Aprili 2010 - Vol 4, Issue 9
In This Issue
Sign Up
For Further Reading...

Spring is here. There's a lot to do, busting dust and opening windows and so on. While you're at it, make time for books and some great author readings. Here's what on tap for April at Magers & Quinn.

Good books are popping up like crocuses. Here are just a few of the offerings available now and coming out in April.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

In the store: $23.35
Online: $19.50 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $26.00
Available Now
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though Lacks has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Rebecca Skloot's amazing book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks finally tells the story of this unwitting scientific pioneer and how she lives in us all today.

Read an excerpt here.

The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni

In the store: $19.95
Online: $18.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $24.95
Available Now
Sebastian Prendergast lives in a geodesic dome with his eccentric grandmother, who homeschooled him in the teachings of futurist philosopher R. Buckminster Fuller. But when his grandmother has a stroke, Sebastian is forced to leave the dome and make his own way in town.

Jared Whitcomb is a chain-smoking sixteen-year-old heart-transplant recipient who befriends Sebastian, and begins to teach him about all the things he has been missing, including grape soda, girls, and Sid Vicious. They form a punk band called The Rash, and it's clear that the upcoming Methodist Church talent show has never seen the likes of them. Wholly original, The House of Tomorrow is the story of a young man's self-discovery, a dying woman's last wish, and a band of misfits trying desperately to be heard.

Peter Bognanni is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is a 2008 Pushcart Prize nominee, and his short story "The Body Eternal" was chosen by Stephen King as one of the "100 Most Distinguished Stories of 2006." He teaches at Macalester College in St Paul.

Just Kids by Patti Smith

In the store: $23.99
Online: $19.99 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $27.00
Available Now
Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids is a fascinating, clear-eyed recollection of the incredibly fertile art scene in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Smith and then-aspiring photographer Robert Mapplethorpe roamed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous-the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.

Hear Patti Smith on Fresh Air.

Chef by Jaspreet Singh

In the store: $12.60
Online: $10.50 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.00
Available April 13
Jaspreet Singh's first novel is a glimpse into the conflicted Indian region of Kashmir. Kirpal, called Kip, is shy and not yet twenty when he arrives for the first time at General Kumar's camp, nestled in the shadow of the Siachen Glacier. At twenty thousand feet, the glacier makes a forbidding battlefield; its crevasses claimed the body of Kip's father. Kip becomes an apprentice under the camp's chef, Kishen, a fiery mentor who guides him toward the heady spheres of food and women. If you like Michael Ondaatje, John Banville, and Rohinton Mistry, you will enjoy Singh's lyrical novel.

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

In the store: $21.60
Online: $18.00 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $24.00
Available April 13
Yann Martel, author of the international bestseller The Life of Pi, is back with a new novel. When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey-named Beatrice and Virgil-and the epic journey they undertake together. Beatrice and Virgil is a haunting odyssey into art and life and death.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

In the store: $16.20
Online: $13.49 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $17.99
Available May 4
Rick Riordan is the author of the bestselling "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series. The Red Pyramid kicks off his latest set of adventures for young readers, the Kane Chronicles.

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.


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

Magers & Quinn has a deal for you. Visit Livingsocial.com on Tuesday, April 6, and you can purchase a coupon good for twenty dollars worth of books for only ten dollars. The coupon will be available for only twenty-four hours. You can redeem it at the store any time in the next six months.

Spread the word. Tell your friends about the deal, and introduce them to your favorite bookstore for a bargain price. They'll be glad you did, and you'll be helping us find homes for more of our great books. Details are here.

April's Events
Monday April 5 Wendy Webb reads from The Tale of Halcyon Crane, 7:30pm

Sunday, April 11 Peter Schilling reads from The End of Baseball and Doug Grow discusses We're Gonna Win,Twins! , 5:00pm

Tuesday, April 13 Books and Bars discusses Let the Great World Spin at Bryant-Lake Bowl; doors open at 6:00pm, discussion begins at 7:00pm

Thursday, April 15 Talk of the Stacks: David Lipsky discusses Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, 7:00pm at the Minneapolis Central Library, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis

Monday, April 19 Patrick Somerville discusses The Cradle, 6:30pm at Beaujo's Wine Bar & Bistro, 4950 France Avenue S, Edina, MN 55410. This is a ticketed event.

Wednesday, April 21 Pete Nelson reads from I Thought You Were Dead, 7:30pm

Sunday, April 25 Colleen Baldrica discusses Tree Spirited Woman, 4:00pm

Monday April 26 Brett Eugene Ralph reads from his new poetry, with Eric Lorberer, 7:30pm

Tuesday, April 27 The Big Bang Book Club discusses Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good with author Jonathan Balcombe, 7:00pm at Grumpy's Bar, 1111 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis

Tuesday, April 27 Ana Maria Spagna reads from Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus: A Daughter's Civil Rights Journey, 7:30pm

Wednesday, April 28 Jonathan Balcome discusses Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals, 7:30pm

Thursday, April 29 Talk of the Stacks: Anchee Min discusses Pearl of China, 7:00pm at the Minneapolis Central Library, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis

Tuesday, May 4 Michael Perry reads from Coop, 7:30pm

Visit our events page

for full details.

All events are at Magers & Quinn unless noted otherwise.
Monday, April 5, 7:30pm--Wendy Webb reads from The Tale of Halcyon Crane

In the store: $13.50
Online: $11.20 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $15.00
Available March 30
The first novel from Minnesota's own Wendy Webb's first novel is a haunting story full of delicious thrills and family secrets.

"Set on a mysterious time-warped island in Lake Superior, The Tale of Halcyon Crane is a delicious ghost story, by turns chilling and heart-warming. The perfect cozy read."--Mary Sharratt, author of The Vanishing Point

A young woman travels alone to a remote island to uncover a past she never knew was hers in this thrilling modern ghost story. When a mysterious letter lands in Hallie James's mailbox, her life is upended. Hallie was raised by her loving father, having been told her mother died in a fire decades earlier. But it turns out that her mother, Madlyn, was alive until very recently. Why would Hallie's father have taken her away from Madlyn? What really happened to her family thirty years ago? In search of answers, Hallie travels to the place where her mother lived, a remote island in the middle of the Great Lakes.

Sunday, April 11, 5:00pm--Peter Schilling will read from his novel The End of Baseball, and Doug Grow discusses We're Gonna Win, Twins!

Baseball fans in Minnesota have a lot to look forward to this spring. Target Field opens April 12, and the night before two great baseball minds will meet to discuss America's pastime.

In the store: $13.50
Online: $11.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.95
Available Now
In Peter Schilling's The End of Baseball, a team that "almost was" becomes real, and the extraordinary season of 1944 comes vividly to life. Bill Veeck, the maverick promoter, returned from Guadalcanal with a leg missing and $500 to his name, has hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. Hungry for a pennant, young Veeck jettisons the team's white players and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, fielding a club that will go down in baseball annals as one of the greatest to play the game.

"The End of Baseball is so engaging and convincing that it accomplishes something truly special: it makes you wish desperately it were true."--Brad Zellar, The Rake

In the store: $23.35
Online: $19.46 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $25.95
Available Now
From open air to the Dome to blue sky again in 2010, Doug Grow covers a half century of Twins baseball. In We're Gonna Win, Twins! the longtime sports reporter and columnist chronicles a half century of Twins baseball, season by season. Grow captures the changing economics of baseball and vividly portrays the characters that defined the times--from the "holy cow" of original radio color man Halsey Hall to the sweet moments and struggles of players like Zoilo Versalles, the first Latin MVP, to the 2006 season when the major leagues' batting title, MVP, and Cy Young Award all went to Minnesota Twins.

"There will always be people who say that baseball is just a game--until they read this book."--Don Shelby, WCCO-TV

Doug Grow covered the Minnesota Twins as a sports columnist from 1979 to 1987, and as a metro columnist he wrote about the 1987 and 1991 World Series as well as the long debates over stadium funding. He is currently a journalist working for the online publication MinnPost.

Wednesday, April 21, 7:30pm--Pete Nelson reads from his comic novel I Thought You Were Dead

In the store: $21.59
Online: $17.96 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $23.95
Available April 13
I Thought You Were Dead is a novel that is at once heartwarming, heartbreaking, and heart-wrenchingly funny.

For Paul Gustavson, a hack writer for the wildly popular For Morons series, life is a succession of obstacles. His wife has left him, his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, his girlfriend is dating another man, and his overachieving brother invested his parents' money in stocks that tanked. Still, Paul has his friends at Bay State bar and a steady line of cocktails. And then there's Stella, the one constant in his life, who gives him sage advice, doesn't judge him, and gives him unconditional love. However, Stella won't accompany Paul into his favorite dive bar. "I'll roll on dead carp, I'll even eat cat turds, but that place grosses me out." Stella, you see, is Paul's dog, an aging Lab/shepherd mix, and she knows Paul better than he knows himself.

Pete Nelson is the author of several books, including Left for Dead. He is not, however, the Pete Nelson who writes books about tree houses, although he has nothing against them. He grew up in Minnesota and now lives in Westchester County, New York.

Wednesday, April 28, 7:30pm--Jonathan Balcombe discusses Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals. This event is co-sponsored by the Animal Humane Society.

In the store: $27.00
Online: $20.25 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $27.00
Available Now
Danger-junkie orangutans in Borneo climb dead trees and destabilize them until they begin to fall. They scream with excitement as they cling to the falling tree. Just before the tree hits the ground the orangs leap to another tree or vine, narrowly escaping death. Researchers call this peculiar behavior snag-riding and liken it to bungee jumping for monkeys. While no one can ask orangutans if they enjoy the same adrenaline rush as a person playing an extreme sport, one animal behaviorist sees this monkey fun as a bit of harmless thrill-seeking.

A growing number of scientists agree that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing basic emotions, such as happiness, sadness, boredom and depression. New scientific studies of animal behavior reveal perceptions, intelligences, awareness and social skills that would have been deemed fantasy a generation ago. The implications make our troubled relationship to animals one of the most pressing moral issues of our time.

"Jonathan Balcombe is a rare being, a scientist who has escaped the narrow orthodoxies of institutional science, an intelligent human being who is more than ready to recognize intelligences of other kinds, an intuitive and empathetic observer who nevertheless does not abandon the highest standards of intellectual inquiry."--from the Foreword by J. M. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and author of Disgrace

Jonathan Balcombe was born in England, raised in New Zealand and Canada, and has lived in the United States since 1987. He has written many scientific papers and popular articles on animal behavior, humane education, and animal research. He is now an independent consultant based in Germantown, Maryland. For more information, visit www.jonathanbalcombe.com.

---------

This event is cosponsored by the Animal Humane Society. As the leading animal welfare organization in the Upper Midwest, the Animal Humane Society is committed to engaging and serving local communities of people and animals and providing comprehensive programs and services to compassionately serve all of the stages of an animal's life. At our campuses in Buffalo, Coon Rapids, Golden Valley, St. Paul and Woodbury, our mission is to engage the hearts, hands and minds of the community to help animals. Last year, Animal Humane Society care for more than 36,000 animals through its programs and services.

Our programs at our five campuses include the following:
  • Adoption and surrender
  • Outreach
  • Rescue
  • Pet Services (training, socialization)
As a private non-profit organization, we receive no federal, state or government funding and rely totally on private donations, merchandise sales and adoption fees. Learn more about the Animal Humane Society at www.animalhumanesociety.org or by calling 763/522-4325.

The Animal Humane Society's training and behavior expert, Paula Zukoff, will be attending this event along with a special canine guest!


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

The Library Foundation of Hennepin County--the good people who bring you the Talk of the Stacks author reading series at the Minneapolis Central Library--are expanding their programs to libraries throughout the seven-county metropolitan region. "Club Book" is bringing authors such as Kate DiCamillo, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Hampl, Francis Mayes, Michael Perry, and Tim O'Brien to libraries from Stillwater to Blaine to MInnetonka. And that's just the lineup through June. They haven't even announced fall events yet.

Club Book is funded with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota's art and cultural heritage. Events are free and open to the public. For more information about the series, visit www.clubbook.org or call 952-847-8107.

Check out their website for a full list of events.

The Big Bang Book Club is a science book club for non-scientists. Our next meeting will be 7:00pm, Tuesday, April 27, at Grumpy's Bar, 1111 Washington Ave S, in Minneapolis.

In the store: $13.45
Online: $11.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.95
Available Now
This month, we'll discuss Pleasurable Kingdom by Jonathan Balcombe. The author will join us for the evening. A growing number of scientists agree that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing basic emotions, such as happiness, sadness, boredom and depression. New scientific studies of animal behavior reveal perceptions, intelligences, awareness and social skills that would have been deemed fantasy a generation ago. The implications make our troubled relationship to animals one of the most pressing moral issues of our time. Pleasurable Kingdom presents a case for an ethical recognition of animals' ability to experience emotions, drawing on rigorous evidence and lighthearted anecdotes to refute popular conceptions that animal life is predominantly focused on the avoidance of pain, in an account that seeks to demonstrate that animals have an ability to experience pleasure.

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

The Guardian newspaper recently ran a series of articles in which writers offered up their ten cardinal rules for writing fiction. Gems include:
  • Jonathan Franzen: "Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting."
  • Hilary Mantel: "Are you serious about this? Then get an accountant."
  • Joyce Carol Oates: "Keep a light, hopeful heart. But �expect the worst."
The full lists are here.


We scour the book market for deals, and this month we've found a great one. We recently bought a truckload of recent hardcovers. They're bargain-priced--you can get a hardcover for the same price as a paperback.

Among the bargains available now are Olive Kitteridge, Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, Zadie Smith's collection of essays Changing My Mind, and even The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Come in and browse the full range. These books won't stay in the store for long.

In the store: $13.50
Online: $11.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.99
Available May 4
The paperback edition of Michael Perry's memoir Coop comes out May 4, and he'll be reading from it and signing copies at Minneapolis' own Magers & Quinn Booksellers that very night.

Faced with thirty-seven acres of fallen fences and overgrown fields surrounding his rickety Wisconsin farmhouse, and informed by his pregnant wife that she intends to deliver their baby at home, Michael Perry plumbs his unorthodox childhood--his city-bred parents took in sixty-some foster children while running a ramshackle dairy farm--for clues to how to proceed as a farmer, a husband, and a father. Coop is filled with humor, but Perry also writes from the quieter corners of his heart, chronicling experiences as joyful as the birth of his child and as devastating as the death of a dear friend.

"Beneath the flannel surface of this deer-hunting, truck-loving Badger is the soul of a poet."--Chicago Tribune

Michael Perry is a humorist and author of the bestselling memoirs Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time and Truck: A Love Story, as well as the essay collection Off Main Street. Perry has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Backpacker, Orion and Salon.com, and is a contributing editor to Men's Health. He lives in northern Wisconsin, where he remains active with the local volunteer rescue service. Learn more at www.sneezingcow.com.

Get up, get out and get walking by spending a shopping day in Uptown. As part of a partnership between the Uptown Association and the American Heart Association, Uptown Minneapolis will host a day of shopping, dining and relaxing on April 10 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. to encourage everyone to "Start!" living a healthier lifestyle by walking a little each day. Nearly 40 Uptown businesses will offer "Start Up in Uptown Shop and Walk" discounts ranging from free appetizers and deeply discounted merchandise, to door prizes and drawings. Participation is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

Stop by the "Shop and Walk" check-in located at Cowboy Slim's Saloon (1312 West Lake Street) anytime during the event to pick up your complimentary gift bag, available to the first 200 visitors, as well as a complete listing of specials and a map highlighting each of the participating businesses. The map will outline different walking routes, ranging from easy to advanced, that will allow you to take advantage of the best discounts while burning off the most calories according to your desired activity level. Use your free pedometer, one of many freebies included in the gift bags, to track your steps, distance and calories burned. Skip the hassle of looking for parking by downloading a free Metro Transit bus pass, valid on April 10. Bus Maps and a complete listing of participating businesses are available for download at uptownminneapolis.com.

Mark your calendars now for a very special evening.


Two of Minnesota's most compelling artists--Wing Young Huie and Monica Haller--will hold a public conversation about the role of collaboration in their work. Photographer Wing Young Huie has long combined interviews and photography in his artistic process. Installations of his photographs in unusual urban settings have involved quite literally hundreds of people in the production and display of his work. Monica Haller's latest project is the result of a collaboration with a college friend, helping him to make sense of his time as a medic in Iraq and to present his experience to the world.

Magers & Quinn Booksellers and the Loft Literary Center are pleased to present a unique opportunity to meet two artists who share an understanding of the value of cooperative work in making art. Join us in the Target Performance Hall at Open Book (1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis), 7:30pm, Friday, May 28, for a fascinating discussion about the process of making art and the role of the artist. This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, so plan to arrive early.

Books & Bars--the Twin Cities' most unusual and interesting book club--meets Tuesday, April 13 at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake Street, in Minneapolis. Doors open at 6:00pm; the discussion begins at 7:00pm.

In the store: $13.50
Online: $11.25 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $15.00
Available Now
April's book is Let the Great World Spin. Said Esquire, "The first great 9/11 novel... Let the Great World Spin stands as a kind of corrective to Don DeLillo's remorselessly precise and punishing Falling Man... It is a pre-9/11 novel that delivers the sense that so many of the 9/11 novels have missed: We are all dancing on the wire of history, and even on solid ground we breathe the thinnest of air."

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
Email Marketing by