossed over $400 million worldwide. A second, Apaches, goes into pre-production in the spring of 2009 from producer Jerry Bruckheimer as will a feature script he wrote, After the Rain. He is currently at work on a new novel and two new pilots (some guys just never know when to give up the ghost). He has been married forever, has two grown children, two dogs (courtesy of the two grown children) and a cat who is almost as old as the two grown children. www.lorenzocarcaterra.com
Jill Abbott has published short stories and won awards in the U.S. and Australia, including the anthology, Queens Noir (fall, 2007). She’s taught a workshop on adaptation for CinewomenNY a nonprofit for women filmmakers based in New York and run a panel on the topic for the New York Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Reading Groups –Talk about The Maltese Falcon with Lee Child
April 17 at 7:00pm
Hear Lee Child talk about the influence of The Maltese Falcon on his writing, then join in a discussion with Lee about the book.
Renowned author Lee Child, creator of the Jack Reacher series, was born in 1954 in Coventry, England, but spent his formative years in the nearby city of Birmingham. By coincidence he won a scholarship to the same high school that JRR Tolkien had attended. He went to law school in Sheffield, England, and after part-time work in the theater he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career as a presentation director during British TV's "golden age." During his tenure his company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker. But he was fired in 1995 at the age of 40 as a result of corporate restructuring. Always a voracious reader, he decided to see an opportunity where others might have seen a crisis and bought six dollars' worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.
Location: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Hammett’s New York
April 19 at 3:30 pm and April 26 at 2pm
Join Hammett expert BJ Rahn as she leads walking tours through Midtown Manhattan, visiting locations influential to Dashiell Hammett ’s life and work. See the haunts of Hammett and his characters Nick and Nora Charles – the 21 Club, The Plaza, the offices of the legendary Alfred A. Knopf, Black Mask Magazine and many other locations.
Tours are 2 hours in duration and will be walking intensive.
Location: Tours begin at the southwest corner of 6th Ave. and 50th St., across the street from Radio City Music Hall.
Maximum of 20 people per tour.
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Hardboiled Detective Fiction
April 23 at 6:30pm
Join B.J. Rahn for an exciting discussion with panelists Keith Alan Deutsch, Chris Knopf, Bill Nadel and Otto Penzler.
Moderator, B. J. Rahn is a professor of English literature at Hunter College in New York. She has been teaching, researching, and writing about crime fiction for over two decades. She has published articles in journals and reference books such as The Armchair Detective, St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writing, Scribner's Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage, The Dictionary of Literary Biography and the Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers Association in the UK as well as the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, the Dorothy L. Sayers Society, and the Margery Allingham Society.
Keith Alan Deutsch was a four-year University Fellow in Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a founding editor of many outlaw American magazines, including High Times, Dealer and Leg Show. Since 1973 he has been the proprietor, and conservator, of Black Mask, a publication which he believes introduced a new kind of hero, the hard boiled detective, and a new style of narration to American literature. His latest venture is the Black Mask Audio Magazine.
Chris Knopf writes the Sam Acquillo Mystery series: The Last Refuge, Two Time and Head Wounds. Publishers Weekly chose Two Time as one of the "Best 100 Books for 2006." To support his penchant for writing fiction, after studying in a writing program in London sponsored by Antioch College and London University, Chris started working for PR companies; that evolved into a career as an advertising copywriter and later as a creative director at Mintz & Hoke.
Bill Nadel is a noted radio and mystery historian who has studied Dashiell Hammett for more than 40 years. Much of Nadel's research culminated in the writing of a book accompanying THE SMITHSONIAN DASHIELL HAMMETT COLLECTION, a collection of CDs featuring radio versions of the author's creations.
Otto Penzler is well known in crime fiction circles as the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop, one of the oldest specialist book stores in America, now in its 28th year. Also for seventeen years he published The Armchair Detective, the Edgar Award-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction. Other publishing ventures included founding The Mysterious Press, as well as Otto Penzler Books, and The Armchair Detective Library, which reprints classic crime fiction for collectors and libraries. In 1977, he won an Edgar Award for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection. The Mystery Writers of America further honored him with the Ellery Queen Award in 1994 and with the Raven in 2003. In this connection he discovered a hitherto unknown short story by Dashiell Hammett call "Faith," which is included in the Black Lizard Anthology, The Big Book of Pulp Fiction.
Location: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
Hammett Up!!
April 29 at 7 pm
Join the Merc and the new Black Mask audio magazine for a classic Hammett story performed live in the style of a 1930's radio broadcast, dramatized for audio by Peabody and Grammy-winner Yuri Rasovsky. Actors! Sound effects! Live music! The performance will be recorded live for Black Mask.
Location: Mercantile Library Center for Fiction
To register, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The program is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.
For more information on The Big Read, click here: www.neabigread.org
Lead Sponsor
Suppoting Sponsor
Mystery Writers of America
New York Chapter
Special Offers
Free Books!
Make a purchase of at least $50 at a merchant in Grand Central Terminal, present your receipt at the I Love NY window on the Main Concourse, and receive a complimentary copy of The Maltese Falcon. Offer limited to first 100 people for purchases from April 1-30, 2008. Complimentary books provided by Random House/Vintage. Special thank to the Grand Central Partnership.
Win a Literary Weekend Getaway at the Library Hotel.
Answer three questions about The Maltese Falcon and become eligible to win a 2-night weekend getaway at The Library Hotel. One of New York’s most celebrated boutique hotels offers its guests over 6,000 volumes of books organized throughout the hotel by the Dewey Decimal System.* Each of the 10 guestroom floors honor one of the 10 categories of the DDC and each of the 60 rooms are uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within
View classic Black Mask covers from the 1920’s and 30’s at The Mercantile Library Center for Fiction throughout the month.
Enter to Win
a weekend at New York's
Library Hotel.
Email your answers to the following questions to info@mercantilelibrary.org
1. At their first meeting, Joel Cairo tells Sam Spade that he can be reached at the Hotel Belvedere, what is Cairo's room number?
2. At the States Hof Brau, what do Sam Spade and Detective-sargent Polhaus eat?
3. As the assembled plotters wait for the falcon to be delivered Gutman reads a book. What is the title of the book?
All correct entries will be entered in a drawing, to be held on April 29th at the radio play.
The winner will receive a 2-night weekend getaway at The Library Hotel. One of New York’s most
celebrated boutique hotels offers its guests over 6,000 volumes of books
organized throughout the hotel by the Dewey Decimal System.* Each of the
10 guestroom floors honor one of the 10 categories of the DDC and each
of the 60 rooms are uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art
exploring a distinctive topic within the category it belongs to.
The Big Read
for KIDS
Read Along and Mystery Scavenger Hunt in Grand Central Terminal
(in the dining concourse)
May 17 at noon
This event for kids will feature The Malted Falcon by award-winning children’s author Bruce Hale. Pint-size reptilian sleuth, Chet Gecko, and his partner Natalie Attired search for the winning ticket in The Malted Falcon contest, which has mysteriously gone missing at Emerson Hickey Elementary. The chance to win the chocolatiest dessert ever imagined has proved too tempting for someone... No. 7 in the Chet Gecko Mystery Series.
Location: 100 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Details: This event produced in partnership with the Children ’s Book Council.
Please RSVP, call (212) 755-6710 or email info@mercantilelibrary.org
The Big Read in Schools
In partnership with the Everybody Wins Foundation and their Page Turners program, volunteers will read and discuss The Malted Falcon with classes at New York City Public Schools in April.
Vintage Crime
Click here to read the official Big Read press release