LUKE
“A sequel to the excellent ‘Bangkok 8,’ I actually prefer ‘Tattoo.’ I found the characters more compelling and the plot better constructed that the original. Only from Burdett will you find a mystery revolving around the CIA, Islamic fundamentalism, the Southeast Asian drug trade, sex-change operations, and Buddhism. F.Y.I - this is a stand-alone novel.”
Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett
$12.95 * Mystery / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 1400032911
“Who says children’s books have to be for children? William Steig’s autobiographical picture book When Everybody Wore A Hat is filled with haiku-like prose and deceptively simple yet gorgeous illustrations. The result is more evocative than most memoirs. Buy it for the kids, but keep it on the grown-up shelf.”
When Everybody Wore A Hat by William Steig
$7.99 * Beginning Readers / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 006097027
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AMELIE
“America has Henry Miller. France has Henry Miller too. Miller left America in his thirties and moved to Paris, where he lived penniless, homeless, longing for Mona, his life still in New York, and though eager to embrance the French way of life -drinking cafe at a terrace in Clichy, writing and even painting, inspired by his friends and his dreams, and always ready to enter in symbiosis with the universe- wherever he is, Brooklyn or Paris, Henry Miller is my hero.”
Black Spring by Henry Miller
$13.00 * Fiction Paperback * PGW ISBN 0802131824
“America had Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. France has Serge Gainsbourge; a ‘magnifique’ music genius, a subtle and drunk poet, a Jewish prince of words, and a provocative gentleman with the ladies. From his debuts as a young intoxicated jazz-lover / piano bar singer in the 50’s, to his late incentive iconoclast raggae hits in the 80’s, Gainsbourge, like Picasso, explored every possibility of his art, sometimes with brutality, yet always with elegance. He left France orphaned (and dizzy) when he died in 1991, after a lifetime of partying. America only knows him for telling Whitney Houston on French TV: ‘I want to f*** you.’ This excellent biography will tell you the rest.”
Serge Gainsbourge: A Fistful of Gitanes
$16.50 * Biography / Paperback * Da Capo ISBN: 0306811839
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SETH
The Age Of Wire And String by Ben Marcus
$11.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Dalkey Archive ISBN: 1564781968
How We live by Sherwin Nuland
$15.95 * Health / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679781404
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BRIE
“Billy Collins will make you want to write poetry. Under his watch, the ordinary turns extraordinary - reading marginalia, thumbing through a Victoria’s Secret catalog, splitting wood, chopping parsley, eating dinner… Collins knows how to savor every little detail of life; he knows that disasters and death abound (see pp. 24-25) so we should soak it all up while we can. If you’re new to poetry, this is a great place to start. If you’re not-so-new to poetry, this is a luminous book to add to your stash.”
Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins
$12.95 * Poetry / Paperback * Univ. Of Pittsburgh ISBN: 0822956705
“Let’s hope we all look as good as Stanley did at 100; let’s hope our minds are as lively. Kunitz, a national treasure, passed away in the spring but left behind an astonishing and inspiring body of work. Here, in his final book, he reflects on the natural cycle of life, from his early days as a lamplighter (man, this guy was old) to his last years in his garden in Provincetown. The poems he offers are sumptuous, the interviews engaging, and his personal recollections a kind of handbook for how to live a good life. I trust anyone with the following city escape plan: ‘Let’s jump into the car, honey, and head straight for the Cape, where the cock on our housetop crows that the weather’s fair and my garden waits for me to coax it into bloom.’-Route Six p.44-45. This guy did it right!”
The Wild Braid by Stanley Kunitz
$23.95 * Poetry / Hardcover * Norton ISBN: 0393061418
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HELENE
“Both a survivor’s tale and a portrait of the greatest generation gap, Maus I & II are visually merciless and beautiful. Art Spiegelman is a smart man.”
Maus I & II (Boxed Set) by Art Spiegelman
$28.00 * Graphic / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679748407
“My obsession. Just remember, don’t give up after the first page.”
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
$13.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Norton ISBN: 0393312836
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MATT
Armies Of The Night by Norman Mailer
$15.00 * History / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0452272793
Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
$12.95 * Essays / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679744738
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ZACK
“Your essential post-apocalyptic survival tool is right here. Now just get out of the city and to the woods before the fallout! You will learn to execute certain tasks: trap fish with sticks, decipher which berries are and are not poisonous, and escape freezing water after you have fallen through ice. Did you know that bird blood can hydrate you sufficiently? A true survivor’s guide and a fun and impressive coffee table book, How To Stay Alive In The Woods will keep you live and breathing.”
How To Stay Alive In The Woods by Bradford Angier
$19.95 * Nature / Hardcover * Black Dog ISBN: 1579122213
“Although I see Palahniuk’s recent fictional attempts as blatantly marketable and sort of haggard, Stranger Than Fiction offers a side of his writing that I love and am able to take much more seriously. Within this collection of ’strange’ true stories, Palahniuk offers a very honest disclosure as to why we as writers are compelled to write about our everyday experiences and how the art of fiction is truly the art of everyday life. Following the mysterious murder of Palahniuk’s father to how he wrote himself and his friends into his novel Fight Club, Stranger Than Fiction is something to gain wisdom by.”
Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk
$13.95 * Essays / Paperback *Doubleday ISBN: 0385722222
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HENRY
Appointment In Samarra by John Ohara
$13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0375719202
How To Be Alone by Jonathan Franzen
$14.00 * Essays / Paperback * St. Martin’s ISBN: 0312422164
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MAGGIE
“Junot Diaz’s work is fresh and bold - his prose so honest and bare I almost forgot I was reading them and not living them. This collection of short stories travels from Santo Domingo to Nueva York, following the lives of characters faced with unimaginable hardships. And yet there is beauty here, too. People fall in love, and break into community pools after dark. Look for more to come from this remarkable new writer.”
Drown by Junot Diaz
$14.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Riverhead ISBN: 1573226068
“Stranger things do happen in Kelly Link’s stories than in most: a woman’s lover is kidnapped by the snow queen, a stubbornly nude ghost loves the music of Patsy Cline, and a fortune teller reads the fate of honeymooners from the soles of their shoes. But Link’s stories are not simply a showcase for her imagination. There is a substance that underlies her fancy and that gives the reader sometimes startlingly perceptive glimpses of the world. If you’re looking for something different this summer, Link won’t disappoint.”
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
$16.00 Fiction / Paperback * Small Beer ISBN 1931520003
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JULIET
“Top 5 reasons why you should buy this book: 1. It provides a rare window into the male psyche. 2. The 30-something-year-olds who won’t grow up are frighteningly relatable. 3. You can then watch the movie and compare and contrast. 4. It will give you clout to be a music snob. 5. It’s funny.”
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
$15.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Riverhead ISBN 1594481784
“If you read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn as a child, read it again. There are many layers to the challenges Francie faces growing up in early 20th century Brooklyn that you probably did not understand the first time around. If you have not yet read this borough’s most celebrated novel, well it’s about time you did.”
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
$16.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 0061120073
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DIANE
“An impressive compilation of stories that portray life during the great depression through the memories of those who expreienced it first hand. By collecting peoples stories orally, Studs Terkel creates an extraordinary history of such a fragile time in U.S. history.”
Hard Times by Studs Terkel
$16.95 * History / Paperback * New Press ISBN: 1565846567
“In The general In His Labrinth, Marquez brilliantly intermingles rich cultural history with passionate prose to create a story about the trials and tribulations of life as a retired general in Latin America. It’s both entertaining an insightful.”
The General In His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
$13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * ISBN: 1400034701
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MARY
“This survey of Irish history and culture is told through the published works of twelve Irish writers beginning with Jonathan Swift (1700) and finishing with Michael Collins (1922). If you are at all interested in the subject, at least read Malachy McCourt’s informative and entertaining introduction!”
Voices Of Ireland ed. by Malachy McCourt
$19.95 * History / Paperback * Running Press ISBN: 0762417013
“In his introduction to this book, Pete Hamill says about Brooklyn: ‘You begin with the light.’ Anyone who has spent any time here knows exactly what he’s talking about. This collection of fiction & non-fiction captures that light. Never mind that lately everywhere you look someone is writing about Brooklyn as though it has just been discovered. The Brooklyn Reader begins with James Agee & ends with Walt Whitman. In the middle you’ll find Alice McDermott & Spike Lee. These are timeless stories about life in Brooklyn that you’ll enjoy whether you just moved here or have lived here all your life.”
The Brooklyn Reader: Thirty Writers Celebrate America’s Favorite Borough ed. by Andrea Wyatt Sexton & Alice Leccese Powers
$19.00 * Brooklyn / Paperback * Crown ISBN: 0517883791
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HOLLY
“Poignant, laugh-out-loud, dark humor. These stories are the perfect length to read during your train ride to the beach.”
Birds Of America by Lorrie Moore
$14.00 * Fiction / Paperback * St. Martin’s ISBN: 0312241224
“Come on. It’s August. You have the time. You know you want the challenge.”
Middlemarch by George Eliot $9.95 * Fiction / Paperback / Random House ISBN: 0679783318
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PETER
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
$13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Harcourt Brace ISBN: 0156949601
The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’brien
$19.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0452263948
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DAVID
“In these lowest of political times, this book will make you laugh, though it is ultimately a metaphor for the sad state and hypocrisy of the American political machine.”Elect Mr. Robinson For A Better World by Donald Antrim $12.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0375725032 $12.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0375725032
$12.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0375725032
“McCarthy’s second novel remains one of my favorites. It is dark and lyrical and McCarthy knows Appalachia language and landscape like no other writer. The novel is both funny and disturbing and a must-read for any fan of McCarthy. If you don’t know McCarthy’s work, this is the one to begin with.”Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy $13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679728732 $13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679728732
$13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679728732