Legend Press

Advent Calendar - 8th December

Behind today's advent calendar window is a free sample of the brilliant Obama Music by Bonnie Greer.

Download OBAMA MUSIC sample

Obama Music received a host of fantastic endorsements on release, and is a must-read for anyone interested in America or biographies:

'Greer expertly weaves in memories of her own upbringing in Chicago, with more humour than you might expect, along with a clear, defined passion for the music she grew up listening to. She wants to show, too, how both the place she lived in, and the songs she listened to, were full of unseen boundaries that had held people back – but also gave them something to fight against.' - Independent on Sunday

Woven through this book is the complex sociology of Chicago, an Irish-run town where the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade seemed to her like a Kremlin march-past; where chitlins were on the table every Sunday; and where the first wave of Afro-centrism inspired her friends to adopt “names a yard long and attitudes to match”. – The Herald

'potentially... one of the best; or at least one of the most intriguing' Obama books to be published.’ – Robaroundbooks.com

‘A mixture of anecdotes about the author's own growing up in one of America's most formidable Black communities, mixed in with observations on the origins and progress of the music of the South Side: gospel, blues, soul and jazz, and Barack and Michelle Obama's relation to the sound of their community.’ – The Guardian

We hope you enjoy the sample

Lucy

Obama Music is available to order by clicking here

 

Bonnie Greer's film for the Foreign Office

This week the Foreign Office launched a fascinating short film from Bonnie Greer, author of Obama Music. In the film Bonnie talks about uncovering her true heritage at the British Museum.

The film is one of the ‘See Britain through my eyes’ series featuring individuals from at home and abroad talking about their experiences of modern Britain in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Bonnie Greer’s film is being released to coincide with the HowTheLightGetsIn 2011 festival in Hay on Wye, an annual philosophy and music festival where she will be hosting three events.

Lucy

Bonnie's book Obama Music is available to order by clicking here

Bonnie Greer at Philosophy and Music Festival this weekend

Bonnie Greer, author of Obama Music will be doing 3 events at the How The Light Gets In Festival, a Philosophy and Music featival in Hay this weekend.

Event 1 - Converging Cultures
Sunday 29th May, 4pm

Broadcaster, novelist and playwright Bonnie Greer explains why David Cameron, Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy’s rejection of multiculturalism is the wrong analysis of the only ace that Britain and Europe has to play in the coming multi-polar world. Bonnie Greer is the author of the novel Entropy and the memoir Obama Music, as well as countless plays for radio and stage. She squared off against Nick Griffin on Question Time in 2009. ‘Humorous, sexy and always very sharp’ TLS

Event 2 - The End of Abundance?
Monday 30th May, 10.30 am

Gideon Rachman, Harriet Lamb, Bonnie Greer, Christopher Hamilton. Simon Glendinning chairs.

For most of human history humans have had to contend with the scarcity of essentials. In the West we have had a relatively brief period of abundance. But scarcity was the word on everyone’s lips at Davos this year. Is abundance now over and if so, what will this mean for our values and goals? FT columnist Gideon Rachman, philosopher Christopher Hamilton, FairTrade director Harriet Lamb, and novelist and commentator Bonnie Greer, ask whether the years of plenty were just a blip in history.

Event 3 - After Democracy
Monday 30th May, 2.30pm

Robin Dunbar, Bonnie Greer, David Aaronovitch, Simon Glendinning. Isabel Hilton chairs.

From the Russian mafia to global corporations, from Chinese leaders to Saudi princes, the world it would seem is run by oligarchies as much as democracy. Should we be outraged or is democracy over-rated? Is there an ideal political framework or can Sparta be as valuable as Athens?

Oxford psychologist Robin Dunbar, playwright and critic Bonnie Greer, Times columnist David Aaronovitch, and LSE philosopher Simon Glendinning question the perfection and success of democracy.

For details of the festival please click here

Lucy

Bonnie Greer meets President Obama

Bonnie Greer, author of Obama Music was lucky enought to be given the opportunity to meet President Obama and Michelle this week.

Their trip has received a lot of attention in the media this week, including an article by Bonnie Greer in the Telegraph on Tuesday.

Bonnie's book Obama Music is available to order by clicking here

Lucy

Bonnie Greer at How The Light Gets in Festival on 29th May

Bonnie Greer, author of Obama Music will be speaking at the How The Light Gets In Festival, a Philosophy and Music featival in Hay on Sunday 29th May.

The event will be held in the International Tent at 4pm:

Broadcaster, novelist and playwright Bonnie Greer explains why David Cameron , Angela Merkel, and Nicholas’ Sarkozy’s rejection of multiculturalism is the wrong analysis of the only ace that Britain and Europe have to play in the coming multi-polar world. Bonnie Greer is the author of the novels Entropy and Obama Music and countless plays for radio and stage. She squared off against Nick Griffin on Question Time in 2009.

For details of the festival please click here

Lucy

Bonnie Greer event on 20th January

 
Join Bonnie Greer at the Bolingbroke Bookshop in London on 20th January.

Bonnie Greer event - Walsall Library

Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music did a fantastic event at Walsall Library on Wednesday night. Here are some pictures of the event.

Walsall Library - a great institution is now under great threat, no doubt increased by the new cutting regime. Some may appear outdated but some are trying everything to drive people back into the libraries - and there are a few from which they have never left.

And Walsall Libraries have now started a Facebook Group. I suggest all those with Facebook groups goes and joins - we need to support our libraries!

Lucy

Bonnie Greer appearing at Storyville in Brighton

Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music will be appearing at Storyville - the Women Writers Festival in November at the Pavilion Theatre Brighton Dome. The festival features some fantastic range of authors and it is great to have a Legend Press author involved.

Storyville: Women Writers Festival
19 - 21 Nov, Brighton Dome

Storyville is a new landmark literature festival curated for Brighton Dome by Sarah-Jane Roberts. In its first year it brings together a wealth of established and emerging authors from across the globe. Together they read, discuss and explore a wonderful array of different voices, characters, stories and perspectives on everything from identity, memory, war and tragedy to love, loss and desire…

Bonnie Greer, Lionel Shriver and Ali Smith are just three of the 18 authors reading and discussing their work.

Please click here for further information.

Lucy

Bonnie Greer event at Foyles tomorrow evening

Bonnie Greer (author of Obama Music) will be in conversation with Jed Rubenfeld tomorrow night at Foyles on Charing Cross Road from 6:30pm.

Lawyer-turned-novelist Jed Rubenfeld has a knack for turning Freudian theory into fodder for crime novels - as he proved in his immensely popular The Interpretation of Murder, which saw Freud and his followers turn sleuth. Tonight, he tells us how he's done it, and what's on the horizon for everyone's favourite psychiatrist in his new book The Death Instinct.

For details please click here

Lucy

Support Walsall Libraries!

We're big supporters of the libraries. I remember be taken to the library regularly as a kid and is probably the first place I really remember being immersed in books (not literally - Anstey Library wasn't that hardcore).

The great institution is now under great threat, no doubt increased by the new cutting regime. Some may appear outdated but some are trying everything to drive people back into the libraries - and there are a few from which they have never left.

One of the very best is the Walsall Libraries. We work with Sonia Dixon there and she has put on a number of events for our authors, virtually all sold out (including one for Bonnie Greer coming up on 27th October).

And Walsall Libraries have now started a Facebook Group. I suggest all those with Facebook groups goes and joins - we need to support our libraries!

Tom

Obama Music artist featured in the Metro

 

Keira Rathbone, the artist of the fantastic Obama Music cover by Bonnie Greer, was featured in the Metro today. Keira uses a typewriter to create these fantastic images, see above, including our very own Legend Press cover.

Lucy

Bonnie Greer event at MMU on 9th September

Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music will be giving a lecture at Manchester Metropolitan University on Thursday 9th September at 4:45pm, as part of their 'Texting Obama' conference.

The title of her lecture, based on her recent memoir OBAMA MUSIC: SOME NOTES FROM A SOUTHSIDER ABROAD, is "DialBack: Managing the Dream".

Lucy

Bonnie Greer event at the Brighton Dome

Bonnie Greer will be doing an event as part of the 'Storyville' week at the Brighton Dome in November. The event will be at the Pavilion Theatre on Saturday 20th November at 6pm.

Other authors included in the series include Ali Smith, Louise Welsh, Lionel Shriver and many more.

For details of the event click here

Lucy

Bonnie Greer featured as 'baby boomer' in Observer

It was great to see Bonnie Greer, author of OBAMA MUSIC, featured in the Observer yesterday as part of their major feature on the 'Baby Boom' generation.

'There has been an enormous amount of attention focused on us baby boomers lately, a lot of it generated by us. That's par for the course. We've been the centre of attention since we were born. A huge generation, we've always sucked up all of the oxygen in the room. Last year, I published a novel, Entropy, whose central theme revolves around a dystopia in which 60-year-olds are having babies and twentysomethings put grey in their hair in order to get work.

Now that I've got that out of my system, I actually think that we're OK. We brought on stream all kinds of movements that helped bring social justice, ecological awareness and just plain good times to the world. It's not our fault that our elders didn't heed the warning 40 years ago that we were a pensions time bomb. "The Greatest Generation", who survived the Depression and won the second world war, were too busy shortening their skirts, growing their hair and trying to be us. Our parents did and still do adore us. What can I say? And I think that our generational motto – "Never trust anyone over 30" (especially if they're in their 40s) – still holds.

Have we failed? Of course we have. Every generation fails the ones after it, just as we could never have lived up to the hopes and dreams of our parents. But a word to my fellow boomers: Please. Enough of the whining; the mea culpas; the shock/horror of turning 60; the moaning about the way things are today; the whole thing. Give it up. Yes, we're getting old. Yes, we're going to die. And, yes, the party will go on without us. We should be happy for them. After all, we were always up for a party.'

For the full feature, click here.

Make sure you've ordered your copy of OBAMA MUSIC!

Tom

Bonnie Greer event tonight in Whitechapel

Bonnie Greer will be 'In Conversation' tonight at the Ideas Store in Whitechapel. The event starts at 7pm. Bonnie will be discussing her fantastic book Obama Music as well as her novel Entropy.

For information on the Idea Store click here!

This should be a fantastic event, so we hope you can make it if you're in the area.

Lucy 

Legend Press author Bonnie Greer wins OBE!

More fantastic news – broadcaster, playwright and author, Bonnie Greer has received an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list! Her works include the fantastic OBAMA MUSIC, launched in October and still going strong.

It's a fantastic achievement and congratulations to Bonnie from all of us at Legend Press. To see full details and Bonnie's response to something she never thought would happen, click here

Tom

Bonnie Greer event in Nottingham on Monday

Bonnie Greer will be appearing at Nottingham Library on Monday 8th March at 2pm. Bonnie will be reading from her book Obama Music. The organisers have said of Bonnie:

Prize-winning writer Bonnie Greer opens the talks this year on Monday, March 8 at 2pm. Reading from her latest novel, Entropy and also from Obama Music, her memoir describing her youth in Chicago, she will also discuss the differences between writing fact and fiction.

She has lived in in Britain since the late 1980s, is the author of two novels and several radio plays for the BBC and is a frequent commentator in the national media. A regular panelist on BBC 2 Newsnight Review, she was also a panel member on the Question Time edition which also featured Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party.

She has won numerous prizes for her work including a Verity Bargate Award for Best New Play. She is also on the board of the British Museum, Serpentine Gallery, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Franco-British Council.

See the event programme by clicking here!

Lucy

Bonnie Greer interviewed in Stylist Magazine

Bonnie Greer author of the brilliant Obama Music has been interviewed in The Stylist magazine this week. To see the interview click here. Below is a taster:

How important is female friendship?

As I got older I got a real shock. One day I realised that men hadn't been talking to me because they thought I was a wonderful person, or because of the scintillating conversation. They're not programmed that way. That's why female friendship is so important. My friendships give me a connection to my own life by putting it into perspective.

Lucy

Bonnie Greer - ActionAid poetry collection

A poem by Bonnie Greer, author of Obama Music will be included in a soon to be released haiku collection See me, Hear me, Read me for ActionAid UK. The book released on 8th March to coincide with International Women's Day includes poems by Dame Judi Dench, Julie Walters, Yoko Ono and Carol Ann Duffy.

For details of how to order your copy and support this great cause click here

Lucy

Bonnie Greer featured on BBC2 Review Show

Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music appeared on The Review Show on BBC 2 on Friday night, on a special programme marking the 1st year of Obama's presidency.

If you did not get a chance to see the show you can watch it on IPlayer by clicking here!

Bonnie will be speaking at Waterstone's Piccadilly on Thursday 4th February at 6:30. To see information about the event click here! This should be a fantastic event and we hope to see lots of you there.

Lucy

Bonnie Greer featured in the Metro this morning

Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music was interviewed this morning in the Metro. Just in case you didn't get a chance to see it, view the interview by clicking here.

Were you happy with how Question Time went?

I took it in my stride. I just went on there and was myself, I didn't have any expectations.

What feedback have you had from it?

People have told me I reflected what they're thinking - let's cut through the political rhetoric and talk about our lives. People don't think they're being looked at as functioning with any intelligent capacity - we're put in boxes, focus groups, and the Westminister village village goes on and talks to itself.

Lucy

Obama reviewed in the Black Arts Alliance Magazine

Obama Music by Bonnie Greer has received this great review in the Black Arts Alliance magazine. The book is described as a must-read and encourages readers to 'take some time out to listen to a history that plays mellow chords of social knowledge and observation'.

'I truly believe that this book has been waiting to spring forth for a very long time before fate stepped in; it was the placing of the then senator Obama in Bonnie Greer's home town of Chicago that allowed it to be born.'

Lucy

Obama Music featured on Book Army

Obama Music by Bonnie Greer has been featured on www.bookarmy.com. The site is currently featuring a free 1st chapter extract of the book, read the extract by clicking here!

Obama Music has just received an excellent review by the Scotsman:

'Greer is at her most informative and passionate when it comes to the music that shaped her community. Obama Music will have most readers reaching for an internet search engine to track down all sorts of fantastic music, from the primal blues of Slim Harpo to the extraordinary gospel voice of Mahalia Jackson, from the seminal soul of Curtis Mayfield to jazz pioneer Charles Mingus. Greer makes a good case for all of these diverse sounds feeding into the African-American experience of South Side Chicago, four tributaries flowing into the river of that life'

To read the review in full click here!

Order your copy of Obama Music now - £7.99 

Lucy

Obama Music in the Independent

Obama Music by Bonnie Greer is featured today with a double page spread in The Independent with a great extract from the book. The book is also featured in The Times next week.  

To read the article in full click here!

Order your copy of Obama Music now - £7.99 

Lucy

Bonnie Greer at Centerprise in Dalston this Saturday!

We're excited to say that Bonnie Greer, author of recently published OBAMA MUSIC, is to appear at the famous Centerprise in Hackney, London on 5th December for a book signing, talk and dinner.

To learn more about the event click here!

The event is getting coverage on sites all over London including This is Stoke Newington and The BN Village.

Lucy

'engaging and very personal' - Obama Music

Obama Music by Bonnie Greer has received an excellent review in the Scotsman describing the book as 'an engaging and very personal look at the musical, cultural and political melting pot that is Chicago'. Below is a taster:

AS a commentator on culture and the arts, Bonnie Greer has always seemed perceptive and eloquent, and this intriguing, scattershot memoir is no different. Greer is something of a polymath – a playwright, essayist and writer of fiction, and currently ADVERTISEMENT deputy chairman of the British Museum's Board of Trustees – and those magpie tendencies extend to this book, which covers personal observations, music history, political comment and plenty more besides.

Subtitled "Some Notes From a South Sider Abroad", Obama Music is essentially a long love letter to Greer's hometown of Chicago, specifically the thriving, bustling South Side. Greer was born and raised in the neighbourhood, the same area that president Barack Obama came to call home after meeting his South Sider wife Michelle and settling there.

Greer's neat idea is to examine the way music has fed into life in the vibrant suburbs of Chicago, a city which has always been a cultural crossroads in the United States. The book is split into four sections, ostensibly covering blues, gospel, soul and jazz. Greer's prose style is reminiscent of the last of these four, a kind of freeform, improv stream of consciousness, which tries to tie in her own experiences growing up with the influences that shaped Obama's political sensibilities, as well as look more generally at 21st-century American culture and how far it has come from her childhood in a semi-segregated 1960s.

To read the review in full click here!

Lucy

Christmas Advent Calendar - win free books!!!!!!!

Every morning this month we will be featuring a different Legend Press author and book on the blog as a little festive treat!

Everyone who purchases a copy of a book from the Legend Press online shop in December will be entered in to a prize draw to win a selection of Legend Press books!!!! The perfect post-christmas treat!!

Today's featured book is Obama Music by Bonnie Greer. The book was published by Legend Press on 31st October and has received excellent press over the past few months, including coverage in The Independent, The Times, Loose Women, BBC Four and The Herald to name a few! Bonnie's recent appearance on Question Time received unprecedented interest, filling packed rooms at each event Bonnie attends. We are delighted to be working with Bonnie on this book and excited at Legend Press's expansion into non-fiction, our second mainstream title, after Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths in 2008. 

Order your copy of Obama Music now - £7.99 

Lucy

Picture from Bonnie Greer's launch

See here for some picture of the wonderful Bonnie Greer with her fantastic book OBAMA MUSIC. The pictures are from the launch party on Tuesday - one of hopefully many celebratory night for the books to come!

Tom

Bonnie Greer in the Times

A couple of weeks ago Bonnie did an interesting interview in the Times about her life and loves:

What is a typical day like for you?

I like getting up with the dawn. I’ll start writing right away because, first thing, I feel really clear and filled with ideas. I just write what’s in me, so it could be anything from an hour to three. Then I do a bit of yoga. My senses are acute — I can feel if I need to stretch a tense muscle. Next, I organise my day and eat breakfast: usually porridge and a bit of fruit. An hour-long walk in St James’s Park encourages me to get out into the world, and is when I get ideas. Then I do e-mails and calls. I’m not addicted to e-mail, so after checking once, I don’t look again. As a writer, you have to find ways to keep moving and stay limber, so then I’ll go to the gym. More thoughts come to me, and I take mental notes. Then I’ll come back and work through the night, till about 3am.

I also work five hours a week unpaid for the British Museum, which gives me the chance to come out of my cave. I get to be around people in finance, in science — those not in the arts. I learn an enormous amount. I can’t understand how any writer can just hang out with other writers.

How do you exist on so little sleep?

I get by on about four or five hours. I like to see the sun and I’ve always survived on very little rest. I don’t drink and I have never had a cigarette, though I love an occasional havana. I love being awake and I don’t feel fatigue.

When do you make time for your husband and friends?

David, who’s a lawyer, is an early sleeper and I go to sleep late, so he has his own routine; we don’t eat supper together. But we are around each other in the house and that is good enough. We try to go out for a meal at the weekend and spend time together, but I am too busy in the week to do it. Hanging out with friends was the one big sacrifice I made for my work. I am starting to do more of it, but, for 15 years, I led a solitary life. Now I am beginning to see that it is important just to be with people and have a good time. I have a little circle of girlfriends — they’re my lifeline. I like the company of women; I like their common sense.

To read the article in full click here!

Lucy

Obama Music launch featured on celeb gossip blog

The official launch party of Obama Music by Bonnie Greer has been featured on celeb gossip blog www.zoegriffin.co.uk. The celeb journalist commented:

'If you’re as interested / intrigued by the American President as I am then you must check out the book and what’s even better is that it was written by a woman that embarrassed BNP leader Nick Griffin on BBC’s Question Time.'

To see the feature click here!

Lucy 

Bonnie Greer on Loose Women

We were very excited to see Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music on Loose Women this lunchtime. An appearance very different to Question Time, Bonnie spoke about her west end play Marilyn & Ella.

With the official launch party of 'Obama Music' tonight in Soho, we are all looking forward to further spreading the word of this fascinating book.

Order your copy of Obama Music now - £7.99 

Lucy

Bonnie Greer launch at Sanctum Soho Hotel

We will be delighted to attend a launch event tomorrow night for Bonnie Greer's novel OBAMA MUSIC - which is showing all of the signs of being one of the hits of Christmas!

Held to  celebrate Bonnie's collaboration with artist Keira Rathbone on the book's wonderful cover, the event is to take place from 6-8pm at the prestigious Sanctum Hotel in Soho, London. Furthermore, a number of celebrities have been lined up to give readings and the event has been included in The Hanbook's Guide to the week!

It should be a fantastic evening and we can't wait to see this superb book go from strength to strength.

Tom

Bonnie Greer to appear at Centerprise on 5th December

We're excited to say that Bonnie Greer, author of recently published OBAMA MUSIC, is to appear at the famous Centerprise in Hackney, London on 5th December for a book signing, talk and dinner.

'Join Bonnie and hear her views on issues on both sides of the Atlantic. A British resident and Chicago native Bonnie has recently been the focus of much attention on topics as diverse as the rise of the British National Party and leader of the free world President Barack H. Obama.'

For full details and to book a place, see here

Centreprise is a central hub of the London community and the event promises to be a fantastic occasion – can't wait.

Tom

Obama Music reviewed in the Independent on Sunday

It was fantastic to see the brilliant OBAMA MUSIC by Bonnie Greer reviewed in the Independent on Sunday by Lesley McDowell.

Here's a sample:

'Greer expertly weaves in memories of her own upbringing in Chicago, with more humour than you might expect, along with a clear, defined passion for the music she grew up listening to. She wants to show, too, how both the place she lived in, and the songs she listened to, were full of unseen boundaries that had held people back – but also gave them something to fight against.'

For the full review, click here

It's incredibly exciting that Bonnie's book is receiving so much deserved interest and we hope it will be one of the hits of Christmas!

Tom

Bonnie Greer in the Times

Bonnie Greer, author of the brilliant Obama Music was interviewed in the Saturday Times this weekend. Below is a taster:

My mother and father

My father, Ben, was a factory worker, and my mother, Willie Mae, a housewife. They had a limited education and little money, yet managed to raise seven children. The things they taught me have stayed with me. My father always said, “Consider the source”, so whenever I have any criticism, I always analyse who said it, why they said it and how much I value their opinion. If I don’t rate them, I don’t care. My father has passed away, but my mum still lives in Chicago and is twice the woman I’ll ever be.

My husband

David and I first met in the aisle of a supermarket 23 years ago, but we lost each other for six years before bumping into each other again at a play opening. We got married six months later and have been together ever since. Even though he is as different from me as he could possibly be – he is a white, English, suburban ex-public schoolboy – from the moment we met he knew exactly who I was and he still does. He is the person I can’t do without, and being with him is incredible. I tell every woman I meet not to give up on love because it is true; there is somebody out there for everyone and you will meet them.

My hero

The person who first moved me and still does is the late African-American author James Baldwin. I was 12 when I read his first book, Go Tell It On the Mountain, about his childhood in Harlem in the Thirties. He nailed the emotions I felt right on the head and I read all his subsequent books.

My agent

When Judith told me she was in her mid-twenties, I just started laughing. She is a generation younger than me, but is a great editor, is wiser than me and keeps me in touch with younger people. She is more like my big sister. I feel lucky to have her and always tell people not to discriminate against others based on their age.

To read the interview in full click here!

Lucy

Bonnie Greer on BBC Four last night

Last night Bonnie Greer appeared on BBC Four on World News America speaking about her latest book 'Obama Music' which was out at the end of October.

Bonnie spoke about the influence of music on Obama's presidency including jazz, soul and the blues. If you missed the interview it is now available to view by clicking here!

It is great to see Bonnie on such an interesting programme, marking the 1st anniversary of Obama's presidency.

Lucy

Obama Music reviewed in the Herald and the Bookbag

Obama Music

by Bonnie Greer has been reviewed by the Scottish Herald and popular online blog The Bookbag

The Herald review spoke about Bonnie's appearance on Question Time and commented:

That encounter was far from Greer’s first brush with politics, and in this book she argues that only the South Side of Chicago could have produced an African-American man capable of making it all the way to the Oval Office. The current administration in Washington is, she says, “a South Side presidency”.

A British citizen for the last 12 years, Greer is from Chicago herself, and Obama Music is as much about her formative years as it is about the president. Woven through this book is the complex sociology of Chicago, an Irish-run town where the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade seemed to her like a Kremlin march-past; where chitlins were on the table every Sunday; and where the first wave of Afro-centrism inspired her friends to adopt “names a yard long and attitudes to match”.

To read the Herald review click here. To read the Bookbag review click here.

Lucy

Bonnie Greer on Question Time last night

Part of one of the main news events of the week, it was great to see Bonnie Greer standing her ground on Question Time last night against BNP leader Nick Griffin.

The debate has widely been covered across the national media today including in The Daily Mail, The Scotsman and The Times.

Bonnie Greer was born in Chicago where she later studied with David Mamet, before moving to New York to study at the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan. She has been living in Britain since the late 1980s where she has carved a reputation; she’s won numerous awards, including the Verity Bargate and has been a judge on many prizes including the Orange Prize for Fiction. Bonnie regularly contributes articles to the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent and Marie Claire as well as appearing for comment on TV and radio. She is also just completing collections of short stories and essays and her latest play, Marilyn and Ella will be moving to the West End in 2009.

Obama Music by Bonnie Greer is published on 31st October. The book is now available to order using the link below.

Pre-order your copy of Obama Music now - £7.99 

Lucy

Bonnie Greer to appear on Question Time with BNP leader

Bonnie Greer, author of Obama Music (published on 31st October) will be appearing on BBC's Question Time on the 22nd October. The controversial edition will also feature BNP leader Nick Griffin.

The news has been covered across the nationals this morning in The Guardian, The Times, The New Statesman, The First Post and The Daily Record, as well as many others.

Bonnie Greer was born in Chicago where she later studied with David Mamet, before moving to New York to study at the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan. She has been living in Britain since the late 1980s where she has carved a reputation; she’s won numerous awards, including the Verity Bargate and has been a judge on many prizes including the Orange Prize for Fiction. Bonnie regularly contributes articles to the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent and Marie Claire as well as appearing for comment on TV and radio. She is also just completing collections of short stories and essays and her latest play, Marilyn and Ella will be moving to the West End in 2009.

Lucy

Obama Music featured in the Independent

Obama Music by Bonnie Greer (released on 31st October) was featured in The Independent last week.

Just when we thought Obama fever was dying down, the writer and critic Bonnie Greer is set to publish her latest book 'Obama Music' on 31 October, in which she recalls, through tunes, the culture that influenced Obama's call to presidency, the fight for equality by American educational institutions and her own experiences growing up on the South Side of Chicago. The publisher, Legend Press, noted that "the book is an interpretation of Obama through the culture and music that he chose to make his base". The book takes in hip-hop, country, classical and rock'n'roll, all of whichwere heard on Inauguration Day, and also covers blues, gospel, soul and jazz.

To see the article click here!

Lucy

 

Obama Music release on 31st October

The release of Obama Music by Bonnie Greer on 31st October has been described as 'potentially... one of the best; or at least one of the most intriguing' Obama books to be published. To read the article from robaroundbooks.com please click here!

Bonnie Greer was herself brought up on the South Side of Chicago, so it’s a given that she’s going to bring a lot of ‘insider knowledge’ to her book; not only about the difficulties and challenges facing African Americans growing up in this area, but also of the music and culture which Obama would have found himself exposed to during his formative years. And with a promise that Greer’s exploration will cover a wide expanse of music-genres i.e. hip-hop, country, classical, rock and roll, blues, gospel, blues and jazz, it’s not just Obama fans who will be heading to the cash register with a copy of Obama Music in hand.

Pre-order your copy of Obama Music now - £7.99 

Lucy

Announcing Obama Music by Bonnie Greer

We are pleased to announce that we will be publishing Bonnie Greer's latest book Obama Music on 31st October. The book is to be promoted front of shop by Blackwell's as part of their Paperbacks of the Year promotion.

Through music Bonnie recalls the culture that influenced Obama’s call to presidency, the fight for equality by American educational institutions and her own experiences growing up on the South Side of Chicago. The book describes the difficulties and opportunities faced by African Americans from the 1950s and describes the changing atmosphere of America in the years leading up to the inauguration of America’s first black president.

Obama Music is an interpretation of Obama through the culture and music that he chose to make his base. The book speaks about hip-hop, country, classical, rock and roll, all of which were heard on Inauguration Day. The book also covers blues, gospel, soul and jazz, especially from the golden eras, when the people of the South Side began to build the great institutions, and the great solidarity, that enabled Barack Obama to become the most powerful person in the world.

We were delighted when we were approached to take part in this exciting project. Bonnie is a great current commentator, and we look forward to publishing this book about such an important subject and one of the great figures of the 21st century.

The release was featured in the Bookseller this morning. To read the article click here!

Lucy