Book Talk

COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT . . . Deepak Chopra is a tremendously successful New Age author who is loved by his readers. But don't number Stanford's Robert Sapolsky among Chopra's fans. Sapolsky, a biology professor, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Chopra in January. In his lawsuit, Sapolsky alleges that five passages of text and one table in Chopra's 1993 best-seller, "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind" were taken from Sapolsky's 1992 textbook, "Behavorial Endocrinology." Chopra's lawyer replied to the lawsuit in a letter stating, "There was no infringement." A court hearing is set for March 14.

OUT ON THE COAST . . . The California Coastal Commission has just published an updated edition of its "California Coastal Access Guide," a tremendously detailed book on coastal access that includes maps, charts and precise narrative descriptions of trails and beaches.

MAGAZINE NEWS . . . Gas: High-Octane Poetry, a national poetry magazine published in Palo Alto, has released its winter issue. The magazine is sold at Chimera Books & Records in Palo Alto.

PARTY TIME . . . Kepler's in Menlo Park is throwing a 40th birthday party for The Cat in the Hat at 10:30 p.m. March 15. Every child who brings a handmade birthday card to the store will prompt Kepler's to donate a book to the Family of Literacy Foundation. The party will include refreshments.

AUTHOR, AUTHOR . . . Author events this month at Printers Inc. in Palo Alto include HotWired editor and novelist Martha Baer ("As Francesca") at 8 p.m. March 12. Robert Reid ("Architects of the Web") appears at 8 p.m. March 24. And local mystery writers Lora Roberts ("Murder Bone by Bone") and Jonnie Jacobs ("Evidence of Guilt") appear at 8 p.m. March 25.

MORE AUTHOR, AUTHOR . . . Author events at Kepler's in Menlo Park include novelist Ron Hanson ("Atticus") tonight, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. South Bay novelist Chitra Divakaruni ("The Mistress of Spices") appears at 7:30 p.m. March 19. And novelist Po Bronson ("The First 20 Million Is Always the Hardest") appears at 7:30 p.m. March 27.

Items for Book Talk, including news of local authors or events of interest to local book fans, may be sent to Don Kazak, Title Pages editor, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, by the last Wednesday of each month.