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Click here for our events calendar to preview upcoming events through the end of April.
Members always save 20% on author event books and titles included in other special promotions. Click here to register!
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Thursday, March 17
10:30 a.m. Kekla Magoon - Camo Girl
7 p.m. Karen Tei Yamashita - I Hotel
Friday, March 18 - Sunday, March 20
POLITICS & PROSE SPRING STOREWIDE MEMBER SALE
Friday, March 18
7 p.m. Julie Orringer - The Invisible Bridge
Saturday, March 19
6 p.m. Alan Paul - Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing
Sunday, March 20
5 p.m. Jaimy Gordon - Lord of Misrule
Monday, March 21
7 p.m. Andre Dubus III - Townie
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Tuesday, March 22
7 p.m. Del Quentin Wilber - Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan.
Wednesday, March 23
7 p.m. Colin Thubron - To a Mountain in Tibet
Thursday, March 24
7 p.m. James Gleick - The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
Friday, March 25
7 p.m. Ian Rankin - The Complaints
Saturday, March 26
6 p.m. Sarah Vowell - Unfamiliar Fishes
Sunday, March 27
1 p.m. Mark Richard - House Of Prayer No. 2
5 p.m.Greg Myre and Jennifer Griffin - This Burning Land: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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LETTER FROM BARBARA |
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Friday, March 18 - Sunday, March 20
POLITICS & PROSE SPRING STOREWIDE MEMBER SALE
Members receive 20% off almost all of our current in-store book inventory and 15% off our DVDs and CDs. Members' online and phone purchases will also receive the same discounts as long as the items are currently on our shelves. Discounts do not apply on specially ordered items, or items placed on hold.
Members always receive:
• 20% off all titles in our monthly events calendar
• 20% off hardcover fiction and nonfiction bestsellers
• Store-wide discounts during four annual members sales
• Other periodic section discounts and promotions
SPREAD THE NEWS!
 Borders' bankruptcy is another reminder that it's a tough, tough world out there for booksellers struggling in a super-charged and competitive world of digital books.
We have upgraded our website to include digital options, and one of our web designers, Lars Townsend, has written instructions on how to buy an ebook from www.politics-prose.com. These instructions were censored, shortened and rewritten by the editors. However, in the interest of operational transparency, we are offering you the choice of reading either or both:
Click here to read the FORBIDDEN version
Click here to read the BORING version
Overall, I'm still happy to report that Politics & Prose is doing just fine with ever-increasing book sales. Each day we are reminded how grateful we are to our loyal customers. Each evening, and often mornings and afternoons as well, we welcome impressive audiences to our author talks, and participants in our classes, book groups, and other activities. Thank you for continuing to come in our doors and shop with us online.
Nevertheless, as the competition heats up, we are continuously aware of the utility of increasing our customer base.
We already have welcomed more than a few new friends with our limited complimentary trial membership for Borders Rewards participants. To our e-mail subscribers (all 22,000 of you), I'm asking your help in finding another 22,000 subscribers by forwarding this week's email to colleagues and friends. Help us spread the word that 10 times a week, we host extremely interesting and stimulating events, and introduce readers to exciting new books.
For example, there's no better advertisement for our events program than Joshua Foer's wonderful new book on memory, Moonwalking with Einstein (Penguin Press, $26.95). Here's Joshua's secret: You've got to keep the brain active, not only by endlessly revisiting familiar material but also by finding new subjects of interest. What better way to accomplish these tasks than a pleasurable evening learning about - and absorbing - a new topic!!!
Again, a simple request: Simply scroll to the bottom of your emails, press the blue link labeled "Forward Email,", enter your friends' names and addresses, write a brief personal message if you like, and then, with a final flourish "Submit," and it's on its way. This won't add them to our list permanently, but it will introduce your friends to what they've been missing.
I've asked our brilliant webmaster, Lars, to construct a graph on which we can chart our progress in accumulating new subscribers.
- Barbara Meade
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DAVID'S DELIBERATIONS
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The wonderful partnership between the 6th & I Synagogue and Politics & Prose witnessed the celebration of Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein and two weeks earlier experienced a rich discussion of Dr. Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish's I Shall Not Hate.
These two events caused me to recollect how it was largely Esther Foer and Carla Cohen who forged that relationship between 6th & I and Politics & Prose. Over time, we witnessed two community builders, public space creators, and passionate devotees to the dissemination of ideas creating a relationship that has strengthened Washington's cultural and intellectual life. This partnership has been solidified by the excellent work of the staff of each institution.
Click here for more.
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INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK
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It's a busy week with both our Member Sale and a great lineup of authors. Tonight we are hosting Karen Tei Yamashita, on Sunday Jaimy Gordon, on Monday Andre Dubus III, and Colin Thubron just to provide a sampling.
Julie Orringer will visit us on Friday, March 18, at 7 p.m. to talk about one of our favorite novels - The Invisible Bridge (Vintage, $15.95) Bookseller Liz Sher had the opportunity to have a conversation with her.
Liz Sher: I was interested in The Invisible Bridge's pacing. The first half takes place over two years in Paris, the second half encompasses the Second World War. Had you initially imagined a longer book? A different book?
Julie Orringer: I was surprised, too, to discover that the novel's pre-war material equaled its wartime material in length, though in the end it made sense to me that the book would be balanced that way. I realized that what I wanted to do was to establish the characters' lives—their loves, their desires, their fears and hopes—in detail over the first half of the book, so that we'd feel their losses in the second half. I found it necessary to make broader leaps through time in the second half; I wanted the novel to reflect the pacing of history itself, in some sense, and there were times when change happened more quickly than others—when Hungary was occupied in March of 1944, for example, and when the men in the labor service were sent to the front lines.
Click here to read Liz's complete interview with Ms. Orringer.
We record nearly every in-store author event. You can browse our current selection of event recordings here. If would like to request a recording from a past event which is not already posted, send an email to Wendy Brown. |
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NEW BOOKGROUP
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LEZ READ
Join us for P&P's newest book group, Lez Read. The first meeting will occur on Wednesday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in our discount book room downstairs. The group will read the novel GIRL MEETS BOY by Ali Smith. The book is available for purchase in our store and participants in the book group receive a 20% discount on the title.
Currently, Lez Read anticipates reading a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction books on lesbian and queer themes or titles that were written by lesbian or queer-identified writers. Readers should read the book in advance of the meeting. Participants in the group will help select future books.
If you have any questions or would like further information about the Lez Read book group, please e-mail: bookgroups@politics-prose.com |
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UPCOMING TICKETED EVENTS
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In order to accommodate a larger audience, we sometimes hold our events at other locations. Please reserve your tickets early if you plan to attend.
Thursday, April 7, 7 p.m.
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
HOWARD JACOBSON
THE FINKLER QUESTION (Bloomsbury, $15)
Winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize, Jacobson’s novel was cited for being “very funny...but also very clever, very sad and very subtle. It is all that it seems to be and much more than it seems to be.” The eponymous Finkler is a popular Jewish philosopher, writer, and television personality, and the story focuses on his long friendship with gentile Julian Treslove, who becomes obsessed with what it means to be Jewish.
Click here for $10 tickets, or to receive two free tickets with purchase of the book ($15) from P&P.
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BOOKNOTES |
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GRAPHIC NOVELS - Back in Print!
We're highlighting a few titles recently back in print. It is rare to see more than one print run from a press like Dark Horse Comics, whose books often go unnoticed by the mainstream, literary book consumer. Not so with these titles.
Originally published a decade ago in Europe, BLACKSAD, by Juanjo Guarnido and Juan Diaz Canales, follows the misadventures of John Blacksad, a 1950s-era, feline private investigator, in gorgeous watercolors. It finally arrived in the United States last year and has now hit its third printing.
MESMO DELIVERY has a European clear line sensibility yet is infused with the grittiness and fevered hatching of work by R. Crumb. Rafael Grampá's frenetic, highly creative book is now in its second printing and unquestionably deserves an introduction to new readers.
Finally, serialized between 1990 and 1996 (then briefly collected in 1998 and long unavailable), CAGES, by Dave McKean, is back! McKean explores the elusive themes of creation, art, and love in a wild illustrative style, mixing both technique and media to glorious effect. These three are books that improve with age!
Click here to read our entire employee reviews about these and other favorites.
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COMING SOON TO YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE |
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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 April.
Thursday, March 17
Kekla Magoon - Camo Girl
10:30 a.m. Ella and Zachary have been friends since before kindergarten; they love to play fantasy games together. Then Bailey moves to town and Ella is no longer the only African-American at her school. Bailey, athletic, popular, and good-looking, falls for Ella. Can Ella remain loyal to Zachary, who many think is weird, and also be close to Bailey and join the popular crowd? Ages 10-14
Karen Tei Yamashita - I Hotel - ADDITIONAL EVENT
7 p.m. Dazzling and ambitious, this hip, multi-voiced fusion of prose, playwriting, graphic art, and philosophy spins an epic tale of America's struggle for civil rights as it played out in San Francisco's Chinatown from 1968-1977. As Yamashita's motley cast of students, laborers, artists, revolutionaries, and provocateurs make their way through the history of the day, their stories come to define the very heart of the American experience. I Hotel was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award.
Friday, March 18 - Sunday, March 20
POLITICS & PROSE SPRING STOREWIDE MEMBER SALE
Members receive 20% off almost all of our current in-store book inventory and 15% off our DVDs and CDs. Members' online and phone purchases will also receive the same discounts as long as the items are currently on our shelves. Discounts do not apply on specially ordered items.
Members always receive:
- 20% off all titles in our monthly events calendar
- 20% off hardcover fiction and nonfiction bestsellers
- Store-wide discounts during four annual members sales
- Other periodic section discounts and promotions
Friday, March 18
Julie Orringer - The Invisible Bridge
7 p.m. In her second book and first novel, this P&P favorite charted the lives and loves of Hungarians in Paris in the 1930s in such a fresh and compelling way that it made the certainties of World War II surprise readers almost as much as they did the characters. Join us for the paperback release of this vivid and accomplished book. Click here to read staff member Liz Sher's interview with Ms. Orringer.
Saturday, March 19
Alan Paul - Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing
6 p.m. Combining the American dreams of rock stardom and life in an exotic country, Paul, an erstwhile music and baseball journalist, moved to China when his wife took an assignment there; he teamed up with Woodie Wu to form the band Woodie Alan. How this came about is part of his entertaining memoir, which also includes a tour of today's booming China.
Sunday, March 20
Jaimy Gordon - Lord of Misrule
5 p.m. Winner of the 2010 National Book Award for fiction, Gordon's sixth book is set at Indian Mound Downs, a small West Virginia racetrack, in the 1970s. With a flair for language that's as lyrical as it is colloquial, and a cast of vivid characters who harbor pasts as turbulent as their futures are bleak, Gordon tells a tough and moving story.
Monday, March 21
Andre Dubus III - Townie
7 p.m. Unsparing and frank, Dubus tells the riveting story of how he went from a youth of drugs, street fighting, and bitterness to writing the bestselling House of Sand and Fog. Abandoned by his father, the writer Andre Dubus, when he was twelve, Dubus fils grew up angry and impoverished. But he was also strong and determined, and turned his life around.
Tuesday, March 22
Del Quentin Wilber - Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan
7 p.m. On March 31, 1981, John Hinckley, Jr., shot President Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady, outside the Washington Hilton. Wilber, with the sharp skills of a police-beat reporter, reconstructs that event, including new details gleaned from extensive interviews with the security personnel, police, and doctors involved that day.
Wednesday, March 23
Colin Thubron - To a Mountain in Tibet
7 p.m. Having lost the last member of his immediate family, Thubron, author of the acclaimed Shadow of the Silk Road, set out for Tibet to put his life in perspective. This account of his trek from Nepal to Mount Kailas, "holy to one fifth of the earth's people," is at once richly descriptive travel writing, a primer on Tibetan Buddhism, a social history of the region, and a personal meditation on meaning.
Thursday, March 24
James Gleick - The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
7 p.m. We live in the Information Age—but what exactly does that mean? Gleick, author of Chaos and Genius, looks back to the earliest information technologies, tracing the route from talking drums to alphabets, Morse code to computer languages, punch cards to the Internet. Along the way he profiles the inventors and visionaries involved and charts how the various machines have altered human consciousness itself.
Friday, March 25
Ian Rankin - The Complaints
7 p.m. In his latest crime novel, the Scottish creator of John Rebus introduces a new hero: Malcolm Fox, an Edinburgh cop. Fox's beat is the police force itself, and he must be on the trail of something big, because his colleagues are conspiring to frame him, and his only ally is a detective suspected of selling child porn.
Saturday, March 26
Sarah Vowell - Unfamiliar Fishes
6 p.m. Vowell's latest tour of American social history takes her to Hawaii. With her trademark dry wit Vowell, author of The Wordy Shipmates and a contributing editor for public radio's This American Life, retraces the steps of the 19th-century missionaries who tried to turn the islands into another New England.
See other books by Sarah Vowell and the writings of more of her compatriots from This American Life by clicking here.
Sunday, March 27
Mark Richard - House Of Prayer No. 2
1 p.m. The author of Fishboy grew up as a special needs child; his congenital problems were compounded by clumsy medical treatment. Leaving his native South for New York City, Richard initially led a rough life, involved with crime, drugs, and sketchy companions. But he kept writing. His memoir is a powerful and unconventional bildungsroman.
Greg Myre and Jennifer Griffin - This Burning Land: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
5 p.m. Myre and Griffin, reporters for The New York Times and Fox News, respectively, present the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an asymmetrical war. Through interviews with informants, settlers, ordinary farmers, and extremists from both sides, the authors show how and why this long-running conflict has eluded traditional routes to peace.
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P&P CUSTOMERS ARE ALSO INVITED TO . . .
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Monday, March 21, 7:30 p.m.
Friendship Heights Village Center
4433 S. Park Ave.
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
STAN HINDEN
HOW TO RETIRE HAPPY: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire (McGraw-Hill, $18.95)
After he retired as a financial writer, Stan Hinden wrote the Washington Post’s "Retirement Journal" column, which discussed the decisions, dilemmas and challenges that confront retirees and those who are planning to retire. The column was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. He currently writes a column for the AARP Bulletin.
This updated edition includes information on Medicare's Prescription Drug Plan and Managed Care Plans, a menu of Medicare Supplemental Insurance Policies, and strategies for maximizing Social Security income- all topics of interest to people already retired as well as those looking ahead to retirement.
Please pre-register for this FREE event by calling the Village Center at 301-656-2797.
Tuesday, March 22, 7 p.m.
 Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
JODI PICOULT
SING YOU HOME (Atria, $28)
Of all the hot-button issues Jodi Picoult has explored in her bestselling novels, probably none is more divisive and emotional than the one at the heart of her new book, Sing You Home, about a same-sex couple and their attempts to have a child. Sing You Home includes a CD of original songs created for the novel by Ellen Wilber (lyrics by Picoult). Wilber will perform at the event. Picoult will be in conversation with Ron Charles, deputy editor and a weekly fiction critic for The Washington Post "Book World."
$35 tickets include one (1) copy of Sing You Home when you purchase tickets through Sixth & I. If you have questions, please call 202.408.3100.
Bookmark this link for future offsite events.
Wednesday, March 23 at 7:00 pm
 Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
COKIE & STEVE ROBERTS
OUR HAGGADAH: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families (HarperCollins, $19.99)
When Cokie and Steve Roberts met in college, they believed their different traditions - she is Catholic, he is Jewish - would prevent them from getting married. Forty-five years later, they have learned to respect, reconcile, and celebrate the religious traditions they once thought might divide them. Cokie and Steve host an annual Passover Seder that has become a Washington tradition. In Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families, they introduce the traditions they have developed to make Passover applicable to all religions.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 the day of the event, or buy the book and two tickets for $25. Click here for more information and to purchase the book and tickets from Sixth & I. More questions? Please call 202.408.3100.
Friday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.
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PEN/Faulkner Reading Series
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, S.E.
JOSHUA FERRIS
THE UNNAMED (Back Bay, $13.99)
VICTOR LaVALLE
BIG MACHINE(Spiegel, $15)
Described as "audacious” and "chillingly beautiful," The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris's most recent novel is constructed around one of Emily Dickinson's poems. Ferris is also the author of Then We Came to the End, finalist for National Book Award and winner of the 2007 PEN/Hemingway Award His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, New Stories from the South 2007, and The Best American Short Stories 2009, among other publications.
Praised as a "wry fabulist,” Victor LaValle is the author of a short story collection, Slapboxing with Jesus, and two novels, The Ecstatic and Big Machine. His recent work has been published in Granta, The Nation, and The Paris Review. He is the winner of numerous awards, including most recently a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Click here for more information and to buy $15 tickets.
Bookmark this link for future offsite events.
Monday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
 National Geographic Live
Grosvenor Auditorium
1600 M Street, NW
JOHN FRANCIS
THE RAGGED EDGE OF SILENCE: Finding Peace in a Noisy World (National Geographic, $26)
Pioneering activist and National Geographic Fellow John "Planetwalker" Francis took a 17-year vow of silence to walk across America, inspiring thousands. His book offers lessons on the need for reflection in one's life. Discover the power of silence in a participatory event with this environmental hero.
Click here for more information and to buy $18 Tickets (NG Members, $16).
$10 Student Rush tickets will only become available 45 minutes prior to event.
Monday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
 Friendship Heights Village Center
4433 S. Park Avenue, Chevy Chase
JUDGE THOMAS BUERGENTHAL
A LUCKY CHILD: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy (Back Bay, $14.99)
Judge Buergenthal has devoted his life to international and human rights law. He is currently the Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at GWU Law School. In his book he recounts his experiences as one of the youngest survivors of the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen. Thomas Buergenthal was not quite six years old when he and his parents were forced into a Jewish ghetto in Poland. Four years later, they were placed on a train bound for Auschwitz, where Thomas was separated from his family. Alone, ten-year-old Thomas managed to survive Auschwitz. He was one of only three children to survive the infamous three-day death march.
Please sign up in advance for this FREE event by calling the Village Center at 301-656-2797.
Wednesday, March 30, 7 p.m.
 National Geographic Live
Grosvenor Auditorium
1600 M Street, NW
Grand Sushi Event with CASSON TRENOR
SUSTAINABLE SUSHI: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time (North Atlantic, $15.95)
Join author Casson Trenor for a delicious tasting of sustainably caught or farmed sushi accompanied by wine and sake pairings. He'll sign his book Sustainable Sushi, a guide to enjoying this delicacy while protecting the planet at the same time. Trenor will be introduced by local chef, National Geographic Fellow, and sustainable seafood advocate Barton Seaver.
Presented with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and co-sponsored by Genji Sushi. Genji Sushi serves high-quality, all-natural sushi. By incorporating a variety of sustainably-caught, and responsibly-farmed fish into exquisite rolls, Genji encourages customers to make food choices which promote health, not only for themselves, but also for the environment.
Must be 21 or older to attend; ID required. Click here for more information and to buy $100 Tickets.
Thursday, March 31, 8-10 a.m.
 Greater Washington Board of Trade Business Leadership Series
Capital Hilton
1001 16th St, NW
HOWARD SCHULTZ
ONWARD: HOW STARBUCKS FOUGHT FOR ITS LIFE WITHOUT LOSING ITS SOUL (Rodale, $25.99)
In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as the CEO eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company and became chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul. In Onward, he shares the remarkable story of his return and the company's ongoing transformation under his leadership, revealing how Starbucks again achieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificing humanity. Click here for more information and to purchase $75/100 tickets.
Bookmark this link for future offsite events.
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P&P BESTSELLERS
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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
- The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, by David Brooks (Random House, $27)
- The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht (Random House, $25)
- When the Thrill Is Gone, by Walter Mosley (Riverhead, $26.95)
- Silent Mercy, by Linda Fairstein (Dutton, $26.95)
- A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (Knopf, $25.95)
- When the Killing's Done, by T.C. Boyle (Viking, $26.95)
- Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28)
- Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell (Knopf, $24.95)
- The Death Instinct, by Jed Rubenfeld (Riverhead, $26.95)
- Open City, by Teju Cole (Random House, $25)
- The Paris Wife, by Paula Mclain (Ballantine, $25)
- The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two, by Patrick Rothfuss (DAW, $29.95)
Click here for our paperback fiction bestsellers.
NONFICTION
- Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by Joshua Foer (Penguin Press, $26.95)
- Modigliani: A Life, by Meryle Secrest (Knopf, $35)
- Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan, by Jeff Greenfield (Putnam, $26.95)
- The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood, by James Gleick (Pantheon, $29.95)
- Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton (Random House, $26)
- Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown, $29.99)
- Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage, by Douglas Waller (Free Press, $30)
- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, $27)
- The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss, by Edmund de Waal (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $26)
- Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan, by Del Quentin Wilber (Henry Holt, $27)
- To a Mountain in Tibet, by Colin Thubron (Harper, $24.99)
- Townie: A Memoir, by Andre Dubus III (W. W. Norton, $25.95)
Click here for our paperback non-fiction bestsellers.
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FROM THE CHILDREN AND TEENS' DEPARTMENT |
Children and Teens’ Department Announces Bookmark Contest
The Children and Teens’ Department is holding its second bookmark contest for 5-18 year olds. The theme is: Your favorite place to visit, real or imaginary, in a book.
Pick up an entry blank in the Children and Teens’ Department or click here to download it.
Submit one paper entry per person to the Children and Teens’ Department; electronic entries will not be accepted.
The winner and runners-up will be featured on our web site and will receive $25 Politics & Prose gift cards.
The winning design will be printed on Politics & Prose bookmarks.
Contest ends April 4, 2011. Politics & Prose will keep all original artwork.
 CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
(20% off through March 23)
Cats are so special,
deigning to live among us
only grudgingly.
WON TON (by Lee Wardlaw, Henry Holt, $16.99) is one such
cat: survivor of pound life
seeking a new home.
Won Ton settles in.
Eugene Yelchin illustrates
with bold, bright colors.
Not just his real name,
but also the story's form:
Haiku is this cat.
Ages 4-7 – Kerri Poor
Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children and teens by clicking here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Anthony Horowitz event on April 15, 7 p.m.
 Anthony Horowitz's book SCORPIA RISING goes on sale March 22, 2011. We will be hosting Mr. Horowitz on Friday, April 15, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Customers will get a numbered line signing ticket with each copy of Scorpia Rising they purchase. Customers must come into the store to get their tickets. No tickets will be mailed or given out separately. All Scorpia Rising phone and web orders must be complete by 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 14. Any purchases made after the store closes on April 14 must be in person.
Brush up on your Alex Rider facts--we’ll have a trivia contest with prizes. And hold on to your line signing ticket: we’ll have a drawing with one lucky winner!
Monday, March 28, 3:30-5:30 p.m. - POSTPONED from March 14
VIEW CAL RIPKIN, JR.'S VIDEO ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK
CAL RIPKIN, JR. - HOTHEAD (Hyperion, $16.99)
Connor is an all-star shortstop, but he can’t control his temper. Threatened by the possibility that the school paper will run a story about his behavior, Connor has to learn to control himself. This is a story told from the heart about doing your best and striving to be a credit to your team. Ages 8-12
Click here to access the teen blog.
Monday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
STORY TIME
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.
For upcoming events and more from the Children and Teens' Department, click here.
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MARKDOWN BOOKS
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MEMBERS: Don't forget, the 20% discount for this weekend's sale also covers items in the remainders section.
It's a classic set-up: a stranger rides into town, and things are never the same. In William Trevor's 14th novel, LOVE AND SUMMER, the stranger rides in on a bicycle, and he doesn't plan to stay around. On his way out of Ireland to bigger and better things elsewhere, Florian nonetheless develops close ties with Ellie, the young wife of a farmer. It's the mid-1950s, and the Church still dominates provincial Irish life, though its iron fist is beginning to loosen. Trevor paints the period expertly, depicting the various ways the characters are torn between traditional rules and passions they can barely acknowledge. Available in paperback, $6.98.
It takes a library to make a book, and the classics continue to generate new literature. Among the recent heirs of Homer's work is Zachary Mason's THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY. This debut novel boldly, and wittily, re-imagines the great epic by showing familiar scenes from different perspectives, changing key details (what if Penelope had married one of those suitors?), and offering tongue-in-cheek asides. A little rusty on the original story:? Not to worry: Mason's footnotes are concise, clear, and funny. Available in hardcover, $4.98.
Like a cabinet of curiosities, Richard Fortey's DRY STOREROOM #1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum, contains all manner of treasures. Fortey, an award-winning writer, professor, and senior paleontologist at London's Natural History Museum, tells the stories behind many of the specimens in the museum's collection, delving back to Captain Cook's expeditions, Darwin's discoveries, and much more. He also describes how the museum works, and introduces a colorful cast of scientists and curators. This is science as a kaleidoscopic collection of anecdotes and personalities. Available in hardcover, $5.98.
SPECIAL REMAINDER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Also, on hand this week: lots of New York Times crossword puzzle books at all levels - from easy to the Sunday challenges.
Stop in the store to see the new clearance section - with books available at 50% off their remainder price. This section will be a permanent addition to the bargains room. Check back often to see what treasures you might find!
Click here to shop for more recently acquired remainders.
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MUSIC NEWS
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SPECIAL OFFER BY THE VOCAL ARTS SOCIETY: CHRISTINE BREWER PERFORMANCE
Soprano Christine Brewer has a new CD called ECHOES OF NIGHTINGALES (Hyperion), a tribute to four great sopranos of the past: Kirsten Flagstad, Eileen Farrell, Helen Traubel, and Eleanor Steber. She is accompanied by pianist Roger Vignoles. Ordinarily $19.98, it is available through us by special arrangement for only $16.98. Click here to buy.
Ms Brewer will appear in recital on Wednesday, March 23, 7:30 p.m., presented by the Vocal Arts Society, at the Kennedy Center. Click here to read more.
The Vocal Arts Society is offering Politics & Prose patrons the exclusive opportunity to purchase tickets at the reduced rate of $20 per ticket (reg. $45). Click here to take advantage of this offer.
JUST CONFIRMED!
Saturday, April 2, 3:30 p.m.
CD RELEASE PARTY at P&P
JAZZ: THE SMITHSONIAN ANTHOLOGY (Smithsonian Folkways, $107.98)
A worthy successor to the 1973 Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, this set of six CDs, with a 200-page book, charts the growth of a rich and diverse musical tradition. Join us for a panel discussion with some of the many producers, compilers, and writers involved in this project: Larry Appelbaum from the Library of Congress and WPFW; Rob Bamberger from WAMU; Willard Jenkins from WPFW; John Hasse from the Smithsonian's American History Museum; and Daniel Sheehy and Richard Burgess from Smithsonian Folkways. Click here to buy this box set.
NEW
Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, RARE BIRD ALERT (Rounder, $14.98) – A follow- up to his Grammy-winning banjo CD, The Crow, Martin brings more original songs, instrumentals and vocals, backed by his touring band, the Steep Canyon Rangers. There are appearances by the Dixie Chicks and Paul McCartney, and two live tracks from Martin’s tour last year, including a fun acoustic version of his hit from the 1980s, “King Tut.”
Trio Mediaeval, A WORCESTER LADYMASS (ECM, $17.98) – Oslo’s Trio Mediaeval presents a reconstruction of a 13th-century Mass to the Virgin Mary. Composer Gavin Bryars wrote a Credo and Benedicamus Domino fort the Trio, which are interspersed in the Mass.
Esperanza Spalding, JUNJO (Ayva Music, $15.98) – With all of Esperanza’s great press for her recent Best New Artist Grammy award, it’s now possible to listen to her very first CD, recorded in 2005, and just reissued. The bassist is in a trio setting with Aruán Ortiz on piano, and Francisco Mela on drums.
SOUNDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN
Renaud Garcia-Fons, Méditerranées (Enja, $15.98) – French Catalan bass virtuoso tours the Mediterranean with a strong lineup of instrumentalists playing the Baroque lute, zither, bouzouki, accordion, flamenco guitar, clarinets, and many North African percussion instruments. Listen to the NPR feature on the album.
Paolo Fresu, MISTICO MEDITARRANEO (ECM, $17.98)—Sardinian jazz trumpeter and Italian bandoneon player Daniele do Bonaventura play lyrical filigrees around the original songs of the Corsican polyphony vocal group, A Filetta.
NEW MUSIC DVDs
 LEGACY OF ROSCOE HOLCOMB (Shanachie DVD, $19.99) –John Cohen is a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, as well as a folklorist and documentarian. His two films on the banjo player, guitarist, and singer Roscoe Holcomb are now packaged in one DVD set. The High Lonesome Sound (1962) and the recently completed Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky both feature spellbinding footage of one of the most powerful voices in rural music.
Frank Sinatra, A MAN AND HIS MUSIC: THE COLLECTION (Shout Factory, 2 DVDs, $24.98) – This set collects all four of Sinatra’s mid-1960s television specials, featuring, among others, Ella Fitzgerald, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the Count Basie Orchestra. All feature great songs and great performances.
Click here for news and reviews. Please call us at 202-364-1919 or email me at agoldinger@politics-prose.com 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.
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.
Sunday, March 20, 6 p.m.
Spirituality Book Group
The Meaning of Life, by the Dalai Lama
April 17 selection: Nothing Special, by Charlotte Joko Beck
Monday, March 21, 7:30 p.m.
Legacies of American Exceptionalism Book Group
The Street, by Ann Petry
April 18 selection: Green Grass, Running Water, by Thomas King
Tuesday, March 22, 7:30 p.m.
Poetry Book Group
English Victorian Poetry: An Anthology, ed. By Paul Negri
April 26 selection: April issue of Poetry magazine
Wednesday, March 23, 7:30 p.m.
Graphic Novel Bookgroup
Market Day, by James Sturm
April 27 selection: From Hell, by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
Thursday, March 24, 7:30 p.m.
Fascinating History Book Group
Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, by Richard Rhodes
April 28 selection: Grand Avenues, by Scott Berg
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!
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NEWS FROM THE COFFEEHOUSE |
We've been hearing about this for some time now. Read a discussion on coffee production, consumption, commodification and culture at The New York Times "Coffee, the New Shaky Commodity". "While 'peak coffee' may not be the same as peak oil, coffee is a commodity like no other. . . .What does history tell us about the role of coffee in unifying communities and advancing civilization, let alone in keeping everyone awake?"
If David Bowie, Cicely Tyson, and Kurt Vonnegut are doing it, then count me in.
Click here for more news from the Modern Times blog.
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