SALISBURY — Literary Bookpost will have two book signings next weekend, starting with Frank Lentricchia, author of “The Accidental Pallbearer,” on Friday, 6-8 p.m., part of the First Friday event.
Lentricchia was raised in Utica, N.Y., the son of working class, first-generation Italian-American parents. He is a chaired professor of literature at Duke University, and his acclaimed and often controversial critical studies caused the Village Voice to dub him the “Dirty Harry of literary criticism.” He is the author of seven novels and a memoir. “The Accidental Pallbearer” is the first in a series of crime novels set in Utica and featuring ex-academic and private investigator Eliot Conte.
Washed-up private investigator Conte would rather be teaching American literature and listening to opera than taking pictures of spouses caught in the act. But he flamed out of an academic career when he hung the provost of UCLA out a window, and he had to come home, where his aging father, Silvio Conte, a political kingmaker, is still cutting deals and hustling appointments, and his all-but-in-blood brother Antonio Robinson is the city’s first black chief of police.
But now Antonio’s asking him for a favor that, to Eliot, doesn’t seem like the kind of thing a police chief should ask for … especially as he begins to uncover a trail of evidence leading back to the most sensational hit in local Mafia history. In a Utica marked by economic devastation and racial tensions, Eliot picks up one strand after another, weaving his way through a web of allegiances, grudges and his own dark demons.
Local author Christopher Gaddis will be at Literary Bookpost on Saturday, March 2, from 1-3 p.m. to sign his book, “A School Called Planet Earth.” Gaddis was born in Queens and raised on Long Island. He and his wife Mary have raised six children and two nephews. In his book, he shares the story of his personal, professional and spiritual journey in life. He talks about keeping a balance in life and offers personal tips on how to reduce stress in your life. He lives in Charlotte.