Thursday, May 20, 2010

Ye Olde Partners Page

*News From the Glamorous World of Bookselling*

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism..."
--George Washington

PARTNERS PAGE: $25,000 PYRAMID

"Hello America, I'm Dick Clark, your host for the $25,000 Pyramid. Our first team features two life-long friends from Livonia, Michigan -- Dr. Dennis Devito and Bill Watson. Dennis has a doctorate in pharmaceuticals and Bill is currently unemployed. The contestants have already been briefed on the rules. So, are you two gentleman ready to play?"
'"Yup."
Dick Clark continues, "Dr. Devito will be giving the clues and Bill will be trying to guess the category. Set the timer for a minute. Okay, let's go..."
"Bill, popping bubble wrap... neighbors with pools... the last day of school... locking people out of the car and pretending to drive away..."
"Dude, I loooove doing that. That is so cool."
"That's not it. C'mon keep guessing."
"That is soooo awesome. Those are things that are awesome."
Dick Clark steps in and says, "Congrats! You nailed the first one. Those moments of awesomeness are presented in Neil Pasricha's The Book of Awesome (9780399156519) 22.95. It is available at all fine bookstores. Great job. You look like your ready for the next one. So here we go... "
Stoner Bill starts playing air guitar and singing (badly) a Whitesnake song, "Here I go again on my own. De-de-duuu-du. Going down the only..."
Doctor Delay interrupts, "Dude, stop! C'mon, you gotta con-cen-trate!"
"Alright Double D, chill man."
"Here we go... (cocks an eyebrow)... And don't even. Okay, matching outfits... jazz hands... cameras... family... graduation..."
"Ummm, Doctor Delay's family reunion. (Shakes his head). Oh, how about Awkward Family Photos (9780307592293) 15.00 by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack?"
"Great work, Bill. You are absolutely correct and you will advance to the final round."
In unison, they exclaim, "Duuuuude!"

1) CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM . . . Louis Sachar, a Larry David look-alike and all around nice guy, stopped in to sign copies of his latest young adult title, Cardturner (9780385736626) 17.99. Yesterday, Susannah Charleson dropped in and signed her copies of Scent of the Missing (9780547152448) 26.00. Unfortunately, her search-and-rescue dog Puzzle took ill and was not able to participate. And it really bummed me out. Also, JD was cool enough to procure signed copies of Lauren Myracle's Thirteen Plus One (9780525422228) 16.99 for us. As usual, first come, first served. L8R G8R.

Odds & Sods

Shelf-Awareness had a still from the TV show Castle that showed authors James Patterson, Michael Connelly, and Stephen J. Cannell playing poker together. So my first thought was: Is that really James Patterson or is it Andrew Gross or one of his myriad ghostwriters? And is there such a thing as a ghost actor? At any rate, 'James Patterson's' new title Private (9780316096157) 27.99 is due June 28...
If you're familiar with the Partners Page, you know I have a lot of David Foster Wallace love. Well, David Lipsky has chronicled his five days with DFW after the release of Infinite Jest in his book, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (9780307592439) 16.99. And it is out-freakin'-standing...

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