9/19/06

Cheers,

This Saturday, September 23rd, be sure to catch Paula Coomer.  The reading will begin at noon and take place here in the store.  An excerpt from Devil
at the Crossroads, her most recent book:

The Soul or the Cog
Lay me belly over granite, feet first, dangling
in mountain water.  Crisp.  Chilly.  Defy this
western experience by thinking silly, city girl
thoughts, draining blood from head to toe.

At the heart of the matter is a song sung blue
and high, defying altitude, hitting ping! ping!
between us and stars, the glossy outside of this
marble no one sees except from way far out.

What is the thought?  Did the machine come
from the spider web, the spider from the gun?
Or was it all so far past no one remembers
which hatched first, the soul or the cog?

We still have Palouse Calendars for 2007.  Don't miss them!

Closing this month's appearances, Terry Abraham will be here on September 30th to talk about Mountains so Sublime, his history of British travels and exploration in the American West.  He will be in our store at 10:00 AM.

BookPeople still has passes for Sirius Idaho Theatre's 2006-2007 season.
Adult price is $15/show or $40/season pass
Senior price is $10/show or $25/season pass
Student price is $6/show or $15/season pass

The World Premiere of Cow-Tipping is September 21 at 7:30 PM.  The show will run through the 23rd, then again the 28-30 at 7:30 PM.
Touch will begin January 25-27, playing again February 1-3, at 7:30 PM.
The Season closer will be Breaking the Code, which premieres April 12, runs through the 14th, and plays again the 19-21, once again beginning at 7:30 PM.

New and notable from the periodical shelves:

"Washington Monthly" presents its annual college guide.  Washington monthly decided to publish the guide as a more complete and well-rounded guide than
is otherwise available.  They measured three criteria: how well the school performs as "an engine of social mobility," the school's impact upon  research trends in science and the humanities, and how well "it promotes an ethic of service to country." The cover article, "Is our students learning?  What the elite schools (and U.S. News) won't tell you," is indicative of the findings.

We have a new edition of "The American Scholar," with fiction by Alice Munro, poetry by Heather McHugh, and Edward Hoagland tracks the changes to
himself and his surroundings on a return trip to British Columbia.

Don't miss "The Paris Review," the current issue of which has an interview with Stephen King, Ivan Bunin's memories of Chekov, poetry from Billy
Collins and others, and Bolshevick doodles.  Really.

And in the stacks:

Mark Z. Danielewski, who shook the literary world with House of Leaves, presents a new book, "Only Revolutions."  In "House of Leaves," Danielewski
used footnotes and multiple text boxes to include commentary, meta-narration, and criticism on his already-disjointed main narrative thread.  Only Revolutions is not as overtly multifaceted; Danielewski presents a travel narrative from the perspective of two young people, Sam and Hailey, and each narrator's story begins at its own cover, upside down and backwards relative to the other.

For a more traditional read, look for "Shadow of the Wind," by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  "Shadow of the Wind" is a novel set in post-war Barcelona, and it follows a bookseller's son, Daniel, as he grows up and searches for books by his favorite author, Julian Carax.  Zafon weaves strands of mystery, identity, murder, love, and redemption through Daniel's quest.  "This is one
of the best novels I have had the pleasure of reading.  As soon as school lets up, I'm going to read this in its original language [Spanish]." -Russell

For anyone into poetry, now would be a great time to catch up on Robert Wrigley's work.  Next month brings "Earthly Meditations," a collection of
new and selected poems.

Cheers,

-Book People of Moscow

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