Mark Salzman

Anxiety has always been part of Mark Salzman's life: He was born into a family as nervous as rabbits, people with extra angst coded into their genes. As a young man he found solace through martial arts, meditation, tai chi, and rigorous writing schedules, but as he approaches midlife, he confronts a year of catastrophe, in which he suffers from acute anxiety, debilitating panic attacks, and a crippling case of writer's block, all compounded by the sudden loss of his sister. Overwhelmed, he begins a search for equanimity that ultimately leads to an epiphany from a most unexpected source. From the author of Iron & Silk and The Soloist comes a moving memoir of love and family, loss and spiritual yearning.

This discussion is free and open to the public. Those wishing to get books signed will be asked to purchase at least one copy of The Man in the Empty Boat from Vroman's, and one additional copy for every 3 books they bring from home. Save your Vroman's receipt; it will be checked when you enter the signing line.

Location: Street: 695 E. Colorado Blvd City: Pasadena, Province: California Postal Code: 91101 Country: United States (tillagd från IndieBound)… (mer)

Mark Salzman , Iron and Silk.

Iron & Silk by Mark Salzman is the Travel Essay Book Club selection for Monday November 23rd at 6:30. Salzman can definitely write, his works of fiction are powerful stuff. The Soloist was nominated for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize. Lying Awake is set in a convent where a nun must decide if she will undergo medical treatment for epilepsy that may take away the raptures she has always believed were her connection with God. What would you do if everything you believed might be an error? Powerful. Iron & Silk is the true story of Salzman’s time in China teaching English at Hunan Medical College. He was able to interact with the Chinese in ways your average traveler would not be able to achieve. Salzman studied Chinese language and literature at Yale. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude in 1982. So he had a few more language skills than most American visitors in China. He was also deeply interested in martial arts, having studied since he was a child. He continues his education in martial arts in China. The writing is beautiful, the story interesting, and the country worthy of interest. The Travel Essay Book Club should have a good time. (booksense)… (mer)

MARK SALZMAN diskuterar the creative process behind his various works.

(NOTE: Tickets $10.00 EA / FREE for Educators & Students)

DESCRIPTION: For author Salzman (Iron and Silk, The Soloist, The Laughing Sutra, True Notebooks), the writing process works like this: he has to write a book every conceivable wrong way until only the right way is left, and along the way he has to become completely blocked. In 1994, he began work on a novel about a cloistered nun diagnosed with Dostoevsky Syndrome, a neurological disorder frequently associated with intense religiosity. Five years later he had gotten so stuck that he could only write with a towel draped over his head and a tinfoil skirt wrapped around his waist. Want to know more? Of course you do. (bookjones)… (mer)