Outings with Authors!

Item Description

Dinner with "The Time Travelers Wife" author, Audrey Niffenegger

             (as played by James Kennedy)

Face it: you can't afford to have dinner with Audrey Niffenegger.     But I, James Kennedy, the author of The Order of Odd-Fish, will pretend to be Audrey Niffenegger.    

   I promise it will be just as good.        In fact, better!                I'll out-Niffenegger Niffenegger!

True, I haven't read any of her books (though I've always really meant to). So I promise that before our dinner I will read all of her works, plus her Wikipedia page.

Ms. Niffenegger promises you an "enchanted evening" at Russian Tea Time. I'd do the same, but have you seen the prices there? $24 for beef stroganoff?! Jesus! Let's just go to Margie's Candies on Western.

Item Special Note

Note from Auction Team:  He is funny.  Seriously.  And he is also an accomplished author.  Seriously!  Scroll down to check it out...!

James is the author of the surreal young adult fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish (Random House Delacorte, 2008).  He has an unusually close relationship with his fans, who have deluged him with brilliant fan art inspired by the book. In April, with the help of Chicago theater group Collaboraction, James put on a gallery show of over 100 pieces of Odd-Fish fan art from artists young and old. An art show that turned into a raucous costumed battle-dancing party, with a marching band and all-night dancing!

He is also in high-demand for speaking engagements, but particularly loves going to schools or libraries, and they love him back!  He gets them jazzed about reading, about writing, about the colorful world around them...  In his words "Spastic, and Theatrical!"  In our words "Brilliant, silly, irreverent, and totally charming  --  kind of like Robin Williams as Morc, but for the next generation"!

• James will be donating signed copies of his book The Order of Odd Fish along with a CD soundtrack for each!
• Number of folks who will be able to participate in this rollicking good time?!  2
• The event date  will be coordinated between the author and winning bidder; July or August time frame likely.
• Contact information provided at close of auction.

A little local connection. . . He is married to Heather Norborg, former reference Librarian at the EPL Main Branch, and the proud father of Lucy Kennedy!

The Order of Odd Fish  -  A Smithsonian Notable Book for Children 2008

“Hilarious . . . Readers with a finely tuned sense of the absurd are going to adore the Technicolor ride.” —Booklist

“An adventurous romp with singular characters. Fans of humorous chaos will find plenty of stimulation here.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“A carnival of odd . . . The imagination, whimsy, and humor aren’t like anything else you’ve read before. . . The whole time I was reading this I wished I was reading it with someone, so I could elbow them at particularly bizarre moments, or chortle, or read passages aloud and savor them.” —Laini Taylor, author of Blackbringer, Silksinger, and the National Book Award-nominated Lips Touch

“Rollicking fantasy on the grand scale.” —Smithsonian magazine

“Kennedy’s writing is so extraordinary. He has a knack for creating outrageous characters and vivid scenes where the subtlest turn of phrase can make the most hilarious impact . . . Kennedy reminds us that writing, especially young adult writing, does not have to be simple or tedious or at all reductive, that it can be dense and multi-layered and exquisitely complex . . . I loved The Order of Odd-Fish.” —Gapers Block

“A work of mischievous imagination and outrageous invention.” —Time Out Chicago