Okay people, this is straight outta Chicago. I’m not so fond of zombies but I do have adopted-hometown pride, so check it out.
I was wondering how we might fare down here in idyllic Hyde Park. As it turns out, some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic architecture is perfectly suited to fighting off zombies.
According to Tom, my manager, “the Wright house at 51st and Woodlawn has windows located above shoulder height and the main entrance is off of a staircase and hard to the right. This makes it virtually impossible for slow zombies to ramp up it. You can then reinforce the door.”
Tom goes on to explain that the Hyde Park landmark, the Robie House, is “a deathtrap. This is primarily because the lower level is below street level, and has many windows. All it takes is one zombie falling and crashing through the glass…and then you’re dead.”
In my version, zombies are allergic to books. Then, booksellers, librarians and students take over the world.
Rumors have it at night the store turns into a submarine. We have yet to establish documentary proof.
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Vague Updates from 57th Street Booksellers
“The funny thing about a story versus a novel is that with a story, I have so many stillborn story drafts or ideas that never really developed. They’re just in carnival jars of formaldehyde somewhere.”
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Number 1,653 why Karen Russell is creepy and also why I am obsessed with her writing.
http://therumpus.net/2013/04/the-rumpus-interview-with-karen-russell/
Our latest windows…
Jeff V displayed his talents with the Poetry Month window, organizing the books by school of poetry and sphere of influence…or maybe just by some wild internal logic.
Annie M and Sophia SB tore it up (literally, Sophia tore up paper and made some beautiful recycled decorations) for the Earth Month window.
We are having an Earth Day event on 4/13 from 1-3pm here at the bookstore! We will be reading and making art projects to take home, so bring the kids! Come get crafty and, um, earthy with us.
Sadly, we don’t have any official poetry events planned. But let me tell you, our poetry section is blowing up right now. If enough of you show up to talk poetry with us, maybe I’ll take your picture and make you internet famous.
Last night we were graced with the delightfully charming presence of these gentlemen. I’m not really sure what they were doing in our bookstore because I was too busy being flustered by their lovely singing. Give it a listen…they’re Out of the Blue from Oxford University!
The Chicago Public School district has issued an ambiguous statement regarding the present and future availability of Marjane Satrapi’s PERSEPOLIS to students. PERSEPOLIS is a coming of age memoir about a girl in her early teens. The book has been read and taught in school districts across the country, without caveat or condition. In addition, Marjane has met with students across the country, including students in Chicago. The fact that Chicago is trying to limit this book’s use in classrooms and curriculums, suggesting teachers need guidance before they can discuss it, smacks of censorship.
Shane sure does take a nice Corpus Libris photo, doesn’t he?
A list compiled by Dana, re-constructed as a tale of woe by Jeff:
“How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?!”
Big Nate Flips Out over Your Inner Fish, but here’s the thing—that’s not his lunchbox. It belonged to Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Nate never learned that Warriors Don’t Cry. Instead, warriors Shred and start a Black Revolution on Campus. We Don’t Need Another Hero jotting in his Jotty Journals, you understand? We need a Heritage of Black Excellence in Chicago. On the tenth of December, even The Outsiders will discover A Universe Within and no one will be reduced to Naked Statistics. My Brilliant Friend, The One and Only Ivan—Harlem’s Little Blackbird in the flesh—will
make the Night Rounds of My Beloved World, singing a nameless tune.
“My Song? It’s a Beginners Goodbye and it’s Of Thee I Sing, Gone
Girl.” Who’s gone? When Cherry Blossom Decomposition is thick in the
air, Henrietta lacks for nothing. Death Comes to Pemberly in the form
of Vampires in the Lemon Grove. Immortal life. Living death.
“Of the three, two have died since I left Oxford and the superstitious thought occurs to me that they were perhaps just waiting for me to arrive and live out my time there in order to give me the chance to know them and, now, to speak about them. In other words—and this is equally superstitious—I may be under an obligation to speak about them. They did not die until after I had ceased to have anything to do with them. Had I continued to figure in their lives (to figure in their daily lives there) and stayed on in Oxford perhaps they would not be dead. This thought is not only superstitious, it is also vain.”
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All Souls by Javier Marias, translated by Margaret Jull Costa
I realized last night I hadn’t read any Marias in a while, so I went back to my first encounter. These are the first lines from All Souls, which, in my mind, is the best entry point to his work. Reading something you loved from the first moment is such a curious and wonderful pleasure. It brought a very satisfied smile to my face.
A quick note: if you click the link to content source it will take you to an out of print New Directions edition on our webpage. Click the paperback 03/2013 link on that page and it’ll bring you to a forthcoming edition from Vintage if you’re interested in pre-ordering from us. It’s a gloomy morning in Chicago, and the thought of going over all of this again is just a depressing thought, so click this link for an explanation as to why New Directions no longer has the rights to Marias’ work.
(Source: semcoop.com)
