Saved by the Belle

The Star Tribune reports that the Amazon Bookstore Coop, the nation's oldest feminist bookseller, will not be closing as previously feared. A buyer, Ruta Skujins, is stepping forward to save the business and realize her dream of owning a bookstore.--David E

You can visit Amazon (the good Amazon) at

4755 Chicago Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55407
612-821-9630
Directions

New store hours beginning June 2:
Closed Mondays
Tuesday-Friday Noon-8 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sunday noon-5 p.m.

UPDATE: You can read the new owner's letter to the community on the Minneapolis Metblogs website.

Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus*

The Vatican has denied permission for the company making a movie out of Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons to film in any churches in Rome. Details are here.

The Vatican is still smarting from Brown's earlier novel The DaVinci Code and its characterization of Jesus as a husband and father. "Vatican spokesman Rev. Marco Fibbi said: 'Usually we read the script but in this case it wasn't necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough.'"--David E

Nowhere to Sit?

If you're stymied by the lack of places to sit in your local library, this product might be for you. Swipe your RFID-enabled library card, and the anthropomorphic little chair will follow you throughout the library, so you always have your own personal seat.--David E

If You Go Out in the Woods Today...

Christian radio host Brannon Howse was trolling his local Barnes and Noble store, when he found what he was looking for: outrage. A copy of Michael Thomas Ford's Ultimate Gay Sex was left open and Mr Howse lost no time in announcing his displeasure at learning something in his local bookstore.

A report in Memphis' Commercial Appeal newspaper alerts to a likely reason for the announcer's perspicacity: "The publicity also comes at an opportune time for Howse. He recently announced that he is running for mayor of Collierville in the November election."

B&N believes a customer removed the book from the shelf and placed it in Mr Howse's path. To its credit, Collierville, TN, has declined to prosecute the store for its beach of decorum.--David E

Alpha and Omega

The prepublication reviews for Ethan Canin's new novel America, America, which will be released next Tuesday, keep coming in, and the author must be well pleased. John Updike, writing in The New Yorker says, "Its reach is wide and its touch often masterly." And on the other end of the lit-cred spectrum, Entertainment Weekly calls it "satisfying, compulsively readable saga."--David E

Just For the Articles

From the LA Times comes word that Nobody Move--the forthcoming novel by Denis Johnson, author of Tree of Smoke--is being published in four installments in Playboy magazine. The first excerpt appears in the July edition, which I'm reliably informed in on newsstands now. They're not posting the texts online, so if you want a peek, you have to buy the magazine.--David E

Beret Not Included

Too cool for your local coffeeshop? Maybe the Hipster Book Club is for you. An outgrowth of a LiveJournal community, the HBC has launched its own website, complete with member reviews and interviews with authors Sloane (I Was Told There'd Be Cake) Crosley and Josh (I Am Not Myself These Days) Kilmer-Purcell.

The HBC pointed me towards an interesting-sounding book. A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World is a collection of papers from a symposium held in Tokyo a few years ago. It covers not the author himself, but rather his readers. Murakami is a phenomenon; his work is incredibly popular all around the world, and this volume both documents that fact and tries to explain it.--David E

Is it any wonder I'm not the president?*

Says the owner of this minutely cultivated bookshelf, "I aligned my books in honor of the Rainbow Snake of Australian mythology. (Hence, the colors move in a zig-zag pattern, from top left to top right, then right to left, and so on)."--David E

Through the Airwaves

One of my very first posts on this blog was about Jonathan Ames. Later, our book club read his novel Wake Up, Sir!. Now from Variety comes word that a screenplay by Ames has gotten the go-ahead from HBO and will soon be shot as a pilot. According to the newspaper, Bored to Death "will center on a Brooklyn writer who nurses a painful breakup by acting out his dream to live as a character out of a Raymond Chandler novel."

I may have to get a television.--David E

More IMPAC

Toronto's Globe and Mail has posted a short excerpt from the 2008 IMPAC-winning novel De Niro's Game. Read it here.

Funny Pages at the U

David Hadju, author of The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America will be speaking at the University of Minnesota's Elmer L Anderson Library at 7:30pm on Tuesday, July 8. Details on the U's event are here. Reservations are recommended; call 612/624-9339 or email the library.

Hadju's book details the furor that surrounded early comics. They were accused of fostering all sorts of depravity among susceptible youth. Both bonfires and Senate hearings ensued. Ten-Cent Plague has gotten glowing reviews in New York Times and the Washington Post. You can read an excerpt from the book at David Hadju's website. --David E

What's Left Behind

The blog at ABEbooks.com recently featured an article about things found in used books. Among the discoveries were money, a Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card, and a tooth.

I can attest to the range of items folks leave behind when they sell old books. I once found about a dozen marijuana leaves pressed in the pages of a book like flowers in a diary.--David E

Don't Miss The Boat

A full house of book lovers crowded into the store last night to hear Nam Le read from his debut collection of short stories, The Boat. If you missed it, signed copies of the book are still available in our store.--David E

Eat. Sleep. Read.

The American Booksellers Association is working to promote independent bookstores across the country with its new website indiebound.org. The site has a search feature to let you find indie bookstores anywhere in the US, as well as a "Declaration of IndieBound." The tract (which includes the phrase "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all stores are not created equal") encourages folks to stare down the big chains and support plucky neighborhood businesses. Soon, the site will feature booklists, social networking, and bookstore event information.

To help promote indiebound.org we've got a Tshirt (like the one at right, but in red; size Large; click the image for more info) for the first reader/patriot to sign the declaration. Once you've signed, email me (here) and I'll set the shirt aside for you to pick up in our store.--David E

The Rack of the Hesperus*

OK, so it's not actually a rack, but we have a table chock full of rediscovered classics from Hesperus Press--all at the bargain price of only $4.99 each. The UK publisher specializes in lesser-known shorter works by well-known authors. Among the offerings is Lady Susan by Jane Austen, a satire of glittering London society in the eighteenth century. There are also novelas by DH Lawrence, Henry James, and Charlotte Bronte. Get them while they last.--David E

For Really, Really Short Attention Spans

Internet syndicator dailylit.com has been sending members short snippets of books via email and RSS for a while now. Every day, another bit of Iron John or Banker to the Poor shows up in your inbox or RSS aggregator. But if that much content is too, too overwhelming for you, fear not; you can now receive your daily shot of lit via twitter.com.

If you're not already a twit here's how it works: You can post little messages--140 characters or less--throughout the day, telling everyone who wants to know what you're doing and thinking. You can also follow your friends' postings, so you know what they're doing.

All well and good, but how many folks are going to read Pride and Prejudice 140 characters at a time? One hundred and nine had signed up at last count. You can learn more about dailylit's tweets here. If you sign up, please let us know what you think.--David E

Up and Coming?

The winner of this year's IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is Rawi Hage for his novel De Niro's Game. The prize is not only extremely lucrative--$155,000--but it also has a good track record of predicting popular success. Last year's winner of the IMPAC was the runaway bestseller Out Stealing Horses.

De Niro's Game tells the story of two boys growing up amid the chaos of wartorn Beirut. London's Telegraph newspaper called it "vividly evocative of the chaos of conflict and the moral confusion of young men."--David E

Listen Up

Members of Minnesota Public Radio can get a ten percent discount on their purchases at Magers and Quinn. Please be sure to show your membership card or key fob to qualify.--David E

A Mother-Loving Book from Coelho

There's a new book coming from Paulo Coelho, author of the international bestsellers The Alchemist and The Witch of Portobello. Brida--written in 1990, but only now available in translation--is the story "a young Irish girl and her quest for knowledge." A posting on Coelho's own blog hints at his larger subject: "the Great Mother and the pagan religions."

Brida will be published June 24. You can get a small preview of the book on www.paulocoelhoblog.com, where several short quotes from the book are posted.--David E

Northland

Aaron Mitchell Molina has posted this sweet photo of the now-closed Carlson Book Store in Duluth, MN, on his photoblog moeview.com. Click the photo to see a larger version.

The old bookstore seems to be quite the magnet for photographers, to judge by all the photos on flickr.com.--David E

The Cat's Away

Our esteemed manager Jay is going to the motherland. He's spending two weeks in Norway, getting in touch with his roots.

You can follow his progress on his blog, Son of Norway. There's also a brief listing of his recent posts in the upper right corner of our blog, so you can see when he's posted something new.--David E

The Truth Shall Out

We now have copies of former White House spokesman Scott McClellan's books What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception in the store. Get yours today, while supplies last.--David E

The Final Frontier

Thanks to some concerned citizen's Freedom of Information Act request (OK, it's really www.governmentattic.com), we can all see an inventory of the books, movies, and music aboard the International Space Station (.pdf; be warned, dialup users, it's a hefty 1.75 megabytes). The list is weighted towards science fiction. No surprise there. But someone who's been up there clearly has plans for the future. There's a copy of The Ten-Day MBA: A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in America's Top Business Schools in orbit above us right now.--David E

With thanks to the Seattle Public Library's Shelf Talk blog.

Grammar Nerds, Unite!

The folks at the Capitol Book & News, in Montgomery, AL, have a lot of time on their hands, it seems. And they've also got a controversy on their hands...

"At dispute: the phrase "national bestselling author," frequently seen in publishers' advertising blurbs. But is it correct, grammatically, or should it be "nationally bestselling author?" Frazer and Thomas spent the better part of the day arguing over this, neither willing to concede anything.

"One believes that "nationally" is correct, since an adverb is required to modify the adjective "bestselling." The other thinks that "bestselling author" is a compound noun, and should in fact be modified by the adjective "national.""

What do you think? If you want to weigh in, you can do so here.--David E

Paging Mr Queequeg

An article in the Guardian pointed me to this collection of literary tattoos.--David E

Over the River

Kristen Eide-Tollefson, owner of The Book House in Dinkytown, is the subject of a very interesting interview on one of my favorite book blogs. She has much to say about the role of bookstores ("The Book House has always been about stewardship: the stewardship of the book as a physical object and the collection as a temporary embodiment of a particular perspective."), about being a woman bookseller ("I think the proving has had more to do with being established and sustaining myself as an independent businesswoman, than as a bookseller."), and about much more. Check it out here.--David E

Northern Light

Alaska's Seth Kanter made a splash several years ago with his debut novel Ordinary Wolves, a fictional account of a boy growing up in the wilds of the 49th state. Now he's back with Shopping for Porcupine: A Life in Arctic Alaska. This time, Kantner's book is non-fiction, essays and photographs about his own life in the bush and the changes he's seen in his home state. "I talk about a life of hunting and moving toward the new Alaska, which is more jobs and money," Kantner told the Juneau Empire.

Download an excerpt (.pdf).--David E

Some Horse

Charles Leerhsen as on this weekend's edition of NPR's sports show Only a Game, talking about his book Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America. The horse was a celebrity. He began his career by setting a world pacing record at the 1906 Minnesota State Fair and ended it touring the country in a luxury rail car, meeting his adoring fans. But the advent of the motor car cooled America's enthusiasm for Dan Patch, and he died in obscurity. (You can listen to the show here; scroll about halfway down the page.)

Leerhsen, a senior editor at Sports Illustrated magazine, will be in town on June 21. First, he'll be signing books at Canterbury Park racetrack in Shakopee from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Then from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, he'll be at Dan Patch Days, in Savage.--David E

"On paper I love him."

The New York Times profiled David Sedaris, but a good chunk of the article ended up being about his boyfriend Hugh Hamrick. I'm always curious about the folks I read about, so I was glad to see a picture of the pair. (I hadn't imagined that carpet in the Paris apartment of my dreams, however.)

The article also includes the revelation by New Yorker editor David Remnick taht Sedaris' essays are fact-checked as if they were any other piece of reporting. Readers of When You Are Engulfed in Flames will be pleased to know that it is both hilarious and true, I'm sure.--David E

Further Details

More news on the closing of Amazon Coop Bookstore (announced earlier), courtesy of MinnPost. The bookstore will stay open through Saturday, June 28. And a party is planned for July for all the store's past employees, and they are many in the Twin Cities.--David E

The Long Wait for The Road Home

After years of waiting for a major literary prize, Rose Tremain has won England's Orange Prize. The £30,000 award is given to recognize outstanding fiction by a female author. See newspaper coverage here, here, and here.

Road Home is a moving account of Lev, a recent immigrant to the UK. By all accounts, his story is a moving and gripping one. I say "by all accounts," because the novel is not scheduled to be released in this country until August 26. If that changes, we'll let you know.--David E

In the Stacks

A few months ago, I blogged about a fashion spread in Vice magazine about men working in London bookstores. Today, for gender balance, I feel obliged to mention the magazine's recent photo shoot of Swedish librarians. It's safe for work. See it here.

But it's not just eye candy. There are words, too, including this story: "Strange things happen all the time. Once a man came up to me asking for all the books we had on post office administration. I told him to follow me and when I turned around to say something he was walking behind me with a giant crucifix. That was unpleasant, to say the least."--David E

Book and A Beer Chaser

The next meeting of the Twin Cities' most unusual and interesting book club is Tuesday, June 10. Books & Bars meets at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake Street, in Minneapolis. Doors open at 6:00pm; the discussion begins at 7:00pm.

June's book is The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. In the novel, Eric Sanderson awakens one day with no memory of his earlier life. As he struggles to make sense of the world, he begins to receive letters from himself, written before his amnesia. Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, called it, "The bastard love-child of The Matrix, Jaws and The Davinci Code."

Books & Bars is not your typical book club. We provide a unique atmosphere for a lively discussion of interesting authors, fun people, good food and drinks. You're welcome even if you haven't read the book.

PS: Check out the StarTribune's article about Books and Bars. They loved it!

Good Neighbor Policy

The June 9 & 16 cover of the New Yorker--it's the summer fiction issue--shows a woman guiltily getting a package from amazon.com while staring down her neighbor, the indie bookseller. It's by graphic novel artist Adrian Tomine.--David E

Massive

The publicity juggernaut that is David Sedaris continues with an appearance on The Daily Show. He talks about the origin of the title for his new book When You Are Engulfed in Flames, among other funny topics. Are you strong enough to resist? Me either.--David E

Books to Stay in the STrib

Sally Williams is leaving her post as book reviewer for Minneapolis' Star Tribune newspaper, but the paper has announced it will not be ending its reviews. The paper's Sunday and Wednesday coverage (two pages and a half-page, respectively) will continue, though Williams' replacement has not been announced.

Publishers Weekly has details here.--David E

Tress and Distress

Item for the unsqueamish collector: A locket said to contain a snip of hair from Jane Austen will be auctioned on June 18. While the attribution is not certain, it is known that Austen's sister Cassandra cut several bits of hair soon after the author's death in 1817.

Details are here.--David E

To Insure Prompt Service

David Sedaris talks to Newsweek about gay marriage, book tours, and tip jars. It's nothing to do with his new book When You Are Engulfed in Flames, I'm sure.--David E

Slow and Steady

I'm a fan of the blog Little People, where an artist named Slinkachu posts photographs of his (?) handpainted figures. They are shot in both model environments and out on the street. Now I find that photographs of Slinkachu's work is the subject of a book coming out later this year in the UK. (There's no word on a possible US release of the book.)--David E



PS: Check out Slinkachu's other work at Inner City Snail. The artist reassures us, "No snails were harmed, they just had their homes vandalised."

Marketing from Heaven

Indonesian author Tung Desem Waringin promoted his new book--on marketing, no less--with a novel method. He threw 100,000,000 rupiah (about $11,000) from a plane. Around 500 people assembled in a stadium below scrambled for the windfall.

Details are here and here.--David E

Books by the Foot

Is your country estate lacking a certain something? Do your friends think you're an intellectual lightweight? The good folks at bookdecor.com can help you out. They're selling antique leatherbound books--most of them written in Danish, but also in French and German--by the foot and by the yard.

I'm oddly in tune with Book Decor's sales pitch. "If you want a book that you can read, enjoy and then toss aside," they say, "then head to your nearest bookstore." Amen. "If, on the other hand, you are in the market for beautiful antique volumes whose appearance is more important than the actual text, then you've come to the right place."

But isn't this just shallow pretension? No. "Home libraries are often more about decorative splendor than they are functionality." Silly me, I read my books.

Ah but the best joke of all on the site has to be the prices. Old-world charm doesn't come cheap.--David E

See for Yourself

Nam Le, author of the new short story collection The Boat, is getting a lot of good press lately. See these reviews in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the New York Times, for example. NPR chose his book as one of its nine Summer Reads and has posted an exerpt.

Le will be in our store Thursday, June 12, at 7:30pm. He'll be reading from his short stories and answering your questions. We hope you can attend.--David E

Dutch Treat

An article in the travel section of today's New York Times takes readers to Amsterdam and the idiosyncratic bookstore Boekie Woekie. The store sells only books by artists--no mass-produced glossy tomes here--and limited-edition prints and photographs. But the store's bestseller isn't a book at all. It's vacuum cleaner bags full of the dust off the inventory.--David E