Books and more at Green Apple
August 2012
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| Greetings! | And just like that, summer's over? Yep, public schools start up again on Monday! But it's never too late to pick up your next summer read, and the weather's soon to be lovely out here in the Avenues, right? So we're manning the store waiting for you, and reaching out by email with these tem ptations:
- our Book of the Month, guaranteed to please;
- an author event not to be missed;
- seven new books we love;
- and a pretty sweet deal (at bottom)
And remember--if you read electronically, you can buy eBooks from Green Apple. If you have yet to try an eBook from us, check out these FREE and $.99 eBooks (including good stuff like Bukowski). That might get you over the hump? More HERE.
If you can't stop in soon, keep in touch digitally via Facebook, Twitter, our blog, or Tumblr.
We hope to see you soon. Read on!
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August's Book of the Month
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Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (Harper)
Our August Book of the Month, guaranteed to please, is Beautiful Ruins. Here's Molly's shelf-talker:
Jess Walter's novel Beautiful Ruins, as the title suggests, is the story of what happens to a group of people who are all trying to re-capture what once or never was. It begins with the filming of the 1962 film Cleopatra, in a small town in Italy where a young starlet has been hidden away as part of the scheme by a master manipulator of Hollywood lore. The novel then leaps around in time, from that small Italian town to present day Los Angeles with several stops in between, touching several apparently unconnected lives with a thread that it eventually uses to gather them seamlessly together. The result is what can only be described as a big story, one that would seem to have jumped right off the silver screen inhabited by the likes of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton (a character in the book), were it not for the fact that it's Walter's undeniable skill as a novelist that makes what could just be Hollywood lore feel true.
Buy the book (or the $12.99 eBook) from Green Apple today!
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upcoming event
| As with all Green Apple events, if you can't attend but want an inscribed copy, just give us a call (415-387-2272). Prepay and we'll hook you up.
August 18: Yuvi Zalkow's A Brilliant Novel in the Works We're pleased to be hosting Yuvi Zalkow for an afternoon reading and signing in celebration of his new novel, A Brilliant Novel in the Works.
Heartbreaking and hilarious, A Brilliant Novel in the Works is an utterly original debut, praised by Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild) as "the secret love child of the smartest person you've ever met and the weirdo who lives down the block." It's the story of a (slightly?) fictionalized Yuvi, a writer whose novel and personal life are simultaneously unraveling at the seams. His novel and his life blend together as he struggles to pull out of the mess, traveling from his suburban Jewish home in Atlanta to the North Carolina mountains of his father's childhood, to several hospital waiting rooms, to the living room of a grieving Palestinian man, and even to Uranus (and back, of course). Zalkow received his MFA from Antioch University and his stories have been published in Glimmer Train, Narrative Magazine, The Los Angeles Review, Carve Magazine, and others. He is the creator of the "I'm a Failed Writer" online video series and, as he candidly states, he has been rejected more than 600 times by reputable and disreputable journals. He'll be warmly received here at Green Apple -- don't miss it!
Details: Saturday, August 18 at Green Apple @ 4:00 pm. Free.
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Seven New Books We Like
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Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: the Private Diary of a Victorian Lady 
by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury)
What is it about Mrs. Robinsons? In this vivid recreation of the Victorian era, Kate Summerscale brings forth the domestic plight of Isabella Robinson (nee Walker), a woman whose cold and distant marriage was alleviated by her fantasies and imagined love affairs--all of which she recorded in her private diaries. When found by her husband, these diaries sparked a scandalous divorce trial, calling into question Victorian attitudes about women's sexuality, the sanctity of marriage, and the boundaries of privacy. [ eBook here]
I had only known Graham Joyce by name before I read this novel, but immediately after finishing it I grabbed every book of his I could find. Joyce takes a rather odd literary trope, (possible) abduction by faeries, and treats it to some very modern twists. This book had me happily engrossed from the first page to the last. [eBook here] (Martin)
Pascal Quignard's penumbral meditations on reading, writing, and the kind of life that blossoms in the shadow of these activities is unlike anything I've read. Quignard, who for this book won France's prestigious Prix Goncourt (which until this book was reserved exclusively for works of fiction), lyrically weaves his way across time, distance, and culture to examine those shadowy borderlands between life and art and reality and dreams. (Stephen) 
Malarky by Anakana Schofield (Biblioasis)--paperback original!
This brilliant debut novel is the story of the ubiquitously named "Our Woman": an Irish middle-aged farmer's wife whose old-fashioned order crumbles when the harsh realities of war and the increasing complexities of her relationships suddenly send her into a tailspin. Our Woman is unsentimental yet fiercely protective of her family; strangely naive about sexuality yet tenacious in her efforts to, um, get to the bottom of the matter; seemingly simple but, upon reaching the last page, will have you wondering who had who figured out all along.
What if Vladimir and Estragon, instead of milling about a desolate landscape waiting for that inscrutable Godot, were a couple of "weirdly agreeable dudes" reclining on a porch somewhere down South? With, of course, some strong spirits being passed back and forth. That's what you get in the ever-innovative Padgett Powell's latest novel, an at times hilarious and somber marvel, consisting entirely of the chatter and patter of these two characters. A pleasure to read--especially if you're prone to reading aloud. [eBook here]
 Radio Iris by Anne-Marie Kinney (Two Dollar Radio)--new in paper!
Kinney's debut novel is a richly atmospheric exploration of a woman who, quite without intending to, finds herself caught up in a series of mysterious events. With remarkable precision and a keen eye for the telling detail, Kinney draws the reader into a world easily recognizable: one of cubicles, inscrutable bosses, and awkward dinner parties. In lesser hands, this tale of ordinary life would falter, but like Murakami, Kinney is able to extract from the everyday a glimmer of its true strangeness.
Killer on the Road is an excellent historical and sociological examination of the effects the national highway system has had on murder in America. While most people today have lived by highways all their lives, many do not appreciate the incredible change this public works project had on the country. Strand's unique book delves into some fascinating cases (most interesting, in my opinion, are the Atlanta child killings of the early 1980s) and situates them in the broader context of race, money, and city planning. (Jeff M.) |
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Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
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Pete et al
Green Apple Books and Music
415-387-2272
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