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Greetings From Politics and Prose!
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UPCOMING EVENTS IN BRIEF |
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Thursday September 16 Saturday September 18 Sunday September 19 Monday September 20 Tuesday September 21 |
Wednesday September 22 Thursday September 23 Friday September 24 10:30 a.m. Michael Buckley - Nerds: Book Two: M is for Mama's Boy Saturday September 25 Sunday September 26
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FROM THE NEW ATLANTIC INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS (NAIBA) |
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The NAIBA Legacy Award In 2004, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association established a Legacy Award in recognition of those individuals whose body of work contributed significantly to the realm of American arts and letters. Candidates for this award were either to reside in the region served by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, or to have created work that reflected the character of the geographical area represented by NAIBA, and the spirit of the independent bookselling community. This year NAIBA has chosen Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade to receive the 2010 NAIBA Legacy Award. Carla Cohen, founder of Politics and Prose, has partnered with Barbara Meade for 26 years. Carla and Barbara have been widely recognized for building an independent bookstore of distinction. Politics and Prose, under their leadership, celebrates the reading of books and the dissemination of ideas without fear or favor. The award will be presented at the NAIBA Fall Conference's annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, September 21st at the Trump Marina Hotel in Atlantic City. For more about their history and this award, click here.
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LETTER FROM BARBARA & CARLA | |||||||
PARTNERSHIP FRIDAYS Upcoming Partnership Fridays:
MAN BOOKER SHORTLIST The Man Booker shortlist was just announced, and in last week's email, we provided reviews of Room by Emma Donoghue and C by Tom McCarthy. (Click here to read them.) This week Children's Department Manager Dara La Porte offers her impression of The Long Song by Andrea Levy. You can begin sampling these selections as four of the six are in the store today. Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey (Knopf, $26.95) In Andrea Levy's new Booker Prize short listed novel THE LONG SONG (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $26), Miss July, the aged protagonist, sits in her room in the home belonging to her pompous, middle-class son in free Jamaica and looks back on her life as a slave. Slavery has ended, blacks have achieved many successes, yet she is not being treated with much more respect than she was early in her history. And what a history she has. July, renamed Marguerite at the age of six by her self-centered, pampered mistress, is clever and wily, able to manipulate most situations toward the best possible outcome given her miserable circumstances. Through the Baptist War and the violent Revolution that led to the end of slavery in Jamaica, she survives. Miss July tells her story in the third person, as if it were too much to have been experienced by one old lady. Andrea Levy's characters live and breathe in the pages, and each setting comes alive. For the compelling story, read The Long Song in one sitting. Then, for the nuanced characters, savor it again. - Dara La Porte Read more about the 2010 Man Booker Prize here. |
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BARBARA'S BYLINE |
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Two stellar new books arrived on out shelves this week. The first is for all of you who read the third volume in Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson's trilogy and are feeling bereft of adrenaline-producing thrillers. Another Scandinavian, Arnaldur Indridason, is quickly moving up in the mystery ranks. Last August, when the summer was unrelenting in its near-100 degree steam bath, I was looking for a way to cool off and chose to read an advance copy of an Icelandic tale HYPOTHERMIA (Minotaur, $24.99). I can confidently tell you that you can also read this Nordic author in cooler weather and still enjoy both the Icelandic setting and the cast of colorful characters. This is the sixth of his Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson series now available in English. The fifth, Arctic Chill (Picador, $15), has just arrived in paperback. Try them all! For fans of The Perfect Storm, THE WAVE: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean (Doubleday, $27.95) is a new churning account of the daredevil band of tow-surfers who race around the world's coastlines to get their highs on riding ride 100-foot waves. Tow-surfing is a new water sport that involves a partner driving a jet ski who tows the surfer at more than 30 miles and turns him loose just at the crest of the rogue and/or giant waves in the sea. Don't try this at Rehoboth; more than a few surfers are regularly killed while pursuing their nirvana. Besides all the rides and wipe-outs, Susan Casey also includes some fascinating oceanography about the seas as well as up-to-date research about ocean-floor earthquakes. I'm asking for a little bit of help from customers who read The Wave. I need someone to tell me how these surfers earn a living! Many of them are married with children, yet there's not a hint about where they get the income that enables them to rush around the world purchasing last-minute flights. Almost all of these guys - and they are all male - have bodies full of broken bones and are covered with scars, but we also receive no information about medical care or health insurance. Somebody please help me out!!!
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BOOKNOTES |
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FALL CLASSES |
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Britain in the 16th Century - - WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel Henry VIII wants a divorce; the Pope forbids it. Enter Thomas Cromwell, the King's brilliant commoner to transform the Tudor power structure and advocate for the English reformation. This dramatic situation forms the center of Hilary Mantel's novel, Wolf Hall, which traces Cromwell's amazing career from gutter to glory. In this class, Virginia Newmyer sets the historical stage for Britain's uneasy renunciation of the Roman Catholic Church. Susan Willens discusses how Hilary Mantel brings Thomas Cromwell and his era to new life.
The time is past that we must identify Chekhov with the picturesque decline of Russia under the Tsars or with the distorted image of his work projected by the Soviets. Chekhov has become an honorary world citizen, read and performed widely, studied, admired and imitated by writers and thinkers in many languages. Anton Chekhov opposed theory and made fun of people who expected a better world to follow abstract principles. But his understanding of a vast range of characters is based on a definite attitude to life. "Pitiless" he was called, also tender and compassionate. Can we discern in the stories and the plays a definite moral attitude? He was able to observe and laugh at the foolishness and blindness of many different kinds of people, all struggling to survive, some forced to give up consoling images of themselves. We will be looking for the steely moral backbone that allowed him to pass through judgment to acceptance, and for insights into the stories which will help us to see how he created a new kind of writing for the theater. We will discuss a selection of Chekhov's stories and then read together "The Cherry Orchard". The text will be THE PORTABLE CHEKHOV (Penguin, $18). A Life in Letters, by Anton Chekhov, edited by Rosamund Bartlett (Penguin, $16) is also recommended, but not required. These books are both discounted 20% for class participants. The cost of the course is $80 for members and $100 for non-members. Register for the class at Politics & Prose or by clicking here. For the first class, you should read "The Name-Day Party".
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FALL TRIP TO FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S FALLINGWATER |
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Sunday, October 10 Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece of domestic architecture, in a wooded area of western Pennsylvania near the Maryland border, is one of our favorite locales. Once again this fall we are conducting a community trip by bus to enjoy the foliage during peak season. We will meet at Modern Times Coffee House located at Politics & Prose at 8 a.m. for a light breakfast of coffee and muffins. The bus will leave promptly at 8:30 a.m. The bus trip takes about 4 hours each way. Once we arrive, we can enjoy lunch in the very pleasant café in the visitor's center before our guided docent tours begin. The tour lasts one hour and will allow ample time to explore the grounds and to visit the wonderful gift shop. One stop will be made for refreshments on the return trip, and we can expect to return about 8 – 8:30 p.m. The trip costs $110.00, which includes continental breakfast at P&P, transportation, entrance fee, guided tour, and a tip for the bus driver. As an additional option, we also offer Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: The House and Its History (Dover, $14.95), a fascinating and comprehensive guidebook with 118 illustrations, as part of the package for an additional $12. Register in the store, by calling Politics & Prose at 202-364-1919, or click here to sign up online. Seating is limited. If you have any questions, please contact Bonnie Kogod at (202) 363-7738 or [email protected].
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BESTSELLERS | |||||||
P&P Members always save 20% on our top twelve FICTION and NON-FICTION hardcover bestsellers.Click the titles to read more about these books and to buy them from Politics & Prose.
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COMING NOW TO YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE |
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If you can't attend a talk, but would like to reserve a signed copy or a recorded author talk, click the title links to purchase online. P&P members save 20% on these author event titles. Thursday September 16 Lane Smith - It's a Book Deborah Fallows - Dreaming in Chinese 7 p.m. The struggle to learn Mandarin proved key to unlocking many aspects of Chinese culture and behavior that had eluded Fallows when she began her three-year sojourn in Shanghai and Beijing. Interspersing anecdotes with lessons on tones, Fallows's book is rich in the insights afforded by ordinary occurrences and encounters. Want to know today's China? Place an order at a Beijing Taco Bell. Saturday September 18 Larry Rohter - Brazil on the Rise 1 p.m. Two decades ago Brazil carried a heavy national debt and still felt the repression of a military dictatorship. Today, it's the world's eighth-largest economy, enjoys democracy, and anticipates the wealth of newly discovered oil reserves. Rohter, for many years The New York Times bureau chief in Rio, has watched Brazil's amazing transformation as it has happened. Audrey Niffenegger - The Night Bookmobile 3:30 p.m. Readers know Niffenegger from The Time Traveler's Wife, but her involvement with books is visual as well as literary. A professor at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, she has produced two "novels-in-pictures," and now a graphic novel. First serialized in The Guardian, this is the story of Alexandra, a reader who becomes a librarian in order to find the elusive night bookmobile containing everything she has ever read. Feryal Ali Gauhar - No Space for Further Burials 6 p.m. Drawing on her own experience as a political prisoner in Pakistan, Gauhar has created a compelling voice for the American narrator of her second novel. Captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan and confined in a mental asylum, the unnamed U.S. Army medical technician describes his fellow inmates, making of their stories a rich and powerful account of the effects of war, desperation, and greed on this besieged nation. Sunday September 19 Isabel Wilkerson - The Warmth of Other Suns 1 p.m. Between 1915 and 1970, some six million black Americans left the South and headed north and west. To make sense of this massive migration, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wilkerson focuses on three individuals: a Mississippi sharecropper turned Chicago entrepreneur, a civil rights activist who relocated from Florida to Harlem, and a Louisiana doctor who became Ray Charles's personal physician. Howard Norman - What is Left the Daughter Monday September 20 Rebecca Traister - Big Girls Don't Cry Tuesday September 21 10:30 a.m. When school starts, Ida brings her imaginary friend Dotty to class. Other students also start the year with imaginary friends, but gradually leave them behind as the year progresses. A compassionate teacher sees that Dotty continues to be an important part of Ida's life, and offers her gentle encouragement. (Ages 4-7)
Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker - Promise Me 7 p.m. The distinctive pink ribbon that stands for Susan G. Komen for the Cure got its start when Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan, that she would do all she could to fight breast cancer. This moving memoir recounts the sisters' lives, the very different outcomes of each of their bouts with cancer, and Brinker's success with SGK. Wednesday September 22 7 p.m. In his analysis of the current financial crisis, Reich, Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and former Secretary of Labor, argues that the problems lie in the tremendous income disparity that concentrates wealth at the top and forces the middle class to go into debt to maintain a decent standard of living. He compares today's situation with that of 1928, and foresees more cycles of great booms and deep busts. Thursday September 23 Suzanne Collins - Mockingjay: The Hunger Games, Book 3 3-4:30 p.m. Katniss's fate, and the fate of Panem, are revealed in this action-packed third and final installment of the HUNGER GAMES trilogy. Who are members of the Underground? What happened to District 12? Where have the Underground taken Katniss Everdeen? When will District 13 emerge and is it Washington, D.C.? (Ages 12 and up) This is a ticketed event. Because Suzanne Collins suffers from hand strain, she will be "signing" books with a special stamp custom-made for Mockingjay events. Signing line tickets, which entitle you to meet Ms. Collins and have her stamp one of your books, are distributed when you purchase one of the books in The Hunger Games trilogy from P&P. Click here for more guidelines about this event. 7 p.m. The latest collection of humorous essays from the author of Don't Get Too Comfortable revels in the power of negative thinking. Firmly on the side of those determined to keep their expectations low so as never to be disappointed, Rakoff is a droll and unsentimental cultural critic. Friday September 24 Michael Buckley - Nerds: Book Two: M is for Mama's Boy 10:30 a.m. The school basement is the secret headquarters for a group of unpopular fifth graders determined to get some respect. They resort to high-tech means to teach the popular kids not to underestimate the power of a nerd. Then they meet a villain so nerdy he's a mama's boy, and the humor goes over the top. (Ages 9-12)
Due to overwhelming public enthusiasm, we are exploring alternate venues for this event. Sign up for email notifications or continue to check the website here for updates. 7 p.m. Nine years after his National Book Award-winning The Corrections, Franzen chronicles the ups and downs--mainly the downs--of the Berglunds. Patty, once a promising basketball player, is now a depressed suburban wife and mother, battling neighbors and her own demons. Her husband talks green but does business with the coal industry, while their old friend Richard has descended from would-be rock stardom to building decks. Saturday September 25 Frederick Reuss - A Geography of Secrets 1 p.m. Reuss's fifth novel explores the quintessential Washington industry of intelligence and covert operations. His characters are cartographers and defense analysts. They do work they can't tell anyone about, not even their families, who eventually have to sort out a confused legacy of silence and secrets. Lorin Stein, ed. - The Paris Review No. 194, Fall 2010 - NEW EVENT 3:30 p.m. The Paris Review was founded in Paris in 1953 and from the first issue—in which William Styron announced the journal's intention to publish all kinds of writers, "so long as they're good"—The Paris Review has maintained a balance between open-mindedness and authority, able to take chances on fresh talent while also publishing the best work of established authors. In April 2010, writer, former FSG editor, and P&P friend Lorin Stein succeeded Philip Gourevitch as editor of the publication. He will present the new Fall issue, available on September 15. Richard Rhodes - The Twilight of the Bombs Sunday September 26 Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer - The Odious Ogre William Gibson - Zero History Steve Lerner - Sacrifice Zones
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P&P CUSTOMERS ARE ALSO INVITED TO. . . | |||||||
Thursday, September 16, 7:30 p.m. Friendship Heights Village Center MARTHA GRIMES Tuesday, September 21, 6:30-9 p.m. The Transition Network (TTN) From a former mortgage banker who's back in the classroom to a tough cop turned Nashville music agent, these in-depth testimonials offer encouragement and advice from real people who have changed careers mid-life. Kerry Hannon, a personal finance editor and retirement correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, will present an exciting roadmap for anyone looking to make their next job their dream job. TTN is a community of women over 50 who are navigating career transitions, broadening horizons, celebrating life, exploring options, and making connections. For more information and to register for this dinner meeting ($40; $35, TTN Members), contact Clare Donaher at [email protected] or visit www.thetransitionnetwork.org. Thursday, September 23, 7:30 p.m. Friendship Heights Village Center Her riveting new novel traverses, from the 1880s to World War II, the intimate landscape of one woman's inner world: of the little girl within the hopeful bride, of the young woman filled with yearning, and of the faithful wife who comes to harbor a dangerous secret. It is also a heartbreaking portrait of marriage and the mysteries that endure even in lives lived side by side. A masterly, unforgettable novel from one of our finest storytellers. Please sign up in advance for this FREE event by calling the Village Center at 301-656-2797.
Tuesday, September 28, 6 p.m. The George Town Club IF YOU LIVE BY THE SWORD: Politics in the Making and Unmaking of a University President (iUniverse $27.95) Dr. Pettit has served as legislative assistant to U.S. Senators James E. Murray and Lee Metcalf and on the staff of the American Council on Education. He was chair of political science at Montana State University, President of Southern Illinois University, and President of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Attendees will receive drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and a signed copy of Lawrence K. Pettit's book. $150 admission includes a $50 tax deductible donation to Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Contact Isabelle Garcia, Controller, The George Town Club, 202-333-9330.
Thursday, September 30, 6 p.m.
Perry's Restaurant
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FROM THE CHILDREN AND TEENS' DEPARTMENT | |||||||
Teachers - from pre-school through grade 12 - and school and public librarians are eligible for Politics and Prose's educator's discount program. To qualify for a 20% discount on books purchased for your classroom or library and a 10% discount on personal purchases, please bring a current ID for the 2010-2011 academic year to the children's and teens' department to update your file.
Ling and Ting are twins. When Ting sneezes during her haircut, the barber makes a mistake, and Ting's jagged bangs announce to everyone that the twins are LING AND TING: NOT EXACTLY THE SAME! (Little, Brown, $14.99). Grace Lin's (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) first early-reader includes six hilarious stories about these two inseparable individuals. Whether they're making dumplings or doing magic tricks, Ling and Ting prove over and over how different they are. The twins come alive in the author's bright, colorful illustrations. The simple, straightforward prose is perfect for beginning readers, who will be delighted by each satisfying story. Ages 3-7 - Dana Chidiac Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children and teens by clicking here.
Please join us for Storytime on Mondays at 10:30 a.m., BearSong, the Guitar Man, is back after several years' hiatus, leading stories, songs, finger plays, and more for children from birth to 4 years old and their caregivers. MOCKINGJAY: The Hunger Games, Book 3 (Scholastic, $17.99) Don't miss Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy, or the chance to meet Ms. Collins when she visits Politics & Prose next Thursday, September 23 from 3-4:30 p.m. When the teen book group met to talk about Mockingjay only a few days after its release, we found ourselves asking all sorts of questions. This is the kind of book that leaves you thinking about it for days and weeks after you put it down. Read about our discussion here, at the teen book blog. Mockingjay is discounted 20% for everyone who buys it at P&P. Even though Ms. Collins is not speaking, she is eager to meet her fans and very much wants to answer your questions as you go through the signing line. Please note: Due hand strain, Ms. Collins will be "signing" books with a special stamp custom created exclusively for Mockingjay events. Make sure you pick up your signing line ticket when you buy your book. You must buy your book from P&P to participate in this event. Click here to buy your copy of Mockingjay and to read more information about this book-signing!
For upcoming events and more from the Children and Teens' Department, click here. Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children by clicking here. |
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MARKDOWN BOOKS | |||||||
Jean Hanff Korelitz once held a part-time position at the Princeton admissions office, the setting for her novel, ADMISSION. The book follows Portia Nathan, admissions officer, as she decides the fate of hundreds of hopeful applicants. Along with an astute, inside look at elite universities, the novel also tells a haunting story of secrets and trauma, developing the multiple definitions of "admission." Available in hardcover, $5.98. Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, Leonard Michaels could be counted on for something at once emotionally powerful and thought provoking. His short stories are artful gems, and the 22 pieces in THE ESSAYS OF LEONARD MICHAELS are also masterpieces of evocative writing. The book is divided into criticism and autobiography, with the former ranging among literature, philosophy, music, and film, and the latter recounting Michaels's experiences growing up in New York and his later life in California. Available in hardcover, $5.98. Back in Stock: Rivaling Herodotus for the title of first historian is Thucydides, author of the chronicle of the Peloponnesian War. In his succinct and learned THUCYDIDES: The Reinvention of History, Donald Kagan, himself author of a comprehensive history of The Peloponnesian War, presents the ancient thinker as the first to turn from looking for causation in the gods or fate to the analysis of human social behavior. Kagan fleshes out Thucydides as both a thinker and a product of a particular time and place. Available in hardcover, $9.98. Click here to browse more remainders that have recently become available.
• Laurie Greer
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MUSIC NEWS |
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VOICES Theo Bleckmann, I DWELL IN POSSIBILITY (Winter & Winter, $17.98) – I’m a huge fan of Theo Bleckmann; he’s done very original work on albums of Kurt Weil and Charles Ives songs, as well as the American Songbook. His new CD is solo project (with a variety of voice loops, toy instruments, and original percussion), recorded live in the reverberant space of a monastery in Beinwil, Switzerland. His own tunes are mixed with settings of Kurt Schwitters and Emily Dickinson along with his renditions of Supertramp and Joni Mitchell. Check out this one-of-a-kind vocalist. THE BAD PLUS & JASON MORAN AT THE ROSSLYN JAZZ FESTIVAL The Bad Plus (pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, drummer Dave King) have a brand new CD, NEVER STOP (E1 Music, $15.98) featuring all original compositions by each group member. Their tunes combine rockin’ and swinging rhythms, and cross genre boundaries between jazz, pop and contemporary classical. Pianist Jason Moran’s Bandwagon (with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits) released one of 2010’s best albums, TEN (Blue Note, $17.98). Moran pays tribute to mentors and teachers (Thelonious Monk, Jaki Byard, Andrew Hill), plays tunes by Bernstein and Nancarrow, and throws in plenty of originals. BENGA BEATS PUTUMAYO YOGA PREVIEW
Click here for more reviews and news. Please call us at 202-364-1919 to order these CDs. • András Goldinger |
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BOOK GROUPS |
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Politics & Prose currently hosts sixteen different book groups in the store each month. Beginning next week, Politics & Prose will launch a regular e-mail for book groups that will provide relevant information to in-store groups as well as to public and private community gatherings. You don't have to be in a book group to subscribe to the e-mail - anyone is welcome to sign up! The book group e-mail will provide regular updates on new paperback releases of great book group selections, staff recommendations for book groups, tips for running a successful book group, and more! If you would like to receive the book group e-mail, please send a message to [email protected] with "Book Group E-mail Subscribe" in the subject line. Your address will be added to our list. - Lacey Dunham and Bill Leggett, Book Group Coordinators Monday, September 20, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 21, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 22, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 23, 7:30 p.m.
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NEWS FROM THE COFFEEHOUSE |
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Photography Opening - Emma Norman, September 19, 6-8 p.m. You say cafe, I say coffee bar ...and then there's also coffeeshop, coffeehouse, etc. Adding to the neverending discussion on the place of wi-fi, computers, and the like in coffeeshops, read: The New Coffee Bars: Unplug, Drink, Go - Anna Petrillo For more news from the coffeehouse, visit the Modern Times blog.
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