November 2008 - Vol 3, Issue 5
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We're not any happier about home heating oil costs than you, but a bookstore like Magers & Quinn isn't the worst place to ride out the coming economic storm. As our own events impresario told the Pioneer Press recently:

"'Historically, books do OK in bad times. It depends on how bad the misery gets," said David Unowsky, who knows as much about selling books as anyone in this state."

The full article--including the upbeat thoughts of other Minnesota booksellers and publishers--is here.

We've always had good books at great prices. We're not changing that now. Come in out of the storm and enjoy a good book.

In the store: $22.45
Online: $19.46 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $25.95
OK, so the Puritans who are the subject of Sarah Vowell's latest book The Wordy Shipmates aren't the same as the Pilgrims. The Puritans arrived ten years after the first Thanksgiving and settled in a neighboring part of New England. But even so, November is a good time to pause to reflect on our nation's roots, for as Vowell says, "The country I live in is haunted by the Puritans' vision of themselves as God's chosen people, as a beacon of righteousness that all others are to admire."

Readers of Sarah Vowell's previous books Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot already know her enthusiasm for the nuances of American history. What is new in this book is her deft joining of the ideas of a small band of religious refugees to the central ideas that define America to this day.

The Star Tribune loved the book and Vowell's connections between past and present: "Much of the pleasure of reading Vowell comes from her ability to connect the remote to the familiar. The difference between the orthodox Winthrop and the more tolerant, individualistic Williams, for instance, is the difference between "Pete Seeger, gathering a generation around the campfire to sing their shared folk songs" and "Bob Dylan plugging in at Newport, making his own noise." We see the terms of Puritan culture playing out in more recent texts: Longfellow verses, Springsteen songs, the Brady Bunch. Vowell allows us to recognize the past embedded in the present--her connections are often very funny and always plausible." (The entire review is here.)

She also points out how we differ from our forebears: "The United States is often called a Puritan nation. Well, here is one way in which it emphatically is not: Puritan lives were overwhelmingly, fantastically literary. Their singleminded obsession with one book, the Bible, made words the center of their lives--not land, not money, not power, not fun."

The Christian Science Monitor called The Wordy Shipmates "lively, insightful, and also "a painfully relevant book, a passionate secularist's argument for why the fine print matters." NPR has posted an interview with Sarah Vowell and an excerpt from her book on their website.

Sarah Vowell was on MPR's Midmorning program last month. You can hear that show here:


Come in today and get a copy of The Wordy Shipmates and be the best conversationalist at your Turkey Day dinner.
Got a swarm of family members coming for dinner this month? Don't panic. Here are some great books to get you into the holiday spirit quickly and easily.

In the store: $9.99
Publisher's price: $15.99
In the store: $19.75
Online: $16.46 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $21.95
In the store: $2.99
Publisher's price: $5.99
Thanksgiving 101: Celebrate America's Favorite Holiday with America's Thanksgiving Expert
Don't know which end of the turkey to stuff? This is your book. From start to finish, it's all here. Take a deep breath You'll be fine. 		How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food
If your family dinner has include a vegetarian option, mashed potatoes with a twist, and something without onions for Aunt Sarah, Mark Bittman is there for you. This comprehensive cookbook includes the basics--and the twists to turn the ordinary into the festive in five minutes flat. 		A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
I promise you, whatever else happens, your Thanksgiving won't turn out like Charlie Brown's.
We've got your newspapers right here. In addition to the Star Tribune, we're pleased to sell copies of
  • The New York Times
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Pioneer Press
  • Investor's Business Daily
  • and The Financial Times

And don't forget we also stock the New York Times Book Review and the New York Review of Books to keep you up to date on what's new in the world of letters.
Our price: $13.45
Online: $11.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.95
Once again, we continue this irregular series bringing you into the reading lives of M&Q's employees.

Christina is reading The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama. "I started reading this for a book club, hoping to learn more about a presidential candidate and also to learn something about politics beyond my high school government and economics classes. I find I'm learning and really enjoying getting away from the televised publicity of the election. So far, it's an informative and interesting read, and I recommend it!"

We love books. Ask us for suggestions the next time you're in the store.
Taffey Anderson, a mother in Halsey, Oregon, was shocked--shocked, I tell you--when her 13-year-old son came home from his high school library with a copy of The Book of Bunny Suicides. So disturbed was she that she's refusing to return the book, lest another impressionable mind be warped by its cartoons depicting rabbits on the verge of self-destruction.

The school authorities have begun an investigation, but Mom has spoken: "Anderson plans to fill out the forms, but she's not taking any chances. Once the review is over, regardless of the outcome, she plans to burn it. 'They're not getting this book back,' she said." (The full news item is here.)

But the bunny-book-burning mom soon repented. The Seattle Times reported, "Taffey Anderson says she will make the book available for the Central Linn School District's review committee to screen. The Halsey woman recently said she would burn the book rather than take a chance on it returning to a shelf at the Central Linn High School library.
In the store: $5.99
Online: $7.50 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $10.00


"Anderson says the comment about burning the book was made in anger, and she regrets making it."

Fight censorship.... We have a nice big stack of The Return of the Bunny Suicides in our Humor section. Don't tell Oregon.
M&Q has great events all month long. Here are a few of them. Check out our events page for details on all the happenings this month and beyond.

Upcoming Events
Visit our events page

for full details.


Nov 8 Cathy Wurzer (Tales of the Road: Highway 61) 2:00pm

Nov 8 Seven poets from Red Dragonfly Press, 7:00pm

Nov 9 Michael Crouser (Dog Run) 6:00pm

Nov 10 Pamela Carter Joern (The Plain Sense of Things) 7:30pm

Nov 11 Amy Bloom (Away) 7:30pm

Nov 11 TALK OF THE STACKS: Garrison Keillor 7:00pm

at the Minneapolis Public Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis Nov 12 Chris Corsi (Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency) 7:30pm

Nov 14 Tom Pilarzyk (Yoga Beyond Fitness) 7:30pm

Nov 15 Fluffy and Bonkers (The Devious Book for Cats: A Parody) 4:00pm

Nov 15 Todd Boss (Yellowrocket) and Tim Nolan (The Sound of It) 6:00pm

Nov 15 Peter Conners and Nickole Brown read from their work 8:30pm

Nov 17 Helen Electrie Lindsay (Written On The Knee: A Diary From The Greek-Italian Front Of WWII) 7:30pm

Nov 20 Jeff Blodgett (Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way) 7:30pm

Nov 21 Anthony Bukoski (Twelve Below Zero) 7:30pm

Nov 22 John Galligan (The Clinch Knot) 7:00pm

Nov 23 A reading by the winners of this quarter's poetry contest: "What Light--This Week's Poem"

Nov 29 Harmon Leon (The American Dream) 7:00pm
Saturday, November 8, 2:00pm--Local media star Cathy Wurzer discusses her book Tales of the Road

In the store: $22.45
Online: $18.71 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $24.95
Highway 61 traces approximately 440 miles through Minnesota, from Pigeon Falls at the Canadian border south to La Crescent. Along the way, the road hugs the North Shore, zips through St. Paul, and navigates bluffs along the Mississippi River. While places such as Split Rock Lighthouse or Sugar Loaf Mountain offer well-documented stopping-off points, observant travelers may wonder about historic buildings, abandoned sites, and decaying structures they see along the way.

In this companion book to a new Twin Cities Public Television documentary also called Tales of the Road (airing in January 2009), the author unearths stories about these places and more as she travels down the road and into the past, spotlighting famous and fascinating locations, many of them little remembered today. Highway 61 traces approximately 440 miles through Minnesota, from Pigeon Falls at the Canadian border south to La Crescent. Each tale is illustrated with historic and current views to show how much--or how little--Highway 61 has changed.

Cathy Wurzer is the host of Morning Edition on Minnesota Public Radio and cohost of Almanac on Twin Cities Public Television. She has been honored with four Emmys for her work on Almanac.

Tuesday, November 11, 7:30pm--Amy Bloom reads from her novel Away

In the store: $12.55
Online: $10.50 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.00
Panoramic in scope, Away is the epic and intimate story of young Lillian Leyb, a dangerous innocent, an accidental heroine. When her family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom, Lillian comes to America alone, determined to make her way in a new land. When word comes that her daughter, Sophie, might still be alive, Lillian embarks on an odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York's Lower East Side, to Seattle's Jazz District, and up to Alaska, along the fabled Telegraph Trail toward Siberia. All of the qualities readers love in Amy Bloom's work--her humor and wit, her elegant and irreverent language, her unflinching understanding of passion and the human heart--come together in the embrace of this brilliant novel, which is at once heartbreaking, romantic, and completely unforgettable.

Amy Bloom is the author of Come to Me, a National Book Award finalist; A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Love Invents Us; and Normal.

Wednesday, November 12, 7:30pm--Chris Dorsi discusses his new book The Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency

The Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency is written with you in mind...whether you never lift a hammer, or you're highly experienced in home repair...whether you're tightening up your old house or building a new home...whether you're ready for a small project on a tight budget or about to tackle a major renovation...

In simple, straightforward terms, The Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency explains how to plan, where to start, and how to proceed with easy-to-understand instructions. Learn how you can improve your home and increase its value. This book will show you the path to a more efficient, more enjoyable, and less costly home.

"Krigger and Dorsi have been preaching the whole-house gospel for many years, and this book condenses their broad hands-on experience into an easy-to-use guide. No two authors are better qualified to translate the complexities of building science into language that is accessible to the homeowner. And they do it in a way that allows any homeowner to get started now."--Home Energy Magazine

Tuesday, November 18, 7:30pm--Long-time local activist and publisher Ed Felien discusses his book Take the Streets, a description of actions by radicals and anti-war activists in Minneapolis in May of 1972

"The following was written in the summer of 1972. I never got around to publishing it until now. Things came up. I got involved in other things, but I always believed it was important for radicals and anti-war activists to remember those events in May of 1972 when we caused a genuine insurrection on the streets of Minneapolis to try to stop an obscene war in Southeast Asia. Today few people talk about those events. Our history has been written out of their history books, but it's not too late to correct the record."--from the preface

Friday, November 21, 7:30pm--Anthony Bukoski reads from his reissued and expanded short story collection Twelve Below Zero

"Mr. Bukoski is a sure-handed, lyrical writer."--The New York Times Book Review

"I am delighted Anthony Bukoski's first powerful stories have been reissued in a new, expanded edition. His sometimes fearsome, always eccentric characters are presented by a voice certain of what it has to say."--W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe

When these stories appeared in 1986, Pulitzer Prizewinning author Shirley Ann Grau, writing in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, called them "intriguing, just a bit off beat." Publishers Weekly found them "appealing." Twenty-two years later, Anthony Bukoski revisits the backwaters of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, where those who love deeply end up being hurt. In Two Heart or Superior, Wisconsin, or in Duluth, Minnesota, the lonely find comfort difficult to come by. Having slipped below an emotional freezing point, the heartbroken in these twelve stories do anything for love. Though it might mean taking a water-well driller as a second or third lover or kissing a foul recluse, some lucky hearts find the way to survive in Bukoski's frozen North.

More information on these and all our upcoming events can be found on our events page.
The hours are a little difficult for working folks, but if you can make your way to the Wilson Library on the University of Minnesota campus, they're practically giving books away during the Wilson Library Book Sale. The library's used book sale runs from 10am until 3pm on Thursday, November 13 and Friday, November 14.

  • Prices on Thursday: $2 per book
  • Prices on Friday: $1 per book (until 1 p.m.)
  • Bag sale after 1 p.m. on Friday ($5 per bag)

Make plans now to take a long lunch. Details are here.
Last week, Barnes & Noble CEO Leonard Riggio sent a memo to the chain's employees. It was not happy reading. Riggio is decidedly grinchy about the forthcoming holiday season: "Never in all of the years I've been in business have I seen a worse outlook for the economy," wrote Mr. Riggio. "And never in all my years as a bookseller have I seen a retail climate as poor as the one we are in. Nothing even close." (The full memo is here, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.)

Interestingly enough, our experience is quite different. Magers & Quinn isn't giving in to pessimism and self-fulfilling prophecies just yet. We're doing pretty well in the current economic climate, and we're looking forward to a good holiday season. Maybe it's because books in general are such great entertainment and information value, and they're an even greater value at our store since we discount everything. We've got a great mix of bestsellers, recently released books, remainders, and old classics that keeps our customers coming in and leaving happy.

So check your depression at the door and stop by Magers & Quinn Booksellers. We'll be here for you.
Magers & Quinn is the official bookseller of the Edge Life Expo, an inspired event focused on the finest metaphysical & alternative health topics available in the Upper Midwest. There will be speakers, vendors, and workshops.

Edge Life Expo will be held Saturday, November 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m, and Sunday, November 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55403.

Speakers include
  • Kathryn Harwig
  • Lynn Young
  • Dr. George Catlin
  • Thomas Morton
  • Susan Just
For more information on the Expo, visit edgelife.net.
Push back from the table after your Thanksgiving meal and take a walk. Magers & Quinn will be open from 1:00pm until 9:00pm on the 27th, so you can stretch your legs and get a jump on your holiday shopping.

Best of all, everything in the store will be 20% off with a donation of food for the Joyce Emergency Foodshelf. Gifts of canned goods, prepackaged foods (non-perishable, please), toiletries, and even disposable diapers are all more needed than ever. Please help if you can.

Joyce Emergency Foodshelf is located at 3041 Fremont Avenue S, in Uptown, and is open Monday through Friday, 1:30 to 3:45 p.m. and Thursday, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.. Call them at 612/825-4431 for more information.
The next meeting of the Twin Cities' most unusual and interesting book club is Tuesday, November 11. Books & Bars meets at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake Street, in Minneapolis. Doors open at 6:00pm; the discussion begins at 7:00pm.

In the store: $14.35
Online: $11.96 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $15.95
November's book is The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Michael Chabon's novel about a fanciful Jewish community in Alaska won both the Pulitzer Prize and a Nebula Award for Best Novel from the Science Fiction Writers of America. The Washington Post said, "The pure reach and music and weight of Chabon's imagination are extraordinary, born of brilliant ambition you don't even notice because it is so deeply entertaining."

Books & Bars is not your typical book club. We provide a unique atmosphere for a lively discussion of interesting authors, fun people, good food and drinks. You're welcome even if you haven't read the book.

Visit booksandbars.com for details and to talk to fellow members!

PS: We still have a few Books and Bars tshirts available. Stop by the store to get yours.

There's always something new at Magers & Quinn. Stop in today or check our inventory on our website any time.

We'll be back next month with more book news.

Until then,
David Enyeart
Magers and Quinn Booksellers

Call us: 612/822-4611
Or visit our website: http://www.magersandquinn.com
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