"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.THE CONTINUING STORY OF STONER BILL
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read . . ."
--Groucho Marx
I'm walking down the street to Double D's house with my little brother, Henry, and my new beagle puppy, Lucy, in tow. The good Doctor and I had a great plan to take the new 2nd edition of Wisconsin's Best Beer Guide (9781933272344) 16.95 by Mr. Revolinski and take a tour of their finest establishments. It sounded like a foolproof scheme. However, my Mom had added several stipulations and much to my chagrin, they are both following me now. My little brother is like ten or twelve years old, and he's wearing a pink -- oh I'm sorry -- a salmon colored button down shirt, gray slacks, and dress shoes. He sucks. Now Lucy is as cute as the dickens. She might, however, be a logistical nightmare.
In more ways than one, Double D's baby blue '74 Ford Pinto is all fired up. First of all, it's running. Yay! Second of all, I open the creaky passenger side door, and smoke spills out of it like Spicoli's van in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. We're engulfed in an aromatic hazy fog. Nice.
Double D's like, "Dude, what's up with the entourage?"
"Well, I thought Henry here could be our designated driver . . ."
Henry interjects, "I don't have my driver's license yet."
" . . . and Lucy here is a hound dog so she can sniff out the good bars for us."
Double D chuckles, "So your Mom made you bring them. Whoa, what's in the duffle bag?"
"Dude, I brought all kinds of cool reading material for Lucy. Let's see here. We got Seth Casteel's Underwater Dogs (9780316227704) 19.99. It's mostly pictures, but Lucy is just a puppy so I thought she would like to look at 'em. I got Robin Layton's A Letter to My Dog (9781452114422) 24.95. It's mostly celebrities writing to their dogs. I'll have to read that one to her. Oooo, here's a good one: Bruce Cameron's A Dog's Journey (9780765330536) 24.99. It's got a beagle on the cover. And finally, The Oatmeal's How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You (9781449410247) 14.99 because Lucy needs to learn how nefarious those creatures can be. What'd ya bring?"
I sling the duffle bag into the back seat, nearly hitting Henry. Man, I'm a terrible shot.
Double D points to two books at my feet on the floor mat, "I figured we'd be partying a lot so I just brought Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (9780374214913) 25.00, which is kinda cool 'cause it takes place in a bookstore, and Jon Meacham's Thomas Jefferson (9780374214913) 35.00."
"Well, why don't you get in the back so you can read them and let Henry drive?"
Henry complains, "I told you I don't have my driver's license yet!"
Man oh man, this is going to be a long trip.
Odds & Sods
With the plethora of new books about Detroit coming out, it won't be long until the Motor City has its very own section in every fine bookstore. Dan Austin's new one Forgotten Landmarks of Detroit (9781609498283) 22.99 has just come in. He had previously written Lost Detroit (9781596299405) 24.99, which was a snappy little seller last holiday season. Mark Binelli's Detroit City is the Place to Be (9780805092295) 28.00 was also recently released. In this title, Mark tries to figure out where it all went wrong. Good luck on that . . .
W. Paul Young, the guy who wrote The Shack is back with Cross Roads (9781455516049) 24.99. He might just save your afterlife . . .
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