Booksellers Take to the Podium at Pegasus Books

Booksellers at California’s Pegasus Books had long wanted to host a reading of their own works. So they recently organized, and on December 1 seven staff members came together at Pegasus Downtown in Berkeley to read their fiction and poetry to a full house.

“I was amazed at what a wonderful event it was, and, judging by the packed crowd's reaction, everyone else also enjoyed it enormously,” said owner Amy Thomas.

Events coordinator Rachel Marcus “dreamed up this event, after years of talking about doing it,” Thomas said. “It was fine to see so many regular customers turn out for their favorite booksellers – and so great to be able to offer them such a rich evening of literature.”

Thomas gave a recap of the night:

Gina Lewis read short, sharp, surreal poems, funny and evocative, and two selections from her young adult novel-in-verse in progress, Firebug. Super smart and charming! Gina helps run the office, the website, our advertising, and more.

Lucas Buckman (my son!), an actor who also sells books and designs our event posters, read a piece by our co-worker Christopher Miya, longtime senior buyer, about the time Legolas the Elf shopped at our Oakland store, to the consternation and amusement of all.

Joe Christiano, our new book buyer at the Solano Avenue store, read a section from his novella, Knocking Me Out With Those American Thighs, a brilliant, funny, punning tour de force of wordplay and mordant observation. Joe is also responsible for creating our performance event series, First Person Singular, in which local actors perform first-person narratives in character. Bits of those performances can be seen on our website.

Colin Johnson, an actor and playwright who works at the Solano store, read a sinister and intriguing story, “The Wickham Watcher,” from his multi-media project Raven Tales. Colin made our movie Booksellers Are Superheroes, also films our series First Person Singular.

Rachel Marcus, our events coordinator at Pegasus Downtown, read a story about sisters, deeply felt and sharply observed.

Marjorie Darraugh, our Solano Avenue store manager, read a section from her novel, The Philoquiary. The piece she chose, about a middle-aged woman having an epiphany about her dreary clothes, was both moving and greatly entertaining.

And then, for dessert, our Oakland co-worker Nathan Embretson performed, to lights and music, a dramatic reading of several of the blurbs our staff and customers have written over the years. This was a complete hoot.

Rachel dreamed up this event, after years of talking about doing it. It was fine to see so many regular customers turn out for their favorite booksellers--and so great to be able to offer them such a rich evening of literature.