Strap yourself in for:
powells.com interviews: po bronson
introducing the wish list
great deals on really good books
staff picks for the big screen
"the last crossing"
why fiction is the new punk music
how to write great nonfiction
ebooks
events calendar
fup. store cat.
bestsellers

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City officials reported four separate incidents this weekend of overzealous gardeners fainting in their yards, having held their breath too long for the season's first blooms. "I can't speak for the others," the local paper quoted one woman as saying, "but, with me, I just stopped breathing too early. In all the excitement, I timed it totally wrong."

POWELLS.COM INTERVIEWS: PO BRONSON
How do people find their calling? What inspires us to seek one in the first place? In What Should I Do with My Life? Po Bronson investigates the career paths of ordinary — and extraordinary — people across America, examining the difficult decisions and sacrifices we make in search of fulfilling work. "A remarkable social document," the Evening Standard calls it, "raised to the level of literature by Bronson's own deep level of involvement, his candour and compassion."

CHEAP WISHES ALL WEEK LONG
Take advantage of our newest site tool and save. Create a wish list by the end of February and we'll take 10% off your purchases through the whole first week of March! It's that simple. Put as many (or as few) books on your wish list as you'd like. Make just one list or several — and save.

GREAT DEALS ON REALLY GOOD BOOKS
Critic James Wood acknowledges that The Fortress of Solitude "manages to combine childish innocence and adult knowingness (not just childish knowingness) in ways that ought to fail but invariably delight and intrigue." "This is daring stuff," the Christian Science Monitor added, "as dazzling for its style as for its politics." Save almost 60% on The Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem's sensational novel, and nineteen more staff favorites. New additions to the Great Deals shelves include Joseph Ellis's Pulitzer Prize-winning history, Founding Brothers; Lisbeth Zwerger's wondrously illustrated edition of The Wizard of Oz (a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book); and the audio cassette edition of David Sedaris's hilarious Me Talk Pretty One Day.

 
STAFF PICKS FOR THE BIG SCREEN
Tavis (no r) shares a dozen favorite titles for aspiring screenwriters and fans of film: a little Hollywood history, a few selected screenplays, and a healthy dose of how-to.

THE LAST CROSSING
"To Americans, a bestseller in Canada is like a tree falling in the forest. Unless it's written by Margaret Atwood, they don't hear it and it doesn't exist," gripes Christian Science Monitor critic Ron Charles. "This baffling literary disconnect between the world's two most connected nations is about to be tested again. If there's any literary justice, any thirst for adventure, any love for a great Western, then The Last Crossing [by Guy Vanderhaeghe] won't just cross the Canadian border, but shatter it." Read the complete review.

WHY FICTION IS THE NEW PUNK MUSIC
"You don't see a lot of book burnings these days," notes Sarahbeth Purcell (Love Is the Drug). "You hear a lot about how Eminem is either a genius or a homophobic jerk or a street-wise reincarnation of Vanilla Ice, and you see a lot of people protesting his music because of that. But authors, no matter how controversial, get ignored for the most part." Read more from the debut novelist here.

HOW TO WRITE GREAT NONFICTION (AND GET IT PUBLISHED)
"Thinking like Your Editor will help sweep away the cobwebs and illusions about writing and publishing such a book, while illuminating what challenges you will need to focus on most," Doug Brown confides. "A former Powell's employee who has published many magazine articles recommended this book to me, and I in turn recommend it to anyone who has ever had the vague thought of writing a nonfiction book."

eBOOKS
How do dolphins sleep without drowning? What makes a knuckleball appear to flutter? Ask the Experts, by the editors of Scientific American, answers these questions and many more. If, however, the question on your mind is "What should I do with my life?" it's Po Bronson's book, What Should I Do with My Life? that you want. Both are now available at substantial savings in electronic format.

In our next edition:
An interview with Gregory Maguire (Mirror Mirror and Wicked), an original essay by Mark Obmascik (The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession), and much else besides.

EVENTS CALENDAR
Novelist Matt Ruff will be coming down from Seattle to celebrate the paperback publication of one of our staff's favorite 2003 novels, Set This House in Order. Physicist Brian Greene (The Fabric of the Cosmos) will help make sense of the universe. Matthew Pearl presents his ingenious thriller, The Dante Club. Plus, writers and editors from Oregon's Clear Cut Press (The Clear Cut Future), award-winning journalist David Bornstein (How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas), Smithsonian magazine columnist Michael Shermer (The Science of Good and Evil), philosopher Christopher Phillips (Six Questions of Socrates), environmental reporter Jim Motavalli (Feeling the Heat), and more.


FUP. STORE CAT.
"This would not be a good time for a strong gust of wind," Fup reflects, hugging the uphill side of a narrow ledge. The sharp plunge two feet to her right affords a long, uninterrupted view of the distance still to cover, a wide valley swimming in deep green undulations.

"Pretty good for us, though," Wiggums volunteers, "all this walking."

"So one of those Fitness Council creeps got to you too, huh?" Bear intercedes, imitating the voice of some character Fup can't place.

"Aw, you've got it all wrong," Zooey follows. "It's not like that, Homer." Another impersonation. They break up laughing, Zooey and Bear.

They're giddy, quoting TV shows, speaking in funny voices. Bear begins affecting the weary gait of one who's been wandering the desert for ages. Wiggums joins him, dragging his belly through the dirt, murmuring, "Water. Water. My kingdom for a thimbleful of water."

Joe and Zooey break out ahead on their own.

Fup proposes, "We could just not go back. We could live together on Wiggums's farm, hunting for our meals and sunning ourselves, and visiting Joe in his pasture when we please."

"Bipolar much?" Bear replies. "An hour ago you were pining so bad for your sisters I thought you might run all the way home."

Which is when they hear the roar from up ahead. Not a whinny or a bark, but a roar.

PORTLAND BESTSELLERS

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by Dave