Literature

Beer, brawls, bad behavior… Joe Clifford’s fifth book in his Jay Porter series delivers once again for guys, though “Rag and Bone” may also appeal to women intrigued by what constitutes a hardcore male mystique in crime fiction (the protagonist “bulled up the sidewalk”).

Bedside Reading, which places a wide variety of complimentary books on bedsides in luxury hotels and boutique properties each summer on the East End, is sharing the love by returning early this year with a variety of Valentine’s Day book candy to be savored by guests of partner hotels. Sugar-covered romances, chewy thrillers and minty wellness books are just some of the offerings to be found at the hotels from February 12 to 14.

Folk rock artist Taylor Barton’s catalog contains over 500 songs, including a dozen albums, from her first, “Mean American Dream” with her then band Generic Blondes, to “Spiritual Gangster” and “House of Light.” “I Pitched a Tent in Hell,” a nine-part musical memoir, is her latest project, released as an Audible audiobook. A paperback is also available as an adjunct.

Since it will be a while before traveling the globe will return, Montauk Library is hosting a virtual “Armchair Travel Book Club.” The club meets the third Tuesday of the month from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Zoom and is moderated by Carolyn Balducci, the library’s adult programs coordinator.

“Write America,” a new author series spearheaded by writer and Quogue resident Roger Rosenblatt, features award-winning, nationally-renowned authors, and new and emerging writers in readings and conversation each week about how books and art might bridge the deep divisions in our nation.

On Friday, January 29, at 5 p.m., the Parrish Art Museum presents a livestream talk with chief curator Alicia G. Longwell, Ph.D., and Nathan Kernan, who is currently writing a biography of poet James Schuyler to be published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Dr. Martin Shepard, a psychiatrist, author, and with his wife, Judith, a trailblazing publisher, has died. Dr. Shepard passed away at his home in Sag Harbor surrounded by family on December 17, 2020, after a brief illness. He was 86.

The staff of the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection recently completed a large project — scanning all of the historic whaling logs in the collection, in full. The collection encompasses 63 individual volumes, detailing at least 70 voyages, with some logs covering multiple voyages, from the years 1783 through 1865.

Rainbows, beach walks, silk scarves, jazz and smoky bars are just some themes in Grace Schulman’s new book of poems “The Marble Bed.”

For all the Northern California biographical and literary associations the name “John Steinbeck” evokes —  it was his birthplace and the setting for much of his fiction — Steinbeck was also a celebrity in Sag Harbor where he made his home in 1955 with his wife Elaine, after renting for a couple years. He died in 1968, six years after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, having become a familiar presence in the village, the founder and co-chair of the Old Whalers Festival, now known as HarborFest.

East Hampton Library is offering beginning memoirists an opportunity to dive into the genre by writing on an unexpected event, a challenge or the process of seeking a path by working with journalist Andrew Visconti to find their voice.

By Joan Baum You might want to consider reading Roger Rosenblatt’s new collection of personal and philosophical musings “Cold Moon” shortly after 4 p.m. on...

Since it will be a while before any of us can do much traveling, The Montauk Library is hosting a virtual “Armchair Travel Book Club.” The club meets the third Tuesday of the month from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Zoom and is moderated by Carolyn Balducci, adult programs coordinator.

The East Hampton Library will present a free online Zoom event featuring Helen A. Harrison, author of the “Art of Murder” mystery series, interviewed by author Carrie Doyle, on Friday, January 8, at 6 pm. The presentation will include an interactive Q&A with participants. 

On Thursday, December 17, at 6 p.m., The Peter Matthiessen Center will host a virtual gathering featuring an intimate reading of a few favorite passages of Peter Matthiessen’s most admired works by former friends and colleagues in the literary, environmental, human rights and Zen Buddhist world.