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Interviews | July 4, 2009
By Jill Owens
 Luis Alberto Urrea is a poet, novelist, journalist, and essayist who has been writing about the relationship between the United States and Mexico,...
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It's not that we don't like winter. It isn't that at all. However, after only a couple of months of rain and clouds, we're ready to throw in the towel and get some spring sunshine. So, while we wait for that jittery groundhog to pop out (and pray he doesn't spot his shadow), we're trying to keep our minds focused on big-picture ideas like the ones in David Shields's latest, The Thing about Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead. We're also occupying ourselves with original essays by Victoria Zackheim ( For Keeps), Michele Zackheim ( Broken Colors), John Burnham Schwartz ( The Commoner), and Kim Sunée ( Trail of Crumbs), plus guest
blogs from Ethan Clark ( Leaning with Intent to Fall) and April Smith ( Judas Horse). And when the Oregon winter gets too dreary, we like to dive into the INK Q&A from Tim Dorsey ( Atomic Lobster) and daydream about Florida weather.
signed editions
"David Shields has accomplished something here so pure and wide in its implications that I almost think of it as a secular, unsentimental Kahlil Gibran: a textbook for the acceptance of our fate on earth," says Jonathan Lethem. More succinctly, Dave (of Powell's) calls The Thing about Life "my first 'best book of 2008' nominee." Preorder signed first editions while they last.
 more signed editions
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FEATURED INTERVIEW
"I've been weirdly giddy ever since finishing the book," David Shields admits. "Somehow I find the mortality data strangely liberating." And somehow this isn't surprising. In The Thing about Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, Shields takes readers from womb to casket, addictively blending family narrative, biological science, and wisdom from the likes of Schopenhauer and Ice-T. It all adds up to an audacious and, yes, lively collage that immediately won over several Powell's staff members. Now, days before The Thing about Life arrives in bookstores, Shields reflects on giggling girls, Bill Murray, and the force that through the green fuse drives the flower — in other words, what it means to be
alive.
more author interviews |
NEW ARRIVALS
HARDCOVER
 The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World by Tim Harford
In his new, deftly reasoned book, The Logic of Life, Tim Harford, award-winning journalist and author of the bestseller The Undercover Economist, explores how a new breed of economist is trying to unlock the secrets of society and explain that life is inherently logical. The Logic of Life maps out the astonishing insights and frustrating blind spots of this new theory of economics in a way that anyone can enjoy. Cheers Publishers Weekly: "Well-written with highly engaging stories and examples, this book will be of great interest to Freakonomics and Blink fans as well as anyone interested in the psychology of human behavior."
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Sale $17.50 | Hardcover
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 An Ordinary Spy by Joseph Weisberg
We'd love to tell you what An Ordinary Spy is about. Unfortunately, the latest novel by Joseph Weisberg has been redacted by his former employers in the CIA, and even the publisher's description has blacked-out words. All we can reveal without fearing for our lives is: Two embattled spies go to extraordinary lengths to keep their informants out of harm's way. This riveting and dramatic portrait of modern espionage has been hailed as "gripping" (Chicago Sun-Times), "beautiful" (New York Times Book Review), and "definitely a book to read" (Booklist).
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 Once
A modern-day musical set on the streets of Dublin, starring Glen Hansard from the Irish band The Frames and featuring an unforgettable soundtrack, Once tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse, and record songs that reveal their unique love story. "[A]n enchanting, unpretentious blend of music and romance you can watch forever," hails the Los Angeles Times. All DVDs ship for free from Powells.com.
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Sale $26.28 | DVD
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PAPERBACK
 Rock On: An Office Power Ballad by Dan Kennedy
In his outrageous memoir Rock On: An Office Power Ballad, McSweeney's contributor Dan Kennedy chronicles his misadventures at a major record label. Hails Publishers Weekly: "Kennedy's style — hilarious, paranoid and vulnerable — captures wonderfully the absurdity of the corporate music industry."
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Sale $10.46 | Trade Paper
List Price: $14.95 (You Save: $4.49) |
 Vienna Blood by Frank Tallis
From the acclaimed author of A Death in Vienna comes Vienna Blood, the second in Frank Tallis's series featuring literature's first psychoanalytic detective. In 1902, a serial killer in Vienna embarks upon a bizarre campaign of murder and Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt summons Dr. Max Liebermann to assist him with the case. The investigation draws them into the sphere of Vienna's secret societies, in "one of the finest literary thrillers I've ever read....The first great thriller of 2008" (Patrick Anderson, Washington Post Book World).
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Sale $10.50 | Trade Paper
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 Iron Kissed by Patricia Biggs
New to eBook: Patricia Biggs's Iron Kissed. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder, it's up to shape-shifting car mechanic Mercy Thompson to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. And she'll have to choose between the two werewolves in her life — whether she wants to or not. "In the increasingly crowded field of kick-ass supernatural heroines, Mercy stands out as one of the best," declares Locus.
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New $7.09 | Microsoft eBook |
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We've waited nine long months for the fourth season of Lost , which finally premieres this week on ABC — but we're even more excited for the return of J. Wood, whose weekly blog posts will disseminate and illuminate each episode of the season. We thought this was the perfect time for a refresher — so here's Wood's post for the third season finale. (Beware spoilers!)
May 25, 2007:
ALICE: "What sort of things do YOU remember best?"
WHITE QUEEN: "Oh, things that happened the week after next. For instance, now, there's the King's Messenger. He's in prison now, being punished: and the trial doesn't even begin till next Wednesday: and of course the crime comes last of all."
[...] WHITE QUEEN: "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday — but never jam to-day."
There is no easy entrance into Through the Looking Glass except through the past episodes. The author of the episode's namesake, Lewis Carroll, was a mathematician and logician whose own Through the Looking Glass is an exercise in mind-bending logic. All assumptions are turned inside-out, as if mirror-twins of their presumed originals, and the season three finale demonstrates how some of our own assumptions of the narrative are turned inside-out. Even time works wrong.
Maybe.
 Many episodes of Lost seem to have an iconic image, one scene that encapsulates a particularly important theme or motif from that episode. Through the Looking Glass has a number of them — which would you choose as iconic? Drug-addled Jack getting ready to jump from a bridge? The line of Lostaways in exodus off the beach to the radio tower, moving up a mountain as opposed to down into a hatch the last time the Others came? The vicious Passover theme of the tent attack? The dedicated soldier Bonnie beating the face of Charlie? Jack getting kissed by Juliet, then telling Kate he loves her? The unknown coffin? Locke crawling through the horror of the mass grave, ready to top himself, and being visited by Walt? Ben getting hammered to meat by Jack, then introducing Alex to Rousseau? The indestructible Mikhail with a harpoon in his chest pulling a seeming-suicide bombing to destroy the Looking Glass? Hurley ramming the VW bus into the middle of the beach action? Sawyer killing Tom in cold blood? Charlie with his palm against the porthole window, "NOT PENNY'S BOAT"? Or the moment we get confirmation that Jack's backstory is an entirely new narrative device for the series, a flashforward?
Click here to read the rest of J's post — and check out J's take on the new season this Friday on our blog! While you're there, peruse our daily Book News, guest blogger, and Review-a-Day posts — and so much more!
From the Authors: SAVE 30%
MICHELE ZACKHEIM: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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"My newest book, Broken Colors, is a novel written with a metaphoric paintbrush," writes Michele Zackheim, "or what I call writing from a visual perspective." In this original essay, visual artist Zackheim describes the unique writing method she utilized to realize Broken Colors, her novel about the epic life of a woman whose art and survival become ever more tightly bound with passing years. "[A] beautiful novel, sometimes comic and always wise," hails Library Journal. Read Zackheim's essay and pick up your copy of Broken Colors for 30% off. |
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Broken Colors
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JOHN BURNHAM SCHWARTZ: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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"Let me begin by saying that I am one of those naturally wary people who considers the verb 'return' a kind of insidious threat," writes John Burnham Schwartz. In this exclusive essay, the author of The Commoner describes how returning to Japan after 20 years inspired his latest novel, based on the life of Empress Michiko of Japan, the first commoner to marry into the Japanese imperial family ("pulls off a grand feat in giving readers a moving dramatization of a cloistered world," raves Publishers Weekly's starred review). Read the rest of Schwartz's essay and save 30% on The Commoner. |
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The Commoner
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KIM SUNÉE: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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"There are things I've done for love that, at first, did not seem to have anything to do with food," writes Kim Sunée, "but I've come to understand that the two demand an acquired taste for endurance and memory and
longing." Already hailed as "brave, emotional, and gorgeously written" by Frances Mayes, Sunée's book Trail of Crumbs is a unique memoir about the search for identity through love, hunger, and food. Read the rest of Sunée's essay and save 30% on Trail of Crumbs from Powells.com.
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Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home
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TIM DORSEY: INK Q&A
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Batten the hatches, don the life jackets, and take cover — Serge A. Storms is setting sail on a cruise ship to hell in Atomic Lobster, the latest manic adventure from the acclaimed author of Hurricane Punch. In this INK Q&A, Tim Dorsey describes his Jack Kerouac pilgrimage, shares his idea of absolute happiness, and more! Read the Q&A and save 30% when you buy Atomic Lobster from Powells.com. |
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Atomic Lobster
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ETHAN CLARK: GUEST BLOGGER
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Leaning with Intent to Fall is the first literary book to emerge from bike-punk subculture. Author Ethan Clark — who has passed the time riding bikes, drinking too much, getting chased by dogs, living in abandoned buildings, parading in unsanctioned street festivals, and breaking into historical monuments — celebrates this culture, expressed in moments of perfect, beautiful chaos. "[S]ometimes comic, sometimes nightmarish, filled with vicarious thrills and chills," praises the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Pick up Leaning with Intent to Fall at 30% off the cover price all week, and check out what Clark has to say each day on our blog! |
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Leaning with Intent to Fall
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APRIL SMITH: GUEST BLOGGER
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Next week we're pleased to welcome April Smith as our guest blogger. In Smith's latest novel, Judas Horse, maverick FBI Special Agent Ana Grey goes undercover to infiltrate the volatile core of a domestic terrorist cell, where she must negotiate a minefield of loyalty and betrayal under constant threat of discovery. "The tension never lets up," Booklist hails in its starred review. "Fans of Michael Connelly are sure to savor this heart-stopper!" Save 30% when you grab your copy of Judas Horse — and check for Smith's posts on our blog all next week! |
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Judas Horse
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in our stores
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"[A] tough, witty, cogent rebuttal to the proposition that food can be reduced to its nutritional components without the loss of something essential....[L]ively, invaluable." Janet Maslin, the New York Times (read more) |
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FEBRUARY 7: Meg Rosoff
 Set in the 1960s at an English boarding school, What I Was — the latest novel from the author of the award-winning young adult book How I Live Now — chronicles an unlikely friendship between two boys and a scandal that shatters the idyll that has shielded and nurtured their relationship. "[E]xtraordinary," cheers Kirkus (starred review). "Great Expectations meets Death in Venice in this visceral, intensely surprising tale." |
FEBRUARY 11: NBCC Best Recommended Books
| Before the Internet, book recommendations were passed by word-of-mouth or through book reviews in magazines and newspapers. Nowadays book websites and blogs abound. But with all this connectivity, the National Book Critics Circle (www.bookcritics.org, home of the new monthly Best Recommended List) felt the need to get back to the roots of recommendations by asking award-winning novelists, historians, poets, critics, and biographers which books topped their lists in 2007. Please join critic Ellen Heltzel, authors Katherine Dunn, Chelsea Cain, and Peter Rock, and Community of Writers founder Larry Colton for a discussion on good books, good reviews, and how much difference reviews make. |
view all events
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IN OUR NEXT EDITION:
Bandit bared his teeth. The Doberman feigned a charge.
"But never mind the dogfight," Bear tells the room. "Fup thought her heart would give out before the first bite."
On the window ledge, Bagheera whimpers. The others pretend not to notice.
"Bandit didn't back down," Bear assures them. In fact, the big dog practically roared, and his rage shocked Fup into motion; she turned from the face-off and fled behind the cabin, up a tree.
"And let me guess," Oreo volunteers. "Fup almost didn't come back to Portland because she'd decided to spend the rest of her life hiding in that tree."
Suddenly Bear starts cleaning his leg.
"Like you'd have rushed into the melee," Bagheera follows.
"Dogs like me," counters Oreo. And it's true, to an extent that often vexes the other cats. Why does everyone like him? Not just dogs but also cats and people, sometimes even chipmunks and crows.
Chester urges Bear to ignore them. "What happened?"
But Bear just goes on cleaning his leg. The other cats hush, confused.
"Bandit chased the Doberman off," Zooey interjects, "and eventually Fup came down."
Come down, she did. But Zooey can't bring himself to say the rest in front of Bear, Fup's old flame: Not long after Fup climbed out of the tree, she took up with Bandit: cat and dog.
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