Pasadena City Hall played Pawnee City Hall on television for seven seasons, so it is fitting that Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s first Los Angeles stop on the “Parks and Rec” book tour is less than a mile away. On Tuesday evening, Armstrong brings “Parks and Rec: The Underdog TV Show That Lit’rally Inspired a Vision for a Better America” to Vroman’s Bookstore — and she is bringing a special guest with her.
Actress Alison Becker, who played local-newspaper reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep across the show’s run, will join Armstrong for the conversation. The two plan to focus on the local media of Pawnee — Armstrong herself launched her career as a local newspaper reporter, and the appearance doubles as a small tribute to the working press that the sitcom regularly skewered with affection.
Armstrong, the bestselling author of “Seinfeldia” and “When Women Invented Television,” tells the definitive story of how the show grew from “The Office’s” success and Obama-era optimism into a cult classic. The book draws on new and exclusive interviews with co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, star and producer Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman and other cast and crew. Offerman contributed the foreword; in it he writes that Armstrong has done “a magnificent job of chronicling the unlikely beginnings of the show.”
The book has been on sale since April. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and Armstrong will sign copies afterward.
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong will discuss and sign “Parks and Rec: The Underdog TV Show That Lit’rally Inspired a Vision for a Better America” Tuesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., in Pasadena. Admission is free. For more information, call (626) 449-5320 or visit vromansbookstore.com.
