"You don't get to pick your obsessions": John Irving Wows Minneapolis

"I would never have guessed that the hottest ticket of 2009 would be a 67-year-old author of 700-page books," begins Jay Gabler's write-up of last night's reading by John Irving, posted today on tcdailyplanet.net. Ah, but it was, as a capacity crowd packed ComedySportz' theater to hear the author of The World According to Garp discuss wrestling, the writing life, and almost incidentally his latest novel Last Night in Twisted River.

Among the evening's revelations was this gem: "Turning to questions submitted in writing by the audience, Irving mentioned that at a recent literary conference he'd perplexingly received four questions directed at Margaret Atwood. "Though we're about the same age," he observed, "we really don't look all that similar." That led to a story about how Irving and John Updike, in the last decade of Updike's life, would trade packages of letters written by fans who mistook one author for the other."

Be sure to sign up for the M&Q newsletter or visit our events page to keep up with all the great authors you can meet in the months ahead.--David E

Fortitude Roars

The New York Public Library recently unveiled its new, web-friendlier logo. This being the digital age, they also released a video discussing the design process.



There's even more information at Flavorwire.--David E

Hear Here

John Irving will be in Minneapolis on Monday, to read from his new novel Last Night at Twisted River. Tickets for the live show are sold out, but Magers & Quinn will broadcast live audio of the reading in our store. Come in, sit down, and hear the whole reading for free.

Monday promises to be a very interesting evening. Irving recently spoke to the New Statesman, and he had some very interesting things to say, including his writing process.

How do you start a novel?
"With the last sentence. Every novel of mine began with a last sentence, and not even the punctuation in those 12 last sentences changed. The first couple of times that happened to me, I thought it was an oddity. I didn't recognise it as a habit, nor would I have labelled it a "process".. But then I came to recognise that this is the way my mind works."

The whole interview is here.--David E

Making Good

Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side follows a young man from his impoverished childhood with a crack-addicted mother, through his discovery of the sport of football, to his rise to become one of the most successful, highly paid players in the NFL.

Now the book is a movie, opening November 20. The trailer is below. Magers & Quinn has coupons good for two preview tickets to an advance screening November 17. Stop by the store and get yours while supplies last.--David E

After Percy

Rick Riordan, author of the recently completed Olympians series of young adult novels has announced his plans for his next books. The "Kane Chronicles" will tell the story of two siblings who accidentally release ancient Egyptian gods into the modern world. But fear not, they can fix this problem... if we're lucky.

The first book in the new series--The Red Pyramid--will be released on May 4, 2010. Details are in Publishers Weekly and on Rick Riodan's own blog.--David E

Just Across the Street

To everyone who bought tickets to John Irving's reading next Monday, a quick note... The location of the reading has changed to Comedy Sportz, on the second floor of Calhoun Square (3001 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis). The new venue is just across the street from our store, so you won't have any trouble finding it. Parking is available in Calhoun Square's ramp, which you can enter from either Lake St or 31st St. Parking is also available at meters in the neighborhood.

The doors will open at 6:30pm. Please be sure to bring your ticket. If you have any questions, give us a call at 612/822-4611.

For those of you who were not able to purchase tickets to the event, we have a bit of good news. We will be broadcasting the audio from John Irving's reading in our store, live on Monday night. Come in, browse around, and hear the whole event for free.--David E

A Book and a Beer Chaser

The next meeting of the Twin Cities' most unusual and interesting book club is Tuesday, November 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.

November's book is Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell. It's the story of a New York doctor whose life is turned upside down when a mobster recognizes him from his previous job--as a hitman for the Mafia. Read the book before Leonardo diCaprio makes the movie. Seriously.

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.

Not Helping

There's a new holiday on the calendar, and it's not one I'm looking forward to.

November 18th is International Science Fiction Reshelving Day, and on that day--as isfrd.com explains--defenders of science fiction "will go to bookstores around the world and move science fiction and fantasy books from wherever they might be to their proper place in the “Science Fiction” section. We hope that this quiet act of protest will raise awareness of this problem and inspire new readers to explore our thought-provoking genre."

Actually, people, what your "quiet act of protest"--and you're hardly Gandhi here--will do is to make the books you love harder to find. The next time a customer comes in and asks for Margaret Atwood or Michael Chabon, he or she will be directed to an empty spot on the bookshelf because you moved the book. No sale for the book store, no sale for the author, no book for an interested potential reader. Nice job.

Thanks to The Stranger for the tip.--David E

Recycled

We're busy today, so I'm going just quote the original post from gizmodo.com, entitled "Some Germans Built This Outdoor Library Out Of Beer Crates."

"Designed by a group called KARO, the library started out as an art installation consisting of beer crates stacked up in an abandoned district center in Magdeburg, Germany. Now sheltered seating areas and extra cozy nooks constructed out of wood from an old warehouse have been added to complete this crazy design. I've got no clue how they keep books dry when it rains, but I definitely wanna snuggle up with a novel in one of those corners."

There are more photos here.--David E

Carl's Big Red Dream Book

Carl Jung's recently rediscovered Red Book records his visions of his own subconscious mind. The Swiss psychoanalyst never published it, perhaps out of a fear that he would be thought mad. A few years ago, a draft manuscript version of the book surfaced, and the work was eventually translated and is at last available to the public. (Read more about this story here and here.)

The BBC has posted more images from the book. You can see them here.

The Red Book has been a surprising hit--surprising not least because at $195.00 it's hardly an impulse purchase. The publisher is currently sold out and demand is strong. If you want a copy, call us and we'll order one for you when they become available again.--David E

Just Drawn that Way

The New York Times' ArtsBeat blog reports that director Jonathan Demme is planning a film adaptation of Dave Eggers' book Zeitoun. The book tells the story of a man who stayed behind Katrina-ravaged New Orleans to save his home. Demme is skirting the obvious difficulty of filming a flood by making an animated version of the story.

The Times reports that Demme was inspired not only by the book but also by it's cover. "'I was staring at the book,' Mr. Demme said in a telephone interview, 'and there’s this wonderful line drawing on the cover, the character of Zeitoun in his canoe, paddling through a submerged neighborhood. And I suddenly imagined, What if we could do an animated film and visualize the experiences of the Zeitoun family and all of New Orleans?'"

Details are here.--David E

Hurry Down, Reader

Times Literary Supplement columnist Michael Greenberg follows his acclaimed debut memoir--2008's Hurry Down Sunshine--with a collection of essays about the writer's life. He will read from Beg, Borrow, Steal Thursday, November 5, at 7:30pm, at Magers & Quinn Booksellers.

“In its detail, depth, richness, and sheer intelligence, Hurry Down Sunshine will be recognized as a classic of its kind, along with the memoirs of Kay Redfield Jamison and John Custance.”--Oliver Sacks, The New York Review of Books

Details are here.--David E

Flash Fiction by Kristin Swanson

Kristin Swason's short story "In the Event that I am not Paranoid" is this week's winner in our flash fiction competition miniStories. miniStories is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Kristin's story and to learn more about the mnLIT contest.--Jay P

Halloween Treat

The blog A Journey Round My Skull--which is a compendium of "Unhealthy book fetishism from a reader, collector, and amateur historian of forgotten literature"--has posted a fantastic series of aquatints by Alexander Alexeieff which accompanied an edition of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher printed in Maastricht, Holland by Halcyon Press in 1930. Emjoy them all here.--David E

Writing It Down

Hella Buchheim will discuss her book Remembering: Life Story Triggers at Magers & Quinn Booksellers--Tuesday, November 3, at 7:30pm.

Minneapolis author and personal historian Hella Buchheim has helped people remember and record the stories of their lives for the last five years. Her new book Remembering: Life Story Triggers and Memory Essays is a step-by-step guide to help people write a life memoir or story.

Buchheim originally designed a monthly newsletter which included her own childhood memories to stimulate thoughts and writing opportunities for others. Those essays have now been compiled into this book. Each story and list of triggers helps elicit memories of events not thought of in years. The book includes reflective questions and practical tips to help guide the writer from conception to idea gathering to printing.

Details are here.--David E

Ghost Stories

Halloween isn't over on the 31st. At 7:30pm, Monday, November 2, Annie Wilder will read from Spirits Out of Time, her collection of truly strange tales spanning generations of her sprawling yet close-knit Irish-American family.

At turns heartwarming and heart-pounding, Spirits Out of Time combines family oral history, memoir, and vintage photographs to chronicle the strange, spooky and sometimes even mystical stories of an otherwise down-to-earth Midwestern family. From her great-grandfather outsmarting the “death coach” coming for his daughter Maggie, to her great-grandmother seeing a falling star each time one of her children died, these personal vignettes illuminate the mysteries of the spirit world in ways that will touch anyone who has ever lost a loved one.

Details are on our events page.--David E

A Good Book Burning

Paster Marc Grizzard of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, NC, is bringing the community together this month for a "Halloween Book Burning." And it's not just any book that they're going to roast. It's the Bible itself. You see, the only true Bible is the King James translation. The other versions are just God's kindling.

If you're in the area, stop by and help out. No worries if you work up an appetite. According to the church's website, "We will be serving Bar-b-Que Chicken, fried chicken, and all the sides."

Last but not least, here's something you won't read much on this blog: Thanks to Fox News for the catch.--David E

Stocking Stuffer

Dylan Meconis' Grammar Nerd Corrective Label Pack lets you "dole out frontier-style grammar justice." Just affix the stickers to offending verbiage to instantly transform any error into a teaching moment.

Buy yours at the Temple of Commerce.--David E

We're Number 61!

Magers & Quinn is number sixty-one on a recent list of Twittering bookstores, ranked by the number of people following them. Granted there are some cults out there with ten thousand followers, but we're not aiming for world domination or anything. We're just getting out the word about events and spreading the word on some of the quirky things going on in the book world.

Follow us on Twitter here.--David E

Tote that Bale... or Book

The new crop of Magers & Quinn totebags is in--and they're blue this time. Get them while they last. They're a bargain at $2.99.--David E