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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

Mother Foucault Bookshop Has The Best Bookstore Name Around. And Now They Bought Their Own Building.

Powell’s is the iconic Portland bookstore, but for real heads, Mother Foucault Bookshop might just edge it out. Specializing in used and rare books, Mother Foucault also hosts performances by local musicians and artists. It’s the kind of place you want in your city if you care about the arts. And like all indie bookstores, MF is subject to the vicissitudes of the economy, labor, and real estate. One thing I have learned covering bookstore news is that the single most stabilizing thing a store can have is ownership of its own space (it is no mistake that the two best-known indies in the US (Powell’s and The Strand), control their own real estate destiny. Mother Foucault has now joined them by forming a non-profit to buy the building in which they currently exist. A Kickstarter to tackle the down payment launched in the fall with a goal of $300,000 that didn’t hit the target, but now they have announced that they had enough to proceed. (sounds like maybe a deep-pocketed individual stepped in?). Whatever happened, bully for them.

Dr. Abbot Reads Books

One of my favorite offshoots of a hit is secondary content plays: quick interviews, fashion recaps, where have you seen them befores, and the like. And rarely, very rarely, do you get something that turns out to be book-related. Someone at Cultured was clearly trolling Shawn Hatosy’s (Dr. Abbot on The Pitt) socials and saw that there were some books on there. So they got them on the horn to ask him about it. I was a little suspicious when he name-checked The Great Gatsby because while it could be true it is also the kind of thing you might just say. But one thing you would not just say is that your favorite recent read is a book about the dictionary called Unabridged. And you know what, if you did happen to think that pretending Unabridged is a book you love, I will still award full marks.

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Leonardo DiCaprio quietly funds a tiny library in the middle of LA

Speaking of books and celebrities, here is a small item I had never heard before: the computer room at the Loz Feliz branch of the Los Angeles public library sits exactly where Leonardo DiCaprio’s childhood bedroom once stood. And when the branch was originally built in 1999, the DiCaprio family kicked in some cash, resulting in the computer room actually being named for Leonardo DiCaprio. Along with containing computer workstations, the room is lined with posters for his biggest hits.

The post Mother Foucault Bookshop Has The Best Bookstore Name Around. And Now They Bought Their Own Building. appeared first on Our Story Insight.

The book borrows from Jerry Pinto’s own lived experience of being raised by a mother with bipolar disorder. It’s written in an unflinching way while holding both humour and tenderness. As you watch it unfold, you feel like you’re in the room with them, in their universe that nobody other than their family would understand. It is written in the voice of the son who tries to put together who his parents have been, and who they are today. There is a thread of enduring love running through all the loss in their lives. We witness a young couple fall in love in Mumbai in the ’50s and ’60s, and their eventual lives with their children.

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The post Mumbai, Mother, and Mental Illness: This Autobiographical Novel Will Live In Your Mind appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Jason Ader — a one-time Wall Street mogul who used to appear on CNBC and who helped bring down ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer — threw his fund 26 Capital Acquisition Corp into Chapter 11 in July after a botched $2.5 billion takeover of the biggest casino in the Philippines, according to court papers.

To make matters worse, the 57-year-old investor allegedly blew $370,000 using a collection of American Express credit cards — including two Platinum accounts, a Delta Sky Miles card and the uber-exclusive, invite-only ‘Black’ card.

Jason Ader and partner Hana at the uber-exclusive Monte-Carlo Country Club last year. Instagram/Hana Ader

Amex is now suing him to claw back the unpaid balances that fueled his jetsetting lifestyle, according to court papers.

According to statements filed in court, Ader splashed out just over $9,000 in August 2024 on his ‘Black’ Amex Centurion at a Christian Dior boutique in posh Monaco on the Mediterranean.

As previously reported by The Post, that was the same month that Jason and his partner Hana posted pictures on his now-private Instagram account from their summer vacation.

They posed together at the members-only Monte-Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the Cote d’Azur and the Olympic beach volleyball tournament at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Approached by The Post for comment, Ader said he was unaware of the lawsuit.

Jason Ader and partner Hana in Miami in 2022. Getty Images for PAMM

“I have no record of receiving service, and this is the first time I’ve seen the complaint,” Ader said in a statement.

“This is a routine commercial matter, and if valid, will be addressed through the proper legal channels,” he added. “To be clear: there is no judgment, and no indication of wrongdoing.”

The revelations are the latest in a line of legal woes for the one-time rising star of Wall Street — most famously a lawsuit from his 82-year-old mother last summer when she accused him of ripping off his late father Richard’s estate.

Jason is being sued by his mother, Pamela Ader. Facebook/Pamela Ader

Pamela Ader took her son to court in August 2024 after he failed to keep up with repayments on a $13 million mortgage linked to his dad’s swanky Upper East Side townhouse. That left Richard’s estate on the hook for the crippling principal as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest and unpaid taxes, according to court papers.

Jason’s father died in September 2023 at age 81 and made his fortune founding US Realty Advisors, which claims to manage $18 billion of assets nationwide. His widow’s lawsuit fails to spell out how much his estate is worth. That case is still ongoing because Pamela is suing her son in a personal capacity, rather than his investment firms.

A transcript of a recent court hearing, published Aug. 1, describes how Ader griped that his parents “stopped paying at some point in time in 2021 for the education expenses” of his children.

Ader had taken out a $13 million loan backed by his now-deceased father Richard’s Upper East Side townhouse. Google Maps

Ader’s ill-fated firm 26 Capital Acquisition Corp filed for Chapter 11 on July 11, listing a slew of unpaid lawyers, accountants, translators, tax officials and PR firms that have lost six-figure or seven-figure sums. The firm also lists two of Ader’s companies, SPAC parent 26 Capital Holdings and SpringOwl Asset Management, as being owed $14 million.

“Throughout this process, I took extreme care to ensure that not a single public shareholder lost any money. In fact, over $275 million in trust proceeds were returned,” Ader told The Post in a written statement.

“SpringOwl and its affiliates are listed as creditors because they provided loans and services to 26 Capital. Those claims, along with certain disputed invoices, are being addressed transparently and lawfully through the bankruptcy process,” he added.

But a US bankruptcy judge in Delaware, Karen B. Owens, stepped in on Aug. 22 to strip Ader of his control of the process, appointing a US Trustee administrator to take charge of settling his debts.

Ader’s woes appear to be linked to his SPAC’s failure to close a $2.5 billion takeover of the Okada casino in Manila in 2023. AFP via Getty Images

The watchdog was set up in 1978 to “prevent fraud, dishonesty, and overreaching in the bankruptcy system.”

“There is no evidence I have seen to date that his related companies provided any services worthy of the billings asserted in the Chapter 11 filing,” said one source close to the situation. “It reeks of gamesmanship and bad faith.”

After making a name on Wall Street in the 1990s as a gaming analyst, Ader co-founded Spring Owl in 2013.

He also once served as a board member of Las Vegas Sands, the Nevada-based casino giant founded by the late Sheldon Adelson.

Delaware judge Travis Laster stopped the casino deal closing NYU Law

But his Manila casino takeover was blocked in September 2023 by Delaware judge Travis Laster, who ruled that the deal could not proceed because Ader had tried to “enrich himself” through “a dodgy bargain.”

26 Capital never disclosed to the casino owners that one of its deal advisers, Zama Capital hedge fund founder Alex Eiseman, also owned more than 60% of a 26 Capital affiliate.

A lowball deal for the casino would therefore benefit Eiseman’s investment and Judge Laster described Eiseman’s work with 26 Capital as “a conspiracy to mislead Universal,” the Japanese gaming firm that owned the property.

Ader’s main investment firm, SpringOwl Asset Management, was originally founded in New York, but SEC filings from 2023 show that it is now headquartered at the upmarket 701 Brickell skyscraper in downtown Miami.

Florida property records lists Ader’s main residence at a swanky apartment condo on the city’s Biscayne Boulevard, where English soccer icon David Beckham also has a plush pad.

The post Jason Ader, hedge fund boss who was sued by his own mother, declares bankruptcy appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Jacklyn Bezos was surrounded by family when she died at her Miami home, her son wrote in a touching Instagram tribute.

“Her adulthood started a little bit early when she became my mom at the tender age of 17,” the 61-year-old billionaire wrote in the post.

Jacklyn Gise Bezos, mother of Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, has passed away at the age of 78. Jeff Bezos/Instagram

Jeff Bezos posted a picture of his mother Jacklyn on social media as a tribute. Instagram / Jeff Bezos

“That couldn’t have been easy, but she made it all work. She pounced on the job of loving me with ferocity, brought my amazing dad onto the team a few years later, and then added my sister and brother to her list of people to love, guard, and nourish,” his post said.

An obituary posted to the “Bezos Scholars Program” remembered the one-time single mother as a lifetime educator who was focused on nurturing and growing children’s minds through the program which operates in the US and Africa.

“Together, we can change the trajectory of an entire generation,” she wrote, according to the site.

“Her adulthood started a little bit early when she became my mom at the tender age of 17,” the 61-year-old billionaire wrote in the Instagram tribute post. Getty Images

“We are not just building brains — we are building the future. Each of us has a role to play, and it will take all of us to really make a difference.”

The dedicated mother was a founding member of the Bezos Family Foundation which has the express mission of helping “young people reach their full potential and meaningfully contribute to society.”

Jacklyn Bezos is survived by husband Mike, children Jeff, Christina, and Mark, eleven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The family asked for mourners to support a nonprofit of their choice or to perform a simple act of kindness in Bezos’ memory.

The post Jeff Bezos’ mother, Jacklyn Gise Bezos, dead at 78 appeared first on Our Story Insight.