Recommendations
One of our favorite authors, Sarah Smith has a new novel
which you might want to rush out and buy (or email us and order!),
A CITIZEN OF THE COUNTRY (Ballantine, $24.95). This is Smith's
third novel, following the intriguing and very successful THE
VANISHED CHILD and THE KNOWLEDGE OF WATER (both New York Times
notable books, but more importantly, both strongly recommended
by us). As well as these novels, I strongly recommend her two
websites (because one just isn't enough to contain the breadth
of information with in them). Her own website, a great resource
for anyone interested in the Victorian era as well as many other
things, is here while
here is the website dedicated
to her books and especially A CITIZEN OF THE COUNTRY. Sarah Smith
is an elegant writer whose readers tend to be quietly but passionately
devoted to her books. This most recent novel has received glowing
reviews from everyone ranging from the New York Times to
Entertainment Weekly!
Here's what one of our staff says, "It has everything
in it I could possibly want: beautiful writing, a wonderful story,
and wonderful, wonderful characters--filmmakers, actors, patriots,
a beautiful blind pianist and a witch, happy families and not
so happy families, even a spy and a cowboy. Sarah Smith is one
of my favorite writers--I stay up all night reading her novels.
Her writing is funny and elegant and hits me hard in all the good
places. If you like Joan Aiken, Sebastien Japrisot, Dorothy Dunnett,
or Dorothy L. Sayers, try reading Sarah Smith's series about Alexander
Reisden, beginning with THE VANISHED CHILD, continuing with THE
KNOWLEDGE OF WATER, and A CITIZEN OF THE COUNTRY (now that I've
read the latest book, I'm going to start all over again at the
beginning.)"
Other Recommendations
ONE GOOD TURN, A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the
Screw, Witold Rybczynski (Scribner, $22) Slim book as Rybczynski
recovers from his opus on Frederick Law Olmstead, A CLEARING IN
THE DISTANCE. The usual Rybczynski mix of history, anecdote and
personal experience. Could be the perfect little present for the
carpenter in your family (and mine).
WILD LIFE, Molly Gloss, (Simon & Schuster, $24)
Again our staff reader, "Ursula K. Le Guin and Karen
Joy Fowler love Molly Gloss, and so do I. The protagonist
of WILD LIFE, Charlotte Bridge Drummond, is one of the most interesting
women I've ever met in a book. This is a beautiful, haunting story."
Molly Gloss is taking a break from writing after producing a number
of individual and different novels, all worth reading including
THE DAZZLE OF DAY and JUMP OFF CREEK.
GEMINI Dorothy Dunnett (Knopf, $27.50) A novel of The
House of Niccolo. I recommend catching a reading by this artist
(painter as well as writer) as she has a beautiful voice and the
audience is so much fun. They do know far too much about these
intricate historical novels though. A great treasure to have on
your to-be-read stack.
YEAR'S BEST FANTASY & HORROR, Thirteenth Annual Collection,
edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling (St.
Martin's, $17.95) Includes Kelly Link's "The Girl
Detective," gives honorable mentions to three stories from
Lady Churchill's
Rosebud Wristlet, as well as having better than average
stories from Jeffrey Ford, Ursula K. Le Guin, Delia
Sherman, Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, Gene Wolfe, James Sallis, Gary
Braunbeck and a whole host of others. Really a great way to
get w whole lot of good reading in one place.
THE TELLING Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt, $24) The latest
novel from one of the best writers in the world today. If you
don't read novels, I strongly recommend her short story collection,
UNLOCKING THE AIR.
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, Ernest Lehman (Overlook Press,
$15.95) You might recognize the title from the Tony Curtis, Burt
Lancaster film of the same name. Overlook Press are doing a fine
job of bringing the jems of Twentieth Century American Literature
back into print. Two novelettes and 13 short stories showcase
one of Hollywood's leading writers and observers. Read them and
weep.
25th Anniversary!
Next month is the shop's 25th anniversary. There will be a
historical retrospective online (with photos if I can get my hands
on them!) and maybe a small sign or two in the store. We're waiting
for 50 years to really celebrate...! Banned Books Month
Being a free speech advocate, when the book shop owner heard
that Bryan Magee's CONFESSIONS OF A PHILOSOPHER had been banned
in the UK, he immediately ordered all 17 copies the distributor
had on hand. It was banned for being libelous of another philosopher
(oh those hot-blooded philosophers!) and it became an instant
bestseller for us as the curious, the philosophically minded (there's
a lot of them around here) and the anti-censorship fans picked
it up. We still stock it and especially this month when we're
busily remembering all the classics that are unbelievably banned,
you could try this, the latest to suffer from the UK libel laws.
It has to be remembered that the UK and US libel laws differ
greatly. The biggest reminder in recent years was McDonald's suing
Helen Steele, Dave Morris and three others over a pamphlet they
distributed - they did not author it - that McDonald's claimed
damaged their reputation. The three others sued issued an apology
instead of fighting the multi-billion dollar corporation. However
unlikely it may seem Steele and Morris decided to fight and the
case went on to become the longest libel trial in UK history.
It is documented in the rather fascinating MCLIBEL: Burger Culture
on Trial by John |
Vidal (which has an introduction from presidential
candidate, Ralph Nader) and you can see the ongoing repercussions
at www.mcspotlight.org.
The author pulls in a lot of other facts from the local versus
global economic fight late in the book but the meat of it is the
trail itself. Judge Bell, not very experienced in libel law; the
plaintiff's lawyer, Richard Rampton, QC, one of the most famous
and experienced libel lawyers in the UK, who often advised the
judge on points of law; and the two defendants standing up for
freedom of speech, Dave Morris and Helen Steele, the McLibel Two.
Morris and Steele attempted to turn the court's attention to the
inequalities in UK law that allowed a corporation to sue two individuals
who did not have the wealth to hire lawyers, access to legal aid,
or any experience at representing themselves in court. This was
a case that began and ended in freedom of speech issues. Why didn't
McDonald's just print up a pamphlet of their own in answer to
the 'What's Wrong With McDonald's?' pamphlet? Because they wanted
to intimidate others from doing the same thing; not writing such
things, but even handing them out would be something that might
bring a lawsuit that could destroy you. Whether or not you agree
with the book, the judgment, the defendants or the plaintiff,
it is an important case and the book is a good summation, worth
reading. (The verdict went against the defendants. Morris and
Steele were ordered to pay the corporation $98,000. They were
lucky in that many people supported them. Will the next people
be so lucky?)
Bookish Meanderings from Tom Owen
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
To which many urban shopkeepers might add
The dumb questions, "Is this a library?"
The increasing expenses, "Your taxes have been doubled."
and the frisson of danger, "Did you see the two guys with
shotguns?"
Thus like quite a few big city dwellers we dream of fleeing
to some small town where the hearts are gentle, the people kind,
and the pace slower. Now with the internet that dream goes even
farther to becoming an online dealer, sitting at a keyboard in
a barn or warehouse at the end of a leafy country lane and never
even having to deal with the public at all.
Except, except, it is the daily stream of requests, comments,
and questions that keep us alerted to the public's tastes and
interests. No number of articles in trade journals, browsings
through reviews on Sunday, or even hearing interviews on radio
and television has ever equaled the impact of face to face communication.
It was the demand of customers, and not the endless pr, that made
us order and sell over a hundred Harry Potter books. It
was customer requests that led us to discover the skyrocketing
market in old children's and juvenile novels that we had hitherto
scorned. We have been lectured on Chinese poets, odd historical
periods (we can never have too many volumes on Byzantium it seems),
and even Scottish humorists to our enlightenment and some time
profit.
And so while we still yearn for that quiet pastoral spot, that
lakeside cottage where the ducks call and the loons wail, it seems
we'll have to keep our hands in somehow and continue to see and
hear from our customers in the flesh now and then. And I'd tell
you a few of our ideas for doing that, but right now I've got
a customer here who needs some help. Award News
The Hugo Awards were just awarded at the World Science Fiction
Convention in Chicago. People we like (Vernor Vinge, Connie Willis,
Frank Robinson, James Patrick Kelly) won and deservedly so. Here
is the full list:
Novel: A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY, Vernor Vinge (Tor)
Novella: "The Winds of Marble Arch", Connie
Willis (Asimov's Oct/Nov 1999)
Novelette: "1016 to 1", James Patrick Kelly
(Asimov's June 1999)
Short Story: "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur", Michael
Swanwick (Asimov's July 1999)
Best Related Book: SCIENCE
FICTION OF THE 20TH CENTURY, Frank M. Robinson (Collectors
Press)
Best Dramatic Presentation: Galaxy Quest
(Dreamworks SKG; directed by Dean Parisot; screenplay by David
Howard & Robert Gordon; story by David Howard)
Best Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois
Best Professional Artist: Michael Whelan
Best Semi-Prozine: Locus, edited by Charles N.
Brown
Best Fanzine: File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford
Best Fan Artist: Joe Mayhew
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best New Writer:
Cory Doctorow
Staff Update
For those of you who keep a close eye on the shop you might
have noticed that there was another small shift in the staff:
Gavin has gone, moved to Brooklyn to work in a different part
of the book world (although he will still be writing the Annotated
Browser until someone else takes over), and Cassandra is back
after some time off in Vermont. Questions about children's books?
Cards? Recent and decent fiction? She is the one to ask. We are
always looking for experienced staff, although we can rarely afford
to hire them! Now the students are back (welcome to the melee
that is Boston!) we might need to hire some part-time workers,
so if you have previous book shop experience, check out the shop
and drop off your resume and cover letter and if we can afford
it, we'll get back to you.
And the most popular staff member, Blue the cat, is featured
on www.storepets.com.
Look at the guy, so cool despite the high pressure Newbury Street
lifestyle. Belluvue
You might have noticed the lack of new stories on the site.
We have asked the elusive John Usher when the third chapter of
his lovely Bellevue will come in but he remains silent.
Maybe we should open it up for others to finish? Maybe not. The latest deadline was August 31st, but nothing
has appeared in the mail and we are beginning to fear for him. Reader, we will keep you updated. Book Business News
One of the largest news items on the publishing front was the
announcement by Time Warner (do I add the AOL now or do I wait
for the deal to sour?) about their ebook unit, iPublish. This
is good news on a variety of fronts (I bet you never expected
me to write that, where's the doom and gloom we expect from indie
book shops? Just wait, it's probably on its way). First, any new
publishing outfit means more jobs. Remember HarperCollins slashed
its staff and cut books from their lists (some of which were at
the printer or distributor)? iPublish is hiring some of them,
and others, of course. Because Warner is so big they want
to make a splash, and they can afford to. One of the first things
they'll have on their site is a new short story from Nalo Hopkinson,
who has two books published by Warner Aspect, BROWN GIRL IN THE
RING and more recently, MIDNIGHT ROBBER as well as getting very
nice reviews for her two short stories in the new DARK MATTER
collection of 'Fiction from the African Diaspora'. By betting
on ebooks, Warner remind the public of the revolution in publishing
that is going on Right Now. I'm not expecting people to buy an
ebook reader because Warner is doing it, but once the customer
does get one, or in the habit of downloading books, off he can
go to AuthorsDen, Xlibris, iUniverse or any of a host of other
small presses and author pages and download books from there.
Warners entry to the field to a certain extent adds legitimacy
to it.
What does it mean for the book as we know it? Not that much
for now? How many people are reading online? Not that many. Salon,
one of the best sites online, just cut their staff by 20% and
decided to lower their tone to try and grab more readers (and
thus more advertising revenue). They are perhaps one of the better
known sites, publicly traded, people email each other links and
articles from it all the time, if they aren't doing wonderfully
well, will epublishing as a whole?
Perhaps it's all down to the physical reader used. Rocketbooks
are too big, Palm Pilots are too small. Where is the middle ground?
It has been well noted that the book is perfect at what it does
- get the contents to the reader in the smallest, cheapest manner
possible (even as the hardcover is a dinosaur and the mass market
paperback continues to be killed by the consolidation of the distribution
industry - at last, doom and gloom!). Until an electronic reader
betters the book in portability, utility, price and usability
(from single use to multiple use) then the physical book will
win.
What Warner and all the other publishers are now doing is committing
themselves to a future device that their books will be readable
on. They are creating the demand for the device by producing content.
We live in interesting times. |
