BOOK STALKERS

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*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*

"Every night I tell myself,

'I am the (K)osmos, I am the wind . . .'"

                                                                                     --Chris Bell, I am the Cosmos

Channel 13 Community Access TV Presents:  BOOK STALKERS

(Camera pans Double D's basement.  Stoner Bill and Double D are dressed from head to toe in bulky beaver costumes.)

Stoner Bill:  I would like to welcome back my good friend Doctor Delay to Book Stalkers.  We missed you, bro.  And, of course, I am Dave Thomas as The Beaver.

Double D:  (Chuckles.)  Well played, Bill, well played.  It's great to be back.  And do we have a great lineup of events coming for our fans.  Next week, famous explorer B. Traven Jr.  will be joining us with Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature (9780385350662) 30.00 to discuss the life of Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt.  This may be the biggest selling science title since Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction (9781250062185) 16.00 . . 

 

. 

Stoner Bill:  I already miss her show on Comedy Central.

Double D:  (Sideways glance at Stoner Bill.)  Bill, here's something you'll appreciate.  Or it may fall under the 'Be careful what you wish for' files.  Ridley Scott is preparing a sequel to Blade Runner.  The original was based on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (9780345404473) 15.00, but PKD's no longer with us on this plane, so we'll talk to the scriptwriter Hampton Fancher instead.    We all know that Rick Deckard was a replicant.

Stoner Bill:  No, he wasn't.  Double D, this scares me.  A sequel to my favorite movie Blade Runner may ruin the legibility of the original.

Double D:  Legacy.  Also, next week, we'll have Tavis Smiley visit to discuss his interview of Ringo Starr, formerly of The Beatles, who is promoting his new book, Photograph (9781905662333) 50.00 on Tavis' show tomorrow night.

Stoner Bill:  "Every time I see your face,  It reminds me of the places we used to go, But all I got is a photograph . . ."

Double D:  Thanks, Ringo.  Lastly, and this is Bill's big moment to shine, he will show you how to color using sample pages from Joanna Basford's upcoming Lost Ocean:  An Inky Adventure (9780143108993) 16.95.  I don't think that even Bill can screw this one up.

Stoner Bill:  Har, har.

Odds & Sods

Stoner Bill forgot to mention that New York Review Books is bringing out a 50th Anniversary Edition of John Willams' Stoner (9781590179284) 19.95 on November 3.  Unfortunately, for Bill, it has nothing to do with hippies.  Stoner just happens to be the surname of the title character . . .

The good news for Michigan bookstores is that Amazon will now have to collect the 6% sales tax for on-line purchases.  It's about time they leveled the playing field here . . .

Speaking of coloring books, we have a small amount of Fantastic Cities (9781452149578) 14.95 in stock.  This is one of the few coloring books that appeals to both genders . . .

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*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*

"Always go to other people's funerals,

otherwise they won't come to yours . . ."

                                                                        --Yogi Berra

I stood within the City disinterred; 

And heard the autumnal leaves like light footfalls . . .

  It was not a good week for the 1980s.  First, author Jackie Collins died after a long battle with breast cancer.  When I first began my illustrious career in the book industry, Jackie Collins was huge.  Nobody was bigger, not even Sidney Sheldon.  Every book by her was guaranteed to rocket to the top of the bestseller lists.  However, tastes change over time, and what was once considered risque seems to have become rather tame by today's standards.  Her fame eventually waned.  Jackie is survived by her older sister, actress Joan Collins, who starred in one of the greatest Star Trek episodes of all-time, The City at the Edge of Forever, which was written by Harlan Ellison.

   Furthermore, publisher Jeremy Tarcher passed away.  You may recognize his name from the eponymous Penguin imprint that he ran, which specialized in the mind, body, and spirit genre.  I also learned that he was married to author Judith Krantz, another 80's staple and that he was the brother of puppeteer Shari Lewis, who was known for her annoying Lambchop character.  Next I'm going to find out that his father invented Mister Microphone.  (Checks Wiki:  Whew, he did not.)

  While we're on the Me Decade, the largest larger than life personality was that of Ronald Reagan, and we have a new book by Bill O'Reilly called Killing Reagan (9781627792417) 30.00.  Now, Reagan didn't actually die in the assassination attempt by John Hinckley, but he obviously dodged a bullet.  I'll save my trite comparison between the pre-Christian Roman Emperors and the deification of St. Ronnie by the Republican Party for some other time.

  Thankfully, it's really 2015, or we may never have heard from bloggess Jenny Lawson.  Let's Pretend This Never Happened (9780425261019) 16.00, her first book, is a comedy classic.  Not since Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (9780679785897) 14.95 had I received so many uneasy glances from my co-workers as I literally laughed out loud while reading her book.   I should warn my co-workers, Ms. Lawson has released a new book, Furiously Happy (9781250077004) 26.99.  It is on the docket to be read next, and there will be much guffawing on my part.  Sorry in advance.

  

  Back to the future, er, 80s, much beloved and former Good Morning America host Joan Lunden is back with another book, Had I Known (9780062404084) 26.99.  It is a memoir of her successful fight against breast cancer.  She has lent her time and name to so many charities that one cannot help but root for her.  This is a tale that will empower women everywhere.  Good luck, Joan, we look forward to seeing you on the Today Show.    

 Odds & Sods

You will want signed copies of Lisa McMann's The Unwanteds: Island of Graves (9781442493346) 17.99.  Lisa stopped in to sign copies last week and mentioned that she was a former bookseller.  She worked at both Pooh's Corner and Booksellers on Main Street before becoming an author.  "One of us, one of us, one of us . . ."

We have a limited quantity of Basford's Secret Garden (9781780671062) 15.95 and the even fancier Secret Garden: Artists Edition (9781780677316) 22.50.  We are also expecting more Colored Pencil Sets (9781441314512) 14.99 from Peter Pauper Press, shortly.

 

BARBARA WAWA INTERVIEW: SIR CHARLES EDMUND WILSON (part 2)

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"As children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy,

and for some of us the world of make-believe continues into adulthood . . ."

                                      --Jim Henson

BARBARA WAWA INTERVIEW:  SIR CHARLES EDMUND WILSON

(Part Two of The Interview of the Century)

Barbara:  Sir Charles, if elected President, what would be your first action?

Sir Charles:  My first action would be to appoint a literature czar.  And in anticipation of your next question, I believe Mindy Kaling would be perfect for this position.  She is a bestselling author whose debut title, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (9780307886279) 14.00 shot to the top of the bestseller lists.  Her new collection of essays, Why Not Me? (9780804138147) 25.00 is sure to grace many a coffee table.  Chip read her interview in the NYTBR, which is the New York Times Book Review for the layman, and she is quite erudite. In fact, two of her favourite authors, Salman Rushdie and Jonathan Franzen, have released new novels, so she is most likely pleased as punch.  Salman Rushdie, of course, has a new epic fantasy called Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (9780812998917) 28.00, which has released with the customary acclaim.  And as you are probably aware, Mr. Franzen has performed his usual bumbling pre-publicity for his latest title, Purity (9780374239213) 28.00.  Besides, what could be more American than a young lady with a name like Mindy?

  

 

Barbara:  Are there any books you've read that would influence your policies?

Sir Charles:  I am so glad you asked, Barbara.  Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, although he is no Antonin Scalia, has released his book, The Court and the World (9781101946190) 27.95.  Political orientation aside, he is still one of the most brilliant legal minds of our times.  You may not know this, but Mr. Breyer served as a law clerk for me briefly in the early 60s.  I could tell then that he would go far.  The other title I am quite enamored with is David Maraniss' Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story (9781476748382) 32.50.  We can learn from our mistakes.  Detroit was once a vibrant city.  If I am elected, we will restore the great cities of the Midwest to their glory days.  Before I moved to my palatial estate in Napoli, I lived in a suburb of Detroit named Bloomfield Hills in the 1970s.  My next door neighbor was Bob Lanier and we had many spirited games of P-I-G.

 

Barbara:  If elected President, what would be your 36th action?

Sir Charles:  I would build a wall along the entirety of the west coast of the U.S. to prevent an invasion by the North Koreans.  I would also get the North Koreans to pay for it.  Guaranteed!    

 Odds & Sods

As Steve Winwood would say, "Paul Bialas is back in the high life again."  There are three things Wisconsinites know well: beer, brats, and cheese.  Mr. Bialas' book is called Miller:  Inside the High Life (9780985672553) 47.99.  Sure, it's a little pricey, but beyond the  incredible photographs, it also includes a 70 minute CD of interviews and music inspired by the Miller Brewing Company . . .

Not since Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' has there been a better book on evolution than Evolution: The Whole Story (9781770854819) 39.95 edited by Steve Parker.  It's perfect for internet arguments . . .

BARBARA WAWA INTERVIEW: SIR CHARLES EDMUND WILSON

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"I believe that in time we will have reached a point

where we will deserve to be free of government . . ."

                                                                                     --Jorge Luis Borges

BARBARA WAWA INTERVIEW:  SIR CHARLES EDMUND WILSON

(Barbara, Charles, and Charles' loyal manservant, Chip, are all seated in a faux living room drinking wine.  Charles is in his wheelchair.)

Barbara:  Good evening, America.  I am joined to today by presidential candidate Sir Charles Edmund Wilson III, one of the richest men in the world.  And dare I say, one of the world's most attractive men.  Why have you never married?

Sir Charles:  (He shifts uncomfortably in his wheelchair.)  Well, Ms. Wawa, much like former President James Buchanan, I have chosen to remain a confirmed bachelor for most of my life.  I do, however, appreciate your compliment.

Barbara:  Like former Presidents Clinton and Obama, I understand that you are a voracious reader.  What are you reading right now?

Sir Charles:  Since I am running as a candidate for the Grand Old Party, I do not want you to have the mistaken impression that only Democrats read books.  Personally, I find knowledge to be very, very important.  Currently, to get a grasp on the FBI, I am immersed in Lee Child's Make Me (9780804178778) 28.99.  If I am elected President, I will have a worldwide network of Jack Reachers, who will solve any and all foreign entanglements.  To understand the Negro question in America, I just read Between the World and Me (9780812993547) 24.00 by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  It was disconcerting.  I am absolutely flabbergasted that we are still having this conversation 150 years after we fought to end slavery in the Civil War.  However, my paternal great grandfather, General Beauregard Wilson fought for the Union at the Wilderness and he is mentioned copiously in James McPherson's The War That Forged a Nation: Why the Civil War Still Matters (9780199375776) 27.95.  Mr. McPherson is the preeminent scholar of the Civil War.  You may be unaware that he was a student of mine at Dartmouth.  He was a strapping lad . . 

  

.

 Barbara:  Sir Charles, let's get back on track here.  In the Republican Party, intellectualism is frowned upon.  Do you feel you have to, let's say, tone down your intelligence to appeal to your electorate?

Sir Charles:  That is not true.  Our intellectual scion Dick Cheney has written a treatise entitled Exceptional (9781501115417) 28.00.  It is astounding.

Barbara:  If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? 

Odds & Sods

Finally, just in time for hunting season, we have received the second edition of Scats  and Tracks of the Great Lakes (9781493009923) 12.95 by James Halfpenny.  Now you can identify scat by its appearance rather than other unsavory methods.  I'm looking at you Bear Grylls . . .

Our good friend JD from Penguin Kids popped by today.  And he's excited about a new children's picture book, Mitford at the Fashion Zoo (9780451475428) 17.99 by Donald Robertson.  The artwork is original as is the story.  It could be a good one . . .

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

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*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*

"Sorry I'm not home right now,

I'm walking into spiderwebs . . ."

                                                           --No Doubt, Spiderwebs

PRE-HALLOWEEN BONANZA OF BOOKS BLITZ

  It won't be long until the Halloween sales begin and you're pulling fake spiderwebs out of your hair, which segues nicely into the biggest release this week, the long awaited fourth book in the Stieg Larsson's Millennium series, The Girl in the Spider's Web (9780385354288) 27.95.  Stieg, of course, is still dead.  However, he had written the outline for this book and David Lagercrantz, formerly of Lagercrantz and Guildenstern, has completed the book.  Mr. Lagercrantz is Sweden's top author (and he's also huge in Japan).

  The other big release yesterday was Purity (9780374239213) 28.00 by Jonathan Franzen.  Love him or hate him, a new Franzen title is a worldwide event.  Granted, Mr. Franzen has a penchant for putting both feet in his mouth when interviewed, but this is the kind of inane publicity that gets your title on the bestseller lists.  An important writer, Jonathan is as close as we have to David Foster Wallace without the likeability factor.  Speaking of DFW, both Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (9780307592439) 16.99, which the movie 'End of the Tour' is based on and his opus Infinite Jest (9780316066525) 18.00, which was the book DFW was promoting at the time, have been selling like crazy.

  

  Closer to home, John U. Bacon's Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and the Return of Michigan Football (9781250078971) 27.99 has far outsold any of the previously mentioned titles for us.  Hallelujah!  Father Harbaugh has returned to lead the Michigan Wovlerines football team to the Promised Land.  Praise the football gods! 

  Also, Arcadia Publishing has released a couple of new local books.  The first one is Meridian Township (9781467114394) 21.99 by Jane M. Rose, which kickstarts the song 'At the Hundredth Meridian' by the Tragically Hip in my head without fail.  The other is Jack Dempsey's Michigan at Antietam (9781626199279) 24.99.  I'm a bit of a Civil War buff, so I'm going to bore you with some fun facts about Antietam.  Even though Union General McClellan had a captured copy of Robert E. Lee's entire disposition at Antietam, he almost managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory with his usual poor generalship.  In spite of him, the Union forces prevailed and President Lincoln journeyed to the battlefield and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  So yeah, it was kind of a big deal.

 

  Finally, we lost two very beloved authors this past week.  Oliver Sacks, who reminded me of an even kindlier Santa Claus, if that's possible, passed away.  Dr Wayne Dyer, who I met about 25 years ago, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that he was genuinely a nice guy, also left us.  Dr. Wayne was the real deal.  They will be missed.  

 

Odds & Sods

Deadly force and the police have been in the news a lot these days, so Lt. Dan Marcou's Law Dogs: Great Cops in American History (9781933272528) 16.95 is extremely timely.  These are the men and women behind the badge who have put themselves in harm's way to protect the citizens in our great country.  From Wyatt Earp to Teddy Roosevelt, Mr. Marcou examines the larger than life personas in law enforcement.  A must-have . . .

By the way, we have received the Studio Series Colored Pencil Set (9781441314512) 14.99 from Peter Pauper Press.  With the upswing in adult coloring book purchases, this is an easy add on sale.  How many pencils can Peter Pauper Press print?