Oscar Villalon

August's Literary Events

St. Valentine Sweetie Pie Fest, Literary Death Match, Fool's Gold, and Vegan Cooking Demo

Marianne WilliamsFools Gold plays the Clift Hotel this Saturday ​The pre-Valentine's Day weekend: If you're in a relationship, spend it smooching and taking in a romantic folk show, art exhibit, or do whatever it is you young lovers like to do. If you're on the prowl, hit the clubs and flash that ... More >>

So Wrong It's Fun

Marianne WilliamsFools Gold plays the Clift Hotel this Saturday ​The pre-Valentine's Day weekend: If you're in a relationship, spend it smooching and taking in a romantic folk show, art exhibit, or do whatever it is you young lovers like to do. If you're on the prowl, hit the clubs and flash that ... More >>

This month's literary events

Marianne WilliamsFools Gold plays the Clift Hotel this Saturday ​The pre-Valentine's Day weekend: If you're in a relationship, spend it smooching and taking in a romantic folk show, art exhibit, or do whatever it is you young lovers like to do. If you're on the prowl, hit the clubs and flash that ... More >>

Many Talents

Marianne WilliamsFools Gold plays the Clift Hotel this Saturday ​The pre-Valentine's Day weekend: If you're in a relationship, spend it smooching and taking in a romantic folk show, art exhibit, or do whatever it is you young lovers like to do. If you're on the prowl, hit the clubs and flash that ... More >>

Panorama Publisher Is Yesterday's News

-30- for Panorama publisher...​Oscar Villalon, the longtime former Chronicle book editor who accepted a buyout and then went to work as McSweeney's publisher has abruptly exited that position, SF Weekly has learned.It is unclear at whose behest Villalon left McSweeney's, just after shepherding the ... More >>

Panorama Writers Aren't Retiring on Their Paychecks

Smooth paper, bright colors. Mmmmm.  ​ ​There's been a lot of speculation about exactly how little Panorma writers got paid for their contributions to Dave Eggers' much-lauded, let's-prove-print-can-be-saved newspaper. The paper had 218 contributors who produced a total of 350 ... More >>

December Book Events: "Is the Book Dead? High Tech and the Written Word," Michael Medved, Norman Podhoretz, Dave Eggers, San Francisco Panorama, Writers with Drinks at the Make-Out Room

Smooth paper, bright colors. Mmmmm.  ​ ​There's been a lot of speculation about exactly how little Panorma writers got paid for their contributions to Dave Eggers' much-lauded, let's-prove-print-can-be-saved newspaper. The paper had 218 contributors who produced a total of 350 ... More >>

Hey, That's Ryan Farr Grilling Lamb on a Mission Sidewalk!

M. LaddThe 4505 Meats chef stuffed the leg with various other parts.​Yes, that was 4505 Meats' Ryan Farr manning the grill in front of the McSweeney's headquarters at 839 Valencia (at 19th St.) earlier today. As you read this, the McSweeney's crew is noshing on baby lamb. Farr -- with help fro ... More >>

Show Up at Dynamo Tomorrow Morning, and You Might Score a Free Book

Jesus H. Shatner/FlickrOne of these babies should be as essential to reading as an Itty Bitty Book Light.​Wouldn't we all read more if it somehow involved doughnuts? Tomorrow morning, books collide with sinkers in front of Dynamo Donut Coffee (2760 24th St. at York), scene of a book giveaway ... More >>

At Bloodhound Last Night, Nervous Chefs Watch Themselves in 'No Reservations'

Joseph Schell Incanto's Chris Cosentino (left) and Sebo's Michael Black react to the broadcast. A handful of chefs and others who appeared in the San Francisco episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations gathered at Bloodhound in SOMA last night to watch the broadcast. Incanto chef Chris Co ... More >>

The Afternoon I Holed Up in Bender's with Anthony Bourdain

Mary LaddThe nasty bits: The Bender's Bloody Mary, crowned with a beef stick.​Filming the San Francisco episode of No Reservations (the show airs on the Travel Channel network August 10) was similar to the other times I've hung out with Anthony Bourdain. It was all drinking and eating, only th ... More >>

Chronicle loses its books editors

Mary LaddThe nasty bits: The Bender's Bloody Mary, crowned with a beef stick.​Filming the San Francisco episode of No Reservations (the show airs on the Travel Channel network August 10) was similar to the other times I've hung out with Anthony Bourdain. It was all drinking and eating, only th ... More >>

Win Some, Lose Some

City Lights hosted the announcement of the National Book Awards finalists this month. But do book awards even matter?

Mad Doodling

A comic gross-out

Protest Song

What Are Words For?

Darth Vega to the Rescue

New Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega has been cast as a villain, but he may be just what the Hearst empire needs to defeat the dark forces of the new economy