Call it our tendency toward economy, if you must, but we enjoy mashing holidays together as much as possible. This week we presented Happy Father's Day flags — each with its own, distinct flavor, from bright neon pink to camouflage to the X-Men riding in a pirate ship battling ninjas and flying dragons (we won't divulge who chose which design).

POWELLS.COM INTERVIEWS: GARY SHTEYNGART
When Michiko Kakutani calls your debut "as attuned to the exhilarating possibilities of the language as Martin Amis, as deadpan and funny as the young Evelyn Waugh," what do you do for an encore? If you're Gary Shteyngart, you follow The Russian Debutante's Handbook with a gut-busting satire about contemporary capitalism, national identity, love, and war. As the Los Angeles Times declared, Absurdistan is "a long, funny, heartbreaking lament for home, whatever that means, and wherever that might be." In this exclusive interview, the Russian-born, New York-bred author talks about his novels, travel, The Sopranos, and more.

POWELLS.COM INTERVIEWS: CHARLES D'AMBROSIO
"Each [story] strikes me, as I'm working on it, as some kind of technical triumph. There were problems in them," Charles D'Ambrosio explains. "Whether the reader actually experiences them as a triumph, I don't know, but each one had a problem." When the Portland-based author stopped by our office to say hello and sign books, we sat him down for a short conversation about working with George Plimpton, hopping freight trains, and crafting the pieces in his acclaimed collection, The Dead Fish Museum.

SIGNED FIRST EDITIONS: THE DEAD FISH MUSEUM
Publishers Weekly calls The Dead Fish Museum, "a gemlike set of eight stories." The San Francisco Chronicle celebrates its "beautifully crafted images of departing light." "There are few writers today who should be read so carefully that your lips move," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel attests; "Charles D'Ambrosio is one of them." Kirkus simply states, "An emerging master of the short story returns with a collection that should expand his readership." Order a signed first edition while they last.

POWELL'S AUTHOR TRADING CARDS
For a limited time, receive a full set — sixteen cards in all — of Powell's Author Trading Cards with the purchase of any featured title, such as Aimee Bender's Willful Creatures, Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job, or Amy Tan's Saving Fish from Drowning. The debut series includes rookies and veterans alike, packed with stats, bios, and career highlights.

GRAPHICALLY INCLINED
June is Graphically Inclined month at Powells.com! We're celebrating graphic art with amazing sales and superhuman features. For example, Focal Press consistently publishes bestselling books on Photoshop, graphic design, animation, digital imaging, and more, and for a limited time, featured Focal Press titles are 30% off. On top of that: buy one Penguin Graphic Classics book, and get another one free; buy any two new X-Men books and get a third free; plus illustrated author Q&As, and more.

INK Q&As: GRAPHICALLY INCLINED
The first book in an exciting new series by one of France's most talented comics authors, Emmanuel Guibert's Sardine in Outer Space stars a little girl named Sardine in goofy space adventures that involve cosmic squids, masters of the universe, talking clouds, and evil beings. Described as "Asterix in America," Grady Klein's The Lost Colony is a skillfully crafted, richly illustrated, and always hilarious tale of a mysterious island unknown to the rest of the world, in nineteenth-century America, populated by a motley crew of capitalists, inventors, hucksters, and freemen. Read the INK Q&As from both authors, and save 30% on these and other books from First Second Publishing.

ORIGINAL ESSAY: ERIC SPITZNAGEL
"When you write a book about porn, you're going to attract a few freaks," notes Eric Spitznagel, author of Fast Forward: Confessions of a Porn Screenwriter. "In Chicago, a strange fellow asked if I'd ever written a porno about fruit, before taking a banana out of his pants and eating it in front of me." Read the rest of this original essay for Powells.com (perhaps while snacking on your favorite porno food) and save 30% on Fast Forward.

INK Q&A: RACHEL SHERMAN
Rachel Sherman describes her first collection of stories, The First Hurt, as being "about people who are going through adolescence, pursuing and avoiding sexual experiences, and having conflict in families or relationships." In this INK Q&A, Sherman discusses the only way she can relax, her ideal form of happiness, and much more. For a limited time, save 30% on The First Hurt.

Last week, graphic designer extraordinaire Chip Kidd set our blog aflame with his daily guest posts, touching on such topics as bad book designs, conservative pundits he doesn't admire (to put it mildly), and this one: "[J]ust in case there's a lull in your next dinner party, here's an icebreaker: 'Okay everyone, e-books suck and no one reads them. Discuss!' Anyone who'd like to do so here is more than welcome. Come on, peaches, sell me on the new digibooks. I dare you." Catch up on Kidd's posts and respond in our comments section.

GUEST BLOGGERS: PAT WALSH AND EDDIE CAMPBELL
This week the Powells.com blog welcomes guest Pat Walsh, author of How to Win the World Series of Poker (or Not). Next week belongs to Eddie Campbell, the writer/illustrator of The Fate of the Artist. Visit our blog for an impressive line-up of guests, book news, Review-a-Day, and more!

NEW IN STORES
New to Powells.com: John Updike's Terrorist is a powerful novel about eighteen-year-old Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy and his devotion to Allah and the words of the Holy Qur'an ("Timely and topical...a high mark in Updike's career." —Booklist, starred review). From its tense opening to its shattering climax, Dean Koontz's The Husband is a thriller that will hold you in its relentless grip for every twist, every shock, every revelation. Bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child conclude their gripping trilogy with The Book of the Dead, pitting brilliant FBI Agent Pendergast against his malevolent brother for a gripping showdown.

DVDs
Rob Reiner's classic film of William Goldman's beloved novel The Princess Bride gets the two-disc special edition treatment, loaded with extra goodies like cast interviews and documentaries! Dave Chappelle's Block Party is a "jubilant, civic-minded lollapalooza" (San Francisco Chronicle) featuring Kanye West, Mos Def, the reunited Fugees, and of course, your host, comedian Dave Chappelle. Kate Beckinsale returns — in tight leather suit, with guns blazing — to take on vampires and werewolves in the sequel Underworld: Evolution. All DVDs ship for free from Powells.com.

eBOOKS
Coming soon to eBook: Bestselling novelist Julia Quinn's new novel, On the Way to the Wedding, won't be published until June 27th — but you can download an exclusive excerpt before it hits the stands, along with two exclusive eBook epilogues to previous Quinn novels.

In our next edition:
An interview with Alison Bechdel and Craig Thompson; an INK Q&A with Carolyn Parkhurst (Lost and Found) and an original essay from Jay Weinstein (The Ethical Gourmet); and Shannon's Staff Picks.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Alison Bechdel's breakout graphic novel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, is a father-daughter tale illustrated with Bechdel's sweetly gothic drawings — and "one of the very best graphic novels ever" (Booklist). Beloved chef and bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain pulls no punches in his latest confection, The Nasty Bits. With Kushiel's Scion, Jacqueline Carey begins a sensuous new trilogy set in the same extraordinary world as her extended New York Times bestseller, Kushiel's Avatar. Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes is Stephen Goodwin's gripping and compelling account of how entrepreneur Mike Keiser realized his fantasy to create a British-style links course in America. The author of Generation X and Microserfs presents his latest ode to geek life, JPod. Part confessional, part informational, Lauren Levin's and Lauren Blitzer's Same Sex in the City is a relationship book for lesbians that tells it like it is. Getting Stoned with Savages is the laugh-out-loud true story of J. Maarten Troost's years on the islands of Vanuatu and Fiji, among cannibals, volcanoes... and the world's best narcotics.

FUP. STORE CAT.
This year, the cats put on their best Rose Festival ever.

Oreo revived his popular maple tree races. Bagheera's blackjack table had nary an empty seat (all proceeds donated directly to the Dove Lewis Animal Hospital). At a booth off the main concourse in a section off-limits to kittens, Bear peerlessly managed the mouse-in-mouth concession. Crackerjack, meanwhile, pulled a float (to be specific: a pimped-out, S&S long skateboard) featuring Fup amid a backdrop of colorful floribundas.

The dogs, on the other hand — well, the nicest thing to say about the canine attractions is that the cats put on a heck of a festival. Barking, snipping, a breakdown of janitorial services — c'mon already. "Forget the games and floats," Zooey suggested. "Next year, I'm just swimming in the river."

POWELLS.COM BESTSELLERS (UPDATED HOURLY)

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Cooking and Food) 2. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Graphic Novels) 3. The Places In Between by Rory Stewart (Travel Writing) 4. The Good, Good Pig by Sy Montgomery (Biography) 5. Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast (Politics) 6. Let Me Finish by Roger Angell (Biography) 7. Underworld by Don DeLillo (Literature) 8. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig (Literature) 9. God Laughs and Plays (Signed) by David James Duncan (Christianity) 10. Fifty Simple Things You Can Do to Fight the Right by Earthworks Press (Politics)