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Powell's Q&A, Q&A | December 10, 2009
By Sam Stephenson
Describe your latest book/project/work. I've been studying the life and work of photographer W. Eugene Smith for 13 years. My first book (Dream...
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Sam Stephenson and W. Eugene Smith
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We understand, it's difficult to pick just one book for your 2008 Puddly Award selection. You're making lists, scanning your shelves, poring back over your GoodReads entries. Give your mind a rest — and maybe a recharge — with our interview with Temple Grandin, plus signed editions of her new book, Animals Makes Us Human. We'd like to inaugurate original essays by Jay Mathews ( Work Hard. Be Nice.), Norman Bussel ( My Private War), Philipp Blom ( The Vertigo Years), and Bernard Cornwell ( Agincourt). This time around we have but one, lone INK Q&A, by Hannah Holmes ( The Well-Dressed Ape), so please — give it some love! And don't miss guest bloggers Peter Wild ( Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth) and John Niven ( Kill Your Friends). Now, get out there and show your Puddly!
SIGNED EDITIONS
 With the groundbreaking Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her distinguished career as an animal scientist to deliver extraordinary insights into how animals think. Now, in Animals Make Us Human, she builds on those insights to show how to give animals the best and happiest life. Preorder your signed editions while they last!
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FEATURED INTERVIEW
 Temple Grandin may be more single-handedly responsible for humane treatment of animals, especially livestock, than any other individual in the last few decades. She's also given the world much greater insight into the way autistic minds work. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly describes her new book, Animals Make Us Human, as "packed with fascinating insights, unexpected observations and a wealth of how-to tips." In this interview, Grandin discusses Animals Make Us Human, core emotion systems in animals, the differences between cats and dogs, the new HBO project based on her life, and more.
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HARDCOVER
 Things I've Been Silent About: Memories by Azar Nafisi
With Things I've Been Silent About, the author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran now offers a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran during a time of revolution and change.
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Sale $18.90 | Hardcover
List Price: $27.00 (You Save: $8.10) |
 Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
"Though Stephanie Kallos explores familiar themes — like loss, grief, and family ties — this refreshingly imaginative novel will have you seeing them all anew. Sing Them Home is truly a gift to its readers."
—Recommended by Sheila, Powells.com
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Sale $17.50 | Hardcover
List Price: $25.00 (You Save: $7.50) |
 Tropic Thunder
Featuring an all-star cast including Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black, Tropic Thunder is an action-comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the most expensive war film of all time — and find themselves trapped in a real war. Entertainment Weekly calls it "raunchy, outspoken — and also a smart and agile dissection of art, fame, and the chutzpah of big-budget productions," while the San Francisco Chronicle swears, "The movie is laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts hilarious." As always, all DVDs ship free from Powells.com!
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Sale $31.20 | DVD
List Price: $34.99 (You Save: $3.79) |
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PAPERBACK
 Beautiful Children by Charles Bock
In his masterly debut novel, Charles Bock mixes incandescent prose with devious humor to capture Las Vegas with unprecedented scope and nuance. Now in paperback, Beautiful Children is an odyssey of heartache and redemption as each character barrels toward personal destruction.
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Sale $9.80 | Trade Paper
List Price: $14.00 (You Save: $4.20) |
 The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
"New Yorker music critic Alex Ross is nothing if not ambitious, and, as he tracks the history of 20th-century music (and the music of 20th-century history) in The Rest Is Noise, his talent more than lives up to his lofty ambitions. One caveat: you may want to put together your own CD soundtrack to play as you read!"
—Recommended by Rico, Powells.com
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Sale $12.60 | Trade Paper
List Price: $18.00 (You Save: $5.40) |
 Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter
In the latest from bestselling author Gena Showalter, Grace Carlyle, while on the trail of her missing brother, never expects to find a jungle world of mythological creatures, guarded by a sword-wielding Atlantean sworn to kill anyone who strays into the lost city's boundaries, and who now finds himself tempted to betray his centuries-old vow.
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 Elizabeth Lesser, author of The Seeker's Guide and a recent guest on Oprah, dropped by our blog last week to discuss her latest book, a new kind of spiritual tradition, and how we search for answers to spiritual questions.
January 7, 2009:
What's Spirituality Got to Do with It?
For more than 30 years, I have been witnessing the rise of a new spiritual tradition. When I wrote my first book, The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure, its original title in hardcover was The New American Spirituality: A Seeker's Guide. I called it that because I believe that American democracy and diversity have changed the way people search for answers to the big spiritual questions: Where did I come from? Who am I? How do I live a meaningful, happy, and generous life? What happens when I die? Two hundred years of democracy have convinced Americans that each person has the God-given right to choose one's own path to discover answers to these questions. And the diverse options that we now have available — the world's religions from East and West; native traditions; philosophy and psychotherapy; newer hybrid forms of worship — have expanded the possibilities for self-realization, peace of mind, and a living connection to God, spirit, the creator, or ___________ (you fill in the blank).
When the book went to paperback, I decided to change the title to The Seeker's Guide. I did this because I became aware that the same trend — the infusion of democracy and diversity into spiritual seeking — was quickly becoming a global phenomenon....
Read the rest of Lesser's post — and while you're at it, check out our daily Guest Blogger, Book News, and Review-a-Day features, Read It Before They Screen It, and more on our blog!
| From the Authors |
SAVE 30% |
BERNARD CORNWELL: ORIGINAL ESSAY
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One of England's most dramatic victories, the battle of Agincourt is more than just history; it was immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V. In Agincourt, Bernard Cornwell, "the greatest writer of historical adventures today" (Washington Post), tackles this thrilling and rich subject. "[A] must-read for fans of authentically detailed historical fiction who like their battle scenes drawn with realistically bold, brutal, and bloody strokes," hails Booklist. Read Cornwell's original essay for Powells.com and save 30% on Agincourt. |
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Agincourt
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Sale $19.59
Hardcover
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HANNAH HOLMES: INK Q&A
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With wit, humility, and penetrating insight, science journalist Hannah Holmes casts the inquisitive eye of a trained researcher and reporter on... herself. And not just on herself, but on our whole species. Deftly mixing personal stories and observations with the latest scientific theories and research results, The Well-Dressed Ape is an engaging and informative field guide to that oddest and yet most fascinating of primates: the human. "Holmes makes the scientific personal in prose that is juicy and humorous," cheers Publishers Weekly (starred review). Read our Q&A with Holmes, and save 30% on The Well-Dressed Ape. |
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The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself
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Sale $17.50
Hardcover
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You Save: $7.50
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PETER WILD: GUEST BLOGGER
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In Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth, 23 great literary voices — including Katherine Dunn, Tom McCarthy, Jess Walter, Mary Gaitskill, and more — offer short stories based on songs from one of rock music's great cult bands. The outcome is a dark, edgy, and impressive collection of literature. This week's guest blogger is editor Peter Wild, and his stint will feature a special guest post by one of his contributors (hint: a former guest blogger!). Check out Wild's posts and save 30% on Noise. |
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Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth
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Sale $9.79
Trade Paper
List Price: $13.99
You Save: $4.20
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JOHN NIVEN: GUEST BLOGGER
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As the 20th century breathes its very last, with Britpop at its zenith, 27-year-old A&R man Steven Stelfox slashes and burns his way through London’s music industry, taking the idea of "cutthroat" to murderous new levels. Booklist calls John Niven's debut, Kill Your Friends, a "very dark, viciously funny novel." Next week we're thrilled to welcome John Niven as our guest blogger! Read his daily posts and save 30% on Kill Your Friends. |
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Kill Your Friends
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Sale $10.49
Trade Paper
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in our stores
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This well-respected work discusses the use of digital computers in the real-time control of dynamic systems. The emphasis is on the design of digital controls that achieve good dynamic response and small errors while using signals that are sampled in time and quantized in amplitude. Both classical and modern control methods are described and applied to illustrative examples... (read more) |
5. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Young Adult)
9. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Young Adult)
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JANUARY 15:
Mark Bittman
 From Mark Bittman, the award-winning champion of culinary simplicity who gave us the bestselling How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, comes Food Matters, a plan for responsible eating that's as good for the planet as it is for your weight and your health. Cheaper, healthier, and socially sound, Food Matters represents the future of American eating. This event is cosponsored by Edible Portland. |
JANUARY 19:
Indiespensable Happy Hour Reception
 Paul Harding's debut is only now arriving in bookstores, and already Tinkers is the talk of the literary world. Publishers Weekly calls it "an especially gorgeous example of novelistic craftsmanship." Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson raves, "It confers on the reader the best privilege fiction can afford, the illusion of ghostly proximity to other human souls." Join author Paul Harding, members of Powell's staff, and perhaps a surprise guest, for a literary happy hour at Someday Lounge as we celebrate the featured title of Indiespensable: Volume 8. |
view all events
preorder signed editions by authors coming to Powell's |
IN OUR NEXT EDITION:
Bear trotted toward the hoop. "Morrison?"
"Bear!" the squirrel shouted. From the front of the rim, he dismounted into the crowd. A woman shrieked and immediately felt ridiculous. In her defense, Morrison did jump awfully close to her head.
"Ciao," Bear said.
Morrison pressed his paws together and bowed. The crowd rearranged itself around them. The squirrel said something in Italian, and the young girl on her father's shoulders interjected, "In English, please!"
Morrison seemed to consider her request before thinking better of it. He went right on speaking Italian.
Bear nodded. Bear looked surprised. Bear said, "No!" At least they presumed that's what he said, Zooey and Bagheera and the others gathered round — or perhaps "no" meant something different in Italian.
"Don't mind us," Oreo remarked. "We'll talk amongst ourselves."
Bear turned. He started to explain but Morrison saved him the trouble. "I've come home," the squirrel announced. "Scoiattolo's Circus, it is no more."
Send questions, comments, suggestions, and favorite squirrel recipes to newsletter@powells.com. (Just in case the recession gets even worse...)
PowellsBooks.news
by Bolton and Dave
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