Wire services report no progress in the stalemate rumored, late last week, to have left Nabisco's development staff at wit's end. Several sources confirm that a small but powerful faction within the home office refuses even to discuss making alterations to its longstanding Animal Crackers line-up. The disappointing news for hopeful beavers and kangaroos comes as welcome relief to gorillas, considered by most of the reliable, circus-snack blogs to stand the greatest risk of losing their cookies.

POWELLS.COM INTERVIEWS: SARA GRUEN
Seventy years ago, Jacob Jankowski lost his parents, dropped out of Cornell, and joined the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. A ninety-something now, Jacob is afraid he's losing his mind. Sara Gruen's voice in Water for Elephants has been likened to that of John Irving — the story is that kind of character-driven juggernaut. At Powell's two weeks ago, Gruen discussed shrunken heads, literary influences, how to steal lemonade without getting caught, and more.

SIGNED FIRST EDITIONS: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS
"One of the many pleasures of this novel is the opportunity to enter a bizarrely coded and private world with its own laws, superstitions and vocabulary," applauds a representative review, this one from the Chicago Tribune. "The pleasures of that world were so compelling, so detailed and vivid, that I couldn't bear to be torn away from it for a single minute." Order signed first editions while they last.

WANDERLUST
For the month of July, we are offering a huge assortment of savings for every kind of traveler, from the world-weary explorer to the armchair dreamer. What's the perfect accompaniment to a road trip? Audio books! Our selection is filled with popular titles to choose from, including those to keep the kids happy — all at 30% off. Perhaps you'd like to brush up on your Spanish as you make your way to Ibiza. Now, take 30% off Pimsleur foreign-language guides, in the Basic, Conversational, and Quick and Simple series. These specials will only last until July 31.

WIN A TRIP TO PORTLAND!
Speaking of wanderlust, have you noticed lately that your city feels a little too... familiar? Itching to see mountains, roses, and over a million books all in the same day? Come visit our hometown! Enter to win a trip for two to Portland, Oregon, and we'll pick up the tab for airfare, luxury hotel accommodations, several great meals, $250 credit at our stores, and even a guided tour of the City of Books. Find out more here.

IN-STORE PICKUP
Our local customers here in Portland asked for it, and so we built it: order your books online and pick them up at the City of Books. More stores coming soon!

In a remarkable coincidence, two of the featured authors who answered our INK Q&A chose the same fictional character that they'd like to date (who happens to have "prehensile pigtails") and the same favorite sentence from another writer. We suspect behind-the-scenes collusion — or, if not, perhaps we should take it upon ourselves to encourage an introduction.

INK Q&A: JASON ROBERTS
In his debut book, A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler, Jason Roberts brilliantly illuminates the life of a virtually unknown nineteenth-century explorer who was renowned for his solo circumnavigation of the world. In a starred review, Kirkus remarks, "Roberts...deserves readers' admiration, not only for making each step a pleasure to read, but for opening our eyes to so remarkably forgotten an individual. A polished and entertaining account of an astonishing wayfarer." Read our INK Q&A with Jason Roberts and save 30% on A Sense of the World.

INK Q&A: SHELLEY JACKSON
Shelley Jackson, the author of The Melancholy of Anatomy and Skin, an ongoing literary work in tattoos ("published" on nearly three thousand volunteers) returns in triumphant form with her first novel, Half Life, which Jill of Powells.com calls "Grotesque, inventive, and moving....the most unusual and accomplished book you'll read this year." The story of a pair of unhappily conjoined twins (in a world where conjoined twins are far more common than they are in our own), Half Life is an imaginative and touching portrait of two lives yearning for wholeness. Save 30% on Half Life and read our INK Q&A with Shelley Jackson.

INK Q&A: DAVID LONG
David Long's new novel, The Inhabited World, is, as he puts it, "an unconventional ghost story" — the story of a man who committed suicide and is now lost in a kind of purgatory, haunting his old house. In our Q&A, Long writes, "Suicide is a tough subject, but I don't want readers thinking it's a grim book. It isn't. It has its moments of humor and sexiness, and ultimately it's an upbeat story." Read more and save 30% on The Inhabited World.

GUEST BLOGGERS: JASON FAGONE AND KEN FOSTER
Save 30% this week on Horsemen of the Esophagus, by Jason Fagone, our current guest blogger. Warren St. John (a previous guest blogger on Powells.com) calls it "an inspired, hilarious and — more than occasionally — frightening look at the uniquely American phenomenon of competitive eating." Next week, check out blog posts from Ken Foster, whose new book, The Dogs Who Found Me, recounts the stories of a dozen dogs who chose the author to rescue them.

NEW IN STORES
Terry Goodkind's latest installment in his Sword of Truth series, Phantom, revolves around the memory (or lack thereof) of Kahlan Amnell — if she doesn't soon discover who she really is, she will unwittingly become the instrument that will unleash annihilation. T. C. Boyle's Talk Talk is "a satirically clever take on that most modern of crimes, identity theft," says the Christian Science Monitor. And Veronica, Mary Gaitskill's accomplished and National Book Award-winning novel, is newly released in paperback. Browse these and other new arrivals here.

DVDs
The 2006 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Tsotsi, is a powerful and moving drama from South Africa. Documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki brings us Why We Fight, an in-depth look at how America goes to war as well as an examination of its military-industrial complex. And the second and final season of HBO's Carnivale, which is even more apocalyptic, suspenseful, and bizarre than the first, is now available on DVD. As always, all DVDs ship for free — no minimum purchase necessary.

eBOOKS
Stephen King calls The Ruins "the book of the summer," and says, "it does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches in 1975." Bad news for Mexico, but good news for you — since we've got it in ebook at 40% off the cover price. If romance is more your idea of a vacation, then you need to try Kat Martin's latest: Scent of Roses. But watch out — it's spooky, too!

In our next edition:
An interview with Scott Smith and signed first editions of The Ruins; an INK Q&A with Ayun Halliday (Dirty Sugar Cookies); and introducing Bitch magazine as Review-a-Day partner for the month of August.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Maddox, the pseudonym of internet satirist George Ouzounian, will present his new book, The Alphabet of Manliness, which is guaranteed to make even the burliest of men feel inadequate. Inspired by shounen-ai manga, Tough Love is a teen romance and coming-out story from Abby Denson, who has scripted Powerpuff Girls and Simpsons comics. In The Most Famous Man in America, Debby Applegate has written the definitive biography of Henry Ward Beecher. Rory Stewart presents two new books, The Places in Between, which chronicles the author's walk across Afghanistan in January 2002, and The Prince of the Marshes, which details Stewart's year as deputy governor of provinces in southern Iraq. Tin House founding editor Tucker Malarkey brings us her second novel, Resurrection, which is a suspenseful and eye-opening tale of love, war, and murder.

FUP. STORE CAT.
Fup wants to run away with the circus.

"May no fate willfully misunderstand me," as the poet says, "and half grant what I wish and snatch me away, not to return." Her sentiments exactly. But the big top, trains to small towns, adventure...

...and big cats.

"Big cats," she's mumbling when Bear finds her alone in the aisle.

She tells him, "We could do some kind of George and Gracie routine on the midway."

Must be the first extended heat wave of summer; Bear could set his calendar to Fup's annual traveling jones.

POWELLS.COM BESTSELLERS (UPDATED HOURLY)

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Sociology) 2. The Ethical Gourmet by Jay Weinstein (Cooking and Food) 3. The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (Economics) 4. Pity the Nation by Robert Fisk (World History) 5. Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark by Laurence Gardner (Metaphysics) 6. National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World by National Geographic (Travel) 7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Science Fiction and Fantasy) 8. Terrorist by John Updike (Literature) 9. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Economics) 10. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Business)