Books & Books is bringing another Pulitzer Prize-winning author to Grand Cayman. William Kennedy, who received the prestigious award in 1984 for his critically acclaimed novel Ironweed, is celebrating the paperback release of his latest book, Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes. In honour of the story’s Cuban setting, Kennedy will host a special Havana-Themed Happy Hour on Tuesday 23 October from 5:30-7pm at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in Camana Bay. Guests will enjoy Cuban-inspired cocktails and canapés as they rub elbows with the author, learn about his impressive career, and have their books signed.

Tickets are available at Books & Books and Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink. The cost is $25 and includes refreshments and a copy of the book.

Part of the Books & Books International Visiting Author Series, this event is generously sponsored by Camana Bay.

About the Book

When journalist Daniel Quinn meets Ernest Hemingway at the Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba, in 1957, he has no idea that his own affinity for simple, declarative sentences will change his life radically overnight.

So begins William Kennedy’s latest novel—a tale of revolutionary intrigue, heroic journalism, crooked politicians, drug-running gangsters, Albany race riots, and the improbable rise of Fidel Castro. Quinn’s epic journey carries him through the nightclubs and jungles of Cuba and into the newsrooms and racially charged streets of Albany on the day Robert Kennedy is fatally shot in 1968. The odyssey brings Quinn, and his exotic but unpredictable Cuban wife, Renata, a debutante revolutionary, face-to-face with the darkest facets of human nature and illuminates the power of love in the presence of death.

Kennedy masterfully gathers together an unlikely cast of vivid characters in a breath-taking adventure full of music, mysticism, and murder—a homeless black alcoholic, a radical Catholic priest, a senile parent, a terminally ill jazz legend, the imperious mayor of Albany, Bing Crosby, Hemingway, Castro, and a ragtag ensemble of radicals, prostitutes, provocateurs, and underworld heavies. This is an unforgettably riotous story of revolution, romance, and redemption, set against the landscape of the civil rights movement as it challenges the legendary and vengeful Albany political machine.

Select titles by William Kennedy are now available at Books & Books.

About the Author

William Kennedy, author, screenwriter and playwright, was born and raised in Albany, New York. Kennedy brought his native city to literary life in many of his works. The Albany cycle includes Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ironweed. The versatile Kennedy wrote the screenplay for Ironweed, the play Grand View, and co-wrote the screenplay for The Cotton Club with Francis Ford Coppola. Kennedy also wrote the nonfictions O Albany! and Riding the Yellow Trolley Car. Some of the other works he is known for include Roscoe and Very Old Bones.

Kennedy is a professor in the English department at the State University of New York at Albany. He is the founding director of the New York State Writers Institute and, in 1993, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has received numerous literary awards, including the Literary Lions Award from the New York Public Library, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Governor’s Arts Award. Kennedy was also named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France and a member of the board of directors of the New York State Council for the Humanities.

For up to date information on all Books & Books events in Grand Cayman, visit www.booksandbooks.com, like Books & Books (Cayman) on Facebook and follow @BooksandBooksKY on Twitter.

Notes for editors:

• • Books & Books is South Florida’s premier independent bookseller with locations in Coral Gables, Miami Beach and Bal Harbour Shops. Founded in 1982 by

Mitchell Kaplan, Books & Books is exceptionally well-respected in the literary community as one of America’s most successful independent bookstores.

• • Books & Books in Grand Cayman is located at the Town Centre of Camana Bay, at 45 Market Street, where it is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 9:00pm. The store number is 345-640-2665.

• • Books & Books was one of the first shops to open at the Town Centre of Camana Bay; Grand Cayman’s new shopping and entertainment destination. The store is designed to encourage customers to explore and creates a sense of discovery with a large section dedicated to Caymanian authors, as well as a vast number of titles of Caribbean interest. A light and airy room dedicated to children has a particularly impressive selection of picture books in addition to toys, educational games and books for kids of all ages. The new and notable fiction section includes New York Times bestsellers, while the arts room has a comprehensive collection of architecture, design, photography and gardening books.

• Sign up to receive Books & Books free, weekly electronic newsletter of special events by visiting www.booksandbooks.com. Click on the “monthly newsletter”