Why Father's Day is the Right Time to be Thinking About Lily King's Father of the Rain--And Think About it Again for Our Event on July 14th

There's no question that I owe a thank you card to the greeting card companies for Father's Day. It really does lead to a nice pop in traffic, both for gifts and yes, cards.

You probably think you're going through the motions on a day like this Sunday, but really, it's interesting to contemplate your relationship with your own dad. Are you grateful that it's pretty good (or better yet, spectacular?) Are you regretful of the relationship you might have had? Or did you discover at one point that your dad was just a person who could be as good or as bad as any other person.

What better day than today to contemplate a novel about a complicated father-child relationship. The most popular book in the country right now is Justin Halpern's memoir Sh*t my Dad Says, which may in fact be incredibly funny, but has stood out among the other incredibly funny memoirs of the last few years by having 1) a genius title 2) a modern multi-pronged platform, including a Twitter following of more than 1,000,00 folks. I didn't read it and I'm not likely to, as we are almost always out of it. Happy Father's Day, It Books! Here's Halpern's website, if you haven't looked yet.

The father-daughter relationship can offer no fewer complications than the traditional father-son one, only with sexual tension substituting for rivalry. There've been other books over the years that have explored complicated father-daughter relationships, but Lily King's new novel, Father of the Rain, does a particularly wonderful job mapping this terrain.

Daley Armory's story (it's a novel! it's a novel!) starts with her as a vulnerable child, needy and not necessarily discerning. Her father is alternately charming and infuriating. His life is shaped by old money, bigotry, and in particular, alcoholism.

The story is structured like a play in three acts, focusing on several key moments in Daley's life, moving from her childhood (when her Mom left) to early adulthood (when wife #2 Catherine walks out, leaving her holding the caregiver bag) to a last attempt at reconciliation.

There are lots of disturbing moments along the way—giving up her professorship and her chance at happiness with her boyfriend Jonathan (who, either in spite of or because of her father's racism, is African American) are only part of the shortlist. Badly behaved is putting it mildly.

I was talking to Sue Miller at the Library Literary Lunch, where she told me how much she liked King's writing, and Miller is not alone. King's first novel, The Pleasing Hour, received a Whiting award and was a New York Times notable book of the year. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly top ten book of the year and a People Magazine four-star critic's choice.

Here's it in a nutshell--Father of the Rain is probably not the best book for your dad, but is certainly a novel that might help you make sense of your own parent-child relationships. If nothing else, it might make you feel better about them. It's a beautiful, deftly-told character study, filled with wise moments and yes, a good amount of drama.

Lily King will be appearing at Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee on Wednesday, July 14th, at 7 PM. Details on our event page to come.

We Love These Books--The Lonely Polygamist and Day for Night Display

One of the skills I have tried to master while being an independent bookseller is tenacity. Unlike mass merchants, as long as we have the desire to sell a book, the gift of time is on our side. We don't generally open big (The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest to the contrary), but we play for a long time, just like a classic art house movie theater (and what do you know, we are just blocks away from two, the Oriental and the Downer).

Little Bee came out last February, but we sold almost half our books in the fourth quarter. We didn 't discover last fall's Yarn until January, and it's selling for us much like a new release. The same for 1954's The Tortoise and the Hare (also released here in the fall). And The Power of Kindness has now been out for several years, and we've sold 100 times more books in its third year than in its first too (I love it because it sounds so dramatic, but really, we only sold one copy in its first two years)

That's why I'm not too worried that we've had the books for two months and we're just now putting up our dual display for The Lonely Polygamist and Day for Night. Now it's not like we haven't had the books on Boswell's Best and in our staff rec cases and in piles in various places--it's just that it took a while for me to get around to the special signage needed to do our full court Little Bee push.

Half court really, as the case is being shared. This is the same place where we did the Best Buddies case last spring and have periodically placed top 25 bestsellers lists. It's an odd case, but it is heavily shopped.

My goal is to sell 100 copies of each book. I thought Lonely P. would hit the bestseller list and be easier, but that's another thing it has in common with Middlesex--it hasn't cracked the top 15 of the New York Times, despite being comfortably in the top ten for independent bookstores.

In some ways, Day for Night has been a bit tougher as it is so difficult to describe. On the other hand, it's been so rewarding because not too many booksellers have jumped on the bandwagon. The thing about selling Reiken is, it's not enough to say you like it, you have to love it. In the end, it's definitely a "trust me" proposition.

Similarly, reviews have been coming slowly (nothing in either the daily or Sunday New York Times, even though I suspect that Janet Maslin would love this book) but the ones that have come in have been rather good, sometimes spectacular. I loved Julie Orringer's piece in the Washington Post, but that Joan Frank review in the San Francisco Chronicle I think best captured the essence of the book (shelf talker at left).

If you're a bookseller, I'd love to use your rec somewhere, maybe on the shelf talkers that we've come up with, maybe on a poster. Email me or just post a comment on this blog.

Oh, and if you're wondering whether it's all me, the answer is no. I've got 4-5 bookseller recommendations on both, and I didn't read one of our big pushes from last fall, The Magicians, now available in paperback. And there our books I've really loved that I never got traction on from other Boswellians. But that's for another post.

Happy Bloomsday, and Other One-Day Books

So I get on the bus yesterday, and the bus driver looks at me and says, "Hey, bookstore guy. What day is tomorrow?"

"Uhhhhh, Wednesday? That would be Martin Hintz." Yes, tonight (Wednesday) is Martin Hintz talking about Forgotten Tales of Wisconsin. It's from History Press. It's a very nice package, and many of the stories are rare enough that I hadn't heard them for. See you at 7. But I digress.

"No, what happens tomorrow?" The bus driver knows the answer, and that isn't it. It comes to me.

"It's Bloomsday," I rather quietly reply, just in case he's referring to something to do with the World Cup.

Yes, that's it! The driver mentions Kathleen Dunn's show on Wisconsin Public Radio, and then I think about whether this the guy who called me on the carpet last year for not celebrating Bloomsday?

Ha! I can only thank Jim Higgins at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for a display idea to tie in Bloomsday, which is of course today (June 16th), the day when Ulysses takes place. Another aside, we have the Gabler, the revised, and the annotated editions. The piece was on books that take place in one day. Alas, we weren't able to stock every book--can you believe that David Lodge's The British Museum is Falling Down is currently unavailable?

But back to the bus ride. Our exchange inspired the bus driver to offer a quiz to all passengers, a free copy of Ulysses to anyone who could answer three simple questions about the books opening. If he asks, I think the answers are "Latin, it's a mass, and it takes place outside of Dublin." I'm not positive; thought I did read Dubliners and Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, I've never read Ulysses. Maybe next year. But probably not Finnegan's Wake, even though it's on the table, taking place, as it does, in one night.

How Did Last Week Go? And What About This Week...

Our experiment with Sugar Maple proved to be a success, with some caveats. The space is great, Bruno and Adrienne are great, we had a good turnout, and everyone had a good time. One last shout out to Sugar Maple--here's a link to their website.

Caveat one--bars are dark! Everyone let Dan know that we apologize for the lighting, and we're now packing one of our Mighty Bright booklights in our offsite kit.

Caveat two--sales at bars are tough! I remember this from the Schwartz days. I'd like to experiment with a cover that includes a book, particularly for a high-profile author like Justin Cronin. Admittedly the event took place two days after the book came out, but still, there was certainly no shortage of press.

Here's a picture of Dan reading Await Your Reply at the bar.

Oh, and yes, we do have signed first editions of The Passage. And they are not tipped-in signatures.

Here's a picture of Alexis and I and the Penguin 75 Mini Cooper. Want to buy it? They are auctioning it off on Ebay after the tour.

Now this week--all events are at 7 PM:

Monday (tonight): Stephen McCauley, author of Insignificant Others.

Tuesday (tomorrow, 6/15): David Benjamin, author of Sumo

Wednesday (6/16): Martin Hintz, author of Forgotten Tales of Wisconsin (email us on this one).

Thursday (6/17): Alan Furst, author of Spies of the Balkans. Come to our in-store event at 7 or meet us at the party at The Safe House at 9. The book goes on sale tomorrow, 6/15.

In the afternoon of 6/17, we're selling books at Richard Cutler's talk at Eastcastle, at 2 PM.

Friday (6/18): Howard Bryant, author of The Last Hero: The Life of Henry Aaron.

Saturday (6/19): I'm selling fresh bargain books at Urban Garage Sale at Turner Hall.

Stacie's Field of Dreams--A Baseball Display and Two Baseball Events

Stacie put together this lovely baseball diorama for the Boswell Book Company front window. Though I was all-around impressed with the construction (I think she picked up some professional tips), I think her genius moment was creating the white tissue paper balls for clouds and a bright orange one for the sun. Speaking of sun, I apologize for my photos being so glare-y.

And it turns out, if you build it, they will come. Shortly after its creation, I booked two great baseball events for this season. On Friday, June 18th at 7 PM, we're hosting ESPN sportswriter Howard Bryant, author of the acclaimed new biography, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron.

Here's Allen Barra writing in the Denver Post: "Just when it seemed like all the great baseball subjects had been done, Howard Bryant checks in with The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, which, amazingly, Aaron had to wait 34 years to get. Bryant, author of Shutout, the definitive study of race in baseball, and Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball, is a great writer for a great subject."

Read the rest of the review here.

Needless to say, Aaron is one of the heroes of Milwaukee baseball, a Braves star when the team relocated to Atlanta. Bryant's talk is highlighted on the Journal Sentinel's list of top entertainment picks for June. And here's Bob Wolfley's column on The Last Hero, if you haven't yet read it.

On Monday, July 12th at 7 PM, we are hosting Jason Turbow, one of the two authors of The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime. Turbow's book has been also getting great press.

Here's a teaser from the recent review in The New York Times:

"Jason Turbow and Michael Duca, obvious baseball obsessives from the San Francisco Bay Area, have collected dozens of stories from baseball history about situations that are not governed by the rule book but that pertain to the fuzzy notions of rightness and respect and that describe the contours of the so-called baseball codes. When is it legitimate for a pitcher to knock down a hitter? When is it unsportsmanlike for a base runner to steal a base? Spitballs may not be legal, but are they ethical? Why might a player lie to his manager? Is it ever O.K. not to join your teammates when a brawl starts on the field? And how about stealing your opponent’s signs? Is it proper? Always? Are some methods of thievery more tolerable than others?"

Need more? Here's the rest of the review.

Both books make a great Father's Day gift.

Matching Gift Items to Tattoos, a Continuing Challenge

One of my favorite customers came in to introduce me to her daughter. They were sad that they missed the Penguin Mini this morning. It's hard to get a crowd at our store at 11 AM on a weekday, but our "Buy a Penguin, get a Penguin Classic book bag" proved to be very popular and we'll run it until we run out of bags (tomorrow). We've also still got some free posters.

Her daughter came in, ready to play her ukelele. "At first it was a joke, but now I like it", she observed. I notice that with a lot of our gift items, there's a fine line between joke and obsession. Take the thumb puppets. We just got in the big giraffe today, which by the way, is an excellent bender. No surprise, the robot turned out to be very stiff. It turns out she's got a giraffe tattoo.

"What, no pirate? I thought you liked pirates," her mom asked.

"Oh, that's my other tattoo. The giraffe looks like my tattoo, and also matches my dress, " The blue one, that is. The red didn't match so much, and we weren't sent any yellow.

That was one of the best parts of the conversation. The other part was how excited she got by David Lodge.

The Penguin Tote Offer, but Beware of Faux Penguins!

Tonight's the night! In the store is Josie Brown, author of Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives. At Sugar Maple, Justin Cronin and Dan Chaon. Posters available for $5.

Tomorrow the Mini Cooper stops at Boswell, from 11 AM to 12:30 PM. The fabulous Penguin bags have arrived and we've got a special offer. Starting at 11 AM tomorrow morning, and while supplies last, you can get a free bag with the purchase of any Penguin book. Now it can't be corporate Penguin USA. It must have the Penguin on the spine.

Little known fact #1: for a year or two, the company put Penguins on their releases from Plume, the old trade paperback imprint of New American Library that they acquired. They eventually reversed this decision.

Another caveat--only "new" Penguin books count towards this offer. Second hand and bargain editions do not apply. To stock the table, I went around the store pulling Penguin titles for your easy browsing. Over the years, Penguin USA has alternated between making the spines orange, and not making the spines orange. Classics are usually with a black spine, but not all of them. The Penguin itself is generally in an orange field, except for mystery/suspense, which is on a green background.

Little known fact #2: Biographies originally had a blue spine. There were other category/color matches. If you know them, why not comment on this post?

More on the design of Penguin Books, timeline style!

One fascinating detail was what I call fraudulent Penguins. These are books that mimic the Penguin color iconography but are not Penguins. I do not include books that are predominantly orange, like Little Bee or Sam Savage's The Cry of the Sloth.

No, these are books that really don't use orange except for an accent detail on the rest of the book, but the spine is pretty much classic Penguin orange. Faux Penguins!

Did I find this stylistic tic with other colors, such as yellow or light green? Yes, I did. As often? No. As noticeable? No. It's clear that using this design detail seems to indicate to designers that the book is quality literature. There was nothing trashy (yes, we have plenty) in the bunch.

You can also distinguish yourself as quality by taking advantage of our free Penguin bag offer tomorrow. We also have free posters--no purchase necessary (one per customer) and postcards.

How Did Book Club Go? A Discussion About Colm Tóibín's Brooklyn

It was just the kind of book club discussion that keeps things interesting--a divided jury for Brooklyn. As folks know, this novel of a young Irish woman who leaves behind her mother and sister for a job in Brooklyn received glowing reviews on publication, and was awarded the Costa Prize for fiction.

While most of the gang felt the story was a bit lighter than they hoped, and with a relatively happy ending, a minority thought the story was much sadder, and that Eilis's chosen future didn't necessarily lead to happiness. There wasn't anyone who didn't like the book (borne by Boswell's sales in paperback, a perfectly respectable 42 copies so far, putting us in the top quarter of indie bookstores on the Above the Treeline inventory system. Sorry, customers, I obsess over this.)

I had read somewhere that Tóibín did a different spin on the immigrant story; instead of being from the children and grandchildren of immigrants, Toibin's perspective was of a person whose family did not leave, and who himself has a home in the small Irish village of Enniscorthy that Eilis winds up leaving.

C. was taken by the story being similar in some ways to Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World in that Eilis has two life paths laid out for her. She was struck by how young an inexperienced Eilis really was--just a sophomore.

There was some talk about how saintly many of the men were, which seemed unrealistic to several participants. It was my thought that they were just putting their best feet forward, and that we had no idea what they'd like to be when not courting.

The various minority subplots (the Jews, the Blacks, the Italians) seemed a bit light and undeveloped for some participants. G. had lived in Brooklyn at a time not too removed from the storyline. C2. had to be reminded that Brooklyn did not take place in the 1920's.

I was taken by how much the story reminded me of several of Alice McDermott's novels, only set 5-10 years early, before the families moved out to Long Island. N. thought the style reminded her of Henry James, which was funny, since she hadn't caught that Tóibín's previous novel was about Henry James.

It turned out to be a spirited hour of discussion. Next up we read Attica Locke's Black Water Rising on Monday, July 5th, 7 PM.