The 7 Addictions and 5 Professions of Anita Berber Book Release Cabaret

Tue, May 23
7 pm Sharp
Free (21 and over)

Join City Light Booksellers, Vesuvio Cafe, and Feral House Books in a
Book Release Cabaret

Mel Gordon celebrates the release of

The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar
Berlin's Priestess of Depravity

published by Feral House Press

See decadent dancers reading erotic poetry, an historic slide show
and lecture depicting the life of one of the 20th century's more
colorful figures, and much more.


The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber is the
first contemporary biography of the notorious actor/ dancer/ poet/
playwright who scandalized sex-obsessed Weimar Berlin during the
1920s. In an era where everything was permitted, Anita Berber's
celebrations of "Depravity, Horror and Ecstasy" were condemned and
censored. She often haunted Weimar Berlin's hotel lobbies,
nightclubs, and casinos, radiantly naked except for an elegant sable
wrap, a pet monkey hanging from her neck, and a silver brooch packed
with cocaine. Multi-talented Anita saw no boundaries between her
personal life and her taboo-shattering performances. As such, she was
Europe's first postmodern woman. After sated Berliners finally tired
of Anita Berber's libidinous antics, she became a "carrion soul that
even the hyenas ignored," dying in 1928 at the age of twenty-nine.

Mel Gordon is the author of Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish
Clairvoyant (Feral House), and The Grand Guignol: Theatre of Fear and
Terror (DaCapo). He teaches drama at the University of California,
Berkeley.

Venue:

Vesuvio Cafe
255 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco
415-362-3370
http://www.vesuvio.com/

How to get there:
Vesuvio Cafe is located in San Francisco's historic North Beach
district between Broadway Street and Pacific Avenue on Columbus
Avenue. 24 hour parking is available at the public garage on Vallejo
Street between Stockton and Powell Streets, across from Central
Police Station. MUNI access via No. 15 and 30 lines. The nearest BART
access is MONTGOMERY station.

Additional Info:

415-362-8193 (Ext.24)
www,citylights.com