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Book Beat's Interests
General
reading, art, music, writing, photography, carniverous house plants, smoothies, philosophy, Japanese monsters, Mu.
Music
jazz, world music, blues, folk, gamelan, noise, Thelonius Monk, MC5, Sun Ra, Don Cherry, Exuma, Charly Patton, Skip James, Blind Wilie McTell, Bob Dylan, Alice Coltrane, Beethoven, Segovia, Velvet Underground, Destroy All Monsters, Monster Island, Nightcrawlerz, Gobbler, Outrageous Cherry, Slumber Party, Exuma.
Movies
The Wedding March, Greed, Scarlet Empress, Kurosawa, Suspiria, La Bete, Alphaville, Peace One Day, Spirited Away, Flaming Creatures, Modesty Blaise, Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, In Like Flint, Death Bed: The Bed that Eats, MC5: Kick out the Jams, Breakfast at Tiffanys, most silent films, many foreign, documentary and art house flicks.
Television
Addams Family, Fractured Flickers, Cecil & Beenie, Pete & Gladys, I Married Joan, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Huckleberry Hound, Deputy Dawg.
Books
Jorge Luis Borges, Mikhail Bulgakov, Thomas Pynchon, Daniel Pinkwater, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, William S. Burroughs, Philip K. Dick, Hermann Hesse, Walter Benjamin, Amiri Baraka, Jose Saramago, Cormac McCarthy, Martin Buber, Bruno Schulz, Charles Johnson, Stanley Crouch, Ralph Ellison, Saphire, Jim Harrison, Edward Gorey, Knut Hamsun, Franz Kafka, Saul Bellow, Delmore Schwartz, Daniel Clowes, Tony Millionaire, Chris Ware, Moomins & Mutts.
Heroes
Peace Pilgrim, Rosa Parks, Wallace Berman, Ray Johnson, Alice Coltrane, Sojourner Truth, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Diane Wilson, Alfred E. Newman, Joseph Cornell, Rosa Parks, Alfred Stieglitz, Sun Ra, Charles Olson, Mae & Arthur Taylor.
About me: Book Beat specializes in art, photography, children's books and quality lit. It is an independent locally owned bookstore serving the metro-Detroit area since 1982. Book Beat has a backroom gallery that specializes in photography and folk art. There are curio cabinets filled with folk art, jewelry and day of the dead figures. We stock sidelines of stationary, music (jazz, blues, classical, acid-folk & experimental), postcards, graphic novels, tin toys, hand made artist books, puppets, African sculpture, Voudou flags and ethnographic art. Book Beat supports creativity, peace and literacy. The education and cultural engagement of artists, teachers, children and young adults is at the center of our mission. We are one of the last remaining free standing independent bookstores in the Detroit area, and appreciate your support!
Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield, Oak Park, MI 48237. Phone: 248-968-1190, store hours: Mon-Fri 10 AM-9 PM, Sat 10 AM-7 PM, Sun 12-5 PM
Vist our online store at: THEBOOKBEAT.COM We have a fine selection of quality recommended new titles, plus thousands of rare and out-of-print titles and curiosities in over one hundred cataloges. Our book discussion groups, meet monthly during the last Wednesday of the month at Gayles Chocolates in Royal Oak. The "chums of chance" Pynchon group is reading Against the Day for the next 6-8 months, meetings are on weekday evenings. Please check out our complete events schedule at thebookbeat.com News & Events page or give us a call at 248-968-1190.
Visit our occasional and irreverent BACKROOM BLOG, you'll find reviews, rants, trivia, happenings, comments, and cultural events of obscure and limited interest. Leave us your comments, participate in discussions: get reading! get happy/or angry!
Author & Artist Signings: The Book Beat hosts many award winning author, illustrator and artist book signings. Some of these have been Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award & Pulitzer Prize winning authors. If you'd like to be added to our email list and receive store news, special sales and future event notices, please send an email to: Info@thebookbeat.com --and write "subscribe to newsletter" in the subject section.
Some of our past events included these authors, illustrators and artists: Immaculee Illabagiza, Diane Wilson, Anne Rice, Linda Sue Park, Terry McMillan, John Agee, Brian Jacques, Tomie dePaola, Jonathan Safron Foer, Ultra Violet, Steven Kellogg, Ira Cohen, Christopher Paul Curtis, Chris Van Allsburg, Connie Briscoe, Lowis Lowry, Walter Dean Myers, Charles Johnson, Robert Sabuda, J. California Cooper, Jeffrey Eugenides, Kate DiCamillo, Paul O. Zelinsky, Valeri Wilson Wesley, Mark Leyner, David Almond, AVI, Will Clay, Jacqueline Woodson, Nikki Giovanni, David Kirk, E. Lynn Harris, Lynne Rae Perkins, Jerry Pinkney, Billy Name, Darlene Love, Floyd Cooper, Diane & Leo Dillon, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, David Macaulay, Eric Jerome Dickey, Jane Breskin Zalben, David Wiesner, Blue Balliet, Bernard Waber, Joel Peter-Witkin, Eloise Greenfield, Faith Ringgold, Robert D. San Souci, Demi, John Waters, Michael Hague, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Destroy All Monsters, Mary Grand Pre, Eric A. Kimmel, Uri Shulevitz, Bill Ayers, Marcus Pfister, David Small, Sarah Stewart, Joan Blos, Jan Brett, Chris Rashka, Joseph Bruchac, Faith Ringgold, Faye Moskowitz, Rafe Martin, Gary D. Schmidt, Joseph Coulson, K.M. Grant, David Almond, Sonic Youth (Lee Renaldo & Thurston Moore), J. David Riva, Edward Hirsch, Laurie Halse Anderson,
Some of our local author & artist signings have included: Tracy Gallup, Matt Faulkner, Gloria Whelan, Ann Tomperts, Herbert Wong Yee, Tom Pohrt, Kathe Koja, Jim Gallert, Dan Gerogakas, Wendy Anderson Halperin, Devin Scillian, Lisa Wheeler, Rhonda Gowler Greene, Amy Goldman Koss, Lynn Cazabon, Marcy Heller Fisher, Nancy Shaw, Shutta Crum, Chris & George Tysh, Sandy Schrier, Tom Carey, James Semark, Jimbo Easter, John Sinclair, Pun Plamondon, Terry Blackhawk, Naomi Madgett Long, Vievee Francis, Leni Sinclair, Bill Rauhauser.
Book Beat Gallery one person & group show exhibitions: Lynn Cazabon, James Van Der Zee, Harry Bertoia (Monoprints & Sound Sculptures), Ray Johnson (live performances), Leni Sinclair: Rock & Revolution, Jeffrey Silverthorne (four one person shows), Jim Shaw: Dream Drawings, Destroy All Monsters: band archives, Weegee, Jazz Portraits of William Gottlieb, Margaret Bourke White: Russia 1940s, Vintage 19th Century Egypt, Italian Landscapes of Mario Giacomelli, Bernice Abbott: Portraits of the 1920s, Marilyn Monroe, Bruce of Los Angeles (male nudes), Suda House, Women Photograph Mythology, The End is Here (Apocalyptic Art), Photographs of the Harlem Renaissance, Nina Glaser, Femme Fatales, Harvey Ferdschnider, SKID & NYC Klub Kidz, Detroit Images (group show/book signing), Carol Wald: Collages, Boblo Island Revisited, Vienna Aktionism of Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Wormhole, New Pictoralism, Alfred Steiglitz & Cameraworks, Frantisek Drtikol & Czech Modernism, Lost Hollywood (film stills), Day of the Dead Mail Art, Conspiracy Theory (group show), Lost Pictoralism, Haitian Voudou: Flags, Altars & Rituals, Haitian Photos by Tequila Minsky, Contemporary Czech Photography, Lynne Rae Perkins & Herbert Wong Yee: Book Illustration, Tracy Gallup's Beastly Banquet & King Cat, Detroit Revisited, David Griffith, YongSheng Xuan, Jamie Easter & Tom Carey, Davin Brainard, Daniel Clowes, Billy Name (Warhol Factory Fotos & Film Stills),
Reviews about Book Beat:
"In pace it's akin to a corner bookseller in London, a mood that encorages lingering among the artworks and greeting cards -- art books and children's literature are specialties." --Hour Detroit
"Specializing in quality literature, children's books and photography books, the Book Beat in Oak Park is the antithesis of the larger chain bookstore....The store also carries a variety of merchandise, such as handbags featuring a picture of artist Frida Kahlo, skeletons created in honor of El Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), origami paper and African and Asian art... In the children's section of the store are rows of books as well as a wall of large picture books, many of which are autographed by authors who may have visited the store or appeared at an event hosted by the store. "We work hard to connect with our customers... we want to make a contribution to the community," Kammer said. --Melanie D. Scott, Oak Park's Book Beat is more than a bookstoreThe Detroit Free Press
"Book Beat shelves offer plenty of whimsy to offset any aura of elitism: Micky Mouse flip books, sidewalk chalk, comic books, a micro-movie viewer,and a rubber stamp collection that would be the envy of anyone interested in serious mail art..." --Rebecca Powers "Oak Park's Book Beat is a picture perfect spot to browse", The Detroit News, April 12, 1990.
"a fascinating hodge-podge of old and new books stuffed in narrow aisles, obscure magazines, primitive sculptures, frieghtening African masks, handmade musical instruments... Together Loren and his wife Colleen Kammer, have built the Book Beat into a Metro Detroit institution by offering knowledge, service, and an emphasis on subjects such as art, photography and children's literature.... as an independent bookstore, the Book Beat belongs to a shrinking breed..." -- Joy Colby,"Quite a Novel Guy" The Detroit News
"There's one thing you can say about Book Beat -- the people here really know books." -- Cathy Nelson, The Daily Tribune
"...one of metro Detroit's last remaining -- and certainly one of the most irreplaceable --independent bookstores... Open since 1982, its the kind of cozy place you can get lost in for hours, browsing through stacks of unusual titles, from poetry and art books to graphic novels and bizarro cult classics. The children's section is so outstanding it could spark even the most stale grown-up imagination. The stuffed-to-the-rafters shop also serves as an artistic meeting place, hosting regular readings and literary events." -- Christina Kallery, Beatific DIY: craft, sass and vintige lingerie at Book Beat , The Metro Times
Who I'd like to meet: readers, authors, publishers, librarians, former staff, other booksellers, artists, musicians, children's author/illustrators, photographers, graphic designers, book makers, zine makers, bibliophiles of all types, photography collectors, folk artists, art collectors, educators & book collectors.
To the nice folks of Book Beat: Thank you for bringing me aboard! I’ll send you a postcard in early August with ordering info from my publisher, Leisure books. I hope you’ll consider getting a few copies. It’s a mass market paperback. Should you carry my book, thank you for the opportunity. Independent booksellers are the best! Kind regards, Andrew Peterson (Andy) www. andrewpeterson. com
Hey Friend, Just popping in to say hello. Please visit my site, sign my guest log and help me bless college students. To help me out would you please copy the link and email it to all your friends. Best Wishes Makya, 7 yr old author who's giving 50% to low income students in scholarships. http://www. sendjazzy2oprah. com
