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Interviews | June 19, 2009
By Dave
 If Carl Hiaasen set one of his novels on a residential stretch of boundary line between British Columbia and Washington, or if Richard Russo's characters had relatives in the Pacific Northwest, the result might be something like Jim Lynch's Border Songs.
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Is it the gentle prick and swift poison of Cupid's arrow that causes our hearts to swell with love and candy? We admit, we're smitten by Chris Hedges, whose War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning gave us a great deal of meaning — and we're swooning anew over his American Fascists. We've composed love songs on our lute for Jonathan Raban ( Surveillance), Kevin Brockmeier ( A Brief History of the Dead), and Walter Kirn ( The Unbinding). We actually made little candy hearts with the names of original essayists Gary Krist and Marc Weingarten on them, plus chocolate books in honor of William Dietrich, Joe Hill, and Amy Stewart (sorry, Joe, we bit off the front cover of your book). Come to think of it, maybe we're just on a crazy sugar high... again. 
signed editions
 In American Fascists, Chris Hedges, veteran journalist and author of the National Book Award finalist War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, challenges the Christian Right's religious legitimacy and argues that at its core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society. Order your signed first edition of American Fascists today.
 In Carolyn Turgeon's hypnotic, magically real debut novel, Rain Village, a tiny young woman from the heart of the Midwest overcomes an abusive childhood by following her mysterious and beautiful mentor's footsteps to become a circus trapeze artist. Get your signed first editions now.
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featured interview
When Chris Hedges graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1983, he decided not to get ordained. Instead, he headed to El Salvador to cover the war as a freelance reporter. The next twenty years brought him to Yugoslavia, Somalia, Lebanon, and Bosnia — more than fifty countries before he was through. He's been shot, he's been taken prisoner, he's witnessed some of the most brutal human behavior of our lifetime. At Powell's last week, he talked about War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, isolation, tolerance, science, and his new bestseller, a clarion call to protect our democracy, American Fascists.
read the Powells.com interview
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NEW ARRIVALS
HARDCOVER
 Surveillance by Jonathan Raban
In the not-too-distant future, national identity cards are mandatory and America has become thoroughly obsessed with intelligence gathering. With precision and compassion, Jonathan Raban's Surveillance captures a rich variety of lives caught up in the fault lines that reach throughout society.
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Sale $16.80 | Hardcover
List Price: $24.00 (You Save: $7.20) |
 The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer's new novel, Castle in the Forest, sets out to explore the evil of Adolf Hitler, right from his birth. "Mailer arrives at a somber, compelling portrait of a monstrous soul," raves Publishers Weekly.
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Sale $19.56 | Hardcover
List Price: $27.95 (You Save: $8.39) |
DVD
 This Film Is Not Yet Rated
The provocative documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated exposes the secretive and inconsistent methods used by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate films. "An impassioned piece of activist filmmaking that's as persuasive and entertaining as it is disturbing," raves the L.A. Times.
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New $22.44 | DVD
List Price: $24.95
(You Save: $2.51) |
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PAPERBACK
 The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
From Kevin Brockmeier, one of this generation's most inventive young writers, comes a striking novel about death, life, and the mysterious place in between, now in paperback. "Haunting, lyrical, gripping, and thoughtful," gushes our own Beth. "Perfect reading during the long winter months."
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Sale $9.76 | Trade Paper
List Price: $13.95 (You Save: $4.19) |
 The Unbinding by Walter Kirn
Originally serialized on Slate.com, Thumbsucker author Walter Kirn's The Unbinding is a riveting novel about how one man uses the wealth of information at his fingertips to insinuate himself into the lives of strangers. "[A]s enjoyable as it is unique," hails Esquire.
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Sale $9.76 | Trade Paper
List Price: $13.95 (You Save: $4.19) |
EBOOK
 Bushwhacked by Molly Ivins
We're still grieving the loss of beloved writer Molly Ivins, who passed away last week. Reading her books again is the best way to put a smile back on our faces, starting with the eBook of Bushwhacked, her hilarious 2004 assault on George W. Bush and his administration.
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Sale $7.96 | Microsoft eBook
List Price: $9.95 (You Save: $1.99) |
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BROCKMAN'S BLOODY VALENTINE
[Editor's Note: Brockman forgot to write his intermission. Which reminded us of something his ex-girlfriend, Candace, told us about Brockman and Valentine's Day — so we decided to let her guest-write this edition.]
Hello, I'm Candace, Brockman's ex who was dumped a year ago on February 14. That's right, Valentine's Day. That's what an awesome boyfriend Brockman turned out to be. The year before, he just plain forgot about the holiday and we ended up having a very "romantic" candlelit dinner at Burgerville. By "candles" I mean the little unscented 99-cent kind that you find at Safeway that Brockman lit at the table until the assistant manager came over and told him to blow them out because they were a fire hazard. Then he looked at our meal, and me, and asked Brockman, "Is this the best you can do for Valentine's Day?"
"Don't worry," Brockman yelled as the giggling 17-year-old ran into the back (moments later, a chorus of laughter rang out from all the employees), "I'll do right by her next year!"
"Doing right" evidently meant breaking up with me in the most romantic way
possible: he bought me a dozen roses, several boxes of chocolate, and some silky, lacy unmentionables. Then, as we were getting ready to go out to the dinner he'd made reservations for a month in advance, he sprang it on me: "Sit down a sec, we should talk about something..."
The only reason he gave was that he had to "spend more time with [his] blog" (I thought it was a really gross euphemism; turns out he was telling the truth). I asked what the sexy underwear was for and he replied, "Well... break-up sex, of course."
That was when I punched him. It was supposed to be a light slap, honest. Somehow, between swinging my flat hand, palm out, and actually connecting with his fat face, my fingers curled themselves into a fist. The hard SMACK made me feel so much better. A small spray of blood hit one of the roses. I kept that one, dried it out, and have it framed on the wall of my apartment.
Happy Valentine's Day, Brockman.
From the Authors: SAVE 30%
GARY KRIST: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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In The White Cascade, a "briskly paced and vividly written account" (Publishers Weekly), Gary Krist delivers the never-before-told story of one of the worst rail disasters in U.S. history, in which two trains full of people, trapped high in the Cascade Mountains, are hit by a devastating avalanche in February 1910. Save 30% off the cover price of The White Cascade.
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The White Cascade
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Sale $18.20 | Hardcover
List Price: $26.00
You Save: $7.80
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MARC WEINGARTEN: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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Starting in 1965 and focusing on a group of writers that includes Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and Joan Didion, Marc Weingarten's The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight is the story of perhaps the last great good time in American journalism, when writers didn't just cover stories but immersed themselves in them, and when journalism didn't just report America but reshaped it. Save 30% when you buy The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight from Powells.com.
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The Gang That
Wouldn't Write Straight
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Sale $9.76 | Trade Paper
List Price: $13.95
You Save: $4.19
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WILLIAM DIETRICH: INK Q&A
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In William Dietrich's "superb historical thriller" (Publishers Weekly), Napoleon's Pyramids, an 18th-century explorer travels to Egypt as part of Napoleon's great expedition, where he stumbles into a deadly six-thousand-year-old mystery. Read the original essay and save 30% off the list price for Napoleon's Pyramids.
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Napoleon's Pyramids
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Sale $17.46 | Hardcover
List Price: $24.95
You Save: $7.49
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JOE HILL: GUEST BLOGGER
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When aging rockstar Judas Coyne buys a ghost for sale on the Internet, he receives a heart-shaped box — and a restless spirit that won't go away. Heart-Shaped Box is the chilling debut novel from award-winning author Joe Hill, who is our guest blogger this week! Order your copy of Heart-Shaped Box at 30% off the cover price — and check out Joe Hill on our blog... if you dare.
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Heart-Shaped Box
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Sale $17.46 | Hardcover
List Price: $24.95
You Save: $7.49
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AMY STEWART: GUEST BLOGGER
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In Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart explores the relevance of flowers in our lives and in our history, and in the process reveals all that has been gained — and lost — by tinkering with nature. We're thrilled to welcome Amy Stewart as next week's guest blogger — plus, save 30% when you buy Flower Confidential.
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Flower Confidential
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Sale $16.76 | Hardcover
List Price: $23.95
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in our stores
IN OUR NEXT EDITION:
The Morning News and Powells.com present the 2007 Tournament of Books
Five hundred store cats converged on Portland. They came from as far away as Massachusetts and Miami.
"Cat crate sales must have gone through the roof," Lyn from Square Books speculated. She'd gathered with other booksellers in a brewpub near Powell's to give the cats their space.
Fup hosted a reception in the store. Powell's sprung for cheese plates, and Emily made seven flavors of milk.
Oreo must have posed for fifty pictures. Bear invited a few Tabbies from Ann Arbor to the office for a catnip break, and they didn't come back for an hour. Bagheera, to no one's surprise, quickly grew bored with the whole affair. So many questions about Fup and the stories online. Did no one want to trap moths in the park? Eventually he climbed up to the attic and slept on Doug's desk.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — Fup attended seminars, led tours of the city, talked shop and talked life and talked family with new friends, day and night. She credited her strict napping regimen: Stay up five hours, sleep for one. Stay up five hours, sleep for one.
"Should I wake you at some point?" Lisa asked on Saturday, when all the guests had gone.
"If it's nice out on Monday, definitely."
"Forecast says partly cloudy," Lisa let her know, and she slid the half-curtains over Fup's bed closed.
Send questions, comments, suggestions, and Valentine's Day poems to newsletter@powells.com.
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by Bolton and Dave
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