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Original Essays | June 27, 2009
By Fran Cannon Slayton
"Unfortunately, I've been to my fair share of wakes."
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Spring fever has hit the Powells.com office with a vengeance! Is it Junot Díaz's Rooster Award victory that has us crowing? Or National Poetry Month that makes us wax rhapsodic? Our interview with Willy Vlautin clears our sinuses, while signed first editions of Tobias Wolff's Our Story Begins give us a perfect excuse to sit outside and read. Between original essays by Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem ( The Man on the Ceiling) and William Calvin ( Global Fever); Q&As from Ann Patchett ( What Now?), Siri Hustvedt ( The Sorrows of an American), and Joanne Harris ( The Girl with No Shadow); and guest blogger Brian Copeland, we're positively giddy as schoolchildren!
signed editions
 In Our Story Begins, his first collection in more than a decade, Tobias Wolff combines 10 riveting new stories with 21 classics that display his mastery of the form. "Wolff consistently finds ways to slip beyond the unfolding of events in a narrative sense," writes the Chicago Tribune, "making his stories something of a chrysalis from which emerges something non-narrative — call it heart." Get your signed first editions of Our Story Begins while they last.
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FEATURED INTERVIEW
 Willy Vlautin likes racetracks, motels, and diners. He's had a song written about him by stealth performer Herman Jolly, "Woodshack Willy," in which he's referred to as "the countriest western singer I ever saw." As unmistakably contemporary as they are, Vlautin's novels have the uncanny feel of old-time country AM radio. His writing exudes humble despair tinged with nostalgic, broken-down hope. Northline, his second novel, comes with a soundtrack Vlautin recorded with Richmond Fontaine bandmate Paul Brainard and was published this winter in the UK to rave reviews; it appears in the US from HarperCollins this month.
We're thrilled to be able to share this conversation between Kate Bernheimer, author of The Complete Tales of Merry Gold, and Willy Vlautin in which they talk about horses, music, and hard work.
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NEW ARRIVALS
HARDCOVER
 Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet by Jeffrey D. Sachs
From one of the world's greatest economic minds, author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Poverty, Common Wealth is a clear and vivid map of the road to sustainable and equitable global prosperity and an augury of the global economic collapse that lies ahead if we don't follow it.
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Sale $19.56 | Hardcover
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 The Man Who Made Lists by Joshua Kendall
In The Man Who Made Lists, Joshua Kendall offers the extraordinary true story of Peter Mark Roget — the man who created the legendary Roget's Thesaurus. Evocative and entertaining, this work lets readers join Roget on his worldly adventures and emotional journeys as he explores the power of words.
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 The Kite Runner
Based on the bestselling phenomenon by Khaled Hosseini, directed by Marc Forster (Monster's Ball) from a screenplay by David Benioff (author of The 25th Hour), The Kite Runner is an unforgettable, intensely emotional tale of friendship, family, devastating mistakes, and redeeming love. "[M]agnificent," hails Roger Ebert, and Time magazine calls it "a confident and honorable movie — and a gripping one." As always, all DVDs ship free from Powells.com.
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PAPERBACK
 The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier
Buckle up for a joy ride through physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy with The Canon, an ebullient guide to science by Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author Natalie Angier (Woman: An Intimate Geography). "Not everything is as easy as pie (or pi) to grasp, and therein lies the excitement and challenge of science, masterfully conveyed here," praises Kirkus (starred review).
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 On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
Full of characters rich in heart, smarts, and courage, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness presents a world of wonder and a tale children of all ages will cherish, families can read aloud, and reading groups are sure to discuss for its layers of meaning. "[A] whimsical fantasy novel that will appeal to both adult and YA readers," cheers Publishers Weekly.
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 The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crash of 2008 and What It Means by George Soros
An eBook exclusive! In the midst of one of the most serious financial upheavals since the Great Depression, George Soros, the legendary financier and philanthropist, writes about the origins of the current situtation and proposes a set of policies that should be adopted to confront it. In The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crash of 2008 and What It Means, a concise essay that combines practical insight with philosophical depth, Soros makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the great credit crisis and its implications for our nation and the world.
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Hillary Jordan's first novel, Mudbound, was awarded the 2006 Bellwether Prize, founded by Barbara Kingsolver to recognize literature of social responsibility. It was also the second title in Powells.com's new Indiespensable subscription club (and quickly sold out). We were thrilled when Jordan recently dropped by our blog to share her thoughts on one of her passions.
March 25, 2008:
The Church of Barbecue, Epistle I
Like my father before me, I worship at the Church of Barbecue. I live in a place with long, serious winters, so I don't get to practice my faith year-round, but I try to make up for it. The instant the temperature creeps above 50 degrees, or even remotely feels like it's warmish, out comes the Hasty-Bake or the Weber (more about these two essential pillars of my faith, and the differences between them, later) from the garage, and on go the ribs or the steaks or the chickens or the game hens or the ducks or the pork loins or the sausages or what have you.
Though I consider myself to be an observant and devout practitioner of my faith, my father is the undisputed High Priest. Daddy's brisket has been known to make grown men and women fall to their knees, their eyes rolling in their heads, incoherent groans of ecstasy issuing from their mouths. And that's nothing compared to the fervor elicited by his whole smoked chickens or his bone-in pork loin with mango sauce. It was my father who introduced me to the mysteries of our faith, and who continues to inspire me by his righteous example.
Barbecue is a messy, complex religion, with various branches and offshoots. My family and I are members of the Dry Rub Communion. Think of us as the Protestants of barbecue — the protest being against all that needless drowning of innocent meat in goopy, over-spiced tomato sauce. Surely no beast deserves such an ignominious end to its existence, and no diner (with the possible exception of a few members of our current Administration) deserves to have such heresy practiced upon them....
Click here to read the rest of Hillary Jordan's post — and while you're at it, check out our daily Book News and Review-a-Day features, Read It Before They Screen It, Jessica Hagy's Indexed, and much more on our blog!
| From the Authors |
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STEVE RASNIC TEM and MELANIE TEM: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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In this original essay for Powells.com, Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem discuss how they found themselves literally drawn into their latest novel: "In that mysterious way fiction has of informing us what it requires in order to successfully tell its story, The Man on the Ceiling let us know that we needed to appear as characters." Expanding on the novella that won the 2000 World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards, The Man on the Ceiling examines how people find a family, stay together despite incomprehensible tragedy, and, in the end, how they find love. Read the rest of the Tems' essay and save 30% when you buy The Man on the Ceiling from Powells.com. |
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The Man on the Ceiling
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ANN PATCHETT: INK Q&A
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While grads may have little idea of what's coming next, there's great pleasure to be found in not knowing and not having everything defined. Bestselling author Ann Patchett shares her wit and heartfelt advice in What Now?, a beautiful gift book that is sure to become a perennial favorite. In this INK Q&A, Patchett describes crashing Eudora Welty's funeral, shares her favorite author who doesn't get the attention he deserves, and more. Read the Q&A and find What Now? for 30% off the publisher's price. |
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JOANNE HARRIS: INK Q&A
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In The Girl with No Shadow, New York Times-bestselling author Joanne Harris returns with an exquisite treat that continues the story begun in her novel Chocolat. In this INK Q&A, Harris becomes one of the few authors to answer every single question of our Q&A — including her favorite TV series, which fictional character she'd like to date, and, well... all of them! Read the Q&A and save 30% on The Girl with No Shadow. |
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In the midst of one of the most serious financial upheavals since the Great Depression, George Soros, the legendary financier and philanthropist, writes about the origins of the crisis and proposes a set of policies that should be adopted to confront it... (read more) |
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APRIL 9: Jim Hightower
 Jim Hightower, the New York Times-bestselling author and America's funniest activist, gives the lowdown on how to put up — not shut up — in the fight for the country's future. In Swim against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go with the Flow, Hightower introduces readers to people from across the country who are taking charge, living their values, doing good, and doing well. Please note: This ticketed event takes place at the Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Tickets, $25.95, include admission and a copy of Swim against the Current. |
APRIL 17: Jane Smiley
 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley returns with Ten Days in the Hills, a sexy, irreverent novel that dives into Hollywood culture, and the dynamic personalities that move in its inner circles, in the days following the 2003 Academy Awards. The Los Angeles Times calls it "a blazing farce," Providence Journal "a dynamic romp in the hay," and Powell's own Jill Owens a "moving, very ambitious, expert portrait of American life in the 21st century." |
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IN OUR NEXT EDITION:
If the dog they'd known for years could change so drastically, Wiggums and Kit wondered, could their own identities reliably persist?
It's not as if Bandit had been pining for feline companions. Fup arrived and — presto! Different dog. Was some kind of voodoo at work? How else to account for the turnabout? Might one day some wayward mallard or turtle show up and cause a similar transformation in one of the cats?
Kit feared a looming existential crisis. If you couldn't reliably conform to your own expectations, how could you ever trust anyone else to stay the same?
That Saturday marked the end of Fup's first week in Boring. After dinner, Wiggums broke down and asked, "What have you done to our dog?"
Fup shrugged.
"Until you got here," Wiggums continued, "Bandit wouldn't let Kit and me into the living room. And now, this." With a clenched paw, Wiggums poked the dog's hind end. Bandit merely sighed.
And so Fup addressed the German shepherd directly. "Tell them," she prodded, "what I did to you."
Bandit's eyes opened wide. We weren't going to talk about this, they seemed to be saying.
"Tell us," Kit pleaded.
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