Come to Our Book Club Night and Get Some Ideas, Wednesday, March 24th, 7 PM

For a number of years, I have been working with a longstanding book club on the North Shore (the members live from just north of downtown to Mequon), helping them pick their selections for the coming year. I always get a bit panicky when the selections are chosen, but in the end, I usually hear good things about how the discussions went.

Since Boswell opened, I've been asked to do a few more, some in the store and some at people's homes. I request that we be able to sell books at the presentation, and there is a charge for ones that are outside the store.

At the same time, I hear from many clubs that they get stuck on choosing books. The books are too easy, or too hard. There's too little to talk about. Members aren't finishing the books. Not every book works for every club.

So here's my idea. Come to my book club presentation, open to the public. It's on Wednesday, March 24th at 7 PM. I'm doing the presentation with Valerie Laken, whose new book, Dream House, has just come out in paperback, and is one of my book club picks for spring.

I'm hoping to have a nice hand-out brochure that we'll have available for the presentation, and also afterwards.

Read more about Dream House tomorrow.

Chewing the Q's with Kirk Farber, Author of Postcards From a Dead Girl

We're very proud of Wisconsin's own. That's why I'm so excited to be welcoming back Kirk Farber on his homecoming tour for his first novel, Postcards from a Dead Girl.

The book was acquired by friend-to-booksellers Carl Lennertz of HarperCollins. We booksellers will pretty much do anything Carl tells us to, as he's right so often. He's been a huge advocate of many sleepers, most recently The Pig Did It.

Postcards from a Dead Girl is about Sid, a travel agent with problems, many problems. (Perhaps one of them would be that he is a travel agent, or more specifically, a telemarketer that sells tours to unsuspecting callers. One of his problems is that his ex-girlfriend keeps writing notes to him from far-off places. Another is that the swimming pool that he's decided to excavate himself is harder to accomplish in reality than it might appear. Oh, and Sid is sick, very sick, with too many maladies to even catalog. Funny that is doctor sister is often a bit late returning his calls.

It's a quirky-poignant story with an absurd cast of characters. And it's the kind of book that leaves you with many questions. You can come to any of the four (yes, four) Milwaukee-area events (come to mine, come to mine) and get the answers, but I've cut to the chase and asked Mr. Farber some of them here.

Goldin Question #1: Where did the title come from? #2 Where did you get the idea for the story?

Farber: Concerning the title, the answer to that is mixed up with your #2 question. The impetus for the story came from a song by a Nashville band (The Bees, now called The Silver Seas.). I played drums in the Milwaukee band, Spill, back in the early 2000’s, and we played a music festival in Nashville where we saw this band. Their song “Letters from the Dead” is about a guy who finds postcards in his room from a past relationship, and he doesn’t know what to do with them, so he refers to them as letters from the dead. So my “what if” question kept popping up while listening, and I thought, what if instead of finding old postcards, they were actually being sent to you, and from someone you weren’t sure was alive or dead--or that the reader wasn’t sure was alive or dead.

2. You grew up in Oconomowoc, right? Did you commute to Redbird Studio for the classes/sessions or did you live closer to MKE for a while. If so, any interesting anecdotes that either
a. Affected your writing?
b. Influenced your decision to become a write
c. Actually crept into your novel

I did grow up in Oconomowoc. But I went to school at UWM, and continued to live in either Milwaukee or Wauwatosa after graduating, up until we moved to Colorado about 3 years ago.

Redbird Studio definitely affected my writing. Before joining. I had shared stories at school or with a friend or two, but hadn’t taken any real risks in getting feedback. Once I began attending Redbird, I suddenly had a whole community of other writers, feedback every other week, encouragement, and networking options. It was like a quantum leap for me. I completed Postcards there, did several revisions, and got help with short stories and query letters as well. Judy Bridges also introduced me to an off-shoot critique group that concentrated specifically on novels, led by Milwaukee author Elaine Bergstrom. I attended several of Elaine’s sessions as well, and got great advice on long fiction.

As far as what influenced my decision to become a writer, I’ve always loved telling stories and reading them. As a drummer, I’m often hearing rhythms and must tap them out, much to the chagrin of those around me. As a writer, I’m often hearing the narrative voice of a character and feel compelled to write it all down, which is much quieter, so I do that more often.

Milwaukee does creep into the novel in spots--there is an outdoor scene where Sid is trying to do yoga overlooking a huge lake, which was directly inspired by the hill on North Ave overlooking Lake Michigan, near where I used to live. And there's a scene that takes place in an old movie palace, which is essentially The Oriental. Also, Sid’s job temporarily working for the USPS is based on my short stint loading trucks at the UPS hub near the airport.

3. Did you any reserach for Sid's travels?
a. Talk to actual travel agent
b. Visited some exotic places Sid went
c. Non-exotic? (car repair shop)
d. Point and click.

For travel research, I had been to several places like New York, New Jersey, and the U.K. But for more exotic places like Barcelona, I used the internet for photos and descriptions. Because Sid tends to focus on odd elements of his whereabouts anyway, I just wanted to find a few key details, like some of the architecture, or that dogs roam the city. The rest was just imagined how I thought Sid might see (or not see) Europe.

4. I'm going to cut to the chase and not ask you, Which character is you in the book?" You'll say, "All of them", and I'll say, "Oh, how interesting. Tell me what part of each or any of these characters is you?"
a. Natalie
b. Gerald the post office guy
c. Steve the boss
d. Zoe
e. Candyce the annoying girlfriend
f. Zero the dog
g. The other Girlfriend

Well, yes, I definitely used the different parts of my personality to fill out these characters, with the exception of Steve the Boss. He’s essentially based on a guy I met at a job interview in Brookfield back when I was looking for summer work in between school semesters. The job was to sell chicken, fish, and beef out of a refrigerated truck, and the pay was really great for a college student. I waited for an hour in this tiny waiting room with three other kids, and finally this guy came out and was just way too overzealous. “So let me ask you this, before we even do the interview. Are you ready to sell chicken and fish? Are you!?” He was like a football coach, pacing back and forth. “You gotta get out there and sell! Twelve hour days!” Suddenly, the pay didn’t seem so great after all.

5. A quote promoting your book compared you to Chuck Palahniuk. Very impressive, but I think that needs an explanation--I don't see people fainting after they read passages from Postcards from a Dead Girl. He is one of those writers who hopes to shock and horrify. What emotions do you most want to generate in your readers?

The quote comparing me to Chuck Palahniuk was really flattering because he’s one of my favorite authors. Fight Club really got me excited about writing. But I think the quote was referring to his storytelling style and not his content. Like you said, he really is more shocking, while I gravitate more towards humor amidst sad or lonely circumstances. I wanted Postcards to be hopeful at the end.

6. Any interesting directions the writing of the book went that had to be cut or edited out?

At one point, I had Zero as a talking dog. He just talked, and Sid seemed okay with that. But we ultimately took that out so Sid didn’t seem too deranged. As a scene it was fun, but didn’t work in the book as a whole.

(Editor's Note: Do you want a talking dog novel? Read Pete Nelson's I Thought You Were Dead, the #1 Indie Next Pick for April 2010, by the way. I sort of wished they were touring together--lyrical angsty guy novels. Sort of literary emo. But Kirk's event is March 10th and Pete's is April 20th. Stay tuned for more details.)

So this should give you a feeling about Kirk's book. It's a paperback original, so the price is right. I love the Edward Gorey meets Lemony Snicket jacket design. And Redbird is cosponsoring our event, with Judy Bridges giving the introduction. Here are all the Kirk Farber events:

Tuesday, March 9th, 7 PM

Next Chapter

Mequon

10976 N. Port Washington Road (just south of Mequon Road)

Wednesday, March 10th, 7 PM

Our Event at Boswell

If our address isn't somewhere on this blog, please yell at me.

Thursday, March 11th, 6:30 PM

Redbird Studio

Kirk appears on a panel with six writers.

3195 South Superior Street, $10

Saturday, March 13th, 7 PM

Books and Company

Oconomowoc

1039 Summit Avenue

We're not selling them, but it would be a crime not to link you to Spill's albums.

A Conversation About Hardcovers, and Can I Just Get a Little Excited that Little Bee is #3 on the New York Times bestseller list?

I was at a dinner with some authors, and they wondered why American publishers are still doing hardcovers. I guess they haven't checked their royalty statement, as the average percentage for a hardcover is higher than the paperback (and that's on a more expensive book, to boot). (Hope I got this correct. It's hard being an expert of nothing who makes grand pronouncements).

There's no question that many publishers use the extra money they get from a hardcover to upgrade the quality of the hardcover. I've complained a bit before about see-through paper (and I will again, just watch me), which you almost never see on a hardcover. Crappy, newsprint paper on the trade paperback? I can't think of a better adverstisement for an ebook. Also, publishers usually build more marketing into the hardcover. A recent publicist, on hearing my go-between request for an author to tour in paperback, replied, "We don't do paperback tours."

There's another reason for a hard/soft publication. Publishers doing hard then soft get a second chance to launch a book. This was brought home to me by my dearest Little Bee exploding in paperback and hitting #3 on its paperback publication (officially for next Sunday but nowadays, the ranks get released fairly early), selling in one week (and that's just on Bookscan) about a third of the copies it sold for the life of the hardcover. I hadn't seen so much paperback advertising for a book in some time, but if this means a year on the bestseller list, it was a wise investment.

Hey, librarians loved the book too. Little Bee was picked as Santa Monica's "One City, One Book" program. And I want to give a thank you to Simon and Schuster for not rushing out the paperback. A third of our hardcover sale for this book that came out in February was during the Christmas season. Oh, and can I also thank you for the beautiful paperback jacket that totally pops off the shelves? You can have great sales without a woman's headless body*, imagine that!

Another publisher that used the hardcover to set up the paperback was Algonquin with A Reliable Wife. Though it had very strong sales in some markets, it never cracked the top 15. In trade paperback, it reached #1 on the New York Times.

Are those huge paperback sales from indie bookstores? We're only a tiny part. But did independent bookstores help set up the book in hardcover? Absolutely.

*Not a Chuck Palahniuk headless body, but body parts shown close up with the rest of the body edited off the page. It's very hot in book jackets, particularly trade paperbacks, and nobody's given me a suitable explanation.

Hardwick, Vermont, is The Town that Food Saved

My friend Linda at Galaxy Bookshop dreamed of having a restaurant next to the store, a place for folks to have dinner before an author event, or have a beer afterwards. They started the process in 2003, and eventually opened Claire's, named in honor of one of her customers.

Linda and I were recently corresponding, and it turned out that Emeril was in town, filming an episode for the Planet Green network. She told me a whole bunch of folks were going to watch the episode (which featured Claire's) at the restaurant.

Hardwick has not just had a TV show (actually more than one show, I watched a news report on this town that has taken eating local to a new level), but a whole book. Don Hewitt's The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food has just been released, and we're really excited about it.

Here's some more info on the book:
Over the past 3 years, Hardwick, Vermont, a typical hardscrabble farming community of 3,000 residents, has jump-started its economy and redefined its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America. Even as the recent financial downturn threatens to cripple small businesses and privately owned farms, a stunning number of food-based businesses have grown in the region--Vermont Soy, Jasper Hill Farm, Pete's Greens, Patchwork Farm & Bakery, Apple Cheek Farm, Claire's Restaurant and Bar, and Bonnieview Farm, to name only a few. The mostly young entrepreneurs have created a network of community support; they meet regularly to share advice, equipment, and business plans, and to loan each other capital. Hardwick is fast becoming a model for other communities to replicate its success. The captivating story of a small town coming back to life, "The Town That Food Saved "is narrative nonfiction at its best: full of colorful characters and grounded in an idea that will revolutionize the way we eat.

Next time I visit Boston, it's time for a road trip, don't you think?

***

More on Galaxy. Howard Frank Mosher discusses his event on March 2nd, at Galaxy in his blog piece, "Why I always launch my book tours at Galaxy Bookshop." We're hosting Mr. Mosher on Wednesday, April 21st, 7 PM.

Breathtaking and Brutal--Two Words to Describe Chang-rae Lee's New Novel The Surrendered. Three more? Boswell, March 13th (2 PM)

I’ve just finished an advance Chang-rae Lee’s fourth novel, The Surrendered, and my head is reeling. Just when you think you haven’t had enough pain, Lee punches you again in the gut.

The center of the story is a love triangle of sorts between June, a Korean orphan, wife of the minister in charge of the orphanage, and Hector, an ex-soldier who has stayed on to do maintenance work. All are already damaged, Sylvie by her childhood in Japanese-occupied Manchuria as the daughter of another missionary family and Hector, by dint that he is just a magnet for disaster. And June? Let’s just say that the first 30 or so pages of June’s story are about as wrenching as I’ve read. More on that below.

The story zips backwards and forwards. In the present day, June is dying of stomach cancer, and intent on finding her missing son in Italy. She’s also hoping to locate Hector. Past or present, this is not a light-hearted story. As my friend Arsen at Boulder Bookstore said to me, it’s a rare thing when you can say that the battle scenes in a novel are among the least brutal.

According to Lee’s publisher Riverhead, one of the most devastating stories was actually inspired by a true event, which Lee originally heard from his father when he was taking a modern Korean history course. Let’s just say that June plays the role of Lee’s father—it’s best of you read the story for yourself.

So much of The Surrendered is captured in little details. It’s no coincidence that Hector is named after the doomed hero of The Odyssey. And there’s no question that both June’s illness and profession are among several winking ironies.

We’re lucky enough to be hosting Mr. Lee on Saturday, March 13th, at 2 PM. This is only 4 days after the book comes out (on March 9th), so few attendees will be able to read the book ahead of time. This is the good and the bad about being on an official author tour—they have to time these things to get the big pop just after the book is released.

We should have Chang-rae Lee’s previous novels in event-sized stock shortly. His most popular work to date has been A Gesture Life. Both it and his first novel, Native Speaker, focus on the lives of Koreans and Korean-Americans. His last novel, Aloft, that I read and enjoyed, was quite the departure, the story of a life crisis of an Italian American. The book received major attention, included the coveted New York Times trifecta (Sunday review, daily review, feature story). Here’s a link to them.

The new novel works on a much larger canvas, and in some ways builds on his earlier work (though Jerry Battle is far more comfortable in his life than Hector ever was). Expectations are running very high for its release. We're honored to be hosting him, and thrilled that publishers are finally getting the Chicago excursion secret--Lee is traveling here and back in just a day trip.

What the Heck Did I Just Read?--And Other Questions I am Saving for Our In-Store Lit Group Discussion of The Passport Next Tuesday, March 2nd, 7 PM

Here's my first complaint and it's not about the book per se. Technos can ravage the entire book industry, but they can't figure out a way to add an umlaut to most things on the web (or an accent) without a hullaballoo. Like Herta Muller, the author of The Passport, for example. Our store database from Ingram ("Ipage") only spells the author's name as "Mueller", but some of her titles are spelled both ways. Cross "passport" and "muller" and you get nothing. I know how to fix it in a word document, but here? I'm stuck.

It's just one of the things that confused me about Nobel-Prize-winner Muller's novel about an ethnic German family trying to get a passport out of the country. I agree with some postings I've seen that think the original German title, translated to Man is Nothing but a Pheasant in the World, would give readers a much better indication of what they are getting into. It's a surrealist delight, with missed cues, clashing images, and stark, spare wording. A bit Gordon Lishy, really (you should remember our iconic editor from the Raymond Chandler biography).

But isn't this just the kind of book that's perfect for a book club? How can you be culturally literate if you haven't read the current Nobel Prize winner? But after reading The Passport, you'll have questions.

We're answering them (I hope) on Tuesday, March 2nd, at 7 PM (my apologies for bumping our session from Monday, but I'm visiting my mom for the weekend).

Here's a fabulous review from The Independent.

Stuff is Pouring in--From Purses to Puppets

The fruits of my stuff-ordering labors are finally ripening. This week we've received:

1. A restock of our literary action figures, plus Robot Monkey tissues and Fairy mints.

2. A new Moleskine order that beefs up our pastels for spring. A nice non-bunny gift for Easter too.

3. Folkmanis finger puppets are once-again fully stocked. After a slow first couple of months, we had a strong fall with these, continuing into January. We also got a selection of their handpuppets; check out the wolf in sheep's clothing. Alas, the fluffy lamb puppet went "out of print", even though we sold through our last one in little more than a week.

4. The correct frames arrived from one of our free-trade vendor. My only problem is that the bellyband that tells the story blocks the frame from opening, making it either difficult to a) display or b) sell.

From last week's arrivals, the boiled wool coin purse has been doing pretty well. We're contemplating a restock.

***

Jason just gave me great news for us, but not so great in general. We had the sixth best sale in the country on Strangers, the last Anita Brookner hardcover. I don't know what to do with that information, but I feel like it's worth noting.

New Cards and Journals from Sustainable Threads

I guess it's not a surprise that a number of booths at the Chicago gift show have sprung up selling recycled and fair trade goods. Don't go may wrong, there are still a great deal of snowmen-playing-the-piano statues that are made who knows where*

One booth that caught my eye was Sustainable Threads, a company that partners with low-income artisan communities in India, aspiring to provide access to fair wages, larger markets, and secure livelihoods.

For our first order, I brought in a collection of journals, boxed notecards, bookmarks and frames. Alas, I ordered the printed recycled frames, but instead got the organic tree-free paper frames. Harish very quickly made things right, but they don't show in the photo.

The journals start at $10.95. A pack of notecards are $13.95. The double pack is $24.95--that's a lotta notecards. We also have double-packs of bookmarks at the front counter, two for 2.95.

***

Boxed card advice of the day

Don't look at the price, look at the price per card. We just got in lovely packs of cards from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (art nouveau collections cats, dragonflies, butterflies, plus paintings of Venice) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Tiffany Windows, Van Gogh flowers). Though the prices are higher ($16.95-$18.95), the cost per card is actually lower than some of our packs that are $10.95.

*Actually, that's the only snowman I didn't see, which makes me a bit sad.