July, 2006 ***STAFF PICKS***

Please Note: We have now doubled our Staff Pick selection, allowing staff to have two new picks every month. Pretty cool, huh?

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Luke

THE MOTION OF LIGHT IN WATER: Sex And Science Fiction Writing In The East Village by SAMUEL R. DELANY

$19.95 * Biography / Paperback *  University Of Minnesota Press ISBN: 0816645248

“Delany’s personal account of life in a post-war Harlem and the Lower East Side is a memoir of race that transcends race, a book about sexuality that is larger than sex, and a microcosm of the American twentieth century. This is the rare book whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts.“

 

 

THE ANIMAL FAMILY by RANDALL JARRELL

$8.95 * Middle Readers / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 0062059041

“There’s an awkward gap for children who have mastered “beginning readers” but have yet to tackle more challenging chapter books. Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family, a classic since its publication in 1965, fills that gap perfectly. Accompanied by illustrations by Maurice Sendak, this story about a lonely hunter who finds a makeshift family in the woods is simultaneously intimate and mystic.”

 

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Brie        

                                    

IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS by TIM O’BRIEN

$15.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0140250948

“Never has watering houseplants been so terrifying. Is this a horror story … or a love story? Either way, this is one of the best, most haunting novels you’ll ever read.”

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Zack

 

THE GARDEN OF EDEN by ERNEST HEMINGWAY

$13.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Macmillan ISBN: 0684804522

“After Hemingway purchased a shotgun at an Abercrombie and Fitch store and used it to blow off his head, his widow Mary showed up at Scribner with a shopping bag of unpublished writings left by her husband. The Garden Of Eden occupied that posthumous batch of writings. Erotic, desperate, intoxicated, and brilliant, these characters that live in The Garden Of Eden won’t stray from mind, for they are too much like us, yet hauntingly reminiscent of what we never wish to become.”     

 

 

 

 

THE CINNAMON PEELER by MICHAEL ONDAATJE

$14.00 * Poetry / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679779132

“I read it to my llama every night.”

 

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Henry

 

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY by PATRICIA HIGHSMITH

$13.95 * Mystery / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679742298

MIRACLE IN THE ANDES by NANDO PARRADO

$25.00 * New Non-Fiction / Hardcover * Random House ISBN: 1400097673

 

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Juliet

 

 

THE SECRET DIARY OF ANDRIAN MOLE, AGED 13 3/4 by SUE TOWNSEND

$6.99 * Middle Readers / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 0060533994

 “Life is hard for thirteen year old Adrian. Pandora, the girl he fancies, may be dating his best friend Nigel. His parents seem to be splitting up, and he can’t stop squeezing the spots on his face.”

 

 

 THE BLUEST EYE by TONI MORRISON

$14.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0452273056

“In her first novel, Toni Morrison introduces us to Picola, a black girl growing up in pre world war II Ohio. Honestly written from the eleven year old’s point of view, we follow her through a heartbreaking and memorable summer.”

 

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Holly

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY by HENRY JAMES

$11.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0141439637

“Isabel Archer is a character you can’t forget, but as a I reread this novel recently, I saw her more clearly than I had years ago in college. Float with her, soar with her, discover with her, again, the violence that lurks behind the veneer of social graces.”

 

READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN by AZAR NAFISI

$14.95 * Biography / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 081297106x

 

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Matt

 

NIGHTS IN THE GARDENS OF BROOKLYN by HARVEY SWADOS

$14.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 1590170849

“I probably can’t describe this book or Harvey Swados better than Grace Paley does in the preface, but I can say that this is a beautifully written book about love, youthful idealism, and Brooklyn. The language is still urgent and correct and, thanks to this re-issue by NYRB, the book will become a small classic of 20th century American life.”

 

 

AMONG THE THUGS by BILL BUFORD

$15.00 * History / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679745351

“An American editor (Bill Buford) of a British literary journal (Granta) gives up the trappings of life in London to travel throughout Europe with soccer hooligans for several years and, in so doing, documents the demimonde of crime and violence that undergirds modern Western society. Totally awesome!”

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Peter

ANNIE JOHN by JAMAICA KINCAID

$11.00 * Fiction / Paperback * FSG ISBN: 0374525102

“An early lyrical work of a singular artist.”

 

HEAVEN’S COAST by MARK DOTY

$13.95 * Biography / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 0060928050

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Drew

THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES by RAY KURZWEIL

$16.00 * Science / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0140282025

“Prepare yourself for the impending man-machine merger with this highly readable and engrossing primer. A respected intellectual and veteran inventor, Kurzweil has a radical vision of what’s in store for our species.”

 

THE ARCHAIC REVIVAL by TERENCE MCKENNA

$17.00 * Philosophy / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 0062506137

“Take a trip with Terence McKenna into psychedelic hyperspace where you’ll meet playful self-trans-forming machine elves and the voice of God. It’s an excursion unlike any other and McKenna, your obliging sherpa, strikes the perfect balance of whimsy and gravity in conveying his urgent message.”

 

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Helene

 

 

DUBLINERS by JAMES JOYCE

$9.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Penguin ISBN: 0140186476

“Reading Araby and The Dead changed my life - in rich and positive ways. James Joyce may not have been known for being a very good person, but after reading his stories I found myself more aware of how I treat those I love and what the quality of that love could be.” 

 

THE CAVE by JOSE SARAMAGO

$14.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Harcourt Brace ISBN: 0156028794 

“Harold Bloom argues that there are no living geniuses. I disagree. If Jose Saramago’s novel The Cave is anything less than one of the most beautifully crafted string of words -the kind of stuff that surely requires genius- then my definition of that word needs to be greatly revised.”

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Amelie

PERFUME by PATRICK SUSKIND

$13.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0375725849

“It doesn’t stink.”

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Mary

 

THE MEADOWLANDS by ROBERT SULLIVAN

$13.95 * local Interest / Paperback * Doubleday ISBN: 0385495080

“Robert Sullivan is a true storyteller & in this book you’ll learn more than you could ever imagine about his subject, the Meadowlands of New Jersey. It’s a spooky, smelly dumping ground which is also home to rare birds, tranquil marshes, and all kinds of characters. You may never venture there yourself, but you’ll be amazed at the stories he finds in this wilderness just 5 miles from Manhattan.”

 

 

THE NAMESAKE by JHUMPA LAHIRI

$14.00 * Fiction / Paperback * Houghton Mifflin ISBN: 0618485228

“The universal and ordinary experiences of birth, childhood, love, marriage, and death are entwined with themes of assimilation, cultural identity, and the definition and pursuit of the ‘American dream’ in this rich and moving novel. Read The Namesake now before the movie version is released this fall.”

 

Seth

HOW WE LIVE by SHERWIN NULAND

$14.95 * Health / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0679781404

 

 

THE CELEBRANT by ERIC ROLFE GREENBERG

$16.95 * Fiction / Paperback * University Of Nebraska Press ISBN: 0803270372

“Eric Rolfe Greenberg weaves together the story of a Jewish immigrant family with that of New York Giants pitching star Christy Mathewson to create what W.P. Kinsella, author of Sholess Joe, called “simply the best baseball novel ever written. Perfect for the Brooklyn summer months.”

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Kate

 

THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING by CARSON MCCULLERS

$7.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Houghton Mifflin ISBN: 0618492399

 

THE MANDARINS by SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

$16.00 * Fiction / Paperback * ISBN: 0393318834

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Graham

 

SEVEN PLAYS by SAM SHEPARD

$16.00 * Drama / Paperback * Bantam ISBN: 0553346113

 

 

JAMES BEARD’S AMERICAN COOKERY

$25.95 * Cooking / Paperback * Little Brown ISBN: 0316085669

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Steve

 

THE THINKING FAN’S GUIDE TO THE WORLD CUP edited by MATT WEILAND & SEAN WILSEY

$14.95 * Sports / Paperback * Harper Collins ISBN: 0061132268

“If you want to understand global politics through the window of soccer, this is the real stuff. Now that the 1st tournament is done, you can imagine whole countries will stop work to see UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina. It’s hot stuff right now.”

 

COMFORTABLE WITH UNCERTAINTY by PEMA CHODRON

$10.95 * Philosophy / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 1590300785

“Ever wanted to listen in to the internal conversation of a Buddhist? Fascinating, ordinary words like p 57 ‘lighten up- and do something different.’ Better than listening to Oprah trying to settle up with her inner drama queen.”

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Mike

GATE OF THE SUN by ELIAS KHOURY

$26.00 * New Fiction / Hardcover * Archipelago ISBN: 0976395029

 

 

HOPSCOTCH by JULIO CORTAZAR

$16.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0394752848

 

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Diane

 

UPSIDE DOWN by EDUARDO GALEANO

$14.00 * History / Paperback * St. Martin’s Press ISBN: 0312420315

 

 

NIGHT FISHER by R. KIKUO JOHNSON

$12.95 * Graphic Novels / Paperback * Fantagraphics ISBN: 1560977191

 

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David

 

THE BOX MAN by KOBO ABE

$12.95 * Fiction / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 0375726519

“The Box Man is both social comment and artistic achievement. Imagine Beckett or Kafka writing about the modern homeless. This is Kobo Abe’s strongest work. I liked it so much that I bought the original Japanese edition. And, no, I do not speak or read Japanese.”

THE ANCHOR BOOK OF NEW AMERICAN SHORT STORIES edited by BEN MARCUS

$13.00 * Fiction Anthology / Paperback * Random House ISBN: 1400034825

“This is an excellent anthology of short fiction, and a great beach book for those of us who prefer darkness over sunlight. Both emerging and established writers are included, each with a singular way of witnessing and writing about the worlds we all inhabit.”

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Please scroll down to see last months staff picks.