The litter in littérateur. Ricky Opaterny on Books, Music, Art, and Sports

Kepler’s will be putting on a series of readings around town on Thursday, November 3. Here is the lineup:

Jerome Karabel, UC Berkeley professor and author of numerous articles on higher education and social inequality, introduces his new book, The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton – 5:30 p.m. at Kepler’s, free admission

Tobias Wolff, Stanford professor and author of numerous books, including: Old School – 7:30 p.m. at Menlo College Dining Hall, free admission

Barry Eisler, Menlo Park author of the award-winning Rain thriller series, featuring “natural causes” assassin John Rain – 7:30 p.m. at Menlo Park City Council Chambers, free admission

Ann Packer, national award-winning northern California author of The Dive from Clausen‘s Pier – 7:30 p.m. at Trellis Restaurant, Menlo Park (dessert served), limited to 40 guests, free admission

Dinner/Author Event with Palo Alto’s Firoozeh Dumas, the author of Funny in Farsi, A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America, who will discuss the food, culture, and insightful experiences of growing up Iranian in America. – 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. at private residence. Hors d’oeuvres and Persian dinner will be served. Limited to 40 guests. Members: $85 per person. Public/Non-Members: $125 per person. For reservations call (650) 462-5501 Mon – Fri, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

John Doerr, well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalist and board member at Amazon, interestingly is listed among those who contributed $25,000 or more to reopen Kepler’s Books and Magazines in Menlo Park.

Menlo Park is the location of his venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and he lives just up the road in Woodside.

It is noteworthy because Kepler’s said it went out of business in August because of lost sales to big chains and online merchants like Amazon.com.

Of course, anybody supporting one doesn’t necessarily need to be against the other: “For example, I shop at both Amazon and Kepler’s at times. They serve different purposes,” said Mike Masnick, co-author of the Techdirt blog at www.techdirt.com.

The Palo Alto Weekly reports that the winners of last weekend’s Kepler’s raffle chose to donate the books they won to schools hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Palo Alto residents Bill and Kara Rosenberg turned a windfall into an opportunity for charity this week.

The couple won a $500 gift certificate to Kepler’s bookstore last weekend, part of the grand re-opening festivities. The Menlo Park store had been closed for a month while investors from the community worked to revive it.

The Rosenbergs chose a few books for themselves and donated the rest to schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina in St. Tammany Parish, La., as part of the “Bridge of Caring” project sponsored by Palo Alto school groups.

San Francisco Chronicle: As Kepler’s Books reopens, customers queue at registers

The Almanac: Cheers, tears as crowd floods Kepler’s

San Mateo County Times: Throng celebrates revival of Kepler’s Books

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Kepler’s sold five times as many books as normal on Saturday and took 630 membership pledges during its first day back.

The new Kepler’s website is now up. Although you can’t yet order books online, you can get information about memberships and upcoming events.

Kepler’s will be reopening this Saturday, October 8. There will be a rally outside the store at 11 am. Following the rally, the store will reopen. Additionally, a membership table will be taking membership pledges all day long outside the store. There will be a raffle. There will be fun. This event is not to be missed. Thank you to all of you in the community who have expressed support for the bookstore over the past month. This reopening would not be possible without you. Stay tuned to SaveKeplers.com as there will be additional events announced soon. You will not be disappointed.

Here is the press release announcing the reopening.

We do need your help, however. Kepler’s is looking for people to volunteer in various capacities. A list of volunteer opportunities follows below:

* Work at a membership table and take membership pledges. We need people to work three-hour shifts on the following days:
November 4, 5 pm to 11 pm
November 5, 5 pm to 11 pm
November 6, 9 am to 5 pm

* Solicit memberships via phone and email.

* Perform general office work.

* Underwrite special events. Let us know if your company is interested.

* Administer database management.

* Host an author event at your house.

If you are interested in volunteering in any of the above capacities, please email us with your volunteer interests and availability.

Here are some links to press coverage of the store’s reopening:

New York Times: Community investment rescues a bookstore

Palo Alto Weekly: Kepler’s investor outlines business plan

San Jose Mercury News: Kepler’s banks on “members”

San Mateo County Times: Kepler’s bookstore turns a new page

San Francisco Chronicle: The sequel to the closing of Kepler’s