Not a Dud

There's a lovely obituary of Elaine Dundy in the Guardian; she died this week of a heart attack. She led quite the life apparently, hobnobbing with the good and the great and the famous, including Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal.

Dundy's semi-autobigraphical novel of expat life in Paris The Dud Avocado, first published in 1958, is one of the better-selling titles New York Review of Books' great series of reprints of underappreciated classics. To be honest, I knew nothing about the title six months ago. But now the Los Angeles Times has posted an excerpt, and I've read it. It's short, but winning, and it makes me want to read the whole book. It's further evidence that the NYRB editors really know how to pick them.--David E

Booksleuth

When I'm at a loss to find a customer's vaguely-remembered book, I suggest they turn to ABE's Booksleuth bulletin boards. It's a forum where you can post a query about a book whose particulars you can't quite remember. Then other readers chime in with their tips and suggestions.

This thread is a good example of Booksleuth working well. From a fairly vague question posted on April 9 ("there was a girl and at least one boy if not two. For some reason they were visiting an old empty house regularly. Searching for something? Grandfather's old house?") to a suggestion later that same day ("I'm thinking it is titled The Riddle of the Lonely House by Augusta Seaman, but I don't have my copy at hand to check.") By April 23 our questioner has purchased a copy of the suggested book, and it is indeed the right one.

If the staff at your local, independent bookstore can't help you, give Booksleuth a try.--David E

You're Killing Me

According to the Guardian (link), Martin Amis' London Fields--one of my favorite novels--is going to be made into a movie. Amis himself is collaborating on the screenplay.

And that's all we know. The usually informative imdb.com has no listing for the film. www.londonfields.com is but a single page of text for "A Movie Production in Arrested Development..." Fansite www.martinamisweb.com details the project's early development with director David Cronenberg, but calls it "delayed, probably defunct." www.hollywood.com has some bare bones information, but nothing more than is in the Guardian's article.

If anyone finds out more, please post a comment with the news.--David E

Remodeling

The rehabilitation of James Frey's reputation has begun. Frey, the author of the discredited memoir A Million Little Pieces, is back with a new novel. The title is subliminally optimistic: Bright, Shiny Morning, and it comes out this month.

Vanity Fair magazine is helping the author rehab with its profile of the literary bad boy. It turns out that his spectacular public meltdown, in which he had to back down from just about every claim in AMLP, was just boyish high spirits. VF waves it away saying, "Frey has fetishized breaking rules for as long as he’s been alive."--David E

5/13/08: Janet Maslin raved about Frey's new book in the New York Times; read it here.

A World Without Harry

When the New York Times bestseller lists come out next Sunday, JK Rowling will not have a book on them. It will be the first time since Dec. 27, 1998.

Details are here.--David E

On the Road

Fargo's own BDS Books is the subject of a recent article in the Fargo-Moorhead Forum. The store recently moved, and while the new location is apparently a great improvement, they're still trying to make sure everyone knows they're still up and running. Says owner Brad Stephenson, "We just haven’t gotten all the old customers back. Some of them are still finding us. Unfortunately, some of them thought we closed. Tell them we didn’t close. We’re here."

So spread the word: If you're in the F-M area, stop in and support an independent bookstore.--David E

Purple Book

From NME comes news that Minneapolis rocker emeritus Prince has a book in the works. The book, to be titled 21 Nights, will be a photo essay documenting a three-week stint that the Tower of Power spent at London's O2 Arena. It will be released October 1 and will come with an exclusive CD.--David E

So, You Wrote a Book--Now What?

David Unowsky, former owner of St Paul's venerable Hungry Mind bookstore, is in charge of events here at Magers and Quinn. If you've been to any of our great readings, you have him to thank.

Now David U has shared his events knowledge and experience in article entitled, posted on mnartists.org. "So, You Wrote a Book--Now What?" It's aimed at aspiring writers, so they can get their books in bookstores and get audiences into readings. There are also links to other online resources, so be sure to pass the news on to the budding authors in your circle.--David E

Author 2.0

The website One Million Monkeys Typing is a collaborative story-telling website. Members--there were 632 registered monkeys when I visited the site, so they're 0.0632% of the way to a million. Budding authors can start a story then open it up for others to continue. The tales can continue straight ahead or can branch off. (They're really working the tree metaphor, but I'll spare you that.) You can also rank the additions; as anywhere, popular stories will thrive, and unpopular ones will suffer.

Here's a public story to give you an example of how OMM works. If you sign up and start writing, post a comment here and let us know. You could be the next literary sensation.--David E

Another Kind of Mother's Day

Mary Tillman's son Pat was killed in Afghanistan in 2004, and she's still not sure how it happened. The Army said he died in combat, but later admitted he'd been killed by his own fellow soldiers. Mary Tillman's new book Boots On The Ground By Dusk: My Tribute To Pat Tillman tells her story.

She'll be on 60 Minutes on Sunday, but you can already see a sneak preview here. Mary Tillman will also be in our store reading from her book on May 14. Full details are on our events page.--David E

Sneak Preview

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has posted an article on Bryan Mealer's new book All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo. It's a chilling but necessary account of the violence gripping the central African nation.

Mealer will be in our store reading from his book on May 22. Full details are on our events page.--David E

Coming Home

Former Minnesota Public Radio reporter Leif Enger was back in his old workplace today. He was on MPR's Midmorning program for an hour, talking about his new book, So Brave, Young and Handsome. You can hear the discussion here (.ram).

Enger will be stopping in our store this afternoon to sign copies of his second novel. It's not a reading per se, but we'll have the signed copies for sale as long as they last.--David E

A Mother's Love

This was a pre-newscast item on NPR this morning: "Ten years ago, the French novelist Michel Houellebecq published a book called Atomised. He portrayed his mother as an egocentric hippie who neglected her kids. Now, at age 83, his mother has published her own book. She writes that if her son uses her name again, she'll knock out his teeth with her walking stick."

So I did a little digging, and I found out about Hoellebecq mere's book, courtesy of this article in the Times of London. In her memoir "L'Innocente (available only in French), Houellebecq's mother Lucie Ceccaldi says of him: "This individual, who alas! came out of my tummy, is a liar, an impostor, a parasite and especially, especially, a little upstart ready to do anything for fortune and fame."

Remember, Mother's Day is May 11.--David E

New York Notices

There's literary news in the real estate section. Minneapolis' own Open Book center is the subject of an article in the New York Times today. It credits Open Book--correctly, I'd say--with sparking interest in the now-booming area near downtown.

And the article ends on an interesting teaser about future plans for the area: "Mayor R. T. Rybak has formed the Great City Design Team to come up with public art and street design proposals for this and other neighborhoods throughout the city. The first public art installations for Washington Avenue will be designs inspired by literature and book arts."--David E

Books and Bars... and Kickball

I knew that Magers and Quinn is part of the best book club in the Cities, Books & Bars. It's the best because it is held in a bar, so the conversation is free-flowing and spirited. What I didn't know is that some Books & Bars folks have banded together to form a kickball team. The season is off and running, and the B&B team is off to a 2-0 start. (You can track their progress here.)


Patrick knocks one out of the park.


"Inspiration" and "Text" cheer on the team. (Get your own free nickname when you attend a Wednesday game.)

The next Books and Bars meeting will be next Tuesday, May 13, at the Bryant-Lake Bowl (810 W. Lake St, Minneapolis). Doors open at 6:00; discussion starts at 7:00. The book of the month is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is a novel set in Nazi Germany and tells the story of a young girl who copes with her struggles by reading. The Guardian called it "a beautifully balanced piece of storytelling."--David E

A Glimpse Inside the Librarian's Mind

The L.D. Fargo Public Library in Lake Mills, WI, has a blog. On it, they post mostly listings of recent additions to the collection. It's not very gripping stuff, until you start to read the little descriptions of the incoming titles, and you hear a very bored librarian talking. For example:

• "Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein. Another suspense novel.
• "Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Suspense again.
• "Christ the Lord: Road to Cana by Anne Rice. Not a suspense novel. Everyone knows how this turns out."

Or this one:

• "Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde. Some chick book.
• "Cheating at Solitaire by Jane Haddam. Some big house covered in snow on the cover."

To the person writing this stuff: I'm a fan, man.--David E

We're Like Chuck E Cheese for Smart Kids

A rainy Thursday in the store was made livelier when we hosted a birthday party for Anya and her friends. There was cake and a pinata and a scavenger hunt. Everyone went home with a book, and a good time was had by all.--David E

Freedom From Choice

Web magazine monocle.com has a profile of Berlin's Bildschöne Bücher bookstore. The store was founded by former Taschen sales director Bodo von Hodenberg and based on the same principle as his website 25books.com. Only a carefully curated selection of art and design books are available. This is not a comprehensive. They do the selecting for you, and the customers love it.

You can watch the three-minute film here.--David E

Aw, Shucks...

The City Pages weekly has named Magers and Quinn as the Twin Cities' "Best Bookstore (Used)." They clearly did their research: "From Charlie Brown to Aristotle, hidden treasures can be found in every nook and cranny of the store. It's the perfect place to browse, with more than 120,000 used and current titles, with subjects ranging from how to cook to how to find a date."

And they drew attention to our events, as well. "The shop also has one of the most active author reading programs in town, often with a dozen or more events a month. Magers and Quinn keeps the literary spirit alive, bringing authors and book lovers together in the name of a good read."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.--David E

Oh, You Beautiful Doll

A coworker said it best: There aren't many books that can appeal to both the doll collector and the true crime enthusiast. But we've got the book that straddles that line. The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death is a collection of photographs of crime scenes, reconstructed using dolls.

The creepy/compelling scenes are the work of Frances Glessner Lee, who helped found the nation’s first department of legal medicine at Harvard Medical School and who made the dioramas based on actual crime reports. (Lee is also rumored to have been the inspiration for the protagonist in Murder, She Wrote.) You can read more about Lee here.





We've got several copies of this book, but hurry in. They won't be here long. Meanwhile, you can see more pictures of Lee's dolls and dioramas here.--David E