Tony Brasunas

The adventure continues. I feel grateful that I get to do this — tour with my story and share it with others. It is a delight.

The east coast tour was a whirlwind of ups and downs, of places and faces, and if you saw me out there, I might have been in any of a number of emotional and physical states. Thank you for meeting me where I was.

The truth is, connecting with people about Double Happiness is immensely fulfilling and I thoroughly enjoy it, more even than I had guessed.

Now Double Happiness continues to take me around this country, asking me and letting me personify all over again the young soul within me who experienced China and set out to write about it. In addition to the written words, this is how I get to share the story with others. I’m not always that person anymore, and it is this tour and connecting with you and experiencing again the serendipity of the road that kindles in me again the fires of the dragon’s breath I describe in the book’s prologue. It’s spicy and sweet to taste this, and also to know it’s the taste of the beginning of the end of this this second life-changing journey, publishing the book.

Thank you for spreading the word about Double Happiness. For those of you who can, please do come out and see me and Double Happiness on the tour.

I will be in southern California in two weeks:

Saturday, May 3 (SANTA BARBARA)
6pm : Reading & Signing
Granada Books
1224 State Street, Santa Barbara

Sunday, May 4 (LOS ANGELES)
3pm : Reading & Signing
Beyond Baroque
681 North Venice Blvd., Venice

Monday, May 5 (LOS ANGELES)
7pm : Reading & Signing
Home of MJ Park
Silverlake

And then I will be in the Pacific Northwest the second week of June.

June 11-13 (PORTLAND, OR)
Events TBA

June 14-16 (SEATTLE, WA)
Events TBA

Check back here very soon for more on the Oregon and Washington Double Happiness events.

For now, have fun, take chances, and enjoy the journey,
Tony

Friends, I think it does. At least the kind of traveling that creates new experiences.

Travel inspires creativity, fresh perspectives, and an open enjoyment of something you haven’t enjoyed before. There are two kinds of happiness — as those of you reading Double Happiness know — a joy in our desires fulfilled and a delight in awareness of what already exists. Travel often brings me both.

The book tour, this trans-American journey of words, has been a whirlwind of wonderful places and faces, new and old. Every day seems to fulfill a desire and bring me closer to an awareness that what already exists is good. My desire was for this tour to be all booked in advance by the publicist I hired. What already exists are: a large network of people and places throughout this country who are already interested in Double Happiness; and a range of experiences ready to flow organically around the book. This trip is reminding me of all of this — that my desires are important and that what already exists is good. It is the union of these that creates double happiness. This book may be touring me more than I am touring this book.

What else can I say? Every event so far has been a sweet experience, from a bookstore in St Louis to a library in Charles Town, from a restaurant in Princeton to a comfortable home in New York (a few photos are at right), and so much more. After working on this book alone for many years, connecting now about Double Happiness with other people is a desire fulfilled.

Today I have two events — one here at my alma mater, Amherst College, and one this evening at a gallery in Rosendale, NY. If you’re in upstate NY, please come out tonight! If Boston is home, or not too far away, come out and see me Monday evening! All are welcome. If you have to travel a bit to get there, make it the kind of travel that brings happiness.

Have fun, take chances, enjoy the journey,
Tony

Friends, Adventurers, Teachers, Travelers, Sages, and Heroes:

The book tour journeys east! Please come out, support the places that are hosting me and Double Happiness, and let me read to you, answer your questions, and thank you in person!

I depart San Francisco this Wednesday, March 26, and land in St. Louis that afternoon.

Here’s the latest full list, with dates and places:

March 26 (ST LOUIS, MO)
6pm : Reading and Signing
Subterranean Books
6275 Delmar, in the U. City Loop

March 28 (WASHINGTON DC)
9:30pm : Song Performance and Book Reading
Politics & Prose Bookstore
Downstairs Cafe
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC

March 29 (WASHINGTON DC)
6pm : Open House, Reading, and Signing
1021 North Garfield Street, #303, Arlington
(If you find the front door closed, dial
415-647-8587 and we’ll let you in.)

March 30 (CHARLES TOWN, WV)
1-4pm : Open House, Reading, and Signing
Home of Barbara June Appelgren
415 E. Academy St., Charles Town

March 31 (CHARLES TOWN, WV)
12:30pm : Book Reading & Signing
Old Charles Town Library
200 E Washington St, Charles Town

March 31 (PRINCETON, NJ)
6:30pm : Dinner Reception and Book Reading
Hosted by Princeton-in-Asia
Princeton University

April 2 (NEW YORK, NY)
7:30pm : Open House, Reading and Signing
Home of Nick & Wendy Heilbut
490 West End Avenue, Apt 10D, Manhattan

April 3 (NEW YORK, NY)
Event tba.

April 4 (AMHERST, MA)
12:15pm : Conversation On Living Abroad After College
Hosted by Amherst Career Center
Valentine Hall, Terrace Room B, Amherst College

April 4 (ROSENDALE, NY)
6:30pm : Book Reading & Signing
With Tanya Robie and Dorothy Albertini
Roos Arts Gallery
449 Main St, Rosendale

April 7 (BOSTON, MA)
6:30pm : Open House, Reading, and Signing
467 Columbus Avenue, Boston
(If you find the front door closed, dial
415-647-8587 and we’ll let you in.)

Help Me Add a Date or Two To The Tour

Do you know a cafe, bookstore, library, high school, or university department that might enjoy a Double Happiness event. Can you help book an event in the cities where nothing is booked yet? Let me know! If you need materials, please download the miniature media kit [ZIP].

If you have already finished the book, or if you are simply interested in China and discovery, join us tonight as we complete the journey together and discuss happiness. Details on how to connect and join the online event are below.

I returned home Monday from a fascinating trip to China. With my wife Pamela, I visited the freezing north, the capital city of Beijing, and the tropical south. I walked the halls of Peizheng High School in Guangzhou, where I taught English over a decade ago. I discovered that while many Chinese are pleased with their country’s rapid development, on a personal level there are widespread worries that it’s all happening too fast. I will be sufficiently over jetlag tonight to explain this.

This will be the final reading event, so we’ll go a little longer — 45 minutes instead of the normal 30 minutes. Please join us for this Double Happiness reading and discussion!

Consider this question in advance of our discussion:

When did you find a new understanding of happiness?

Tonight: Completing the Journey – “South of the Clouds”

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COMPLETE THE JOURNEY: GO “SOUTH OF THE CLOUDS”
Online Reading from Chapter 37 & Discussion of Happiness
Wednesday, March 12, 6:30pm PST / 9:30pm EST

Option 1: Join via the internet:
global.gotomeeting.com/join/646380061
If you haven’t downloaded it yet, you’ll download a nifty app to your computer. Use your microphone and speakers – a headset is recommended.

Option 2: Call in using your telephone.
United States : (773) 945-1031
Access Code / Meeting ID: 646-380-061
(Use *6 when you want to mute/unmute your line)
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I hope you’ll join us tonight!

It’s been a wild return to the Middle Kingdom, full of snow and trains and friendly taxi drivers. But I’m delighted to be here.

I’ll tell you about it all during tonight’s live online Reading and Discussion. I’ll do an update from Beijing, a reading from Chapter 32 “White Rabbit, Black Rabbit,” and a discussion based on your responses to the question, “When did you realize you were not immortal?” Details on how to connect are below.

The Ice Festival in Harbin was stunning, absolutely freezing, and magical. I signed copies of Double Happiness over “rare American Whiskey” (turned out to be Jack Daniels) in a cafe called Sweet Station. Now we’re down in Beijing, taking in the massive changes this city has undergone since I was last here over a decade ago.

Tonight: A Return to China – “White Rabbit, Black Rabbit”

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DOUBLE HAPPINESS READING EVENT: “LIVE FROM CHINA”
Free Webcast Reading & Discussion
Thursday, Feb 27, 6:30pm PST / 9:30pm EST

Option 1: Join via the internet:
global.gotomeeting.com/join/646380061
If you haven’t downloaded it yet, you’ll download a nifty app to your computer. Use your microphone and speakers – a headset is recommended.

Option 2: Call in using your telephone.
United States : (773) 945-1031
Access Code / Meeting ID: 646-380-061
(Use *6 when you want to mute/unmute your line)

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I hope you’ll join us tonight!

Meanwhile, the Year of the Horse gallops on.

Have fun and take chances,
Tony

Thank you for joining us on the journey thus far. We’ve had some great discussions. I love hearing your thoughts and questions.

If you weren’t able to join us in real time, here are recordings of the previous two events. (Event #2 is here.)

Event #3 – Chinese New Year

A reading from Chapter 18, “The New Light Party.”
An introduction to Chinese Astrology and the Year of the Horse.
If you don’t see the above audio player, you can hear the file here.

Event #4 – Walking to Heaven

A reading from Chapter 26, “Walking to Heaven.”
A discussion of why the book is called Double Happiness.
If you don’t see the above audio player, you can hear the file here.

Future Readings

Our next reading will be from China! Thursday, February 27, I’ll read from Chapter 32, “White Rabbit, Black Rabbit.,” and we’ll discuss the crossroads we face in our early twenties.

The Year of the Horse has begun!

Take heart, take chances, take adventures,
Tony