Book Reading

Neil Shister in Conversation with Harley Dubois discussing Radical Ritual: How Burning Man Changed the World. "An all-in history of, and love letter to, this one-of-a-kind event. If you've been there, or want to go, you couldn't possibly find better companions than Neil Shister and his engaging book."--Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call and The Guarded Gate To […]

Kids 12 up! Elizabeth Lim reads from Spin the Dawn, a sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars. "Pure magic. Romance, artistry, and deep […]

Meg Waite Clayton returns to launch The Last Train to London, a beautifully rendered novel centering on the Kindertransports that carried thousands of children out of Nazi-occupied Europe--and one brave woman who helped them escape to safety. "Painful and beautiful, absorbing and unforgettable. A wonderful tribute to courage, to a remarkable woman, to the ones she saved, and the ones […]

To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of Running Wild by speaking to a bookseller or clicking on the cover below. Twelve-year-old Willa and her twin brothers have survived with their father in the Alaskan wilderness for five years. But Willa knows this can't go on--they must escape.Since their mother died five years ago, Willa, her […]

Kids 4-8! Mac Barnett & Greg Pizzoli launch their new books Hi, Jack! and Jack Blasts Off, a funny early reader series about a mischievous rabbit, a cranky old lady, and a lovable dog sure to delight fans of Elephant & Piggie. The always entertaining author/illustrator duo will hold forth at Mrs. Dalloway's for this special Saturday morning family event. […]

NaNoWriMo's Grant Faulkner, Rebecca Stern and Laura Bradley launch Brave the Page, the official NaNoWriMo handbook that inspires young people to tackle audacious goals and complete their creative projects. To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of Brave the Page by speaking to a bookseller or clicking on the cover below. National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) […]

Bonnie Tsui & other Writers Grotto members host an interactive party/workshop inaugurating a new series for writers: LIT STARTS. Writing Action is the focus of this evening, with Foreword author Bonnie Tsui reading and guiding a prompt-and-response session. To reserve your seat, please purchase any of the four LIT STARTS books listed below by speaking to […]

Peter Dale Scott and Freeman Ng present Poetry and Terror: Politics and Poetics in Coming to Jakarta, a study at many levels of Scott's long poem Coming to Jakarta. To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of Poetry and Terror ($34.99 paperback) in advance by speaking to a bookseller. Coming to Jakarta is Scott's response to a midlife crisis […]

E.R. Razmipoor OFFSITE presenting The Ventriloquists, her much-anticipated debut novel inspired by true events, about a ragtag gang of journalists and resistance fighters risking everything for an elaborate scheme to undermine the Reich. "Magnetic... Sprawling and ambitious, with crisp pacing and fully realized characters, this will fascinate anyone looking for an unusual, enthralling war story." -- Publishers Weekly […]

Jean Fruth & Jeff Idelson present Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin. The evening includes a presentation by photographer Jean Fruth and retiring National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, on some of the legends in the book and the places they come from. Followed by a book signing.  A matching donation of the book price ($60) will be donated to […]

L. John Harris launches his delightful new book, Café French: A Flâneur’s Guide to the Language, Lore and Food of the Paris Café.  "L. John Harris's amusing and instructive book distills Parisian flânerie—that unique blend of urban strolling and conversing that fuses literary, spatial and historical life—with playful images, witty narrative and memorable quotations by and […]

Matt Maiocco, Brad Mangin & Brian Murphy present Letters to 87: Fans Remember the Legacy of Dwight Clark, a coffee table book featuring heartfelt letters from fans of the San Francisco 49ers hero, with essays by Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana, Brian Murphy, and Kelly Clark. Letters to 87 also offers rare photos from Michael […]

Prerna Lal launching Unsung America: Immigrant Trailblazers and Our Fight for Freedom. Please join us for a most timely discussion. "Deeply insightful and intentionally detailed--Prerna Lal has conceived a text that breaks down the inner workings of the United States immigration system and the impact it has had on the lives of countless immigrants and […]

Lawrence Weschler presents And How Are You, Dr. Sacks? A Biographical Memoir of Oliver Sacks, the untold story of the famous neurologist, his own most singular patient. "The story of Lawrence Weschler's faithful four-decade friendship with the amazing Oliver Sacks offers pleasures and amazements on every page. This loving but unblinking portrait will delight fans of Dr. Sacks […]

To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of Without Her in advance by speaking to a bookseller or clicking on the cover below. When her old friend Hannah doesn't show up at her house in the south of France, everyone assumes that Claudia, who has known Hannah since their shared years at boarding school, will […]

Raina Telgemeier OFFSITE TICKETED EVENT presents Guts, a true story from the bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts. Telgemeier once again brings a thoughtful, charming, and funny tale about growing up and gathering the courage to face--and conquer--her fears. Stay tuned for further details about how to sign up to attend. Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm Event address: […]

Saturday, November 9, 2019 - 10:00am to Monday, November 11, 2019 - 6:00pm Once again, Mrs. Dalloway's will reimburse all partnership schools for 17% of total pre-tax purchases made by the school community from Saturday, November 9 through Monday, November 11. This is a great opportunity to stock up on holiday gift items such as children's books, cookbooks, adult fiction and […]

Peter Jan Honigsberg launches his new book A Place Outside the Law: Forgotten Voices of Guantánamo, containing firsthand testimonies from Guantánamo Bay, inspiring future generations to never repeat the human rights violations of the detention center. "The definitive account of what happened at Guantánamo in all of its chilling and horrifying detail. What makes this book […]

Elaine Sciolino in Conversation with Thad Carhart (and introduced by L. John Harris) discussing Sciolino's new book The Seine: The River that Made Paris. A soulful, transformative voyage along the body of water that defines the City of Light. Elaine Sciolino is the perfect guide to the world's most romantic river."--Lauren Collins To reserve your […]

Tickets $12 advance at Mrs. Dalloway's or through brownpapertickets.com. Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 7:30pm In 2014, Ian Haney López in Dog Whistle Politics named and explained the coded racial appeals exploited by right-wing politicians over the last half century--and thereby anticipated the 2016 presidential election. Now the country is heading into what will surely be one […]

George Lakey Workshop with Kazu Haga OFFSITE conducts a workshop based on his most recent book, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning, with Kazu Haga, founder of the East Point Peace Academy and author of the forthcoming Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm. Register at eastpointpeace.org/howwewin or call 510.500.7853. Sliding scale $20-$80. Wheelchair accessible. […]

Joan Frank Doubleheader! Joan Frank launches two prize-winning new books: Where You're All Going, a quartet of novellas, winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction, and Try to Get Lost: Essays on Travel and Place (winner of the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize). To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of either book in […]

Elizabeth Tallent launches Scratched: A Memoir of Perfectionism, her bold and brilliant exploration of the ferocious desire for perfection which has shaped her writing life as well as her rich, dramatic, and constantly surprising personal life.  "One of the finest explorations I know of what it means to be a woman and an artist."--Sigrid Nunez To […]

In this beautiful and empowering book, Jennifer Jewell—host of public radio’s award-winning program and podcast Cultivating Place—introduces 75 inspiring women. Working in wide-reaching fields that include botany, floral design, landscape architecture, farming, herbalism, and food justice, these influencers are creating change from the ground up. To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of The Earth in […]

The astonishing but forgotten story of an immigrant sweatshop worker who married an heir to a great American fortune and became one of the most charismatic radical leaders of her time. "Through the lens of a remarkable marriage, Adam Hochschild draws a vivid portrait of the Gilded Age--of immigrants, sweatshops, tenements, strikes, enclaves of patrician […]

Jane Hirshfield reads from her new volume of poetry Ledger, a book of personal, ecological, and political reckoning from the internationally renowned poet named "among the modern masters" (Washington Post). From one of our most celebrated contemporary poets--long-listed for the National Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and England's T.S. Eliot Prize--comes […]

Bonnie Tsui presents Why We Swim, "a beautifully written love letter to water and a fascinating story" (Rebecca Skloot). To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of Why We Swim by speaking to a bookseller or clicking on the cover below. Humans, unlike other animals that are drawn to water, are not natural-born swimmers. We must be […]

Elizabeth Wetmore in Conversation with Sylvia Brownriggdiscussing Wetmore's marvelous debut novel, Valentine. Friday, April 17, 2020 - 7:30pm

On January 21st Vintage Berkeley is hosting Jonathan Lethem, one of America's greatest writers (Motherless Brooklyn, et many al) to discuss his book The Arrest while we drink wines paired to the book! (You can get a white, a red, or both!)