Book It: The Five Best Literary Events This Week

A lot of animals are roaming through Denver's literary scene, from the trained horses of the stars to African baboons to Kung-Fu animals. And there's also a talk about food as therapy, just in time to get your stomach primed for the coming deliciousness. It’s a cornucopia of literary delights this week, so have a couple of helpings.

Steven Macramalla, Unleash the Dragon Within
Thursday, November 21, 7:30 p.m.
Boulder Book Store
1107 Pearl Street, Boulder
$5
Cognitive psychologist and martial arts instructor Steven Macramalla brings his new book, Unleash the Dragon Within: Transform Your Life With Kung-Fu Animals of Ch’ien-Lung, to the Boulder Book Store for a presentation and signing. The book describes how you can tap into the energies of the Cat and Snake to positively affect the mind and body, improving athletic performance, spiritual practice and even sexual relationships. Tickets are $5, and good for $5 off the purchase of this or any book the day of the event.

Gabi Moskowitz, Food Therapy
Friday, November 22, 7 p.m.
Chautauqua Community House
900 Baseline Road, Boulder
$15
Blogger, author and entertainer Gabi Moskowitz (The Brokeass Gourmet) brings her irreverent love for all things food to Chautauqua for an event that's a little bit of cooking and a whole lot of fun. From baking pies to making “angry” pasta through depression and heartbreak, Moskowitz explores the therapeutic benefits of getting your hands dirty in the kitchen. Tickets are $15, and available now.

Denny Dressman, From the Streets of Brooklyn to Trainer to the Stars
Saturday, November 23, 1 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookstore
960 South Colorado Boulevard, Glendale
Free
Join former Rocky Mountain News exec Denny Dressman at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore as he signs his book, From the Streets of Brooklyn to Trainer to the Stars: John Parisella’s Lifetime of Celebrity Connections. Parisella enjoyed over half a century of adventures working with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, from Jimmy Stewart to Joe Namath to Bono to Howard Stern. He’s lived faster than his horses.


Sid Balman Jr., Seventh Flag
Saturday, November 23, 2 p.m.
Tattered Cover LoDo
1628 16th Street
Free
Author Sid Balman Jr. brings his new novel, Seventh Flag, to Tattered Cover LoDo for a discussion and signing. The book is a Michener-esque parable that traces the arc of radicalization in modern Western Civilization, telling the story of the small west Texas town of Dell City, where a Syrian Muslim family and four generations of an iconic American family carve a farming empire out of the unforgiving high desert.

Keena Roberts, Wild Life
Monday, November 26, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Free
Author Keena Roberts brings her funny and tender memoir, Wild Life: Dispatches From a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs, to the Tattered Cover for a reading and signing. Africa bleeds into America and vice versa in Roberts’s new book, each culture amplifying the other in ways both heartbreaking and hilarious. We all struggle to fit in, but navigating both an island camp in Botswana and the treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia prep school — now, that’s a story worth telling.

Have a literary event you think should be included on this list? Send details to [email protected].