{"title":"Villa Books","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"my-little-plague-journal","title":"My Little Plague Journal","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen a global pandemic, climate catastrophe and news of social and political chaos descended upon Berkeley, California in the Spring of 2020, artist and writer L. John Harris put aside all other projects to document the painful, surreal and at times hilarious effects on his community, his home, his mind and body, and on his gustatory pleasures. Harris' \u003cem\u003eLittle Plague Journal\u003c\/em\u003e captures the big story of our Covid-19 pandemic - from March of 2020 through May of 2021 - with witty texts, fanciful illustrations and intimate photographs that will both amuse and console during a dark time on planet Earth.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA native of Los Angeles, California,\u003cstrong\u003e L. John Harris\u003c\/strong\u003e studied art at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965-1969. Through the 1970's, while working part time at some of Berkeley's legendary food businesses - the Cheese Board, Chez Panisse and The Swallow café - Harris worked as a journalist and wrote The Book of Garlic (1974) which inspired garlic festivals and garlic theme restaurants from California to New York. In 1981, Harris founded Aris Books, a specialty cookbook publisher and in 1988 launched his Foodoodle cartoon byline in several Bay Area magazines. Harris' most recent illustrated book, Café French: A Flâneur's Guide to the Language, Lore and Food of the Paris Café won the 2019 Paris Book Festival award in the travel book category. Harris lives in Berkeley, California in a 100-year-old Bernard Maybeck-designed residence (Villa Maybeck) that serves as a venue for cultural and musical events, many featuring his collection of historic guitars. He is Curator of the Harris Guitar Collection at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"A fiery collage of texts, photographs, and illustrations offering an intimate record of pandemic life. \u003cspan style=\"font-size: small;\" size=\"2\"\u003eHarris weaves abundant historical and cultural references into this portrait of a singular time and place framework, capturing for the future his drift of thought in a polarized era...the slim collection preserves a singular moment of rage, fear, and uncertainty.\" -- \u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\/BookLife.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"If L. John Harris' Little Plague Journal is shaped by his wildly eccentric sense of humor, this does not lessen the sense that here you will find a revealing mirror of what so many of us felt during the pandemic, separated as we were… isolated in our houses, if not stir crazy, certainly disoriented. Yet, as with the author, if one paid close attention, the mood that occupied us (indeed, some might say, held us captive) had a creative side.\" - Susan Griffin, author, \u003cem\u003eWoman and Nature\u003c\/em\u003e, from her Foreword\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A wonderfully wacky ramble through history, art, food – and black humor – in this distinctive memoir of sheltering-in-place. Witty, erudite, and wise, Harris' dead-pan humor and thought-provoking visuals will make you feel so much better about your wasted year.\" - Valerie Andrews, editor, \u003cem\u003eReinventing Home\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"L. John Harris has given us an invaluable and inimitable fusion of words and images from the heart of Berkeley. His Covid journal will be a vital primary source in the future.\" - W. Scott Haine, author, \u003cem\u003eThe World of the Paris Café\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No Going Back is my subtitle to L. John Harris' must-be-read and brilliant new book of texts and toons, his little journal for this big plague. And why would we? To what unplucked day?\" - Jeremiah Tower, chef and author, \u003cem\u003eCalifornia Dish\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Villa Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41681175838870,"sku":"9798885256889","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0477\/8731\/1254\/products\/img_proxy_b2f69320-aeaf-4411-9f0b-b5aae845ed2c.jpg?v=1650377834"},{"product_id":"cafe-french","title":"Café French","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe iconic, strolling Paris flâneur of the 19th century often expressed his ironic observations of the spectacular city he loved in paint, prose and poetry. Celebrated artist-flâneurs like Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire and their 20th-century successors — from André Breton's surrealists to Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialists — have served up brilliant, if sometimes dark, images of the City of Light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, following in their august footsteps, Berkeley writer and artist L. John Harris channels the historic flâneur with his witty café French \"lessons\" and whimsical illustrations taken from his Paris café journals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile Café French proposes to guide fellow Francophiles on a journey into the cultural and linguistic codes and canons of Paris café culture, the author—with a dash of Dada—chronicles his own discoveries: the cafés he inhabits, the language he struggles to learn, the food he eats and the dreams he pursues in the city he loves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the end, Harris of Paris returns home to Berkeley where he transforms his journal entries and sketches into a curious curriculum. Café French, a delightful book that will instruct and amuse Paris newcomers and veterans alike — all who yearn for a taste of the flâneur's creative café lifestyle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA native of Los Angeles, California,\u003cb\u003e L. John Harris\u003c\/b\u003e studied art at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965-1969. Through the 1970's, while working part time at some of Berkeley's legendary food businesses - the Cheese Board, Chez Panisse and The Swallow café - Harris worked as a journalist and wrote The Book of Garlic (1974) which inspired garlic festivals and garlic theme restaurants from California to New York. In 1981, Harris founded Aris Books, a specialty cookbook publisher and in 1988 launched his Foodoodle cartoon byline in several Bay Area magazines. Harris' most recent illustrated book, Café French: A Flâneur's Guide to the Language, Lore and Food of the Paris Café won the 2019 Paris Book Festival award in the travel book category. Harris lives in Berkeley, California in a 100-year-old Bernard Maybeck-designed residence (Villa Maybeck) that serves as a venue for cultural and musical events, many featuring his collection of historic guitars. He is Curator of the Harris Guitar Collection at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This amusing and instructive book distills Parisian flânerie—that blend of urban strolling and conversing that fuses literary, spatial and historical life—with playful images and witty narrative about the notorious flâneurs of yore.\" \u003cbr\u003e-W. Scott Haine, author of The World of the Paris Café\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A marvelous mix of wit and knowledge, cuisine and curiosity, insight and appetite! Bravo and onward to the cafe!\" \u003cbr\u003e-Susan Griffin, author of The Book of the Courtesans\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Balzac of Berkeley has written a fast-paced and witty Paris diary replete with references to the great flâneurs, from Baudelaire and Balzac to yours truly.\" \u003cbr\u003e-Terrance Gelenter, author of Paris Through Expatriate Eyes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You don't have to travel far to enjoy the Paris café. Café French will take you there! You'll have a great time right in your own armchair.\" \u003cbr\u003e-Leonard Pitt, author of Walks Through Lost Paris\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Delicious! A totally charming celebration of Paris café culture. Thoroughly informative and utterly enjoyable.\" \u003cbr\u003e-Lisa Anselmo, author of My (Part-Time) Paris Life","brand":"Villa Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41816686362774,"sku":"9780578485379","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0477\/8731\/1254\/products\/9780578485379ita.jpg?v=1653664765"}],"url":"https:\/\/itascabooks.com\/collections\/villa-books.oembed","provider":"Itasca Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}