Thursday in NY: "Upstairs at the Square"

Tomorrow evening, "Upstairs at the Square" (one of my signature professional projects at the moment) welcomes bestselling debut novelist Min Jin Lee, along with hot singer-songwriter Mike Doughty, in conversation with host Katherine Lanpher. In her words,

"At the next 'Upstairs in the Square,' we’re going to give you a show you can really get your teeth into with Min Jin Lee’s smash debut novel Free Food for Millionaires and Mike Doughty’s latest album Golden Delicious.

Free Food for Millionaires has won Min Jin Lee comparisons with Thackeray and Dickens – if they had ever written about the haves and the have-nots in late 20th Century Manhattan as experienced by a tart-tongued daughter of Korean immigrants. The book was a No. 1 Book Sense pick and was named one of the best books of 2007 by both NPR’s Fresh Air and USA Today. 'Free Food' is now out in paperback and Min Jin also has an essay in the current issue of Vogue.

Mike Doughty is the former front man of  the ‘90s group Soul Coughing; when the group split up, he rented a car and criss-crossed the country selling his first solo effort on his own.  You might know his song 'Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well’ which he performed on Letterman and which was featured on the TV hit Grey’s Anatomy. He’s already garnering kudos for his new album, Golden Delicious, which is on Dave Matthews’ label and was produced by Grammy winner Dan Wilson.

We feel lucky to have these two. Mike is on tour and actually has a show later the same night in Brooklyn; Min Jin now lives in Tokyo and this is one of her few appearances in this country for the paperback.

So join us for a night of conversation and performance you won’t hear anywhere else."

Upstairs at the Square
This Thursday April 10th
7 p.m. sharp (doors open at six) FREE
Union Square Barnes and Noble

“Upstairs at the Square,” which will celebrate its two-year anniversary this June, has paired authors such as Tom Wolfe, Anne Enright, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, David Lynch, Anna Gavalda, and Armistead Maupin with musicians including The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Duncan Sheik and members of the cast of Spring Awakening, Sondre Lerche, Au Revoir Simone, Badly Drawn Boy and more. A full archive of recordings of all previous events is available on Barnes & Noble.com (bn.com/upstairs), where “Upstairs at the Square” is enjoyed by listeners around the world in addition to its live audiences.

Photo credit: Kerry Raftis.