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*News From the Glamorous World of Bookselling*

"Can you honestly tell me you forgot? Forgot the magnetism of Robin Zander, or the charisma of Rick Nielsen? Or how 'bout the tunes? I want YOU . . . to want ME . . ."
--Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High

1) DREAM POLICE . . . Just in time for Banned Books Week^TM (9/24 --10/1), the school board of Republic High School of Missouri has banned both Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (9780440180296) 7.99 and Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer (9780316051583) 8.99 due to the complaints of one parent. In an ironic twist that even Kurt Vonnegut would have appreciated, the Dickensian-named Wesley Scroggins not only doesn't have any children in the Republic High School, but he had already home schooled his own kids. However, the school board voted to ban it due to these titles creating 'false conceptions of American history and government or that teach principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth'. Or as Helen Lovejoy might say, "Won't somebody please think of the children?!" In response, the director of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library has offered a free copy of his book to any of the 150 students who attend Republic High School. On a personal note, I still remember the day I discovered Breakfast Of Champions (9780385334204) 15.00 in my high school library and what a profound effect it had on my life. I realized that I wasn't alone. I believe other teenagers should have this same opportunity. And if you don't get the joke, and some readers certainly won't, they can always check out Ayn Rand instead. And so it goes . . .

2) CAN'T HOLD ON . . . Sleeper Alert! Sometimes I do notice trends here at Partners Central Book Command. And there have been a couple titles that have been trending their way right out of our warehouse. Helen Schulman's This Beautiful Life (9780062024381) 24.95, which chronicles what happens when an explicit video sent to a boyfriend goes viral and the impact it has on their lives. As my mother once said to me, "Mick, always be careful what you post on-line." The other title is a bit more quirky and it's called A Book Of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters and Absent Fathers (9780374115586) 26.00 by Michael Holroyd. I think Dwight Foster did the best job of describing this book when he said, "This book is a richly marbled meditation not only on the lives of several remarkable women but also on the art of biography itself . . ." We have sold out on both of these titles, and so are the publishers. Backorder accordingly . . .

3) SOUTHERN GIRLS . . . You would have thought that everyone who wanted to read The Help (9780425232200) & (9780425245132) 16.00 by Kathryn Stockett would have read it by now. I would be wrong. Stock up . . .

Odds & Sods

The lovely and vivacious Sapphire, author of Push (9780679766759) 13.00 popped in here yesterday to sign copies of her latest title, The Kid (9781594203046) 25.95. I'm not sure what I expected, but she had to be one of the funniest and nicest authors that I've ever met. Her signed copies,as usual, are on a first- come, first-served basis.

Yes, we are out of Richard Paul Evans' Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell Block 25 (9781451656503) 17.99, which you may have heard promoted on Glenn Beck's radio show. The publisher is out, too. They are expecting more stock next week. You know the drill . . .