We have some passes in the store for a preview screening of Blindness. The show will be Thursday, at 7:30pm, at the Lagoon Cinema.
Sarah Hepola has written a mash note to Chuck Klosterman, and it's posted on salon.com.
The family of Lucy Maud Mongtomery, author of the beloved "Anne of Green Gables" series of young adult novels, has recently revealed that the author's death in 1942 was in fact suicide. The news came in an article in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper written by the Montogomery's granddaughter Kate Macdonald Butler.
Two authors are among the 25 recipients of the latest round of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius grants." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus, and Alex Roth, who penned The Rest is Noise, a history of music in the twentieth century, will each receive $500,000 to further their work.
Since there is no application for the grants, the winners were all unaware that they were under consideration. Adichie told the New York Times, “I like to say that America is like my distant uncle who doesn’t remember my name but occasionally gives me pocket money. That phone call filled me with an enormous affection for my uncle!”
We've got free passes to the new movie version of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Choke. The screening will be 7:30pm on this coming Thursday at Uptown's own Lagoon Cinema. Passes are available while they last.
Salman Rushdie raved about Italo Calvino's 1965 book Cosmicomics on NPR recently. He called the collection of short stories, "possibly the most enjoyable story collection ever written, a book that will frequently make you laugh out loud at its mischievous mastery, capricious ingenuity and nerve."
Eric Dregni won a Fullbright Scholarship to his homeland of Norway. The result--beyond Fullbright-quality research, I'm sure--is his new book In Cod We Trust. The book was blurbed by Walter Mondale and Patricia Hampl. 
MTv has posted an excerpt from The Alcoholic, a graphic novel by Jonathan Ames. Ames wrote the story (it's illustrated by Dean Haspiel), and true to Ames' form it is quite autobiographical. The protagonist is even named Jonathan A.
I like the new editorial slant of the Minneapolis Star Tribune's book coverage. They're certainly covering a lot more local authors. Case in point is the recent excerpt of Steve Lerach's memoir Fried : Surviving Two Centuries in Restaurants.
Eoin Colfer, best known for his YA novels featuring Artemis Fowl, has been tapped to write the sixth novel in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, reports the Guardian. Colfer has big shoes to fill. Since the first Douglas Adams' HGttG story appeared as a radio play in 1978, the series has grown a cult following. "I feel more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books," said Colfer.
Litmob has posted a review of Chuck Klosterman's first novel Downtown Owl. They like it, saying, "Klosterman injects much of himself into each of the characters, though you really can’t blame him for our familiarity with how he thinks. He writes with verve, and has earnestly crafted characters readers will invest in."
Excerpt powerhouse USA Today has reprinted a portion of Kathleen Norris' new book Acedia & Me. Magers & Quinn is sponsoring Norris' appearance on Wednesday, September 24, 7:30pm. The reading will be at Lyndale United Church of Christ, 31st and Aldrich S. Minneapolis.
It's not Palin vs Gibson,but it's still funny. John Hodgman stares down the camera and talks about his forthcoming book More Information Than You Require, courtesy of BoingBoingTV. 
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reviewed George Rabasa's new novel The Wonder Singer. They liked it,saying, "Rabasa, who lives in Minneapolis, has a lot of fun with this book. ... His descriptions are astute and often humorous."
CTV.ca has posted an excerpt from The Flying Troutmans,the latest novel from Miriam Toews. Ms Toews will be in our store on Wednesday, October 22, at 7:30pm, to read from her book and take your questions.--David E
Alexander McCall Smith, author of the wildly popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series of novels, is taking a page from Charles Dickens: he's publishing his next novel in installments. The novel will appear each weekday for 20 weeks, starting September 15 and running through February 13, on the website of the UK's Telegraph newspaper. (It will also be available as a podcast, if you prefer listening to reading. Email and RSS feeds are available too. There's everything but a book.)
Children's author and illustator Maurice Sendak revealed two things about himself in the New York Times earlier this week:
Annie Proulx's new collection of short stories Fine Just the Way It Is is getting good reviews--with a common element. The New York Times says, "Her sense of story is admirable, her sentences are artful, and she writes like a demon. " 
The finalists for the 2008 Man Booker Prize have been announced. The six contenders are
Below is a video trailer for a funny children's book from South Africa. Wie Is Dit? ("Who is This?" in Afrikaans) recasts the usual Bible stories in a modern vein. My favorite is the diptych of Adam and Eve: You can tell they've been cast out of Paradise because they're clutching cell phones. (My second-favorite detail is the "S♥D" tatoo on Sampson's bicep.)
The Star Tribune reviewed William Kent Krueger's latest novel Red Knife, and they liked it. "Krueger keeps readers guessing in this page-turner, and it's a joy to read his easy prose and loving descriptions of northern Minnesota."
Per Petterson has a new book coming out. His first English translation Out Stealing Horses was a runaway success for the Twin Cities' Graywolf Press. Like his earlier novel, To Siberia is set in a very cold Scandinavia, but is full of vivid characters. Time Out New York has a preview of the book late last month called it "a frostbitten, beautifully rendered addition to the "family can really screw you up" genre."Mark your calendars now. We're sponsoring a very special event in October. Chuck Klosterman will be in Minneapolis to read from his new book--which is also his first novel. Like a colder, Reagan-era version of The Last Picture Show fused with Friday Night Lights, Downtown Owl is the unpretentious, darkly comedic story of how it feels to exist in a community where rural mythology and violent reality are pretty much the same thing.
The Academy of American Poets has given its annual Wallace Stevens Award to former Poet Laureate Louise Glück--aka Louise Glueck, for those who can't abide the umlaut. The prize is worth a whopping $100,000. (The Boston Globe has details.) 
Yes, you can buy a copy of Helene Cooper's memoir of growing up in Liberia The House at Sugar Beach at your local Starbucks, along with your extra cold, double-skim, decaf iced green tea latte. But if you want to meet the author, you have to cross the street and visit Magers & Quinn, because on Tuesday, September 16, at 8:00pm, Ms Cooper will be in our store, reading from her book.
The next meeting of the Twin Cities' most unusual and interesting book club is Tuesday, September 9. Books & Bars meets at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake Street, in Minneapolis. Doors open at 6:00pm; the discussion begins at 7:00pm.
September's book is Zeroville. The Seattle Times called this novel "a surprising page-turner, driven by a jumpy energy and short, cinematic chapters."
