"The leaves begin to scatterB. TRAVEN JR. -- CONSPIRACY THEORIST AT LARGE
As the North wind calls their name
Folding gently back into
The silent earth from which they came . . ."
--Autumn, The Strawbs
B. Traven Jr. here. And if you don't know who I am by now, then you can't read. Ha, ha! Brad Metzer, author of The Inner Circle (9780446577892) 26.99 and my tinfoil hatted helper, was at the lakehouse discussing The Vril Society Conspiracy. In case you're not familiar with this conspiracy, it touts that a secret form of energy (Vril) is controlled by a secret subterranean society of matriarchal socialist utopian superior beings. We laughed. Everyone knows that it's a secret subterranean society of patriarchal conservative aliens. Ha, ha!
The day before, I had purchased a copy of Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (9781439149089) 24.00 by Patton Oswalt and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. There were no zombies. There were no spaceships. And definitely, no wastelands. Apparently Mr. Oswald is a comedian and his new book merely features his comedic stylings in a series of essays. Talk about false advertising. Ha, ha!
The Oscar nominees have been announced, and let me tell you, there have been some serious conspiracies regarding these awards over the years. For example, in 1977, Annie Hall won Best Picture over Star Wars. The real travesty was that Close Encounters of the Third Kind was not even nominated. Several movies with book tie-ins have been nominated this year for Best Picture, including Charles Portis' True Grit (9781590204597) 14.95, Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone (9780316131612) 13.99, Aron Ralston's 127 Hours (9781451618501) 15.00, and finally, The Social Network, based upon Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires (9780307740984) 15.95. My favourite is Winter's Bone since it involves a conspiracy by the entire town to mask the death of the main character's father. You could say that the townsfolk were hiding a skeleton in their closet. Ha, ha!
Theoretical physicist Brian Greene, author of the bestseller The Elegant Universe (9780393338102) 15.95 has a new one called The Hidden Reality (9780307265630) 29.95. Hidden Reality, eh? Tell me about it, Brian. In a nutshell, Mr. Greene, in his quest to find a unifying theory to explain everything, has become one of the biggest proponents of string theory. String theory hypothesizes that there are an endless multitude of universes. For example, in one universe I am mocked for believing that JFK was shot from the grassy knoll (this one), but somewhere there is an alternate universe where it is an accepted fact that JFK was shot from that location. And I am acclaimed as a genius. Ha, ha!
Odds & Sods
We have signed copies of the National Book Award winner, Jaimy Gordon's The Lord Of Misrule (9780929701837) 25.00 available on a first come, first served basis . . .
Remember Roseanne Barr? She had a TV show and she was married to Tom Arnold. Well, she's back with a new book, Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm (9781439154823) 26.00. Normally I wouldn't bring it up until she hit Celebrity Rehab or one of those shows, but she is taping an Oprah Winfrey appearance on February 10. It will air within two weeks of the taping. Oh, and there will also be a reunion of the original cast from 'Roseanne.' Which would be kinda cool . . .
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