February 2010 - Vol 4, Issue 7
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Winter is no excuse for staying home. Let Magers & Quinn tempt you with fascinating new books, great author readings, and friendly book clubs. They're all in this month's newsletter. Read on.

Here are just a few of the fine new books that will be available in February.

Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich

In the store: $23.35
Online: $19.49 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $25.99
Available Now
When Irene discovers that her husband, Gil, has been reading her diary, she begins a second secret Blue Notebook, where she records the truth about her life and her marriage, while turning her Red Diary--hidden where Gil will find it--into a manipulative farce. Shadow Tag alternates between these two records to present an unflinching third-person narration and an eerily gripping novel. In brilliantly controlled prose, it fearlessly explores the complex nature of love, the fluid boundaries of identity, and one family's struggle for survival and redemption.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick--Now in Paperback!

In the store: $13.50
Online: $11.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.95
Available Now
"Don't be fooled by the prissy cover or that ironic title. Robert Goolrick's first novel, "A Reliable Wife," isn't just hot, it's in heat: a gothic tale of such smoldering desire it should be read in a cold shower. This is a bodice ripper of a hundred thousand pearly buttons, ripped off one at a time with agonizing restraint. It works only because Goolrick never cracks a smile, never lets on that he thinks all this overwrought sexual frustration is anything but the most serious incantation of longing and despair ever uttered in the dead of night."--The Washington Post

"A tantalizing pace that will have you flipping faster and faster through the pages . . . A beautiful and haunting read, a story about all the different manifestations of love--a story that will stay with you."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

Point Omega by Don DeLillo

In the store: $21.59
Online: $18.00 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $24.00
Available Now
Don DeLillo looks into the mind and heart of a "defense intellectual," one of the men involved in the management of the country's war machine. Richard Elster was a scholar when he was called to a meeting with government war planners, asked to apply "ideas and principles to such matters as troop deployment and counterinsurgency." We meet Elster at the end of his service. He has retreated to the desert, "somewhere south of nowhere," in search of space and geologic time. There he is joined by a filmmaker, Jim Finley, intent on documenting his experience. Finley wants to persuade Elster to make a one-take film, Elster its single character -- "Just a man and a wall."

Bag in the Wind by Ted Kooser

In the store: $15.99
Online: $13.49 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $17.99
Availalbe February 23
One cold morning in early spring, a bulldozer pushes a pile of garbage around a landfill and uncovers an empty plastic bag. A puff of wind lifts the rolling, flapping bag over a chain-link fence and into the lives of several townsfolk--not that all of them notice. Former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Ted Kooser fashions an understated yet compassionate world full of happenstance and connection, neglect and care, all perfectly expressed in Barry Root's tender illustrations. True to the book's earth-friendly spirit, it is printed on paper containing 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste and includes an author's note on recycling plastic bags.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

In the store: $5.39
Online: $4.49 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $5.99
Available Now
"I was not the sort of boy who could train a dragon with a mere lifting of an eyebrow. I was not a natural at the Heroism business. I had to work at it. This is the story of becoming a Hero the Hard Way."

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his fellow warriors-in-training must each pluck a dragon from a Dragon Nursery where 3,000 young critters are hibernating. After selecting a tiny, toothless dragon, Hiccup tackles the chore of training the stubborn creature, which leads to some fresh, funny dialogue between the two--Hiccup has the rare ability to speak "Dragonese". How to Train Your Dragon is for readers 8 and up.


These are just a few of the fantastic books at Magers & Quinn right now. Stop by to browse the full selection.

February's Events
Visit our events page

for full details.


Monday, February 8 Elissa Elliott discusses Eve, 6:30pm at Beaujo's Wine Bar, 4950 France Avenue S, Edina, MN 55410; for tickets, email [email protected] or call 952-922-8974

Tuesday, February 9 Books & Bars discusses Ender's Game, 6:30pm, at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake St, Minneapolis

Tuesday, February 9 Wells Tower discusses Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, 7:30pm

Thursday, February 18 M&Q hosts the West Metro regional competition of "Poetry Out Loud," 6:30pm

Friday, February 19 Jennifer Salima Holt reads from Sacred Gateway of Grief and Loss: Freeing the Imprisoned Soul, 7:30pm

Sunday, February 21 Paul Linde reads from Danger to Self, 4:00pm

Tuesday, February 23 Books & Bars discusses Ray of the Star, 6:30pm, at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake St, Minneapolis

Tuesday, March 2 Patrick Dougherty discusses A Whole-Hearted Embrace, 7:30pm

All events are at Magers & Quinn unless noted otherwise.
Tuesday, February 9, 7:30pm--Wells Tower reads from Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

In the store: $12.60
Online: $10.50 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.00
Available Now
Well's Tower's book was a smash hit when it was first published in 2009. Michiko Kakutani said in The New York Times, "This arresting debut collection of stories decisively establishes Mr. Tower as a writer of uncommon talent." Wells Tower's version of America is touched with the seamy splendor of the dropout, the misfit: failed inventors, boozy dreamers, hapless fathers, and wayward sons. A man is booted out of his home after his wife discovers that the print of a bare foot on the inside of his car's windshield doesn't match her own. A boy runs off to the carnival after his stepfather bites him in a brawl. And in the most talked-about story in the collection, Viking marauders descend on a much-plundered island, hoping some mayhem will shake off the winter blahs.

"Wells Tower's stories are written, thrillingly, in authentic American vernacular--violent, funny, bleak, and beautiful. You need to read them, now."--Michael Chabon, author of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Friday, February 19, 7:30pm--Jennifer Salima Holt discusses Sacred Gateway of Grief and Loss: Freeing the Imprisoned Soul

Jennifer Salima Holt's inspirational book, Sacred Gateway of Grief and Loss: Freeing the Imprisoned Soul (Indigo Heart Publishing, 2009) describes the breakthroughs Jennifer witnessed by leading grief and loss groups for women prisoners. Many personal stories of miraculous change, love and light fill the book, as well as practical information about how each one of us can approach our grief and loss in sacred, loving ways. Sacred Gateway is a deeply felt, loving testament to the power and beauty of the human spirit to survive and even thrive, regardless of the depths to which we may tumble. At the event, Jennifer Salima will also perform spiritual chants inspired by her work with the prisoners (available on her CD, Ecstatic Groove: Sacred World Chant Infusions, Salima's Whirled Peas, 2009).

"Inspiring, courageous, beautifully written. Jennifer Holt's heart-felt story of her volunteer work running grief and loss groups with women prisoners shows us that transformation is possible anywhere. Her book is testament to the amazing capacity we all have to change, grow, learn and feel joy, despite our challenges."--Charlotte Sophia Kasl, Ph.D., author of If the Buddha Dated

Sunday, February 21, 4:00pm--Dr. Paul Linde reads from Danger to Self: On the Front Line With an ER Psychiatrist

In the store: $12.60
Online: $22.45 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $24.95
Available Now
The psychiatric emergency room, a fast-paced combat zone with pressure to match, thrusts its medical providers into the outland of human experience where they must respond rapidly and decisively in spite of uncertainty and, very often, danger. In this lively first-person narrative, Dr. Paul R. Linde's Danger to Self takes readers behind the scenes at an urban psychiatric emergency room, with all its chaos and pathos, where we witness mental health professionals doing their best to alleviate suffering and repair shattered lives.

Linde and his colleagues encounter patients who are hallucinating, drunk, catatonic, aggressive, suicidal, high on drugs, paranoid, and physically sick. Linde examines the many ethical, legal, moral, and medical issues that confront today's psychiatric providers. He describes a profession under siege from the outside--health insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, government regulators, and even "patients' rights" advocates--and from the inside--biomedical and academic psychiatrists who have forgotten to care for the patient and have instead become checklist-marking pill-peddlers. While lifting the veil on a crucial area of psychiatry that is as real as it gets, Danger to Self also injects a healthy dose of compassion into the practice of medicine and psychiatry.

Tuesday, March 2, 7:30pm --Patrick Dougherty reads from The Wholehearted Embrace: Finding Love at the Center of it All

Available March 2
Noted Twin Cities psychologist and Spring Forest Qigong teacher Patrick Dougherty will discuss his latest book The Wholehearted Embrace at Magers & Quinn Booksellers. His spiritual memoir is an honest and often painful recounting of his journey to health and healing. His story begins with powerful recollections of witnessing death at an early age, including his tour of duty as a Marine in Vietnam. Upon his return, he battled demons including alcohol, drugs, more death and survivor guilt.

Dougherty later embarked upon a spiritual journey that ultimately led to solace and profound healing through a variety of traditions, including the Christian faith of his childhood, Native American spirituality, and finally, the practice of meditation and Qigong. Today Dougherty is a well-known Twin Cities clinical psychologist, a pioneer in the use of mind-body healing therapies in psychotherapy, and a noted local and national teacher and speaker on heart-centered psychotherapy.

For more information about Spring Forest Qigong, visit www.springforestqigong.com.

To keep up with all the latest news on readings at Magers & Quinn, just visit the events page on our website.


Issue number 33 of McSweeney's Quarterly is available now at Magers & Quinn. It's a one-time-only, Sunday-edition "newspaper"--the San Francisco Panorama. It has news, sports, and arts coverage, and comics--plus sixteen pages of glorious, full-color comics, from Chris Ware and Dan Clowes and Art Spiegelman and many others. Eggers and Co. aim to demonstrate the great things print journalism can (still) do, with as much first-rate writing and reportage and design.

Get your copy while they last. They won't last long.

The Big Bang Book Club is a science book club for non-scientists. Our next meeting will be 7:00pm, Tuesday, February 23, at Grumpy's Bar, 1111 Washington Ave S, in Minneapolis.

In the store: $14.35
Online: $11.99 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $15.95
Available Now
In February, we'll be talking sunshine. Eating the Sun is the story of photosynthesis--a celebration of how the smallest things, enzymes and pigments, influence the largest things, the oceans, the rainforests, and the fossil fuel economy. Oliver Morton offers a fascinating, lively, profound look at nature's greatest miracle and sounds a much-needed call to arms--illuminating a potential crisis of climatic chaos and explaining how we can change our situation, for better or for worse.

The Big Bang Book Club mixes arts and science into a heady brew. It is sponsored by

Magers & Quinn Booksellers is pleased to host the West Metro regional competition of "Poetry Out Loud"--Thursday, February 18, at 6:30pm.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with State Arts Agencies of the United States to support the expansion of "Poetry Out Loud," which encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

"Poetry Out Loud" seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry--recitation and performance. The program builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of rap music among youth "Poetry Out Loud" invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English classroom. Through "Poetry Out Loud," students master public speaking, build self-confidence, and learn about literature.

To accommodate the ever-growing crowds clamoring for their regular dose of beer, books, and conversation, Books & Bars is meeting twice a month in February and March. The Twin Cities' best book club is now twice as good. Plow through the winter doldrums with a double dose of fiction. We're reading two great novels each and every month. Join us on the second and fourth Tuesdays at Bryant-Lake Bowl. Doors open at 6:00pm. The discussion starts at 7:00pm. Visit www.booksandbars.com for more details and to start talking to fellow book club members today.

In the store: $6.25
Online: $5.59 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $6.99
Available Now
On February 9, we'll be talking about Ender's Game. It's a science fiction classic. In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

In the store: $13.45
Online: $11.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.95
Available Now
February 23, Books and Bars discusses Ray of the Star by Laird Hunt. Set in a dream-like European city reminiscent of Barcelona, along a boulevard teeming with artists who perform as living statues, comes the beautiful and frightening story of a man running from his past, a woman consumed by grief, and the forces that pursue them both. A love story related in the dark, stylish noir of continental cinema and overlaid with a patina of surrealism, this is a novel where friends are also informers, street theater is the lifeblood of culture, and refuge can be found in the belly of a yellow, papier mâché submarine.

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!

Magers & Quinn is the largest independent bookstore in the Twin Cities. Stop in today or check our inventory on our website any time.

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

Until then,


David Enyeart
Magers and Quinn Booksellers

Write us: [email protected]
Call us: 612/822-4611
Or visit our website: http://www.magersandquinn.com
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