What did the book club think of Hannah Rothschild's "The Improbability of Love?"

Annie McDee works as a chef for a film director in London. Her life ain't much. Her mother is a drunken failure, and her love life is pretty much nil. And London? Well, you known how unlivable (or rather, unliveable, as we're talking UK preferences) it's become for the non-superrich.

Her long-term boyfriend didn't want kids, but when he left her, had one with another date. But her newest prospect seems promising. She offers to cook him dinner, and in a rash decision, decides to buy him a small painting from a thrift store. He doesn't show up. 

It turns out, however, that this oddly attractive painting is a lost masterpiece of Antoine Watteau, titled The Improbability of Love, just like the title. And there are a whole mess of people who want it. This forms the plot of Hannah Rothschild's first novel, which is equal parts romantic comedy, thriller, satire, and historical novel, with lots of interesting details about art restoration and fraud detection.

I wanted something a little lighter, more of a crowd pleaser, for our In Store Lit Group for December, and boy did I get it. It was a big success, but I shouldn't have worried. This was Boswellian Jane pick for fall 2015 in hardcover, and was also the sleeper pick from our sales rep Jason.

The first 20 pages might be the weakest, with the prologue documenting the high rollers at an upcoming auction. For one thing, this highlights that there is a lot of typecasting in the story, and downside of typecasting is stereotyping. In a way, it does a good setup. But did we need it? I would be fascinated to see how readers reacted when this section was moved to its proper place in the story's chronology. Another downside is that it reveals a little too much too quickly about the paintings provenance. It's almost impossible not to guess that the storied painting in question is the one that Ms. McDee picked up. Suzi Feay in The Guardian talks more about the prologue. 

The bidders, so well highlighted in the prologue, mostly have bit parts in the body of the novel, with the exception of Vladimir Antipovsky, a Russian emigre whose mission, once evicted from the homeland, is to sent back prophets to the leader, with fatal consequences for not following orders. And in this internet world we live in, there is no escape. So like many a rich person looking for riches, he dabbles in art. 

His guide to this world is Barthomley Chesterfield Fitzroy St. George, a sixty-something elfin party boy (real name: Reg Lucas) who teaches the wealthy how to enjoy themselves, and dresses up like circa seventies Elton John (another Reg, by the way). Barty's bestie is Delores Ryan, the art historian who is one of two of the foremost experts on Watteau, the other being the very reclusive Trichcombe Abufel.

There's also Earl Beachendon, the auctioneer at Monochorum & Sons, who may have a title but doesn't have enough money to keep his daughters in the life that they deserve. There's Melanie Appledore, who with her husband (both Polish emigres who Anglified their names and histories), created a huge fortune and is now setting up a museum, as is the Emir of Alwabbi and his wife the Sheikha. But most importantly there is Winkleman and Son, the art house that has conered the market in almost every aspect of high-end art, run by the aging patriarch Memling, a Holocaust survivor, and his daughter Rebecca. 

And Rebecca is married to Carlo Spinetti, the director that Annie works for. Much of her job is making boiled fish and vegetables (the more boring the better) for the Winkleman family, or it is now, since their last chef left. Annie's attempt to figure out the painting not only puts her in the orbit of Jesse, a nice art historian who has the hots for her, but also of the Winklemans. And to the Winklemans, Memling in particular, this is not just any painting.

Did I mention that the painting tells some of the story? I probably should. If you don't like that sort of thing, you should stop reading now. I would say half our book club (about 16 of us total) loved it, a quarter disliked it, and the rest didn't are either way. 

As I mentioned, this story is a little bit of everything. The art details and history are fascinating. In a way, it reminded me of the B.A. Shapiro novels, with the art details taken up a notch, being that Rothschild is a trustee of the Tate and Chair of the Trustees of London's National Gallery. And it's also funnier.

The book had some high profile reviews, like Jennifer Senior's in The New York Times (which was very positive but noted some editing glitches) and a write up in Entertainment Weekly. But as you search closer, you might notice that the book did not get widespread reviews. It turns out that despite being shortlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize (yes, the old Orange Prize), it was kind of a midlist book. 

Do I love a novel where place has a central role? I do! London is such an important part of Rothschild's novel. As James McAuley in The New Republic wrote: The Improbability of Love is set in the same city we see in China Mieville's London's Overthrow and John Lanchester's Capital, a global cosmopolis whose imperial shell is awash with cash but devoid of soul." I read a lot of reviews of this novel but I think this essay really gets it. He also discusses the much-maligned style of the Fête Galante and why after reading this book, you will definitely want to check out some paintings.

We Americans don't love satire, but there's no getting around it, this novel is a skewering of the high-end art world. One of my favorite bits (and there are so many, that I'm not giving much away) is when the Watteau expert that everyone uses spots the painting in question, she has no inkling its the real thing and calls it out as a cheap copy. The real expert? He's been exiled for raising questions about several pieces. When there's this much money to be made, there's going to be some dirty dealing. Let's just say that this has the highest body count of a Jane pick in a long time.

And the romantic comedy. Yes, there's a Bridget Jonesiness to the Annie McDee character, but why they took this aspect of the plot and turned it into the paperback jacket is beyond me. I've been tracking sales on Above the Treeline and we're currently the #1 independent bookstore in the United States #1 store for sales, and have been for the past month. It's my feeling that this cover is really impeding sales. You have to sell it inspite of the the cover, and folks (let's be frank - gals) who buy this book for the cover are going to be disappointed. They'll find 75 satisfying pages in a 500 page book. As Liz Lemon says, 'blurg!" And yes, Annie reminds me of Liz Lemon and The Improbality of Love is a UK-set, art-themed 30 Rock. There, I said it. 

But the jacket issue has another problem. That woman on the cover is not Annie McDee. She'd be wearing combat boots or Doc Martens, not prim ballet flats. This model is out of an Anita Brookner novel. And did I mention my very favorite UK sales pitch for this book, that it's Anita Brookner meets Judith Krantz? I should also note that the painting in question is 18 x 24, not the supersized canvas that this model is holding.

I've included some of the jacket concepts used in other countries. The British hardcover, as well as the Italian (and Portuguese) ebooks mimicked the look of The Rosie Project, another quirky romantic comedy. Germans went with type, the French with a painting motif (though not one that was in the style of the book) and the UK paperback was their equivalent to our chick lit cover. We apparently love women with their heads cut off (or at least one major retailer does). The Brits like silhouettes. Every art director saw Annie as a little frillier than I did. I think my favorite cover is the Italian ebook. I like the London icons and at least Annie is wearing pants and bicycling. Note that the bicycling silhouette is also used in the UK hardcover. 

Despite the general reaction to romantic comedies as book club material, our group fell for Annie hook, line, and sinker. We argued over her fate, with my contention being the novel is a celebration of process over product. Time and again, the happiest people are the doers who do for its own sake. And Annie turns out to be an artist in her own right, creating the most amazing dinner parties given half a chance. I actually think The Improbability of Love would appeal to folks who like foodie lit as much as those who like art lit. 

So you've guessed that I really had a great time with The Improbability of Love. And here's why I think the book is elevated from a Holocaust-art-world-caper-satire-thriller-romance to something more? It's all in the work of Antoine Watteau, specifically Fête Galante category of painting. You eventually piece together, if you've done your research (and now you have), that the structure and tone of the book is a literary representation of the Fête Galante. 

The group consensus was postive. Lots to talk about for a book club and lots of historical background. Are there issues? Yes there are. A number of us thought the ending was rather abrupt, perhaps partly a result of that shuffled prologue. There's at least one mysterious death that is never explained. Some would argue about the lack of diversity among the non-typecast characters. Others thought it was too fluffy, but I prefer the term frothy. And there are plenty who would similarly dismiss Antoine Watteau's paintings. But what's wrong with disagreement?  It wouldn't be a good book club discussion without a little arguing.

Upcoming discussions!

Monday, January 2, 7 pm: Elizabeth McKenzie's The Portable Veblen. Regular time, no author. McKenzie will be at Boswell on Monday, January 23, 7 pm.

Monday, Febraury 6, 6 pm: Brit Bennett's The Mothers. Earlier time, with a visit from the author for us to ask spoiler questions (at around 6:40 pm). Traditional author event starts at 7 pm.

Monday, March 6, 7 pm: Paul Beaty's The Sellout. No author, but with two big awards and counting, we all have to read it. Plus our group apparently doesn't mind a little satire.

Event Forecast: Shauna Singh Baldwin at Boswell on Monday, December 12, 7 pm

Monday, December 12, 2016, 7 pm, at Boswell:

Shauna Singh Baldwin, author of Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Nonfiction.

In fifteen speeches and essays written between 2001 and 2015, Shauna Singh Baldwin brings a new perspective and voice to Canadian public discourse. Offering examples from her personal journey as a writer and a South Asian woman who needs to "become as hyphenated as possible," Baldwin transcends homogenized national identities.

From Hugh Johnston at Simon Fraser University: "A wonderfully illuminating and personal exploration of cultural, racial, religious and gender perspectives… [Shauna Singh Baldwin] has an intimate knowledge of multiple worlds, which she describes with insight and sympathy. The essays and addresses in this book, by extending and amplifying her earlier writing, make invaluable and enlightening companions to her fiction.”

Shauna Singh Baldwin talks about her new collection of nonfiction, Reluctant Rebellions, on Milwaukee Public Radio's Lake Effect. Mitch Teich discusses the idea of becoming as hyphenated as possible with Baldwin.

And don't forget, we have copies for sale of Reluctant Rebellions!

Boswell bestsellers--Michael Lewis's "The Undoing Project" explodes, "The Underground Railroad" and "A Man Called Ove" pulls away from the pack, and how to buy a copy of "Where's Addy?"

There's nothing like December to see a bestseller list so robust that I get to list 15 titles and not feel like I shouldn't really be calling these bestsellers.

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead (sales are more than double everything else on the hardcover fiction list)
2. Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett
3. Moonglow, by Michael Chabon
4. Swing Time, by Zadie Smith
5. The Mothers, by Brit Bennett (event at Boswell, Monday, Feb 6, 7 pm)
6. News of the World, by Paulette Jiles (I think it made a big difference to move this from spring to fall)
7. The Excellent Lombards, by Jane Hamilton
8. The Mistletoe Murder, by P.D. James
9. The Trespasser, by Tana French
10. The Thin, Bright Line, by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
11. Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson
12. The Wrong Side of Goodbye, by Michael Connelly
13. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
14. Today Will Be Different, by Maria Semple
15. Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch

Signed copies do make a difference, at least in the case of Commonwealth, Another Brooklyn, and Dark Matter. Those are books we got signed at events, but more and publishers now regular have signed offers. Most of the time they sign a tip-in page but every so often, it's the actual full title page of the book. You never know.

Note that the only first novel in the top 15 is Brit Bennett's The Mothers. She also is one of the six writers nominated for the John Leonard Prize. The others?
--The Girls, by Emma Cline
--Here Comes the Sun, by Nicole Dennis-Benn
--Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
--The Nix, by Nathan Hill
--Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, by Max Porter

We'll have a display up as soon as I can find room! I love that the NBCC puts a comma before the "by." I picked this up from The New York Times, but I don't think they do it anymore.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis
2. Much Ado, by Michael Lenehan
3. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
4. Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen (outperforming all the other music memoirs and bios)
5. Upstream, by Mary Oliver
6. Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
7. Women in Science, by Rachel Ignotofsky
8. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
9. My Own Words, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
10. Speaking American, by Josh Katz (I LOVE this book)
11. Appetites, by Anthony Bourdain
12. In the Company of Women, by Grace Bonney
13. Gunslinger, by Jeff Pearlman
14. The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place, by Jennifer McCartney (remember when it was all about sorting your socks by color?)
15. Atlas Obscura, by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton
16. Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren
17. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, by Carlo Rovelli
18. Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods, by John Gurda (I miss you being a new book!)
19. Charlemagne, by Johannes Fried (lots of big memoirs, but is this really our bestselling biography?)
20. The Art of the Pie, by Kate McDermott (that's two books from Countryman!)

Oh, there are lots of stories here, but the release of Michael Lewis's The Undoing Project beats all this week. We run out sometime yesterday evening and Jason brought it a whole mess of copies. We'll have more later this week so please, by all means, give us your name and number to hold a copy. And yes, you can do that through our website too.

I have to say, I wasn't paying attention at all to this until it came out and now I want to read it too. But yes, I also have to put my name on the list. Here's Tim Adams in The Guardian: "All love stories involve the science of decision making – for better or worse, richer or poorer. No romance has been as alive to the fallibility of that process as the one described in this book. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman were both the grandsons of eastern European rabbis. Chance and fate brought them together in Tel Aviv in the 1960s. Their subsequent deep friendship and intellectual collaboration – a bromance that invented 'behavioural economics' and established cognitive rules for human irrationality – has arguably done as much to define our world as, say, the intertwining between Francis Crick and James Watson."

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
2. The Drifter, by Nick (formerly Nicholas) Petrie
3. The Sellout, by Paul Beatty
4. The Portable Veblen, by Elizabeth McKenzie (In-store Lit discussion 1/2, 7 pm, author event 1/23, 7 pm)
5. French Rhapsody, by Antoine Laurain (we just passed 700 Laurain books sold)
6. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, by Fredrik Backman
7. The Vegetarian, by Han Kang (top 10 for the year NYT)
8. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Katarina Bivald
9. The Flood Girls, by Jen Steele
10. The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
11. The Transit of Venus, by Susan Firer
12. The President's Hat, by Antoine Laurain
13. A Child's Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas
14. Afterward, by Edith Wharton, with illustrations by Seth
15. The Slow Waltz of Turtles, by Katherine Pancol

Jason bemoaned the Landmark Theatres moving A Man Called Ove from the Downer Theatre to the Oriental, but it doesn't seem to have affected sales, unless having it still at the Downer would have given us a book that is outselling #2 by triple instead of double!

Books released early in the year sometimes get the short shrift at Christmas. But when I realized that nobody had picked The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend for their top 5 of 2016, despite for recs (and probably at #6 on at least two lists), we gave it a nice display up front that detailed our exciting ride with the book through rec and event photos, and yes, it popped back onto our list. I figure there are a lot of folks shopping at Boswell that come in once a year and they simply don't know about it, and it's a great book to read after A Man Called Ove. In some ways it's very different, but in some ways, in terms of it being about making wrong assumptions about people, it's spot on.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris (thanks to Theatre Gigante and Michael Stebbins for Friday's event)
2. We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
3. Milwaukee Frozen Custard, by Kathleen McCann and Robert Tanzilo
4. Cream City Chronicles, by John Gurda
5. Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow
6. The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown
7. Hope in the Dark, by Rebecca Solnit
8. Sit, Stay, Heal, by Mel Miskimen (turning out to be our breakout dog book for holiday 2016)
9. World Almanac and Book of Facts 2017
10. Milwaukee in the 1930s, by John D. Buenker
11. God is Round, by Juan Villoro
12. Searching for John Hughes, by Jason Diamond
13. The Magic of Math, by Arthur Benjamin
14. Best American Science and Nature Writing 2016, edited by Amy Stewart
15. Mindfulness Coloring Book #3, by Emma Farrarons (so much better than #3, apparently)

So there you go with regional books for this fall. McCann and Tanzilo's Milwaukee Frozen Custard is tops in the Arcadia/History Press category, while two other Wisconsin Historical Society Press books round out our top 15. I think Milwaukee in the 1930s might have had more of a gift impact in a paper over board hardcover, released in the fall, but honestly, who knew then that there would be little to fill the void. I know that in the general market, Jeff Pearl's Gunslinger is the top regional title - last week it was #3 on the Milwaukee Metro Bookscan list.

Picture Books for Kids (through age 8)
1. Gingerbread Christmas, by Jan Brett
2. Where's Addie?, by Donna Luber
3. We Found a Hat, by Jon Klassen
4. The Mitten board book, by Jan Brett
5. The Animal's Santa, by Jan Brett
6. The Mitten 20th anniversary edition, by Jan Brett
7. Gingerbread Baby board book, by Jan Brett
8. A Is for Activist board book, by Innosanto Nagara
9. The Night Before Christmas book and DVD set, by Jan Brett
10. The Story Orchestra, by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
11. I Dissent, by Debbie Levy with illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley
12. Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett
13. Christmas Trolls, by Jan Brett
14. The Twelve Days of Christmas, by Jan Brett
15. The Mitten oversized board book, by Jan Brett

Did I mention that Jan Brett was in town last Sunday?

No, maybe Where's Addie? is our breakout dog book for this holiday. This children's book is inspired by Donna Luber's son Michael and his companion dog Addie, focusing on how Addie once went missing during a thunderstorm. You probably read about this book in Jim Stingl's column in the Journal Sentinel. And yes, we have copies and when we run out, we'll be getting more. You can put your copy on hold through our website.

Chapter Books through YA, and at least One Picture Book That's Nonetheless for Kids 8+:
1. Scythe V1, by Neal Shusterman
2. Challenger Deep, by Neal Shusterman
3. The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill
4. Under Water/Under Earth, by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski
5. The Inquisitor's Tale, by Adam Gidwitz (Conrad's kids pick for the holidays)
6. Dog Man V1, by Dav Pilkey
7. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a play by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne
8. Ghost, by Jason Reynolds
9. Some Writer: The Story of E.B. White, by Melissa Sweet
10. Double Down V11, by Jeff Kinney
11. Unwind V1, by Neal Shusterman
12. Ms. Rapscott's Girls, by Elise Primavera
13. March V2, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
14. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a screenplay by J.K. Rowling
15. Lucy, by Randy Cecil

We took some time from helping folks find books for the holidays with a Neal Shusterman talk at the Shorewood Public Library. What a great talk! We don't always sell backlist in quantity at these events, but his discussion of both Challenger Deep and Unwind had folks clearing out our display table. Hollywood Reporter reported on Scythe's film adaptation. We have signed copies of Scythe.

I almost did a separate list for all those oversized books from Wide Eyed Editions and Big Picture Press. Expect to see more entrants in this field - these are working. My favorite this fall is Under Water/Under Earth, from Mizielinskis, a Polish couple who won a prize at the Bologna Children's Book Fair for their newest.

I'm doing a separate post for the Journal Sentinel's top 10s. It deserves its own headline. Plus there is already a lot in this column to digest.

Event forecast: Michael Lenehan on APT, Erika Janik at East Library, Tim Lapetino at 42 Lounge, Jason Diamond at Urban Harvest, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Theatre Gigante's "Santaland Diaries," Neal Shusterman at Shorewood Library, and Shauna Singh Baldwin's new collection of essays.

Monday, December 5, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Michael Lenehan, author of Much Ado: A Summer with a Repertory Theatre Company

Michael Lenehan is an award-winning Chicago-based writer and editor, who for many years was the chief editorial executive at the Chicago Reader. He has written for the Atlantic Monthly, where he was a contributing editor in the 1980s and 90s, and for Chicago magazine and The New York Times, among others.

Lenehan chronicles the development of the legendary American Players Theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing, from casting to costumes.

From Mike Fischer in the Journal Sentinel: "I’ve experienced more such moments at APT than any theater in the country. It’s nice to see a good book make so much ado about the many magicians bringing those moments to life."

Tuesday, December 6, 6 pm, at East Library, 2320 N Cramer St at North Ave:
Erika Janik, author of Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction

Erika Janik is an award-winning writer, historian, and the executive producer of Wisconsin Life on Wisconsin Public Radio. She’s the author of five previous books, including Marketplace of the Marvelous: The Strange Origins of Modern Medicine.

Her newest is Pistols and Petticoats, which tells the story of women’s very early place in crime fiction and their public crusade to transform policing. Whether real or fictional, investigating women were nearly always at odds with society. Most women refused to let that stop them, paving the way to a modern professional life for women on the force and in popular culture.

East Library is a beautifully designed branch of the Milwaukee Public Library. It's just across the street from Beans and Barley, giving you the perfect dinner option.

Tuesday, December 6, 7 pm, at 42 Lounge, 326 E Mason St in downtown Milwaukee
Tim Lapetino, author of Art of Atari

Tim Lapentino is the Executive Director of the Museum of Video Game Art. Lapentino teaches logo design, brand identity, and brand standards as Adjunct Faculty at Chicago Portfolio School, and serves on the non-profit AIGA Chicago's Board of Directors as Co-Development Chair.He also co-authored the design inspiration book Damn Good: Top Designers Discuss Their All-Time Favorite Projects and has written for HOW, Geek Monthly, RETRO, and other publications.

Atari is one of the most recognized names in the world. Since its formation in 1972, the company pioneered hundreds of iconic titles, including Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. In addition to hundreds of games created for arcades, home video systems, and computers, original artwork was specially commissioned to enhance the Atari experience, further enticing children and adults to embrace and enjoy the new era of electronic entertainment. Art of Atari is the first official collection of such artwork.

42 Lounge is the perfect place to enjoy an event that celebrates the world of Atari. If you've never been, join us for an evening at a bar that celebrates the geek in all of us. As it's a bar, 21+ admission is required.

Wednesday, December 7, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Lucy Jane Bledsoe, author of A Thin Bright Line

Lucy Jane Bledsoe is an award-winning science writer and novelist for adults and children.Her many books include The Ice Cave: A Woman’s Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic, The Big Bang Symphony: A Novel of Antarctica, and This Wild Silence.

Here's a bit about the new novel. "At the height of the Cold War, Lucybelle Bledsoe is offered a job seemingly too good to pass up. However, there are risks. Her scientific knowledge and editorial skills are unparalleled, but her personal life might not withstand government scrutiny. Leaving behind the wreckage of a relationship, Lucybelle finds solace in working for the visionary scientist who is extracting the first-ever polar ice cores. The lucidity of ice is calming and beautiful. But the joyful pangs of a new love clash with the impossible compromises of queer life. If exposed, she could lose everything she holds dear."

Wednesday, December 7, 7 pm, at Urban Harvest Brewery, 1024 S Fifth St in Walker Point
Jason Diamond, author of Searching for John Hughes: Or Everything I Thought I Needed to Know about Life I Learned from Watching ‘80s Movies

Jason Diamond is an Associate Editor at Men’s Journal, a columnist at Electric Literature, former Literary Editor at Flavorwire, and the founding editor of Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Diamond grew up in the Chicago area, where he had a tough childhood, but found inspiratio in the films of John Hughes, the acclaimed Chicago filmmaker responsible for the adolescent angst classics Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club, to say nothing of a little crowd pleaser called Home Alone.

Here's the Wall Street Journal review of Searching for John Hughes.

Urban Harvest is a great brewery with a theater in the back of the tasting room. If you've never been before, this is a great opportunity to check it out. As it's a bar, 21+ admission is required.

Friday, December 9, 7 pm, at Boswell
Theatre Gigante presents Michael Stebbins reading “The Santaland Diaries” from David Sedaris’s Holidays on Ice

Theatre Gigante, headed by co-artistic directors Isabel Kralj and Mark Anderson, is a performing arts organization dedicated to the creation and presentation of performance work that integrates theater, dance, text, and music, through which the company fosters inter-disciplinary collaborations and original work. For the holiday season, Theatre Gigante is presenting a reading of "The Santaland Diaries," the famous essay turned radio monologue turned stage play. First heard on NPR in 1992, it's David Sedaris's story of being an elf at the Herald Square Macy's Santaland.

Daniel aside: I have a friend (not Sedaris) who actually was an elf at Santaland in the late 1970s while I worked in the basement packing hard goods at Macy's Herald Square.

Saturday, December 10, 2 pm, at Shorewood Public Library, 3920 N Murray Ave, just south of Capitol Dr:
Neal Shusterman, author of Scythe, volume one of the Future Perfect series

Neal Shusterman is The New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including Unwind and its sequels, The Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows.

Here's the setup for the new book: "A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do."

Boswellian Kelli O'Malley gives two thumbs up to Scythe, praising the writing and the surprising places the plot goes. She's read a lot of YA novels so it takes a lot to surprise her.

Monday, December 12, 7 pm, at Boswell (corrected):
Shauna Singh Baldwin, author of Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Nonfiction

Baldwin’s fiction, poems, and essays have been published in literary and popular magazines, anthologies, and newspapers. Her work has been translated into fourteen languages. In fifteen speeches and essays written between 2001 and 2015, Shauna Singh Baldwin brings a new perspective and voice to Canadian public discourse. Offering examples from her personal journey as a writer and a South Asian woman who needs to “become as hyphenated as possible,” Baldwin transcends homogenized national identities.

Baldwin is a Canadian and Milwaukee treasure both whose work has been shortlisted for the Giller Prize.

Our bestsellers for the week ending December 3, 2016--the runaway holiday bestsellers are now pretty clear, unless a media firestorm explodes in the next week. And who doesn't mind that?

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
2. Moonglow, by Michael Chabon
3. The Excellent Lombards, by Jane Hamilton
4. The Misletoe Murder, by P.D. James
5. News of the World, by Paulette Jiles
6. Swing Time, by Zadie Smith
7. Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett
8. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
9. Hag Seed, by Margaret Atwood
10. Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson

I have vowed to finish The Underground Railroad by the end of the year, and I have passed the point of no return, which is page 50. I do a variation on the Nancy Pearl theory of trying out books. She says 50 pages or your age minus 100 if you are over 50. I say age has nothing to do with it, and I am more concerned with how late I can give up than how many pages I have to give the book I'm trying. So I say you have 50 pages or 10% of the book to quit, whichever is longer.

I should also note that four of The Washington Post's top 5 fiction books of 2016 are represented here. The only holdout is Tana French's The Trespasser, but it's not like we're not trying. Boswellian Sharon Nagel called this "another fantastic tale from one of my favorite mystery writers."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Good Stock, by Sanford D'Amato
2. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
3. Atlas Obscura, by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton
4. Thank You for Being Late, by Thomas Friedman
5. Gunslinger, by Jeff Pearlman
6. Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
7. Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods, by John Gurda
8. Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen
9. Hero of the Empire, by Candice Millard
10. My Own Words, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
11. Absolutely on Music, by Haruki Murakami
12. Speaking American, by Josh Katz
13. Gratitude, by Oliver Sacks
14. Women in Science, by Rachel Ignotofsky
15. In the Company of Women, by Grace Bonney

I am completey obsessed with Speaking American, by Josh Katz. As a New Yorker who moved to Wisconsin many years ago, it explains a lot of stuff. When do scallions turn into green onions? Why does Milwaukee say soda like New York but Chicago says pop? And what part of the country says flapjacks? Turns out that the answer is just about nobody. It's all told with infographic maps and I can't stop looking at them.

So interesting to see three of our lists having runaway bestsellers that are likely to dominate our charts through Christmas (Underground Railroad, Evicted, A Man Called Ove) while the others do not. But another reason for me to finish reading Railroad is so I can say I read the #1 book on all five lists this week.

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
2. The Improbability of Love, by Hannah Rothschild (book club discussion 12/5 at 7)
3. The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
4. The Drifter, by Nick Petrie
5. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, by Fredrik Backman
6. Jade Dragon Mountain, by Elsa Hart
7. Girl Waits with Gun, by Amy Stewart
8. Afterward, by Edith Wharton/Seth
9. The Lake House, by Kate Morton
10. The Association of Small Bombs, by Karan Mahajan

The New York Times ten best books of 2016 is out and it's a little more offbeat than the Washington Post's, though still including Underground Railroad. It does include The Association of Small Bombs, which hit our top 10 this week. The book was a National Book Award finalist and also received hosannas from Sam Sacks at The Wall Street Journal: "The Association of Small Bombs is not the first novel about the aftermath of a terrorist attack, but it is the finest I’ve read at capturing the seduction and force of the murderous, annihilating illogic that increasingly consumes the globe."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Milwaukee Frozen Custard, by Kathleen McCann and Robert Tanzilo
2. The Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson
3. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
4. The Politics of Resentment, by Katherine Cramer
5. The English and Their History, by Robert Tombs
6. Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow
7. The Road to Character, by David Brooks
8. The Price of Inequality, by Joseph E. Stiglitz
9. Adventures in Human Being, by Gavin Francis
10. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, by Carrie Brownstein

You never know what's going to take off at Boswell, but between the Anglophiles and award-o-philes, Robert Tombs's The English and Their History was destined for some decent sales. It was named a best book of the year by The Daily Telegraph, The Times Literary Supplement, The Times, The Spectator, and The Economist. Christopher Silvester wrote in The Financial Times that the book "deserves to be widely read" while The Economist said it "deserves a place on every educated Englander's bedside table."

Books for Kids:
1. Dog Man, by Dav Pilkey
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by J.K. Rowling
3. Gingerbread Christmas, by Jan Brett
4. Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beaty with illustrations by David Roberts
5. The Story Orchestra, by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
6. The Outsiders 50th anniversary, by S.E. Hinton
7. We Found a Hat, by Jon Klassen
8. Cityblock, by Christopher Franceschelli with illustrations by Peskimo
9. Little Blue Truck's Christmas, by Alice Schertle with illustrations by Jill McElmurry
10. A is for Activist, by Innosanto Nagara

Since we end our sales on Saturday, our Sunday event with Jan Brett will not register till next week, though we had enough presales to get Gingerbread Christmas to #3. It's Brett's third Gingerbread book, with a cookie orchestra entertaining the town in this installment. Like our bookseller Olivia V. who worked the talk and signing at Milwaukee Public Library's Centennial Hall, Ms. Brett is a clarinetist, while her husband Joe plays the bass.

Over in the Journal Sentinel, Mike Fischer reviews Michael Chabon's Moonglow, which like recent novels in our top 10 from Jane Hamilton and Ann Patchett, draws very closely on Chabon's family story, specifically that of his grandfather. Fischer wrote: "The existence of this beautiful, brave book confirms that we must nevertheless continue constructing narratives, no matter how ephemeral they are. We cannot fully recover what’s been lost. But we can tell stories like this one, remembering where we came from so that we might somehow keep going."

Reprinted from Newsday is Tom Beer's review of Born a Crime, the new memoir from Trevor Noah, who took over The Daily Show from Jon Stewart. The verdict: "Americans will know Trevor Noah much better after reading his terrific new memoir, “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.” Not that the book is in any way a promotional tool for the television show. Nor is it the conventionally thin gruel that constitutes a celebrity memoir these days. Noah has a real tale to tell, and he tells it well — the tale of a boyhood in South Africa during and after apartheid."

From the Charlotte News and Observer comes John Murawski's review of Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like Literally.) Murawski muses: "To professional linguists who obsess over the minutiae of language change, pedantic scorn for linguistic evolution reflects what might well be termed a creationist mindset. 'Indeed, the way we are taught to process language is as antique as our ancestors’ sense of how nature worked,' McWhorter writes. 'One of the hardest notions for a human being to shake is that a language is something that is, when it is actually something always becoming.'"

When the Holiday Season Gets Out of Control, it's Time for me to Read About Department Stores - a Review of Linda B. Forgosh's "Louis Bamberger."

As a bookseller for many years, I have always found it interesting to spot trends. This comes in handy at Boswell, of course. Even though I don't do the buying, I can certainly make some good predictions about what's going to work. Honestly, I can also make some bad predictions. It can sometimes make for good displays, and it often gives me something interesting to say when I am speaking to groups about books, such as at my Shorewood Public Library talk on December 3, at 11 am.*

This interest in trends is certainly not limited to books. I have followed retail stores for all of my adult life, which is one of the reasons Boswell has a display of private label bandage tins. They'd all be store brands if I could have found enough - alas, I had to fill it out with Curad and the like. And having just done a bit of retail browsing, in stores, catalogs, and websites, I have noticed, for example, three pushes in menswear.

1. Fancy flannel. The nicest casual shirts in retail seem to be flannel. I don't have the numbers, but there's clearly been a resurgence this season. But it's not just the percentage of shelf space - I have noticed more retailers and websites featuring less rugged, more streetsmart options. Some shirts seem ready to wear with a sports jacket or even a suit. I remember seeing this in a Dayton's in St. Paul a number of years ago, and still have a snazzy sample from the display.

2. Dull colors with doodads. This is something I noticed this season when trying to replace a ratty cardigan and a wool car coat with a broken zipper. "Sir, would you like that in black, charcoal, or a navy so dark it actually looks black? Nevermind, we actually don't have navy - it's just annother shade of black. But we have sweater inserts and tabs and contrasting knit patterns and fabrics and buttons on top of zippers." I spotted what I wanted in one catalog - a plain cut wool coat in an interesting but still dark color, but there was only a topcoat option, just a car coat. I know the sportier down and performance winterwear comes in lots of colors, but that's not what I want. So I may spend the $30 estimate and fix the zipper, even though the coat is not in great shape and came from a discount store with the original cost being not much more than the price of repair.

3. Pleats are sneaking back up on men like the Jaws theme. I've seen this in The New York Times and am now noticing "how to wear pleats" features in fashion catalogs. Of course they never went away for some, but once the pleatless look became dominant, something has to change. Sort of like tie width. It certainly hasn't gone widespread yet, but within a couple of seasons it should be ascendant again.

I guess I was in the mood to talk about fashion because I just finished reading Louis Bamberger: Department Store Innovator and Philanthropist, by Linda B. Forgosh. Bamberger's (or Bam's, I've now learned) was the leading department store of New Jersey, starting in 1892, with the nameplate disappearing in 1986. It was only independent until 1929, when Louis, having lost his business partner Felix Fuld, 74 and with no heirs, he sold to Macy's. But it was such a strong name that despite Macys rebranding their Kansas City and San Francisco operations almost immediately,** they kept the Bamberger name in tact for almost 50 years, using it for new suburban branches as well.

Here's how I know that Forgash, the Executive Director of the Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey, and Brandeis University Press, were more interested in his work as a philantropist - no list of branches! I'm sure there's a History or Arcadia Press book for that, or I could visit the Department Store Museum website.

Bamberger's really was an amazing feat. Newark grew to the 14th largest city in America, but Bamberger's was the sixth largest store in America, all in the shadow of New York City. If you grew up in New York, you know that New Jersey was another world. They read different newspapers - the Newark Star Ledger and the Jersey Journal. I once took the PATH to New Jersey, to visit Hahne's and the just-renamed-to-Macy's Bambergers, and remember paying an outrageous long distance charge for a phone call. Fortunately Louis B's restaurant was still open. I ate there of course.

Did you know that L. Bamberger and Company had the first department store radio station, WOR, which still broadcasts to this day? Did you know that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade actually was a Bamberger's ritual from 1924, and moved to New York in 1929? And while their magazine that went to their better customers, Charm, folded in the depression, per Forgosh, it was actually folded into Glamour, which also continues to this day?

I'm not playing down the philanthropy. Bamberger contributed to and participated in all sorts of charitable endeavors. While not religious, he understood the plight of Jewish immigrants and funded Newark's YM-YWHA (the equivalent of Milwaukee's JCC). Jewish doctors couldn't practice so he helped with the Jewish hospital. Newark. Newark needed culture so Bamberger started the Newark Museum. The Bamberger Award for Scholarship went to deserviing high school students for many years after his death.

Perhaps his greatest non-retail achievement was the Institute for Advanced Study. While he hoped it might be situated in Newark, Bamberger was convinced to move it to somplace with a stronger university culture, which is how it wound up in Princeton. If you want to know more, including how Einstein became part of it, Forgosh tells you all about it.

As detailed as the book was, I wanted to know more. Louis grew up the child of Hutzlers, who had their own department store in Baltimore. Why was he left out of that, having to head to New York and then Newark to make his fortune? A bachelor who lived with his business partner and his sister (who married his partner after her first husband died!), I can only imagine the story Renee Rosen (What the Lady Wants, on Marshall Field) could find in the historical archives, had her literary interest not been focused on Chicago.

There is clearly another story in Mr. Bamberger's life, but alas, being that few people outside of New Jersey probably even know who he is, it might be written, but probably won't be published, unless Philip "Mr. Newark" Roth decides to write another book. But for retail junkies*** like myself, there's plenty to enjoy, such as Bamberger's annual poultry show!

*That's tomorrow, for folks reading this essay on the day of posting.

**In Kansas City they bought O'Connor Moffatt and Company, and in San Francisco, their acquisition was John Taylor Dry Goods.

***Because of my junkie nature, I have to point out that when listing stores with distinctive clocks, the author mentions Ayer's of Indianapolis. I know she meant Ayres (or formally, L.S. Ayres and Company). Lyman's last name ended in s, so were you to use the possessive, it would be Ayres' or Ayres's, depending on which style guide you used. But the store itself did not use an apostrophe, until the last sign was removed, circumventing this issue.