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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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Can it be a coincidence that we're staring at a bright shiny morning in Portland as we put this newsletter to bed? Perhaps our interview with James Frey sent the clouds scuttling away for a while. Might the titular star of Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence (get your signed first editions now!) have cast a spell to clear our skies? Then again, the weather gods may be so preoccupied with original essays from Jeremy Scahill ( Blackwater), David Sirota ( The Uprising), John Matteson ( Eden's Outcasts), and Jacqueline Carey ( Kushiel's Mercy) that they simply forgot to give us our standard dose of rain and cumulus nimbus. We'll try to distract them with a Q&A from Kerry Cohen ( Loose Girl), plus this week's guest bloggers, contributors to the new book Dirty Words, and next week's guest, Mary F. Pols ( Accidentally on Purpose) — that should be enough to do the trick.
signed editions
 With Bright Shiny Morning, James Frey, the author of the #1 bestselling A Million Little Pieces, delivers a gritty and brilliant examination of the American dream painted on the canvas of Los Angeles. Janet Maslin of the New York Times wrote of Frey's new novel, "He stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park." It's your turn; step up and get a signed first edition of Bright Shiny Morning while our limited supply lasts.
 Vivid, gripping, irreverent, bawdy, profoundly moving, and completely absorbing, the latest novel from internationally acclaimed bestselling author Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence, is a dazzling book full of wonders by one of the world's most important living writers. "Entertainment of the highest literary order," raves Booklist (starred review). Get your signed first editions now!
 more signed editions |
FEATURED INTERVIEW
It's rare that you have the opportunity to interview someone as notorious as James Frey. Whether you were a fan or reader of A Million Little Pieces, you couldn't escape the news of the Oprah endorsement or the subsequent drubbing Frey received on her program when it was revealed that parts of his memoir were embellished. After reading an early advance copy of his new novel Bright Shiny Morning, we couldn't wait to talk with him about it. It's a compelling book about hope and firmly establishes James Frey as the comeback kid of 2008. Kudos aside, our interview with Frey made for one of the most interesting conversations we have had in recent memory.
more author interviews |
NEW ARRIVALS
HARDCOVER
 The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally by Ivy Manning
"Home chefs in other locales will appreciate Farm to Table, but it's truly an amazing resource for Oregonians....[Ivy Manning] discusses Community Supported Agriculture, and gives advice about what to do with your produce if you join a CSA program." —Mindy, Powells.com
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Sale $20.96 | Hardcover
List Price: $29.95 (You Save: $8.99) |
 Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
From New York Times cocktails columnist Jonathan Miles comes Dear American Airlines, the scathingly funny, deeply moving story of a stranded airline passenger, whose enraged letter of complaint transforms into a lament for a life gone awry.
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Sale $15.40 | Hardcover
List Price: $22.00 (You Save: $6.60) |
 Atonement
Adapted from Ian McEwan's National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novel, Atonement features Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley and James McAvoy heading an all-star cast in the film that critics called "the year's best picture" (US Weekly), "too exquisite for words" (the Washington Post), and "some kind of miracle" (Rolling Stone). As always, all DVDs ship free from Powells.com!
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Sale $26.28 | DVD
List Price: $29.98 (You Save: $3.70) |
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PAPERBACK
 Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński
From renowned journalist Ryszard Kapuściński comes this intimate account of his years in the field, traveling for the first time beyond the Iron Curtain to India, China, Ethiopia, and other exotic locales. "A final gift, a call to wander widely and see deeply," praises Outside magazine.
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Sale $10.46 | Trade Paper
List Price: $14.95 (You Save: $4.49) |
 The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
"After winning the Pulitzer Prize, Michael Chabon returns for another literary tour de force....Combining speculative and detective fiction with his own distinctive literary stylings, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is an unforgettable novel." —Hank, Powells.com
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Sale $11.16 | Trade Paper
List Price: $15.95 (You Save: $4.79) |
 Nothing to Lose: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
In Nothing to Lose, the 12th book in Lee Child's bestselling Jack Reacher series, Reacher — a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose — goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, but wants him dead.
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Sale $18.59 | Microsoft eBook
List Price: $20.95 (You Save: $2.36) |
Plus, don't miss all of the June Harlequin One-Click bundles, available now!
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 Stephanie Klein, author of Moose, recently blogged for Powells.com about long-distance friendships.
June 4, 2008:
Life Isn't Always Lived in the Details
I forgot one of my best friend's birthdays. If I were living in New York, there'd have been an evite, or at least talk of how we'd be celebrating come the weekend. We'd detail where she'd be eating with her husband, what she was planning to wear, even. And then I'd ask about all the things she bought in the name of, "Well, my birthday is coming up, and I totally deserve it. So, why not?" And I'd get to see said purchases. But now that I live in Austin, TX, it's just not the same.
With all my friends in other parts of the country, we aren't able to love one another in detail anymore. Broad strokes love is there, the deep kind that makes us all feel safe, that we can take for granted because we're certain it will always be there. With remarkable ease, we can say we're "pick-up friends" — friends that pick up just where we left off. And it's true, we swing right into our back and forth, asking the right questions, getting to the heart of things. But, still, we miss the sidelines. And it sucks....
Read more of Klein's post — plus daily guest bloggers and Book News, Read It Before They Screen It, and more — on our blog!
| From the Authors |
SAVE 30% |
KERRY COHEN: INK Q&A
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Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy, a story of addiction, not just to sex. In this INK Q&A, Cohen shares her good book run, hypercritical reader responses to her memoir, and more! And save 30% on Loose Girl, for a limited time. |
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Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity
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Sale $15.36 | Hardcover
List Price: $21.95
You Save: $6.59
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DIRTY WORDS CONTRIBUTORS: GUEST BLOGGER
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A playful take on bedroom talk, Dirty Words is a smart, funny encyclopedia with entries written by contemporary writers, including Cornelia Read, Abiola Abrams, Katherine Tanney, Kaui Hart Hemmings, and Maria Dahvana Headley — all of whom are contributing to this week's daily guest blog posts. Check out our blog to read their dirty words — and save 30% on Dirty Words. |
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Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex
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Sale $13.99 | Hardcover
List Price: $19.99
You Save: $6.00
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in our stores
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"As a 67-year-old, Trond moves to an isolated part of Norway to live out the rest of his life quietly. After meeting his closest neighbor, he is forced to confront things from his youth that he'd spent years avoiding..."
Recommended by Brodie, Powells.com (read more) |
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JUNE 18: Promise of the Wolves
 In the tradition of Clan of the Cave Bear and Watership Down comes a dynamic new series. Combining original research, endearing characters, and a thoroughly engaging plot, Promise of the Wolves is the first title in Dorothy Hearst's Wolf Chronicles trilogy. "[K]een interpretations of wolf behavior, senses and sensibilities will enchant paranormal fans and animal lovers alike," cheers Publishers Weekly. |
JUNE 22: Kevin Sampsell
 Powell's own Kevin Sampsell presents his largest and most ambitious collection to date. Creamy Bullets captures the Portland author at the top of his game. Collecting everything from stunning flash fiction to his hilarious and intense longer stories, Sampsell's latest is a highlight reel of his uncollected work from the past 10 years. "Creamy Bullets is full of wonders, and all the best kinds of tenderness and danger," proclaims Sam Lipsyte, author of Home Land. |
view all events
preorder signed editions by authors coming to Powell's |
IN OUR NEXT EDITION:
Fup froze where the trees met driveway. Lisa killed the car's engine.
From his bed on the back deck, Bandit inspected Bear more closely.
Bear wasn't particularly big, even for a cat. Nor did he strike Bandit as mean or particularly angry. But you wouldn't want to mess with him — something in Bear's posture warned against it. Bear was smart, or he knew something that Bandit didn't, certainly he did. What sway could Bandit possibly hold next to Fup's old flame?
Less than two weeks Bandit had known her. She'd told him about Bear. Of course she talked about him; Bear had been part of her life for years. Bandit knew as much. But Fup had left Portland, hadn't she? Didn't that count for something.
All at once, the air seemed to rush out of Bandit. He imagined deflating, saw his body wither on the ground. He wondered if he'd gone insane.
He was a foil. A fling. The bad guy.
Fup still hadn't moved. Bear hadn't either. Wiggums stood still on the edge of woods while the Twibel couple and their kids formed a still life inside the sliding glass door. No one had budged in the few seconds it took Bandit to visualize the rest of his life, without Fup.
Across the driveway, Fup caught Bandit's eye. Meaning what? I, you. Meaning nothing, Bandit realized. She'd lost her bearings. He understood now that she hadn't known Bear was coming. Bandit felt himself relax.
And then she bolted. In a flash, Fup disappeared in the woods.
Send questions, comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism without harsh adjectives to newsletter@powells.com.
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