Ye Olde Partners Page

*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*

"Hi everyone, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs . . ."

                                                --Frozen Junior Novelization   (9780736431187) 4.99

OVERHEARD IN A BOOKSTORE:

  "Do you carry Don Chipotle?

  "What?

  "You know the book about the guy and the windmills."

  "Oh, Don Quixote (9780060934347) 16.99.  Sorry, you had me a little confused."

  "Is this a recent book?"

  "Ah, no.  It's a classic."

  (Hands a copy of the book to the customer.)

  "This is much too long.  I'll have to get a different one."

(Oh, I am I, Don Quixote, the Lord of La Mancha, Destroyer of evil am I, I will march to the sound of the trumpets of glory, Forever to conquer or die.)

OVERHEARD ON THE RADIO:

We have been selling Liesl Shurtliff's Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin (9780307977960) 6.99 in tradepaper quite well.  Apparently, the rehabilitation of evil characters in nursery rhymes and children's stories will continue at an inexorable rate (i.e. -- The Wicked Witch, The Big Bad Wolf, etc.).  Speaking of music, this one reminded me of that ol' chestnut by The Presidents of the United States:

(Sung to the tune of Lump)

He's Rump, he's Rump

He spins a web

He's Rump, he's Rump

He's filled with dread . . .

OVERHEARD ON THE WEB:

Unless you've been living under a rock in Tikrit, you must have heard about the ongoing battle between Hachette and Amazon.com.  There's still no resolution to their squabble so their customers are unable to pre-order Hachette titles like J.K. Rowling's The Silkworm (9780316206877) 28.00, which is a sequel to Cuckoo's Calling (9780316206853) 18.00.  Consequently, it should fly out of the gate for retailers.  As a kid, I had bought some silkworms that were advertised at the back of a comic book.  It was an unmitigated disaster.  I'm not sure how the Byzantines were able to pull it off, but I was just left with a bunch of silkworm corpses. It still weighs heavily on my soul . . .

 

Odds & Sods

Bernida: A Michigan Sailing Legend (9781585369041) 16.99 by a consortium of authors, including Gloria Whelan, is another children's picture book that has been moving well.  There is also an adult version of Bernida (9780977875924) 14.95 by Tom Ervin & Al Declercq.  It is the story of a 1920's sailboat that ran in the very first Port Huron to Mackinac Island Race and then was restored to run in the 2012 race . . .

 

As a loyal reader, I am sure you know I'm a bit of a David Foster Wallace fan and of the post-modernists in general.  I had a chuckle when I stumbled upon this article from The Onion archives: www.theonion.com/articles/girlfriend-stops-reading-david-foster-wallace-brea,76 .   Good times.