We are excited to welcome local author Justin Rosolino on February 27th at 7pm for a signing for his book: IDIOT, SOJOURNING SOUL this February!

ABOUT THE BOOK: IDIOT is the story of one former skeptic’s exploration of Christianity in a distinctly postmodern context. Written from a first-person perspective, Idiot plumbs the depths of American Christianity in its popular forms, examining the socio-historical forces that contributed to its development, including the Reformation, the scientific revolution, the rise of fundamentalism and democratization of religion. As evidenced by ongoing public debates, there is little consensus over the enduring question of Jesus: What, exactly, did he come to accomplish? What does he require of his followers (if anything)? And which Jesus are we speaking of when we invoke his name? With wit, wisdom and historical insight, Idiot tackles these theological questions head-on, ultimately landing on an orthodox, thoroughly engaging and reinvigorating explication of Jesus’ message.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in Long Island, N.Y., Justin graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Virginia, only to forego a conventional career path in favor of a music career and its natural corollary, poverty. An accomplished guitarist, singer and songwriter, Justin spent a decade headlining venues along the east coast and throughout the southeast. He has composed television and radio commercial jingles for ABC primetime television and the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Justin played guitar and led worship at Buckhead Church in Atlanta, GA, where he also worked at a group home for teens transitioning out of juvenile detention centers. As a freelance guitarist, he has played for Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz, and Jars of Clay and shared the stage and/or studio with Matt Nathanson, Take 6, India.Arie, Mat Kearney, Ed Cash, Christa Black, Kristian Stanfill and David Wilcox. Perhaps most importantly, he played Bonnaroo in 2007, where he got to sit next to Led Zeppelin at lunch.

Upon completing a Master of Divinity at Vanderbilt in 2010, Justin received the faculty award for excellence in theological studies. He has since lectured nationwide at conferences for the American Academy of Religion. Though he performed for President George W. Bush at the 2005 Inauguration, he has voted for write-in candidates in every election since becoming eligible, thereby annoying everyone. Justin, his wife, and their two precious boys now live in Waco, Texas, where he serves as dean of upper school at Live Oak Classical School.

This event is FREE. Let us know you’re coming on Facebook.

Author Kate Dawson is coming to Fabled Bookshop Monday, March 2nd at 7pm to sign her newest book, American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI!

“A fascinating book worthy of being associated with the title’s literary sleuth. Readers will want a follow-up so they can discover more of Heinrich’s cases as told through Dawson’s great storytelling. For fans of Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and other true crime works.”
––Library Journal

“Those interested in the development of modern forensics will be enthralled.”
––Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“While many true-crime books suffer from stale prose, Dawson’s writing is remarkable in that it never uses the crutch of false suspense but also doesn’t skimp on valuable details… An entertaining, absorbing combination of biography and true crime.”––Kirkus (starred review)

“Dawson combed Heinrich’s own, voluminous papers to produce this entertaining read.”––Booklist

ABOUT THE BOOK: Many are fascinated by the forensic techniques employed at crime scenes, but few know the origin story of these now taken-for-granted methods of solving murders and other misdeeds. AMERICAN SHERLOCK: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; On Sale: February 11, 2020) by journalist and documentary film producer Kate Winkler Dawson chronicles the revolutionary contributions of Edward Oscar Heinrich (pronounced Hein-RICH), who pioneered many of the forensic techniques used today. Dawson gives Heinrich his long-neglected due with an engrossing—and first full-length—account of his life and his work on some of the most perplexing and notorious cases of the first half of the twentieth century while creating a captivating portrait of a turbulent period in American history.

“The press at the time dubbed Edward Oscar Heinrich ‘America’s Sherlock Holmes’ thanks to his brilliance in the lab, his cool demeanor at crime scenes, and his expertise in the witness chair,” Dawson writes. “Between 1921 and 1933 his reputation evolved from curiosity to legend. His cases enshrined him in books, but their hero is largely unknown—a pioneer in the world of crime solving whose ‘fingerprint’ is everywhere. He invented new forensic techniques. A CSI in the field and inside the lab before the acronym existed. And he was a nascent innovator of criminal profiling fifty years before the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit invented its methodology.”
After first encountering his name in a short article about one of his most famous cases, Dawson—author of the acclaimed true crime book Death in the Air—delved further into Heinrich’s story. Her search took her deep into the archives of UC Berkeley, where more than 100,000 pieces of information had been virtually untouched since they were donated to the university by Heinrich’s son in the 1960s. From this trove of crime scene photos and sketches, notes, letters, and trial transcripts, Dawson reconstructs the story of a brilliant, complicated man and the ways in which he changed the investigation and prosecution of crime.

Never a member of a police force, Heinrich was brought in to consult on many high profile cases, including the legendary rape and manslaughter trial of movie comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (a case the prosecution ultimately lost when the jury neglected to accept Heinrich’s finger print
evidence). Bloodstain pattern analysis, ballistics, the use of UV rays to detect blood, hair and fiber evidence, handwriting analysis—all were virtually unheard of methods that Heinrich employed to bring criminals to justice. Often the cutting-edge techniques that Heinrich engaged in the lab and brought to the courtroom as an expert witness would rile the authorities, even as they galvanized the public.

Going beyond just a biography of Heinrich’s career, American Sherlock is a snapshot of our nation during a period of rapid societal change, with Prohibition at its height and the birth of a field whose impact is still felt today. As she chronicles some of Heinrich’s most extraordinary cases, Dawson vividly recreates the details of the crimes themselves, bringing to life an infamous period in American history when violent crime was the fodder of the tabloid press, gleefully devoured by the public at large. Against this colorful backdrop, Edward Oscar Heinrich quietly and unassumingly offered a revolutionary approach—the immutable proof that science and reason could provide to the thrilling, often messy world of crime solving.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kate Winkler Dawson is a seasoned documentary producer, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, WCBS News and ABC News Radio, PBS NewsHour, and Nightline. She is the author of Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City and teaches journalism at The University of Texas at Austin.