Paying Back Jack: Vincent Calvino Novel

Check out the book trailer for the latest novel by Christopher Moore in his Vincent Calvino series.

History of Communism in One Volume

The Red Flag: A History of Communism by David Priestland

“The best and the most accessible one-volume history of communism now available . . . A far-reaching, vividly written account.” —Foreign Affairs


In The Red Flag, Oxford professor David Priestland tells the epic story of a movement that has taken root in dozens of countries across two hundred years, from its birth after the French Revolution to its ideological maturity in nineteenth century Germany to its rise to dominance (and subsequent fall) in the twentieth century.

At a time when global capitalism is in crisis and powerful new political forces have arisen to confront Western democracy, The Red Flag is essential reading if we are to apply the lessons of the past to navigating the future.

Published by Grove Press

Available at your favourite local book store or:
Chapters.Indigo.ca
Amazone.ca

New and Noteworthy

New titles this month

My Life With Sudden Death by Michael Downing

Michael's father died suddenly when he was three. In 2003 one of his brothers died suddenly. No autopsy was performed. Alarmed, Downing pursued a diagnosis: he had inherited a mutant protein from his father, and the first symptom would be his sudden death. To save his life, a defibrillator was hard-wired to his heart. Within weeks, he needed emergency surgery to remove the device and the life-threatening infection he got with it. Two months later, he was re-implanted — only to read in his morning newspaper that the new wires anchored to his heart were prone to failure. His device might be powerless, or it might deliver a series of unwarranted, possibly fatal, shocks.

From a bedeviled boyhood in the Berkshires to a grim comedy of errors in one of Boston’s best hospitals, Life with Sudden Death is a wild ride.

Published by Counterpoint

Available now!

Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

Anniversary Edition

Naked Lunch: 50th Anniversary Edition

On the fiftieth anniversary of its first publication, Grove Press and PGC are proud to issue a special hardcover edition featuring the restored text that is faithful to Burroughs’s original composition, an introduction from David Ulin, book editor of the Los Angeles Times, as well as reproductions of original manuscript pages and drawings.

A must have for the Burroughs fan!

"Burroughs's voice is hard, derisive, inventive, free, funny, serious, poetic, indelibly American." --Joan Didion

Available at your favourite local book store or:
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

In Town This Week

Sherman Alexie is in Toronto for IFOA this week!
He is here promoting his latest collection of short stories - War Dances published by Grove Press.

Sherman participates in a roundtable discussion Friday, Oct 23rd at 8:00pm and has a reading Saturday, Oct 24th at 8:00pm.

For more check out: Readings.org

Also in town for IFOA- Michael Thomas, author of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize-winning Man Gone Down. His reading takes place Friday, Oct 30th at 8:00pm
Readings.org

And finally, we are thrilled that Elina Hirvonen will also be in Toronto. Her novel When I Forgot published in the spring to much critical acclaim. She is from Finland. She participates in a roundtable Friday, Oct 30th at 8:00pm and a reading on Saturday, Oct 31st at 1:00pm. Readings.org

Go Wild!

It's here, it's here! The Wild Things by Dave Eggers is a novelization of the Where The Wild Things Are screenplay he co-wrote with Spike Jonze.

About:
The Wild Things — based very loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, Max finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, and can’t always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them.


The movie opens in theatres everywhere Friday, Oct 16th and the book is now available at your favourite local book store or here:

Chapters.Indigo.ca
Amazon.ca

In the News

A great review of Guardians of Being in today's Shelf Awareness

A couple highlights:
". . . superb new picture book . . . packed with hilarious, big-hearted art by Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the comic Mutts."

and:
"According to Tolle, when I pet my cat, I'm participating in his "nowness," that my grumpy, comical, bossy feline friend is constantly teaching me and healing me, attuned to the moment, living effortlessly in the now. Proving this point are McDonnell's illustrations that are pure genius, achingly touching and quietly goofy and unpretentiously wise."

Now Available!

Guardians of Being by Eckhart Tolle and Illustrated by Patrick McDonnell

This wonderfully unique collaboration brings together two masters of their fields, joining original words of wisdom by Eckhart Tolle with delightful illustrations by Patrick McDonnell. Inhabited by beloved MUTTS characters, every heartwarming page provokes thought, insight, and smiling reverence for each moment. Sure to be a classic, this charming book will inspire readers everywhere to recognize the lessons of the present moment, as embodied by the dogs and cats who share our world.

Praise for MUTTS: “One of the best comic strips of all time.”
—Charles Schulz, Peanuts creator

Praise for Eckhart Tolle: “He is a prophet for our time.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine

Patrick McDonnell is the award-winning creator of the MUTTS comic strip, which appears in over 700 newspapers in 20 countries and has an estimated daily readership of 50 million, as well as the author and illustrator of the picture books The Gift of Nothing, Hug Time, and the upcoming October release, Wag! (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). He lives in New Jersey. His website is www.muttscomics.com

Eckhart Tolle is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Now (3 million copies sold) and A New Earth, the fastest-selling Oprah Book Club selection ever (5 million copies sold). He speaks and teaches extensively throughout the world. He lives in Vancouver, Canada and his website is www.eckharttolle.com

Published by New World Library

Available at your favourite local bookstore or here:
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

How to Survive a Zombie Holocaust? Handbook Required

THE ZOMBIE HANDBOOK by Rob Sacchetto

You may be familiar with Rob already - that's right, he's the Sudbury born (and still living in) creator of the website ZombiePortrait.com
You send in a photo and he zombie-fies it for you.

His latest zombie contribution is a new handbook that tells you: How to Identify the Living Dead and Survive the Coming Zombie Holocaust.

This definitive study combs through every zombie-ological subject, from feeding habits to favorite sexual positions. Of course, the book's most important section is surviving and fighting the brain-eaters when the inevitable zombie apocalypse arrives. There's vital information on everything from weaponry and battling techniques to booby traps and zombie-proofing a home.

Beginning with a fascinating historical retrospective on the "living dead" and continuing with an in-depth look at modern zombies, the book also addresses the crucial question of the day—can human beings and zombies peacefully coexist?

Rob will also be appearing at the Rue-Morgue Festival of Fear National Horror Convention this August 28th-30th. He'll be exhibiting at the Metro Convention Centre.

The Zombie Handbook
Published by Ulysses Press
In stores now

It's All In the Cover

Another reason to buy Zeitoun - it's beautiful design a lovely addition to any personal library.

In the News

Can't wait to see this weekend's Picture Perfect selection in The Globe and Mail!
This book is both fascinating and macabre. The 'Dark Humour' being the most intriguing of all sections in the book. I'll let you see the review, then buy the book!

Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine 1880-1930
by John Harley Warner
9780922233342 * Blast Books

ZEITOUN by Dave Eggers is starting to get some media attention.
Brian J Davies wrote a lovely review in this week's EYE. A taste here:
"While much outrage has been focused on the lack of federal response to the flood, the Zeitouns’ story puts front and centre the nightmare response the government actually came up with. By turning a humanitarian disaster into a military operation with National Guard troops frazzled from Afghanistan and Iraq, war was brought home. Yes, there are faxes in which the government literally warns that terrorists would be likely to operate during a hurricane. One hopes that with Zeitoun, any debate about the ways in which Eggers chooses to tell stories is put to rest. Let's just be glad that they're being told."

For the full review: EYE WEEKLY

CBC: Anthrax War: part 2/7

Had to air part 2 as well.

Anthrax Wars - a documentary based on Bob Coen's DEAD SILENCE: FEAR AND TERROR ON THE ANTHRAX TRAIL (Counterpoint Press) It's in stores now.

CBC: Anthrax War: part 1/7

Bob Coen's fascinating documentary that aired early spring.

His book DEAD SILENCE is now available

A Cover That Needs To Be Felt

This is the fantastic cover for The Wild Things Limited Edition coming out this fall by Dave Eggers.

Name me an electronic reader that can even come close to providing the tactile experience that this faux fur covered novel promises.


About The Book:
The Wild Things — based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, Max finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, and can’t always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them. Funny, dark, and alive, The Wild Things is a timeless and time-tested tale for all ages.

Coming this October in both a fur covered limited edition and regular cloth.
It's published by McSweeney's.

Congratulations Michael Thomas!

First-time novelist Michael Thomas won the world's richest literary prize for his novel, MAN GONE DOWN. He won 100,000 Euros in the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, announced June 11th.

The Boston native now lives in New York with his wife and three children, and his book faced stiff international competition with 145 titles, nominated by 157 public libraries from 41 countries.

From the judges:
"We never know his name. But the African-American protagonist of Michael Thomas' masterful debut, "Man Gone Down," will stay with readers for a long time. He lingers because this extraordinary novel comes to us from a writer of enthralling voice and startling insight. Tuned urgently to the way we live now, the winner of the International Dublin IMPAC Prize 2009 is a novel brilliant in its scope and energy, and deeply moving in its human warmth."

Man Gone Down
Michael Thomas
9780802170293 * $18.00 Paper
Grove Press

Available at your favourite local bookstore or:
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

New Dave Eggers coming this July!

McSweeney's recently announced ZEITOUN, a new book by Dave Eggers, will release this summer

About the Book:
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.

Eggers’s riveting nonfiction book, three years in the making, explores Zeitoun’s roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy—an American who converted to Islam—and their children, and the surreal atmosphere (in New Orleans and the United States generally) in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun was possible. Like What Is the What, Zeitoun was written in close collaboration with its subjects and involved vast research—in this case, in the U.S., Spain, and Syria.

Zeitoun ships later this month and hits stores mid-July.

McSweeney's
978-1-934781-63-0 * $30.95 cl
Nonfiction/Current Affairs/Politics
6 x 8.5 * 342 pages

Ali Velshi in Toronto

Ali Velshi, chief business correspondent for the CNN is in Toronto this week promoting his book GIMME MY MONEY BACK published by Sterling & Ross.

Check out his television appearances:

CBC The Hour
BreakfastTelevision Toronto

Indigo Manulife Centre is hosting a book launch
Thursday, June 4th at 7:00pm
Join us for a talk, q&a, followed by a book signing.

About the book:
One way or another, you lost money as a direct result of the financial crisis. Now you have to start making it back, and you can do that by reading this book.

This book shows how the markets work and how to be involved, how to calculate personal risk tolerance based on personality, goals, age and years from retirement, how to avoid losing money, and how to use mutual funds, index funds, stocks, ETF’s, bonds, and other investment vehicles to speed up readers’ own personal recovery. Includes model portfolios to get you started right away.

Written by CNN Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi using his trademark user-friendly voice, GIMME MY MONEY BACK is a straightforward guide to understanding how we got into the mess we’re in, with concrete, simple, proven steps to get you out of it.

9780981453569
$16.95 Paper

Available at your favourite local book store or
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

Indie publisher and new author score cover of NYTBR!

Everyone at the PGC office was thrilled that one of their favourite novels of the spring season scored a great review, and the cover, in the New York Times book section this past Sunday.

www.nytimes.com"

When I Forgot by Elina Hirvonen
Published by Tin House Books
978-0-9802436-5-9

An astonishingly assured and compelling debut, When I Forgot explores the relationship between a sister and her brother, the past that they share, and the painful memories that shape their lives forever.

Anna is on her way to the hospital where her brother has been institutionalized when she falters, and in that pause her world splinters in a blazing display of memory and madness, of childhood security treasured and shattered, and of families blighted by psychological trauma—her brother's and that of her boyfriend's father, a Vietnam vet. September 11 serves as a backdrop for the story, and the Finnish perspective on America and its politics is as uncomfortable as it is compelling. In Elina Hirvonen's skillful hands, the grimness is illuminated by firecracker insight and surprising beauty. And, above all, there is hope.

When I Forgot is Elina Hirvonen's first novel. Hirvonen is a celebrity in Finland, where she has previously been a TV presenter and chat show host. She has just finished her first documentary, which focuses on African migration to Europe. She is a passionate traveler and has journeyed independently through thirty different countries.

Available at your favourite local bookstore or
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

Award Announcement

One of our favourite picture books of 2008 has been shortlisted for an
E.B. White Award!

The E.B. White Awards are the Association of Booksellers For Children’s national book awards. The E.B. Whites are given in two categories: Picture Book, and a Book For Older Readers.

Congratulations to Kathryn Otoshi, KO Kids, and the illustrator of ONE.
   
“A remarkable small press book that impressed the committee because of the elegance of its writing and design paired with the complexity of its message.”

One
Kathryn Otoshi
978-0-9723946-4-2 • $22.00 cl
KO Kids Books
Ages 4 to 8

Available at your favourite local book store or
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

Disturbing Cover and a Creepy Read!

Looking for a disturbing bed time read?

The Pilo Family Circus by Will Eilliot is now available.
$19.50 Paper

Echoes of Lovecraft, Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and early Stephen King resound through the pages of this magical, gleefully macabre work nominated as Best Novel by the International Horror Guild.

"Elliot's clowns are as unnerving as they come." --Guardian

"Dark, wickedly inventive comedy . . . Awesome." --Maxim

"I couldn't put Elliot's novel down. It's fantastic." --Independent on Sunday

At your favourite local book store or:
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

Just Announced

Steve Carell to star in a new film - Dumped.

The movie is based on the book by Andrew Gottlieb, Drink, Play, F@#k: One Man's Search For Anything Across Ireland, Las Vegas, and Thailand

About the book:
In Drink, Play, F@#k Bob Sullivan, a jilted husband, sets off to explore the world, experience a meaningful connection with the divine, and rediscover his passion. His travels lead him from his home in New York City to a drinking bender across Ireland, through the glitz and glamour that is Las Vegas, and to the hedonistic pleasure palaces of Thailand. After a lifetime of playing it safe, Mr. Sullivan finally follows his heart and lives out everyone's deepest fantasies. For who among us hasn't dreamed of standing stark naked, head upturned, and mouth agape beneath a cascading torrent of Guinness Stout? What could be more exhilarating than losing every penny you have because Charlie Weiss went for a meaningless last-second field goal? And what sensate creature could ever doubt that the greatest pleasure known to man can be found in a leaky bamboo shack filled with glassy-eyed, bruised Asian hookers? Bob Sullivan has a lot to teach us about life. Let's just pray we have the wisdom to put aside our preconceptions and listen. Because what Bob Sullivan finds isn't at all what he expected.

$16.95 Paper

Available at your favourite local book store or
Amazon.ca
Chapters.ca

Congratulations!

Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas has made the shortlist for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award!

The nominees are:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Dominican / American)
Ravel by Jean Echenoz (French) in translation
The Reluctant Fundamentalist  by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistani / British)
The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland (American)
The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen (Norwegian) in translation.
The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt (American)
Animal's People by Indra Sinha (Indian / British)
Man Gone Down by Micheal Thomas (American)

The winner will be named June 11.

Man Gone Down
9780802170293 * $18.00 Paper
Grove Press

Available at your favourite local book store!

Be A Nose! HD

Be A Nose by Art Spiegelman - Available Now

Go to your favourite local bookstore or Amazon.ca or Chapters.Indigo.ca to purchase

Favourite New Fiction

Absolutely loving the latest fiction release from Black Cat!

Book of Clouds by Chloe Aridjis is beautifully written and brings us on an intimate journey through the streets of Berlin. Our guide, Tatiana, is a quiet, dreamy young woman and as you follow her aimless wanderings into the employment of a curious old man it's hard to imagine where the story is taking you. But it doesn't matter - her writing is so compelling that you want to keep reading no matter where Tatiana is headed!

“Exquisitely written, Book of Clouds is a perfect Berlin story for our unsettled times, and a remarkable debut.” —Francisco Goldman

“A stirring and lyrical first novel by a young writer of immense talent.” —Paul Auster

“Chloe Aridjis writes with a fine-tuned sensitivity and a captivating charm. Her universe is offbeat, rich, and disturbing in equal measure—but always utterly compelling.” —Tom McCarthy, author of Remainder

978-0-8021-7056-9 * $18.00 Paper

Available at your favourite local book store or here:
Amazon.ca
Chapters.Indigo.ca

Great New Memoir

A Pocket History of Sex in the 20th Century
by Jane Vandenburgh
978-1-58243-459-9 * Counterpoint Press

Born into “a certain kind of family”—affluent, white, Protestant—Jane Vandenburgh came of age when the sexual revolution was sweeping the cultural landscape, making its mark in a way that would change our manners and mores forever. But what began as an all-American life soon spun off and went spectacularly awry.

Her father, an architect with a prominent Los Angeles firm, was arrested several times for being in gay bars during the 1950s, and only freed when her grandfather paid bribes to the L.A.P.D. He was ultimately placed in a psychiatric hospital to be “cured” of his homosexuality, and committed suicide when she was nine. Her mother—an artist and freethinker—lost custody of her children when she was committed to a mental hospital. The author and her two brothers were raised by an aunt and uncle who had, under one roof, seven children and problems of their own.

In the midst of private trauma and loss, Vandenburgh delights in revealing larger truths about American culture and her life within it. Quirky, witty, and uncannily wise, A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century is a brilliant blend of memoir and cultural revelation.

Available at your favourite local bookstore or here:
Chapters.Indigo.ca
Amazon.ca

TINARS pics with Michael Muhammad Knight!

Event Announcement

Michael Muhammad Knight will be in Toronto discussing his book Taqwacores in celebration of Freedom To Read Week!

Pages Books & Magazines presents This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS)
Visit: www.pagesbooks.ca

This Is Not A Reading Series celebrates Freedom To Read Week with the Canadian premiere of Michael Muhammad Knight’s controversial underground novel about the Muslim- punk movement, The Taqwacores (Publishers Group Canada). Montreal filmmaker Omar Majeed is currently working on a feature documentary about the real-life taqwacore bands who were inspired by Knight’s fictional creation. Majeed and Knight will show footage and discuss the politics of the Muslim-punk scene. Knight will then have an extended Q & A session with the audience, to be included in the documentary-in-progress.

A This Is Not A Reading Series Event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, Publishers Group Canada, Eye Steel Films, EYE WEEKLY, Gladstone Hotel and Take Five On CIUT.
Gladstone Hotel Melody Bar, 1214 Queen Street West
Tues Feb 24; 7:30pm (Doors 7pm) $5 (Free With Book Purchase)

MEDIA CONTACTS
Michael Muhammad Knight: Jennifer Lynch, Jennifer@pgcbooks.ca, (416)934-9900 ext 202
This Is Not A Reading Series: Chris Reed, tinars@pagesbooks.ca, (416) 598-1447 ext 221

Congratulations to Michelle Margorian

We are delighted to officially announce Just Henry by Michelle Magorian has won the Children’s category of the Costa Book Award 2008. If you would like to read more about these click on CostaBookAwards.com
 
Michelle Magorian will be attending the awards ceremony on the 27th January, where the overall winner of the Costa Book Award will be announced.
 
Well done Egmont Press on winning this prestigious award!

Just Henry by Michelle Magorian
978-14052-2757-5 * $15.00 Paper