The fifth of May is most popularly known as Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican celebration that commemorates the triumph of the Mexican army over the French in 1862. While the holiday has gained popularity in the States, mostly as an excuse to drink Mexican beer and margaritas, we at Powells.com like to use the celebration as an excuse to practice our mariachi skills. Fup, in particular, is a master of the maracas.

POWELLS.COM INTERVIEWS: AMY HEMPEL
It would not be unfair to call Amy Hempel a writer's writer, but it might be misleading — she's a reader's writer, too. Few of the forty-eight stories published in her previous volumes run longer than ten or twelve pages. None rely on high-concept mechanics or lofty language. Hempel demands very little of her readership, and then delivers in spades. She has been called a miniaturist — fair enough — but if her stories tend to be small in scale, they drill as deep as fiction goes. Emotionally charged, fantastically precise, an Amy Hempel story is a miracle of articulation.

SIGNED FIRST EDITIONS: THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES OF AMY HEMPEL
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel brings together four volumes of immaculate fiction spanning more than twenty years of work. "There are writers who pull you along in deep, satisfying drafts of narrative and human color; then there are writers who, sentence by sentence, cause you to stop breathing. Hempel leads the latter group," one critic raved. Chuck Palahniuk adds, "Each story is so tight, so boiled to bare facts, that all you can do is lie on the floor, face down, and praise it." Order signed first editions while they last.

ORIGINAL ESSAY: LAURA FOSTER
"To me walking rates right up there with procreation and eating as the purest of human activities," writes Laura Foster, author of Portland Hill Walks: Twenty Explorations in Parks and Neighborhoods. In this original essay, Foster shares the secret to true happiness: "I've tried the typical routes to happiness: redoing my kitchen, joining a health club, changing careers, dyeing my hair. All of them brought a measure of satisfaction. But take it from me: a weekly meander on a city street will feed your soul more fully than any hair job ever will." Read the entire essay and save 30% when you buy Portland Hill Walks.

INK Q&A: PAUL NEILAN
"Hilarious," Publishers Weekly raves about Apathy and Other Small Victories, Paul Neilan's debut novel: "Neilan spins many sparkling comic riffs on the tawdriness and sterility of American life." In this exclusive INK Q&A, Neilan explains his disdain for bananas, the fictional character he fell in love with in high school, and why writers are better liars than other people. Save 30% off the cover price when you pick up your copy of Apathy from Powells.com.

INK Q&A: ROBERT ST. JOHN
Robert St. John describes his latest book, Deep South Staples: How to Survive in a Southern Kitchen without a Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup, as "an anthology of traditional Southern favorites that I grew up eating. Using classic cooking principles and restaurant techniques easily adapted to the home kitchen, I updated the traditional recipes to intensify their flavors." In this INK Q&A, St. John shares his favorite literary first line, describes a breakfast that's so good "it might have been worth the drive from South Mississippi just to eat the sausage," and offers his final thought. For a limited time, save 30% when you order Deep South Staples from Powells.com.

Last week the publishing world was set abuzz when nineteen-year-old Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan's first novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, was revealed to contain as many as forty passages that plagiarized Megan McCafferty's novels Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. While Viswanathan publicly apologized, claiming she'd unintentionally recycled passages after reading the books many times, her publisher recalled all copies of Opal Mehta. The drama unfolded day-by-day in the Book News feature on our blog — check it out now!

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
It's been a long, cold, lonely winter... and if you're anything like us, you need to get out of the house and into the outdoors. We're eager to help in any way we can. Enter our Get Out of the House! contest for a chance to win a Columbia Sportswear wardrobe worth up to $250. And check out these books for inspiration, on everything from golf, wineries, wilderness, hiking, gardening, barbecuing, doing things in a shed, and more — all at great discounted prices. Face it: now there's no excuse to sit inside for another minute.

GIFT CARDS
With the Powell's Card, you can shop at any Powell's store location, online at Powells.com, or over the phone. Choose any amount, from $5 to $5,000. It's up to you. And with five exciting new designs — including our own beloved store cat, Fup — there's a gift card that's perfect for everyone you know.

PREORDER SIGNED EDITIONS
Hundreds of authors visit Powell's stores every year, reading from their works, taking questions, and signing their books. Now you can preorder signed copies from virtually every author we host! From Charles d'Ambrosio and Gay Talese to Craig Thompson and Tess Gallagher — check out our upcoming author events and preorder a signed copy of your favorite author's book.

GUEST BLOGGERS: THRITY UMRIGAR AND BARRY YOURGRAU
Last week our guest bloggers, Michael Crewdson and Margaret Mittelbach, handed the reins over to a Quoll (that's a carnivorous Australian marsupial, in case you didn't know) who turned out to have an awful lot of opinions for a short, fuzzy critter with a funny accent. Who knows what will happen this week, when The Space Between Us author Thrity Umrigar will be our guest blogger? Next week we welcome NASTYbook author Barry Yourgrau, who's certain to provide some terror and delight. Check out the Powells.com blog now — and don't be afraid, post your own comment and tell us what you think.

NEW IN STORES
New to our shelves: Fast on the heels of his phenomenal bestseller The Plot Against America, Philip Roth's latest novel, Everyman, is "vintage Roth" (Library Journal) from "the best fiction writer America has ever produced" (Esquire). Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden returns with Guests of the Ayatollah, the riveting account of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis ("a monumental piece of reportage, deserving a wide readership," raves Publishers Weekly). Powerful, eloquent, and paced like the most riveting of thrillers, Strange Piece of Paradise is the electrifying account of Terri Jentz's investigation into the mystery of her near murder in central Oregon. And Augusten Burroughs, the bestselling author of Running with Scissors and Dry, returns with another memoir, Possible Side Effects, guaranteed to cure anyone who suffers from anhedonia (the inability to experience pleasure). As a bonus, you can preorder signed editions of Strange Piece of Paradise and Possible Side Effects now.

DVDs
Woody Allen's brilliant Match Point marks a return to form, starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in a tale of passion, envy, and murder. Steve Martin adapts his own acclaimed bestseller, Shopgirl, to film — and stars in it, alongside Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman. Everything Is Illuminated stars Elijah Wood in a the film version of Jonathan Safran Foer's bestseller, a "movie with wit, warmth, and unabashed emotion" (USA Today) directed by Liev Schreiber. As always, all DVDs ship for free!

eBOOKS
New to eBook: Powell's own Miriam raves about Alex Berenson's The Faithful Spy: "a great contemporary thriller that is both insightful and a page-turner." Oakdale Confidential is a must-read: the account of the scandal that no one in Oakdale can ignore. Suspense master Jonathan Kellerman returns with Gone, a "fast, clever thriller [that] proves again why Kellerman's books reside on bestseller lists" (Booklist).

In our next edition:
An interview with Sebastian Junger and signed first editions of A Death in Belmont; an INK Q&A from A. M. Homes (This Book Will Save Your Life); and an original essay from Jim Lynch (The Highest Tide).

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Sebastian Junger follows up The Perfect Storm with A Death in Belmont, a spare, powerful narrative that chronicles three lives that collide — and ultimately are destroyed — in one of the first and most controversial serial murder cases in America. In A Writer's Life, Gay Talese, one of the most influential nonfiction writers of his generation, pens a candid, humorous, deeply impassioned, and dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man's life, and of writing itself. Strange Piece of Paradise is the unforgettable account of Terri Jentz's investigation into the mystery of her near murder in central Oregon, certain to be one of the most talked about books of the year. Which Brings Me to You is a two-sided look at modern love — and lust — by two bestselling writers at the top of their form, Steve Almond (My Life in Heavy Metal) and Julianna Baggott (Girl Talk). Molly O'Neill's Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball is the uncommon chronicle of one girl's quest to find her place in a world built for boys. Find these and other author appearances in our calendar of events.

FUP. STORE CAT.
The cat we don't know is sitting on Couch Street's double yellow line, grooming. As a sedan creeps carefully past, the driver leans on his horn. Without even a flinch, the cat goes on rubbing a moist paw across her forehead.

"Is she deaf?" Lisa asks Fup, watching out the window.

Not deaf, judging by Fup's reaction. Dramatic is more like it. No matter, when a pickup barrels forward from the intersection, the until-recently-unfamiliar cat cedes right of way and scampers to the curb.

Fast-forward an hour, past the noon rush, past Lisa's brown bag lunch. The cat we don't know has somehow managed to enter the store.

Corie, agitated, surveys the adjacent aisles. "Does Fup know? Where's Fup?"

"Withholding attention," Lisa replies. "Maintaining control."

"Where is she?"

"In the office. She'll come out when she's good and ready. Tomorrow, maybe."

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