Friday Night Lights

How often do you get to spend an evening with two great artists? Tonight, Wing Young Huie who worked with residents along St Paul's longest thoroughfare to make The University Avenue Project and Monica Haller, who collaborated with a friend who served as a medic at Abu Grahib to produce Riley and His Story, Me and My Outrage, You and Us, will meet at Open Book (1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis) to talk about collaboration in their work.

Join us for a fascinating discussion about the process of making art and the role of the artist. This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited. Details are here.--David E

Looking at the Future

If cars drove the 20th century, can transit and biking and walking be the engine of the 21st? Find out at a screening of the documentary film, Beyond the Motor City, along with selected short films about bicycling--7:00pm, June 8, at St. Anthony Main Theater (115 Main Street SE, Minneapolis).

Beyond the Motor City is the newest documentary film from the acclaimed director of King Corn, Aaron Woolf. Using Detroit as a lens, the film asks whether transit can foster the rebirth of a city once synonymous with cars (it wasn’t called Motown for nothing). The evening will also include a post-screening Q&A with the director and local bicycling and walking leaders. Also that evening, Mn/DOT will debut a new “Share the Road” campaign. The whole thing is free and open to the public.

Watch a preview of the film here. For more information about this screening, including a free transit pass to get you there, visit www.bikewalkweek.org.--David E

Book as Fetish

Truly we live in an age of wonders. You can sit--teeth unbrushed, hair uncombed--at your computer and browse the shelves of ultraminimalist artist Donald Judd's library in Marfa, Texas. Click a shelf on the floor plan and you'll see a photograph of the bookcase, just as the late artist arranged it. A drop down menu tells you the subject area is on each shelf. Click that label and you're staring at a larger picture of the shelf, and now each book you see is linked to a page listing the tome's title, author, and other bibliographic information. Marvel at Judd's discrimination and taste, then click once more to find the book in a library near you and begin building your own 13,500 volume collection, if temporarily.

It took the Judd Foundation over 3,500 hours to put this information together. Redeem their efforts and take a look here, won't you? Then go brush your teeth.

Tip of the hat to the New York Times.--David E

Yet Another Reason to Go Up North

Congratulations to Apostle Island Booksellers. California transplants Demaris Brinton and Theron O’Connor are launching their "full-service, locally-owned, independent bookstore located in Bayfield, Wisconsin" today.

"Opening a bookstore seemed like a natural thing for us to do," Demaris told Shelf Awareness. "Bookstores are a representative of the place you are visiting. It is a place you can come to get a sense of the community."

Visit them online at www.apostleislandsbooksellers.com. Or better yet, drop in on your next weekend away.--David E

Helping Hands

Joe Selvaggio will be at Magers & Quinn Booksellers on Wednesday, June 2, at 7:30pm.

Selvaggio, the founder of Project for Pride in Living, launched the MicroGrants Organization in 2006. MicroGrants is an innovative nonprofit promoting the self-sufficiency of individuals in need through strategically placed $1000 grants to support home-based businesses, construction tools, office equipment and supplies, books, job training tuition, licenses for day-care or cleaning businesses, insurance, down payments on necessary cars and even working capital.

Selvaggio's book Microgrants: It's Working! tells the stories of seventy-seven MicroGrants recipients in the Twin Cities area, demonstrating how relatively small amounts of cash, loaned or granted to poor people with ability and drive, can have a profound effect on their lives, their families, and their communities. The accounts relate the recipients' struggles to improve their lives, how they used their grants, and what happened as a result. MicroGrants also offers commentary and analysis of the program from several perspectives, including Jim Klobuchar, John Mauriel, Tony Bouza, Tom Fiutak, Mitch Pearlstein, Laura Watterman Whitstock, and Betsy Buckley. MicroGrants, It’s Working! shows and effective way to escape from poverty and to move toward self-sufficiency.

Selvaggio will be joined at Magers & Quinn by former Minneapolis Chief of Police Tony Bouza, who wrote the introduction to Microgrants.

Details are here.--David E

How Do You Like Me Now?

Esquire has published an excerpt from Brett Easton Ellis' new novel Imperial Bedrooms. The new book follows the infamous teenagers from Less Than Zero into desperate middle age.

The excerpt is here. Imperial Bedrooms will be released on June 15.--David E

Remembering Smell

Bonnie Blodgett is the author of the Garden Letter. Her garden writing has been published in Garden Design, Fine Gardening, and Better Homes and Gardens. She is the gardening expert for Midwest Home and writes a weekly gardening column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. But her latest book, Remembering Smell: A Memoir of Losing--and Discovering--the Primal Sense, isn't entirely sunny.

In November 2005, Bonnie Blodgett came down with a nasty cold. After a quick shot of a popular nasal spray up each nostril, the back of her nose was on fire. Eventually, she discovered that her olfactory nerve was destroyed, perhaps forever. She had lost her sense of smell.

Bonnie Blodgett will be at Magers & Quinn to read from Remembering Smell: A Memoir of Losing--and Discovering--the Primal Sense at 7:30pm, on Friday, June 25. Here's an excerpt from the book to whet your appetite.

---------
I’m told my nose is my best feature. It’s long and straight and has a high bridge with a bump at the top that is a perfect perch for my thick glasses. My nose is large for my face, but I have an unusually small face. That makes me thankful for my nose. No one would describe me as mousy. When I enter a room full of strangers, I can trust my nose to announce that here is a serious, thoughtful person. And by the way, where are the appetizers? Do we smell a touch of cumin? But even though I could pick out the Chanel No. 5 from among ten other perfumes in a crowded room, there was a time when I took my sense of smell for granted. I assumed that it was indestructible. I certainly never asked myself which I valued more, my long, straight nose or what went on inside it.

My story begins on a Wisconsin interstate just before half of it veers south toward Chicago and half goes west to places you’ve probably never heard of--like the Wisconsin Dells, Altoona, Eau Claire--and then finally to the Twin Cities. I was driving home to St. Paul after a weekend visit with my daughter Caroline, a student at UW–Madison, when my nose began picking up a weird smell. Had I stepped in something? What could be causing this peculiar odor?

I pulled into a Kwik Trip to top off the tank and check my shoes. Nothing suspicious there. Maybe the heater fan was sucking up the smell from the engine and blowing it through the vent. Was a dead bird in there? Ridiculous. The smell was all in my head, not my nose. Nerves. Saying goodbye to Caroline had been more difficult than usual. She was as lonely and homesick at Madison as her older sister, Alex, had been happy there. How different my girls were.

My own college years weren’t exactly blissful. While other students were getting acquainted with one another, I was out foraging for plant materials, mainly tree branches of a certain shape and size, with which to transform my cinder-block cubeof a dorm room into a leafy forest glade. The smells of oak leaves and pine sap soothed my homesickness for Minnesota. Years later, when my husband, Cam, and I settled down to raise a family, I couldn’t wait to plant a garden. I dug up the patchy lawn in the backyard.

Gardening to me is an artistic endeavor, and a garden of one’s own represents the ultimate in creative freedom. In fact, in my forties I became so greedy for that anything-goes fix I got when planning a new border or rigging up a water feature that I decided to quit my job editing a city magazine to launch a publication of my own, the Garden Letter: Green Thoughts for the Northern Gardener. When my little magazine won an award from the Garden Writers Association for the Art of Garden Communication, a category invented just for it, I realized I’d turned a corner: I was a garden writer.

Excerpted from REMEMBERING SMELL: A Memoir of Losing—and Discovering—the Primal Sense by Bonnie Blodgett. Copyright © 2010 by Bonnie Blodgett. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

---------

Bonnie Blodgett will read at Magers & Quinn on Friday, June 25, at 7:30pm. Details are here.--David E

Harry Potter and the Filler of Big

Do you miss Harry Potter? If so, brush up your Chinese. There's a whole world of bootlegged books waiting for you in the Middle Kingdom.

11 Points ("Because top 10 lists are for cowards") has compiled a list of the most egregious rip-offs--and a few genius additions. Meet Naughty Bubble and Big Spinach (in Harry Potter and the Chinese Porcelain Doll). Follow Harry as he says goodbye to Hogwarts and transfers to "Asia's top wizardry school, Qroutes School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" (in Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Relative Prince). Go under the sea in search of a waterproof pearl (in, um, Harry Potter and the Waterproof Pearl).

The full list is here.--David E

He Reads

I could dress this item up with some worthy fig leaf, telling you of the recent discussions online about the "fact" that guys don't read (cf. Huffington Post, salon.com, etc), but I'm not going to kid you. The Tumblr blog Hot Guys Reading Books is just eye candy with an intellectual gloss.

The blog is here. Recent postings all appear to be safe to view at work. Not that you're going to look.--David E

Tempis Fugit

Aspiring writers, take note. The deadline for submissions, both for What Light poetry contest and for the miniStories flash fiction competition is coming up in just one week--May 16. This is a great opportunity to get your work in front of some very important judges, including poet Todd Boss (author of Yellowrocket), Chris Fischbach (Associate Publisher, Coffee House Press), Daniel Handler (who penned the Lemony Snicket series), Kevin Larimer (editor of Poets & Writers), Heather McElhatton
(author of Pretty Little Mistakes and Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single).

Here are the details:

• The deadline for submissions is midnight, May 16
• There's no entry fee
• Any Minnesota resident may enter work to either or both contests
• The grand prize-winning poet and fiction writer will each receive $500 and a commission for a second piece
• 20 finalists in each competition, 40 in all, will have their work published on mnartists.org throughout the year
• Adjudication of all submissions is handled anonymously, and is based solely on the work entered, which may be in any genre or poetic style

The full call for writers, with length requirements and additional details for those interested in submitting work, is available here.

Citizen Review: Vanishing Point

Stalwart M&Q loyalist Jess Horowitz is back with our latest "Citizen Review." She read Ander Monson's collection of essays Vanishing Point: Not A Memoir. The book is available now, and you can meet the author when he visits the store on June 15.

Vanishing Point

Ander Monson's Vanishing Point reminds me of the characters of my creative nonfiction writing classes in college. They would become good friends with the instructor. During workshopping sessions, they would give you good feedback and pick out funny or poignant parts of your essay that you didn't know you had created. When it was their turn to be workshopped, you were presented with a rich essay, full of long paragraphs and big words. Was it good writing? Was it mindless babble? Were you just not getting it? This is how I felt many times while reading Monson’s book. He is clearly talented, yet quirky and selective with his prose. There are beautiful moments, like when the author’s eccentricities are revealed in his collection of found objects. Or when he analyzes the other people named Ander (not Anders) in the world. Monson's “Transubstantiation”, an in-depth meditation on Doritos and other snack foods, belongs in a Best Food Writing anthology. Other essays experiment with layout and footnotes. Monson has even set up a website to accompany the book, where one can go further into his peculiar world. I’d recommend Vanishing Point for fans of the Believer. Or for students of creative writing looking to expand their palate with an experimental memoir. Or for those wondering what to buy their favorite indie reader, who quite possibly was one of those characters in my writing class.

Jess Horwitz lives in Uptown and likes her books arranged by color.

New Photography at M&Q

Monica Haller's book Riley and His Story, Me and My Outrage, You and Us has been hard to get a hold of. But M&Q has managed to get hold of copies.

In 2005, artist Monica Haller, Iraq war veteran Riley Sharbanno, and graphic designer Matthew Rezac began to organize Sharbanno's photographs from his tour as a nurse at Abu Grahib prison. Three years later, their project became the book Riley and His Story, Me and My Outrage, You and Us, a gripping and challenging exploration of combat, trauma, and memory. It's a fascinating book. Come check it out today.

But wait, there's more... You can meet Monica Haller on Friday, May 28, 7:30pm. She'll be at Open Book, in conversation with photographer Wing Young Huie. They'll be discussing collaboration in their work. Don't miss it. Details are here.--David E

Hand Delivered

The Clinton Book Shop (of Clinton, New Jersey) recently moved a few doors down Main Street. Rather than hire movers, the store enlisted the help of its customers to pass books hand to hand to the new location.

mycentraljersey.com has a slideshow of the move. You can see the photos here.--David E

Citizen Reviews: The Prince of Mist

"Citizen Reviews," our occasional series of customer book reviews, continues with the Leslie Warner Tonyan's write-up of a young adult novel from Carlos Ruiz Zafon, author of The Shadow of the Wind. It's available now.

The Prince of Mist

Non-stop mysteries and adventures await readers of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's latest, The Price of Mist (Little, Brown and Co.). Suggested for readers ages 12 and older, the tale entangles 13 year old Max and his sisters, 15 year old Alicia and 8 year old Irina, with unexplainable events, ever increasing in menace. Set against the backdrop of WWII, the family moves some distance from their endangered city to the assumed safety and tranquility of a seaside village. But the hoped for peace is soon disrupted by the discovery of a neglected garden filled with statues of circus performers, a malevolent, spider eating cat, and threatening whispers from a bedroom wardrobe. Rumors of the fate of the previous residents hint at tragedy and the discovery of old reel-to-reel films add to the intrigue. But this is more than a typical haunted house story. Zafon also plays with the idea and significance of Time; past and present are not separable. Max's father is a watchmaker, Max is given a magic watch (which is stolen), the village clock hands move backwards, and a story of danger long past is thrust into current happenings. A new friend, Roland, introduces Max and Alicia to his grandfather, the lighthouse keeper, with secrets of his own. Investigating an underwater shipwreck provides more adventure and mystery. Could the shipwreck, the lighthouse keeper, and the garden statues be somehow connected? And who or what is the source ever growing awareness of danger? Is evil really present in changing shapes and how can it be understood and combated? More subtly, the family is presented realistically, with typical sibling attitude and conflicts balanced with affection and understanding for each other's foibles. Dynamic growth in response to life's changes is conveyed through the stress of relocation, Max's realization of the responsibility of friendship, and Alicia's budding romance with Roland. Ultimately, the bond between brother and sister and between friends creates depth and elevates this story beyond a mere series of adventures.

And ... Action!

Aspiring screenwriters will want to make plans now for the fall. The Loft Literary Center in association with the Minnesota Film and TV Board, IFP Minnesota, The Playwrights' Center, The Screenwriters' Workshop, and MCTC, are bringing Robert McKee's world-famous Story Seminar to the Twin Cities. This four-day, intensive workshop (beginning September 29) teaches the principles involved in the art and craft of screenwriting and story design. McKee has taught over 50,000 screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, novelists, industry executives, actors, producers, directors, playwrights--including over 100 Oscar-nominated writers.

Tickets are limited, so reserve your spot early. Details--including some sample videos--are here.--David E

Father's Day Comes Early

Nick Hayes visited MPR's Midday show today to talk about his new memoir And One Fine Morning. The book is a memoir of Hayes’ father, Mark, an award-winning architect and artist who was equally at home sitting in the backyard or at a North Side Minneapolis restaurant or bar, laughing and telling stories. In the prime of his life in 1954, a series of heart attacks and strokes “cut him down, cost him his left leg, impair his speech and cripple his gift for painting and drawing,” Nick Hayes wrote. Two years later, one last heart attack killed Mark Hayes.

“Nick Hayes has written a moving tribute to his father--an artist, architect and dreamer who died too young but left behind a first-class legacy of buildings . . . a wonderful memoir of growing up in Minneapolis in the 1950s."--Larry Millett, author of AIA Guide to the Twin Cities, The Lost Twin Cities

You can listen to the whole show here. And you can meet Nick Hayes at Magers & Quinn. He'll be here to read from And One Fine Morning at 4:00pm, on Sunday, June 20. That's Father's Day, you know.--David E

Ms Dickinson, Meet Mr Murray

Play it twice and celebrate a belated Groundhog Day.--David E

Indigestion

The newest issue of the NY/MPLS online lit mag, Indigest, features writing by Franz Nicolay (former member of the Hold Steady), poetry by CA Conrad, a tour diary by M+Q favorites Dark Dark Dark, and a thrilling look at Milkweed Editions editor Ben Barnhart's nightstand - which includes the wonderfully titled, wonderfully designed and wonderfully WRITTEN book In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin. On top of all that, it also features an interview with Matt Weiland of Ecco Press conducted by yours truly.

Mr. Weiland is a Minneapolis native and a former editor at Granta, The Paris Review and the Baffler. He recently helped Ecco publish Philip Hoare's The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea, which is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read.

Read more here

---Jay P.

Happy Birthday, Open Book

Open Book, Minnesota’s center for reading, writing, and book arts, turns ten years old this month, and you're invited to the birthday party. Stop by Open Book on Saturday, May 8th, 2010, from 10:00am to 1:00pm, and enjoy the festivities. "Cover to Cover: See What’s Inside Open Book" features

• sample classes from the Loft Literary Center
  
• book, print, and papermaking demonstrations and activities from Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and
  
• special deals on books from Milkweed Editions

There will also be complimentary coffee and appetizers available from Coffee Gallery (while supplies last). Tour the building, meet your fellow booklovers, and celebrate a literary treasure right in the heart of Minneapolis. For all the details, visit openbookmn.org.--David E

Authors, This Is How You Market Yourself

If you haven't heard of author Scott Sigler, it's not his fault. The author--his latest novel Ancestor comes out June 22--is a master of promotion. Consider, for example, the video contest he's running right now. Fans are asked to choose one of four scripts as a basis for their short films; a standard intro and outro are also provided to maintain consistency. From these raw materials, aspiring filmmakers will make a book trailer for Ancestor.

If you're lucky enough to win this competition, the rewards are great:

• A 32GB WiFi + 3G Apple iPad (valued at $729)
  
• $200 prize moolah!
  
• A signed, personalized copy of Ancestor

It's also worth entering just to get your film work in front of Sigler's panel of big-time Hollywood judges:

• Steven Schneider, executive producer of Paranormal Activity
  
• Lucas Foster, producer of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Bad Boys, and The Mask of Zorro
  
• Ron Karoska, co-founder of Monster FX, a major special effects producer
  
• Justin Manask from the Office for Literary Adaptation, an agency that specializes in turning books and other literary properties into movies

The contest runs through June 14, 2010. Details are here.--David E

What Are You Doing Tuesday Night? Meeting Michael Perry, That's What

Michael Perry will read from Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg, at 7:30pm this coming Tuesday at Magers & Quinn Booksellers.

Faced with thirty-seven acres of fallen fences and overgrown fields surrounding his rickety Wisconsin farmhouse, and informed by his pregnant wife that she intends to deliver their baby at home, Michael Perry plumbs his unorthodox childhood--his city-bred parents took in sixty-some foster children while running a ramshackle dairy farm--for clues to how to proceed as a farmer, a husband, and a father. Coop is filled with humor, but Perry also writes from the quieter corners of his heart, chronicling experiences as joyful as the birth of his child and as devastating as the death of a dear friend.

"Beneath the flannel surface of this deer-hunting, truck-loving Badger is the soul of a poet."--Chicago Tribune

We're pleased to have Michael Perry back again. He's a lot of fun. You don't want to miss this reading. Details are here.--David E

Anticipation

Gary Shteyngaart's new novel Super Sad True Love Story won't be out until July, but the advance word is already good.

Publishers Weekly called it "A rich commentary on the obsessions and catastrophes of the information age and a heartbreaker worthy of its title, this is Shteyngart's best yet." (The full review is here.)

M&Q is looking forward not only to the book, but also to Tuesday, September 21, when Gary Shteyngart will visit the store to read from Super Sad True Love Story. Mark your calendar now. You don't want to miss it. Details are here.--David E

"[I]n all this fooling about with form, something serious is at stake."

The Los Angeles Times reviewed Vanishing Point, the new collections from Ander Monson, via Minneapolis' Graywolf Press. The article gives a cogent summary of a very unusual book--part memoir, part meditation on reality: "Vanishing Point asks hard questions about the limits, possibilities and responsibilities of nonfiction, questions that are especially relevant in a culture obsessed with reality television, virtual reality role-playing games and tell-all books." (The full review is here.)

You can find out more about Ander Monson and his essays when he visits Magers & Quinn this summer. He'll be reading at the store on
Tuesday, June 15, at 7:30pm. Details are here.--David E

“We’d prefer it if there were alcohol available, but don’t want to force it in case you’re not the kind of person who’s into drinking on a Tuesday night.”

John Jodzio and Andrew De Young tell the story of how they first met in the latest issue of InDigest. John was a struggling author looking for publisher. Replacement Press (run by Andrew and his wife Sarah) was a new publisher looking for an author. The result of their meeting is If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home. Both John and Andrew are very funny. You can see why the book turned out as well as it did.

The full conversation is here. Read it.--David E

And a Puppy!

If you missed last night's reading by Jonathan Balcombe, author of Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals, You not only missed an evening with a fascinating author and an enthusiastic crowd. You also missed a puppy.

The Animal Humane Society, which co-sponsored last night's reading, brought along an adorable Australian Shepherd puppy. You can meet him and many other pets at the AHS' Walk for Animals this Saturday. And follow M&Q's events here. You never know who's going to be in the audience.--David E

Extra! Extra!

Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi will be at Magers & Quinn for a reading on Monday, May 17, at 7:30pm. He's coming to Minneapolis to talk about his latest novel Beatrice and Virgil with Kerri Miller's Book Club, but you can see him here for free if you're not a member of the KMBC.--David E

Aww, Shucks

We're thrilled to be named the Twin Cities' "Best Bookstore (Used)" by the City Pages. And such a nice article: "Among the options for bargain-minded bookworms, one stands tall above the rest: the mighty Magers & Quinn. The uptown anchor has it all: an attractive space, roomy layout, friendly staff, and convenient hours. Its stock of used books is not only massive, it's diverse and well chosen. The store does an admirable job of promoting local authors as well as hosting readings from writers on national tours."

We're blushing.

The full write-up is here.--David E

Citizen Reviews: Parott and Olivier in America

"Citizen Reviews," our occasional series of customer book reviews, continues with the indefatigable Ben Paulson's thoughts on the latest novel from Peter Carey. It's available today.

Parrot and Olivier in America

There are two things that I should be honest about from the beginning. The first is that I don't know anything about Alexis de Tocqueville. I mean, I've heard of him. I've read a quotation here and a paragraph there. I know he wrote about America, about the United States of America, and I know he had various opinions about American democracy. But as to the aim and quality of these opinions, I think it would be fair to categorize my knowledge as near total ignorance. My second confession is that before picking up Parrot and Olivier in America, I had never heard of Peter Carey, a fault clearly my own. Despite all of my ignorance, I was happy to discover that Peter Carey's new book Parrot and Olivier in America is a fascinating read. In the interest of clarity, I should say that this is a novel. Olivier, an aristocrat trying to escape the backlash of the French Revolution by escaping to the New World, is a fictionalized reimagining of De Tocqueville, and he writes his way around the United States joined by his somewhat less than faithful servant, Parrot. Carey uses these two characters as the framework for this picaresque story, cobbling together a narrative from their personal papers, letters and journal entries. Through this juxtaposition of Olivier and Parrot, Carey brings depth to the writing, allowing the narrative to alternate between the flowery prose of a youthful French aristocrat and the sly, pragmatic language of his older British servant. As a reader, you will revel in the linguistic dexterity of this novel, as well as the satisfying texture of Carey's sentences. Although the entire novel is aimed at exploring the young America and its potential, it is through the democratic language itself that Carey shines. This, I think, is the greatest success of the novel--that Carey's explorations of American identity are not thin mechanizations draped over political philosophy. They are researched, well composed and adorned with luxurious language; language that sprawls from high brow aristocrats to low servants, from eloquent pretense to jarring cynicism, from library desk to barstool. Parrot and Olivier in America is an interesting work because Peter Carey reinvents and employs a historical figure as the template for an entertaining and thoughtful book that explores American democracy at its roots. It's a great novel because Carey is such a strong and versatile writer. If you don't believe me, read one of his sentences.

Ben Paulson lives in St. Paul, where he obsesses about books, zombies and breakfasts.

Hail Fellow Well Met

Congratulations to Monica Haller. The photographer--and one of the artists responsible for the recent book Riley and His Story, Me and My Outrage, You and Us--has been named a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow. It's quite the honor. To quote the foundation's website, "The Fellowships are awarded to men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts."

You can meet Monica Haller and learn more about her creative process on Friday, May 28. Magers & Quinn is hosting a public conversation between Monica Haller and Wing Young Huie, at 7:30pm, at the Loft Literary Center (1011 Washington AVe S, Minneapolis.) The event is free and open to the public. Arrive early to ensure you can get a seat. Details are here.--David E

"Memoir is dead. Long live the anti-memoir, built from scraps."

In this week's New York Times Book Review, David Shields (author most recently of Reality Hunger) discusses Ander Monson's new book Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir. It's hard to quote from the article--I really believe the Times leads seminars in how to write an unblurbable review for all its writers--so you'll have to trust me that it's good. The gist of it is that memoir is ripe for a rethinking, and that Ander Monson is very good at exploding the form. Or, as Shields not-so-succinctly puts it: "he turns the banality of nonfiction inside out and thereby makes nonfiction a staging area to investigate claims of fact and truth, an extremely rich theater for exploring the most serious ontological questions."

Ander Monson brings his ontological roadshow to Magers & Quinn this summer. He'll be here Tuesday, June 15, at 7:30pm. Details are here.--David E

Smile

We were the backdrop to some wedding photos today. No, I don't really know why, either. But we're always glad to oblige.--David E

Find Yourself

Colleen Baldrica will read from Tree Spirited Woman--4:00pm, Sunday, April 25, at M&Q.

As the former lead school counselor for the St. Paul Public School District and a Past President of the Minnesota School Counselors Association, Colleen Baldrica is no stranger to helping people listen to their inner voice. Her book Tree Spirited Woman is a narrative that takes the reader through one woman's intimate transformation from the death of her maternal grandmother to the establishment of a new and guiding friendship with a wise and mystical woman. Along the way, she learns to "let go and trust" in love, personal relationships, and, utimately, death.

Baldrica says the inspiration for the various chapters, which correspond to life's stages, came from her personal life as well as from the teachings of her Native American grandmother. "I thought a lot about subjects that were important to me," she says. "I knew these would have resonance with other women. Women are reaching out, and this book is touching many lives.

Details are here.--David E

Coming Soon...

"Cook the Books, Seattle's Annual Edible Book Contest" was April 10, and although winners have been announced, there are still no pictures.

I for one am eagerly awaiting an image of Robin Kessler's magnum opus "Quiche of the Spider Woman," which took the bronze medal in the Most Delectably Appetizing category, but was oddly overlooked in the Most Pun-derful competition. Robin, you was robbed.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Meanwhile, a full list of winners is here.--David E

Hi IMPAC

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awardprize--sponsored by the Dublin City Public Libraries and the Improved Management Productivity And Control company--may not be the most glittering literary prize, but it has something special nonetheless. The prize brings with it a purse of over $135,000.

The 2010 shortlist has been announced. The contenders are

• The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
• In Zodiac Light by Robert Edric (not currently available in the US)
• Settlement by Christoph Hein
• The Believers by Zoë Heller
• Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
• God's Own Country by Ross Raisin (not currently available in the US), and
• Home by Marilynne Robinson

The prize has often gone to debut authors, so there's no clear frontrunner among the nominees. The winner will be announced June 17. Details are here.--David E

Haiku in the EU

Herman Van Rompuy's day job is president of the European Council--so he's more or less the president of the European Union. But after the day's travails, he likes to unwind by composing haiku, 17-syllable poems. His efforts have been collected into a book, which came out this month. To better reach Europeans of all stripes, the poems were published in English, French, Dutch, German and Latin. For the Pope, I guess.

Details are here.--David E

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Join author Doug Grow for a discussion of his book We're Gonna Win, Twins! Come to the Town Park Tavern in Target Field (near the 5th St Gate). There will be free food and refreshments--and even memorabilia from the collection of Clyde Doepner. This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited.

Details are here.--David E

Here, At Last

"Here, At Last" is the second of Neil Dyer's poems to be chosen a winner in our What Light Poetry Contest - and it's one of my personal favorites.

"Here, At Last" was selected by Leslie Adrienne Miller a poet and professor of English at St. Thomas University.

To visit M+Q's mnLIT page, read more about Neil and Leslie, and learn about the most recent call for submissions to What Light and miniStories please click here.

See you next week!
Jay P.

Help Me, Obi-Wan... Pass the Glitter.

Pundits would have you believe that pixels on screens will kill ink on paper, but there's a strong trend in the other direction. Blogs are becoming books. Julie & Julia, Regretsy and Cake Wrecks are but a few recent examples.

The latest instance of the trend is surely the best. A long-running craft column on starwars.com--Death Star Piñata, anyone?--will hit the shelves in late September as the Star Wars Craft Book. Promised goodies include

• Ewok Fleece Hat
• Space Slug Door Draft Blocker
• and my favorite, the Jabba the Hutt Body Pillow

Details are here.--David E

Twitterpated

Boldtype is getting a jumpstart on Follow Friday with their list of ten top twitterers who write about things bookish.

The full list is here.--David E

Start Up in Uptown: Shop and Walk

Get up, get out and get walking by spending a shopping day in Uptown. As part of a partnership between the Uptown Association and the American Heart Association, Uptown Minneapolis will host a day of shopping, dining and relaxing on April 10 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. to encourage everyone to "Start!" living a healthier lifestyle by walking a little each day. Nearly 40 Uptown businesses will offer "Start Up in Uptown Shop and Walk" discounts ranging from free appetizers and deeply discounted merchandise, to door prizes and drawings. Participation is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

Stop by the "Shop and Walk" check-in located at Cowboy Slim's Saloon (1312 West Lake Street) anytime during the event to pick up your complimentary gift bag, available to the first 200 visitors, as well as a complete listing of specials and a map highlighting each of the participating businesses. The map will outline different walking routes, ranging from easy to advanced, that will allow you to take advantage of the best discounts while burning off the most calories according to your desired activity level. Use your free pedometer, one of many freebies included in the gift bags, to track your steps, distance and calories burned. Skip the hassle of looking for parking by downloading a free Metro Transit bus pass, valid on April 10. Bus Maps and a complete listing of participating businesses are available for download at uptownminneapolis.com.

Tell Your Friends

Magers & Quinn has a deal for you. Visit Livingsocial.com on Tuesday, April 6, and you can purchase a coupon good for twenty dollars worth of books for only ten dollars. The coupon will be available for only twenty-four hours. You can redeem it at the store any time in the next six months.

Spread the word. Tell your friends about the deal, and introduce them to your favorite bookstore for a bargain price. They'll be glad you did, and you'll be helping us find
homes for more of our great books. Details are here.--David E

America's Pastime

Baseball fans in Minnesota have a lot to look forward to this spring. Target Field opens April 12, and the night before two great baseball minds will meet to discuss America's pastime Sunday, April 11, at 5:00pm.

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In Peter Schilling's The End of Baseball, a team that "almost was" becomes real, and the extraordinary season of 1944 comes vividly to life.

Bill Veeck, the maverick promoter, returned from Guadalcanal with a leg missing and $500 to his name, has hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. Hungry for a pennant, young Veeck jettisons the team's white players and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, fielding a club that will go down in baseball annals as one of the greatest to play the game.

"The End of Baseball is so engaging and convincing that it accomplishes something truly special: it makes you wish desperately it were true."--Brad Zellar, The Rake

Peter Schilling Jr. edited the online baseball journal MudvilleMagazine.com and has covered baseball for years. He grew up in Michigan and now lives in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The End of Baseball is his first novel.

Peter Schilling's short play Who's on Steroids (written with Judd Spicer) is part of It's Outta Here!, an original, nine inning show of baseball plays and sketch comedy. The interactive production has been designed to be like an actual game with nine one-act “innings.” It features baseball themes and an intermission (seventh inning stretch) and culminates with a noted baseball comedy sketch. It's Outta Here! will be performed at several theaters in the Twin Cities, March 5th through April 18th. Learn more at www.itsouttahere.net.

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From open air to the Dome to blue sky again in 2010, Doug Grow covers a half century of Twins baseball. In We’re Gonna Win, Twins! the longtime sports reporter and columnist chronicles a half century of Twins baseball, season by season. Grow captures the changing economics of baseball and vividly portrays the characters that defined the times--from the “holy cow” of original radio color man Halsey Hall to the sweet moments and struggles of players like Zoilo Versalles, the first Latin MVP, to the 2006 season when the major leagues’ batting title, MVP, and Cy Young Award all went to Minnesota Twins.

"There will always be people who say that baseball is just a game--until they read this book.”--Don Shelby, WCCO-TV

Doug Grow covered the Minnesota Twins as a sports columnist from 1979 to 1987, and as a metro columnist he wrote about the 1987 and 1991 World Series as well as the long debates over stadium funding. He is currently a journalist working for the online publication MinnPost.

Details are here.--David E

M&Q Closed for Easter

Magers & Quinn Booksellers will be closed on Sunday, April 4. We will open again 10:00am on Monday.

Citizen Review: I Thought You Were Dead

We continue our occasional series of customer reviews with Ben Paulson's summary of the latest comic novel from Pete Nelson. You can meet Pete Wednesday, April 21, at 7:30pm, when he reads at Magers & Quinn.

I Thought You Were Dead

It's generally accepted fact that people who love dogs and people who love books rarely have anything to discuss with each other. I am happy to announce that those days of conflict are safely behind us. I Thought You Were Dead, the new novel by Pete Nelson, is the story of a man in a rut. Recently divorced, Paul Gustavson oscillates between his floundering freelance writing career and his local drinking establishment, meandering peaceably through his days side by side with his faithful dog, Stella. When his father is hospitalized, Paul must return home, embarking on a personal odyssey of reconciliation. Forced to confront his own disappointments, Paul ultimately finds renewal through an introspective reevaluation of his life, reconsidering the changes of middle age, the value of family and the meaning of companionship, canine or otherwise. Through this narrative of mordant humor and patient storytelling, Nelson explores the inertia of lowered expectations and the constant possibility of change. Perfect for the dog-lover in your life, I Thought You Were Dead is the tale of a man at odds with the world and the dog that talks him through it. Oh, yeah, the dog talks. You'll get used to it. In fact, like Paul, you'll start to find it kind of comforting.

Ben Paulson lives in St. Paul, where he obsesses about books, zombies and breakfasts.

Golden Rule

Jaime Theler, better know by her nom de blog as Bookmom, has posted this handy dandy guide to crafting your own bestseller.

The words of the immortal Tom Lehrer are as useful now as ever: "Plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize." And now the dance portion of our show.--David E

What the Neurologist Doesn't Say

"What the Neurologist Doesn't Say" is a newly commissioned poem by one of our 2009 What Light grand prize-winners, Jeff Johnson. Each of these new pieces is accompanied by a curated selection of work drawn from mnartists.org's vast database of artists. To view a slideshow of images selected to accompany Jeff's' poem, please click here.

To visit M+Q's mnLIT page, read more about Jeff click, and learn more about the most recent call for submissions to What Light and miniStories here.

--Jay P.

Multimedia

One of the downsides of holding events at M&Q is that we, dutiful employees that we are, don't always get to sit and enjoy the show. So I was pleased to find this video from John Jodzio's recent appearance at the store. He reads his short story "Inventory" from his collection If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home. It explains a lot about the cover art for the book, by the way.

A quick warning: John's story includes the F-bomb, so if you're watching this at work, turn the volume down.



You can also see the video here.--David E

A Spirited Discussion

Minnesota Reads interviewed Wendy Webb, author of the new ghostly thriller The Tale of Halcyon Crane. She answered the traditional "6 questions we always ask."

You can ask Wendy your own questions when she reads at Magers & Quinn, Monday, April 5, at 7:30pm. Details are here.--David E

Write On

mnLIT, a writing competition for poets and short story writers, has issued its 2010 call for entries. Twenty winning poems and stories will be published at both mnartists.org and magersandquinn.com. The top selection in each category will earn its author five hundred dollars.

Entries will be accepted through Sunday, May 16. mnLIT is open to all Minnesota residents. Details are here.--David E

Hello, Neighbor

Minnesota Historical Society Press has produced this nifty video to introduce to Paul Hillmer's new book A People's History of the Hmong. It's the most complete history of this fascinating group of Minnesotans.

Get a copy at Magers & Quinn or buy one here.--David E

Last Chance to See Erin Hart

Come by Magers & Quinn tonight at 7:30pm to hear Erin Hart read from her latest Irish mystery False Mermaid. This is your last chance to see her in the Cities before she hits the road to visit bookstores around the nation. Don't miss out. She's a great writer and a great reader.

Details are here.--David E

The Other Man

Michael D. Cooper has a new book coming out this fall. Cooper, you see, is Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband--the one she divorced before she went on to live and write her smash besteller Eat Pray Love. Cooper's book seems to have been originally called Displaced, but the working title at the moment is the milder--simply The Husband. Look for it in July.--David E