This week at P&P: Debut Novelist Hannah Pittard; Numerous authors and poets at the AWP conference

Sometimes I like to turn the metaphorical microphone over to the skillful readers on my staff. Several of our booksellers have discovered Hannah Pittard's THE FATES WILL FIND A WAY and I wish to share their enthusiasm with you.

I don't always agree with The Washington Post's Ron Charles (despite our shared affection for silly videos); but his recent review of Hannah Pittard's The Fates Will Find Their Way was right on the mark. Like Mr. Charles I too have been reading a lot of debut fiction and agree with him wholeheartedly that this book is among the best I have read. In fact, I became so totally engrossed that I finished it in one afternoon. While the plot seems straightforward - a young girl, Nora, disappears on Halloween night leaving her community to struggle and eventually move on - The Fates Will Find Their Way is a complex and moving meditation on youth and the stories we tell ourselves as we grow up. The events are recounted in the first person plural by the neighborhood boys, who grapple with Nora's disappearance and for whom she remains a connecting thread as they themselves grow up, have children and go on with their lives. The Fates Will Find Their Way is not to be missed. Take it from me (and The Washington Post)! - Sarah Baline

And here is another bookseller's perspective,

In The Fates Will Find Their Way, Hannah Pittard chooses to use a "we" narration to tell the tale of a group of young boys and the shocking event that stays with them into adulthood. Through this chorus, we hear the tale of Nora Lindell, a 16-year-old neighborhood girl that has gone missing. The narrative is lulling, and the reader will be happy to listen to these dream-like voices as they speculate, obsess, and mature over the years. While Nora's disappearance is always the center, the reader also learns the true fate of the men that these boys become. Reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides, The Fates Will Find Their Way is both haunting and familiar. - Jennifer Close

Hannah Pittard will visit Politics & Prose on Saturday, February 5th at 3 p.m. for a reading and discussion of her book. Please join us!

MORE PRAISE FOR JOHN VAILLANT'S THE TIGER

Word from Vancouver, B.C. brings the news that one of my favorite books, John Vaillant's THE TIGER has won British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. Here is how the jury described The Tiger: "a chilling adventure" and "a page-turner that in the end brings us to understand the tiger, probably the most intelligent super-predator in the world. Superbly written and highly enlightening, this is a gripping story about a man in conflict with nature." The Washington Post chose The Tiger as one of its ten best books of 2010. Occasionally I run across books on a subject that I would never choose, like tigers. I found this also true with Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the collision of east and west medicine. These authors are such gifted storytellers as to immediately convert a distracted mind into one that is passionately engaged.

DISCOUNTS ON BIOGRAPHIES

During the month of February, we are offering discounts to all P&P members on books from our Biography sections (which includes, of course, memoirs and autobiographies, Children and Teen's titles, and any biographies from our remainder room). This is a great opportunity to find a presidential biography for President's Day or read about a notable figure for African-American History Month. This discount applies to any biographies which we currently have in stock on the shelves, and which do not need to be specially ordered.

DAVID'S DELIBERATIONS

My Father at 100, by Ron Reagan (Viking, $25.95)

I have had a Reagan family week. On Sunday, I attended a preview of Mary Beth Durkin's excellent documentary of Nancy Reagan, narrated by Judy Woodruff of PBS. It will be shown on most PBS stations (including WETA) at 10 pm on February 6, the 100th birthday of President Reagan.

While I remain no fan of the politics and policies of President Reagan and Nancy Reagan, the documentary caused me to look at the historic evidence which it uncovers. Nancy Reagan provided a moderating influence on the President, particularly on key personnel matters. We already know of her forcing out Chief of Staff Donald Regan, the astrology episodes, and the "gilded age" style which the Reagans brought to the White House. What really comes through in this riveting documentary is Nancy Reagan's strength of character. No wonder she ranks with Eleanor Roosevelt and Edith Bolling Wilson as among the most influential First Ladies.

I also read Ron Reagan's My Father at 100 and quickly finished this gem. I was in California when he appeared at Politics and Prose. What follows is what I would want to tell him if I met him.

Click here to read more.

David Cohen

BOOK NOTES

Bookgroup

Book Group Night

On Monday, we hosted 90 eager readers for our annual Book Group Night. Thanks to everyone who was in attendance! If you missed the evening, don’t worry! We’ll be sharing some of the discussion in our next book group e-mail newsletter. If you’re not currently subscribed, send an e-mail to bookgroups@politics-prose.com with the subject line “Book Group E-mail Subscribe” to join our list.

If you have a book group, we encourage you to register your selections with us. In appreciation for registering your books with us each month, we extend your group a 20% discount on the registered titles, and the books are set aside for your group on our book group shelves. Our booksellers are always happy to recommended selections for your group.

We also offer 16 groups, which are open to the public and meet in our remainder room each month. Whether your interest is fiction or non-fiction, there’s a group for you! Visit the book groups page [link: http://politics-prose.com/bookgroups] on our website for more information on the groups, time/date of meetings, and the upcoming books.

-- Lacey Dunham and Bill Leggett
Book Group Coordinators

Love Letters for Literacy

Before Carla’s death, the Washington Literacy Council named Barbara Meade and Carla Cohen - for their passionate support of literacy, books and authors - as recipients of its 2011 Lifetime Literacy Achievement Award. The announcement said, "Politics & Prose has been a community lifeline for the Washington Literacy Council's efforts to serve adults with the most limited reading skills, fewest job resources, and greatest employment needs in the District of Columbia." We are honored that the Washington Literacy Council would bestow this award on the founders of Politics & Prose. A presentation will be made on February 15, 2011 at WLC's annual event, Love Letters for Literacy, at Morton's Steakhouse in downtown Washington, D.C. David Cohen will accept in Carla’s name. If you would like to know more about the work of the Washington Literacy Council, Love Letters for Literacy 2011, and how you can attend, please visit www.washlit.org.

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs' Annual Conference

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs' Annual Conference is in town this week February 2-5 and several of the NBCC finalists will be participating and reading there. Politics & Prose will be hosting multiple poetry and fiction events throughout this coming weekend in conjunction with the conference. Read more about these events in our detailed schedule below.

HEMINGWAY CLASS

THE FICTION OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY: Taught by Jackson R. Bryer
The Nick Adams Stories, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms

March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, April 6, 1-2:30 p.m.
(On March 9, the class will meet 3-4:30 p.m.)

This course will study the short fiction and two novels of Ernest Hemingway, whose themes and unique prose style have influenced several generations of writers around the world. The emphases of the course will be on discussion of the common themes, characters, and stylistic devices that run through his work; on Hemingway’s fiction as a reflection of the times in which he wrote; and on the development of his fictional techniques and themes.

Two 90-minute classes will be devoted to each book. The texts used will be the Scribner paperback editions.
Enrollment: $100 (P&P Members: $80). Click here to read more about the books and to sign up.

TICKETED EVENT

Monday, March 14, 7 p.m.
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
JOSHUA FOER
MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (Penguin, $26.95)

Foer's unlikely journey from chronically forgetful science journalist to U.S. Memory Champion frames a revelatory exploration of the vast, hidden impact of memory on every aspect of our lives. This book will be released on March 3, but you can read an excerpt online with Google Preview by clicking here.

Tickets are $10, or two free tickets are provided with the purchase of the book.

NEW IN PAPERBACK

Click here to see more recently released paperbacks, both Fiction and Non-Fiction.

New Paperback

THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE by Maggie O'Farrell (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $14.95)

Maggie O'Farrell has a striking writing style: clear and concise, eloquent and poetic, blunt and at times brutal. The Hand that First Held Mine weaves together the stories of two couples in postwar and modern London, shifting back and forth in time to gradually reveal points of connection in their city and their lives.O'Farrell's principle characters have all experienced loss, death, or another trauma, which she conveys by using present tense narrative, letting her readers participate in their interior monologues and worlds, gradually revealing the complexity of their decisions and their troubled family life. The story demonstrates how the slow pace of time and fate can drastically change the protagonists' lives and relationships. - Andrew Getman

COMMITTED by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin, $16)

In Eat, Pray, Love, Liz Gilbert’s readers grew to appreciate her honesty in her life’s struggles. She reflected thoughtfully about life and shared her self-discovery, her persistent inquiring style, her self-deprecation and witty turns of phrase. Her newest book, Committed (pun intended), shares the humor and wisdom of Eat, Pray, Love, this time focusing on her efforts to mentally prepare herself for the "institutionalization" of marriage, an undertaking that she had sworn that she would never again pursue, until the United States Department of Homeland Security got involved and banned her boyfriend at the border. The government shouldn't mess with Liz Gilbert. - Andrew Getman

And yes, we also have THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY REPORT (PublicAffairs, $14.99), which includes the dissenting arguments.

COMING SOON TO YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE

If you can't attend a talk, but would like to buy a signed copy or a recorded author presentation,
click the title links to reserve your book online.
P&P members save 20% on all of these event titles.

Click www.politics-prose.com/event for our author events calendar through February.

Event

Thursday, February 3

Jenny Han - Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream
10:30 a.m. Clara Lee, a Korean-American, dreams of being Little Miss Apple Pie in the town's Apple Blossom Festival—though she's afraid of giving a speech to win the title. Then her grandfather tells her that bad dreams are good luck, and Clara gains confidence after she has a nightmare. Ages 8-11

Edith Pearlman - Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories
7 p.m. The proverbial "writer's writer," Pearlman has published hundreds of short stories in literary journals and has written travel pieces for The New York Times. Her fourth collection of fiction is set in real and invented Massachusetts towns and ranges from an account of a soup kitchen, with its wary interactions between the staff and those they serve, to a coming-of-age story about an over-confident young woman.

Friday, February 4

Waywiser Press Poetry Reading
7 p.m. An independent press with a literary focus, Waywiser was founded in Britain in 2001. It also has an American subsidiary, which has published new work by writers including George Bradley, Morri Creech, Erica Dawson, Joseph Harrison, Carrie Jerrell, Matthew Ladd, Dora Malech, Eric McHenry, Cody Walker, and Greg Williamson, who will be reading from their poetry.

Saturday, February 5

M.L. Liebler and contributors - Working Words
12 p.m. Liebler, a Detroit poet and activist, has assembled a rousing anthology of songs, poetry, fiction, and memoirs about work. Celebrating the working class, unions, and labor itself, the book, with contributions from figures ranging from Dorothy Day to Philip Levine, Woody Guthrie to Eminem, is a heartfelt tribute to a disappearing way of life. Appearing with Liebler will be Mark Nowak, Dorianne Laux, Richard Peabody, Bret Lott, Caroline Maun, Allison Hedge Coke, and Minnie Bruce Pratt.

Hannah Pittard - The Fates Will Find Their Way
3 p.m. Teenager Nora Lindell has gone missing. Told in the first-person plural, Pittard's haunting debut novel chronicles the effect of Nora's disappearance on her family, and the lasting impact her loss has on the lives of the neighborhood boys with whom she grew up.

George Mason University Alumni Fiction Writers
5 p.m. As part of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference, alumni from the George Mason MFA program will be reading from their fiction. Participants include: Steve Amick, Liam Callanan, Ramola D, Dallas Hudgens, Nicole Louise Reid, and Andrew Wingfield. Alan Cheuse, George Mason professor, NPR book commentator, and author of poetry, fiction, and essays, will host.

Event

Sunday, February 6

Jasmin Darznik - The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life
1 p.m. The chance find of an old photo of her mother's wedding to a man she'd never seen before led Darznik, a professor of English at Washington and Lee, to discover startling new facts about her family history. Her memoir chronicles three generations of Iranian women and their legacy of secrets, losses, and the search for freedom.

Monday, February 7

Kathryn Schulz - Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
7 p.m. Some mistakes make amusing stories you can laugh about later, others keep you awake at night. Schulz’s investigation of what it means to do something wrong considers the difference, if any, between large and small errors and the role of other people in our perception of ourselves as fallible. She encourages us to see how doing the wrong thing can be an opportunity for growth.

Tuesday, February 8

Laura Malone Elliott - A String of Hearts
10:30 a.m. Sam wants to give a valentine to Tiffany, the most popular girl in the class. His friend Mary Ann helps him, and when Tiffany drops Sam’s valentine, Sam realizes the difference between a true friend and an idealized romance. Ages 4-7

Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya - The Storyteller of Marrakesh
7 p.m. The second novel by the author of The Gabriel Club centers on a pair of tourists who go missing in Djemaa al Fna. What happened to them? Hassan, a professional storyteller, recounts the tale—only to be interrupted by people who remember, or imagine, things differently.

Events

Wednesday, February 9

Alex Beard - Monkey See, Monkey Draw
10:30 a.m. The monkeys of Mbuno Hills discover a cave where the walls are decorated with paintings. Inspired, they get help from an elephant and learn to paint for themselves. Beard, an artist from New Orleans, will assist participants in creating their own pictures. Ages 4-6

Ben Tarnoff - Moneymakers: The Wicked Lives and Surprising Adventures of Three Notorious Counterfeiters
7 p.m. America’s early currency was vulnerable to counterfeiting and was only standardized in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Tarnoff’s unique financial history focuses on three master craftsmen of the bogus greenback. He recounts the lives and work of Owen Sullivan (1720-56), David Lewis (1788-1820), and Samuel Upham (1819-1895) and charts the beginnings of the country’s ongoing get-rich-quick culture.

Thursday, February 10

Gennifer Choldenko - No Passengers Beyond this Point
10:30 a.m. In this compelling fantasy from the author of the Newbery Honor Book, Al Capone Does My Shirts, India, Finn, and Mouse go to stay with their uncle in Colorado—but when they arrive, they aren’t in Colorado. Nor do they know what time it is, as different clocks give different times. Ages 10-14

Peter Hessler - Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory
7 p.m. The author of River Town and Oracle Bones completes his trilogy on contemporary China with a report on that country’s love affair with cars. Hessler, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, got a Chinese driver’s license in 2001 and spent six years driving some 7,000 miles around China. His narratives of driving lessons, use of the horn, and traffic violations are funny and frightening.

events

Friday, February 11

Nick Galifianakis - If You Loved Me You'd Think This Was Cute
7 p.m. Since 1997 Galifianakis has drawn the cartoons for the nationally syndicated advice column by Carolyn Hax, a selection of which appeared in the 2001 book, Tell Me About It: Lying, Sulking, Getting Fat ... and 56 Other Things NOT to Do While Looking for Love. In their encore, the team offers tips about relationships of all kinds, with Galifianakis’s witty drawings making the point that if we can laugh about it, we’ll be all right.

Saturday, February 12

Ron Collins and Sam Chaltain - We Must Not Be Afraid to Be Free: Stories of Free Expression in America
6 p.m. This history of free speech in America by Collins, a professor at the Washington College of Law, and Chaltain, former national director of the Forum for Education and Democracy, draws its title from a statement by Justice Hugo Black, who believed that the First Amendment was the essential foundation for a free people. Organized around landmark First Amendment cases, the book charts the evolution of thought about free speech over the last century.

Sunday, February 13

Douglas Waller - Wild Bill Donovan
5 p.m. Called “Wild Bill” for his battlefield bravado in World War I, Donovan led the Office of Strategic Services during the Second World War, introducing covert methods of warfare that became the stuff of spy legends. Separating the man from the myths, Waller, author of A Question of Loyalty, assesses Donovan’s legacy and tells a true story as riveting as a fictional thriller.

P&P CUSTOMERS ARE ALSO INVITED TO . . .

Politics & Prose supplies books to book signing parties and events for other organizations. These are often open to the public; however, reservations and tickets should be acquired from the hosting organization. Please contact offsite@politics-prose.com if you are planning an event and would like us to supply the books.

February 2 - 5

AWP

2011 Association of Writers and Writing Programs' Annual Conference & Bookfair

8,000 writers, publishers, teachers, and lovers of literature will gather in our nation's capital for three days of literary discussions and celebrations. Several of the NBCC finalists will be participating and reading. As a service to the Washington, DC literary community, the AWP has made the following five events free and open to the public.

Friday, February 4, 8:30 p.m.
A Reading by Novelist Junot Díaz
Sponsored by Georgia College & State University / Arts & Letters
Marriott Ballroom, Lobby Level
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Friday, February 4, 8:30 p.m.
Readings by Poets Claudia Rankine and Charles Wright
Presented by the Academy of American Poets
Regency Ballroom, West Lobby
Omni Shoreham Hotel

Saturday, February 5, 8:30 p.m.
A Reading by Poet Laureate Kay Ryan
Followed by a conversation with Dana Gioia
Sponsored by the Library of Congress
Regency Ballroom, West Lobby
Omni Shoreham Hotel

Saturday, February 5, 8:30 p.m.
Readings by Fiction Writers Amy Hempel & Gary Shteyngart
Followed by a conversation with Thomas Mallon
Sponsored by the George Washington University
Marriott Ballroom, Lobby Level
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Saturday, February 5, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Bookfair
Exhibit Hall (Lower Level)
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
500 publishers will be exhibiting their new literary titles and magazines at the conference. An excellent place to see first-hand the vitality and diversity of contemporary literature and its small and university presses.

Click here for a list of other featured presenters and a complete schedule of events.

Politics & Prose will be hosting many poetry and fiction events throughout the next week and weekend in conjunction with the conference. Read more about our in-store literary events in our detailed schedule above.

Friday, February 18, 7:30 PM

Washington National Cathedral
3101 Wisconsin Ave, NW
JONATHAN FRANZEN
FREEDOM (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28)
This event is co-sponsored by Washington National Cathedral and PEN/Faulkner Foundation.

Come to hear an author hailed by Time magazine as “the great American novelist” in one of Washington’s most stunning and historic settings, as Jonathan Franzen delivers Washington National Cathedral’s 2011 PEN/Faulkner Lecture. Featuring a reading from the widely acclaimed Freedom, Franzen’s latest novel, the evening includes the author’s thoughts about his own writing and life experience. In addition, Franzen will sign books.

Jonathan Franzen is the author of four novels—The Twenty-Seventh City, Strong Motion, The Corrections (recipient of the 2001 National Book Award), and Freedom—and two works of nonfiction, How to Be Alone and The Discomfort Zone. He lives in New York City and Santa Cruz, California.

Click here for more information and to buy $22 tickets ($16 for seniors and students).

Tuesday, February 22, 6:30 p.m.

Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown

PAULA SHOYER
THE KOSHER BAKER: Over 160 Dairy-Free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy (Brandeis Univ., $35)

Paula Shoyer, local pastry chef and owner of Paula’s Parisian Pastries Cooking School in Chevy Chase, will teach a class offering sweet and satisfying instructions for the classic chocolate babka. The Kosher Baker, was recently named one of the best holiday baking books by the Washington Post Express.

This $30 class includes a light dinner, samples, and ingredients. Please call 202-408-3100 to register.

Bookmark this link for future offsite events.

P&P BESTSELLERS

All Politics & Prose Weekly Hardcover Bestsellers are 20% off for Members.
Click the book titles for more information about these featured books.

Bookmark www.politics-prose.com/bestsellers/hardcover-fiction and www.politics-prose.com/bestsellers/hardcover-nonfiction for our weekly discounted bestsellers.

Click here to receive the benefits of Politics & Prose membership.

Fiction Bestsellers

FICTION

The Empty Family: Stories, by Colm Toíbín (Scribner, $24)
Room, by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown, $24.99)
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (Knopf, $25.95)
Heartstone: A Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery, by C. J. Sansom (Viking, $27.95)
Luka and the Fire of Life, by Salman Rushdie (Random House, $25)
Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28)
The Fates Will Find Their Way, by Hannah Pittard (Ecco, $22.99)
The Storyteller of Marrakesh, by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (W. W. Norton, $24.95)
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn, $24.95)
What Is Left the Daughter, by Howard Norman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25)
The Inner Circle, by Brad Meltzer (Grand Central, $26.99)
Caribou Island, by David Vann (HarperCollins, $25.99)

Click here for our fiction paperback bestsellers.

Non Fiction Bestsellers

NONFICTION

The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene (Knopf, $29.95)
Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown, $29.99)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (Crown, $26)
White House Diary, by Jimmy Carter (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $30)
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, $27)
American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt, by Daniel Rasmussen (HarperCollins, $26.99)
All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera (Portfolio, $32.95)
The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality, by Richard Panek (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26)
My Father at 100, by Ron Reagan (Viking, $25.95)
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, by Karen Armstrong (Knopf, $22.95)
In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet, by Matteo Pistono (Dutton, $25.95)
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua (Penguin, $25.95)

Click here for our non-fiction paperback bestsellers.

FROM THE CHILDREN AND TEENS' DEPARTMENT

CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
(20% off through February 10)
Canine entrepreneurism runs rampant when Dog decides to follow his bliss and open his own bookstore. After much careful planning, preparation, and personal grooming, all is ready – except for the customers. Where are they? Dog chooses some books to read while he waits, having his own biblio-induced adventures. Finally, a real customer, who does not want tea or directions, comes into the store – and Dog knows just what to recommend! Because “DOG LOVES BOOKS (Knopf, $16.99), but most of all, he loves to share them!” Author Louise Yates has illustrated her hilarious text with lovely watercolor illustrations. Dog’s dogged determination to share his love for books is sure to please lovers of dogs and books alike. Ages 4-7. –Sylvan Bongi

Monday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
BearSong, the Guitar Man, leads his weekly morning story time with stories, songs, finger plays, and more for children from birth to 4 years old and their caregivers.

Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children and teens by clicking here.

For upcoming events and more from the Children and Teens' Department, click here.
Click here to access the teen blog.

MARKDOWN BOOKS

Remainders

With the same candor, wit, and courage he mustered to tell the story of his own family in Fathers and Sons, Alexander Waugh (yes, descendent of Auberon and Evelyn) here takes on the equally formidable Wittgensteins. THE HOUSE OF WITTGENSTEIN: A Family at War chronicles the genius, madness, and tragedies of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, his parents, and siblings. Wealthy and accomplished, the family nonetheless saw its share of heartbreak; suicides, losses in both world wars, and estrangement haunted the clan. Waugh’s book focuses primarily on Paul Wittgenstein, a concert pianist who didn’t let the loss of an arm stop his career. Available in hardcover, $6.98.

John Updike: novelist, literary critic, art critic, and poet. From the beloved literary polymath, we have ENDPOINT AND OTHER POEMS, a collection he wrote over the last seven years of his life. While some of these poems mark high-end birthdays and illness, the book isn’t a valediction but a wide-ranging , and often amused, meditation on the world around him. Updike wrote about nature, travel, art, memories; known for his polished prose, he could also wield a well-wrought sonnet, and write light verse in jaunty rhymes and rhythms, which is much harder than it looks. Available in hardcover, $5.98.

What’s better than a spy story to get through the dreary days of February? Ben Macintyre’s AGENT ZIGZAG: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal is the story of Eddie Chapman, a man who was many things—con man, philanderer, hero, cad—including a double agent. When the Germans took over the Channel Islands and released Chapman from prison, he offered to work for them. But when they sent him back to Britain to destroy a plane factory, he promptly contacted MI5 and offered his services to them. Whose side was he on? Macintrye tells an intriguing, and heretofore untold story, using newly available MI5 files. Available in hardcover, $6.98.

Click here to shop for more recently acquired remainders.

• Laurie Greer

MUSIC NEWS

Music

NEW
Joyce DiDonato, DIVA, DIVO (Virgin Classics, $17.98) – A great mezzo-soprano like Joyce DiDonato can take on the greatest variety of operatic characters, from Baroque heros and heroines, as well as the classic “trouser roles.” Diva, Divo has Ms DiDonato singing male and female roles from: La Cenerentola, Roméo et Juliette, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Clemenza di tio, Orfeo, Faust, and others.
Ms DiDonato will be singing in Washington on Tuesday, February 15, at the Vocal Arts Society gala at the Kennedy Center.

Hélèle Grimaud, RESONANCES (DG, $17.98) – Pianist Grimaud’s new recital, which she calls her “musical journey along the Danube includes Lisz’s Piano Sonato in B minor; Mozart’s Sonata in A minor; Berg’s Piano Sonata No. 1; and Bartók’s six Romanian Folk Dances.

MET OPERAS ON CD & DVD
John Adams’s first opera, Nixon in China, had its belated Metropolitan Opera debut last night, in the original production directed by Peter Sellars. To honor the event, the original recording is being reissued at a budget price. JOHN ADAMS: NIXON IN CHINA (Nonesuch, 3 CDs, $22.98) also has new notes by Adams and Sellars, as well as the libretto by Alice Goodman.

The Met has also issued some new DVDs of productions which were part of their Live in HD movie theatres broadcasts: STRAUSS: SALOMÉ (Sony Classical, $22.98) with Karia Mattila; director Anthony Minghella’s PUCCINI: MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Sony Classical, $27.98) with Patricia Racette; and VERDI: SIMON BOCCANEGRA (Sony Classical, $27.98) with Plácido Domingo singing the baritone title role.

• András Goldinger

BOOK GROUPS

Politics & Prose currently hosts sixteen different book groups in the store each month.
P&P's book groups meet monthly and are free and open to the public.

These are the selections for the next week. Click the titles to read more about these books.
Click here to learn more about participating in a Politics & Prose book group and to see the entire month of upcoming meetings.

Book-group titles are discounted 20% to participants. Please join us!

Thursday, February 3, 7:30 p.m.
Joyce Book Group
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Mark Musa translation)

Monday, February 7, 7:30 p.m.
Classics Book Group
The Kalevala (translated by Elias Lonnrot)

Tuesday, February 8, 7:30 p.m.
Evening Fiction Book Group
Man Gone Down, by Michael Thomas

Thursday, February 10, 7:30 p.m.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Group
Blackout, by Connie Willis

NEWS FROM THE COFFEEHOUSE

Sounds of Modern Times

One of our little joys of working within the coffeehouse is our freedom to play whatever music we find most suitable as we make you your drinks and food and, thankfully, it seems that a sizable amount of you all seem to agree with us. There's always a steady flow of questions - namely, "I like this, who is it?" - about the different types of music we play so we'll be periodically posting little pieces on these albums and the bands behind them. Having said all of that, on to the muzak.

Click here for to read our reviews and to visit the Modern Times blog.

Store Hours:
Monday-Saturday: 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Modern Times Coffeehouse opens daily at 8 a.m.

Politics & Prose Bookstore
5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 364-1919 or
(800) 722-0790
Fax: (202) 966-7532

www.politics-prose.com
e-mail: books@politics-prose.com
twitter:@politics_prose

Directions to Politics & Prose

Modern Times Coffeehouse
(202) 362-2408

www.moderntimescoffeehouse.com
moderntimescoffeehouse.blogspot.com