Word Has It…

Some books are released to eagerly awaiting readers and become instant bestsellers because their authors have already published one or more successful books; think James Patterson or Janet Evanovich.
Others, however, are released by their publishers with the fervent hopes that readers will navigate to their books after a few influential critics/reviewers give their thumbs up or the book is shortlisted for, or even wins, a literary award and are warmly rewarded by the results; think The Tenderness Of Wolves by Stef Penney or The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.
Still others become wildly popular because the stars align for the authors and the writing taps a vein of desire for a congruence of diverse readers who pass on their recommendation to all who will listen; think The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry or The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer as recent examples. Books such as these may sometimes be identified early on by the ‘word on the street’ on publishing websites and blogs. Word has it, that three newly published books fit this category:

The Black Tower by Louis Bayard

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Friends Fall Book Sale

This year’s Fall Book Sale will take place on Saturday, October 4th from 10-5 and on Sunday, October 5th from 1-5. . Dee Grover reports that all categories are strong, and we will continue to welcome donations of books, CD’s, and DVD’s until October 1^st.

Please call Dee now if you’d like to help out at the sale or have questions, 767-1893 or doragrover@yahoo.com.

Library Closed On Labor Day

Although we are open 7 days-a-week normally, the Essex Library will be closed on Monday, September 1st in honor of Labor Day. The Library will be open on Columbus Day, Monday, October 13th.

From The Guardian: 50 Best Film Adaptations From Books

In a Guardian article from April, 2006, a panel of experts, including the Guardian’s film editor, Andrew Pulver, shared their list of the 50 best book adaptations to film. Included are: To Kill A Mockingbird, Catch 22, Bladerunner, Pride And Prejudice and Jaws. Click here to see the original article. What do you think of their list? What’s your favorite from the list? What did they leave off that you would include? Let us know.

Perhaps we should introduce a books-to-film book club or film series?

Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award

The first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Congress has been given to Herman Wouk for his “extraordinary contributions to American letters and his dedication to, as he has said, ‘the enduring power of the novel.’ ” Wouk was among the first group of recipients of the Library of Congress’ Living Legend Award. He is donating his literary diaries, remaining manuscripts and correspondence to the Library, which already holds the manuscripts of five Wouk novels, including The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

Other Wouk novels include: The Caine Mutiny, Marjorie Morningstar, A Hole In Texas, and Youngblood Hawke.

New Books On American Politics: Some Amusing, Some Not

Books on American politics and politicians are everywhere these days. Below is a selection of newly-arrived and soon-to-arrive books at the Library.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld ~ “On what might become one of the most significant days in her husband’s presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House–and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, “almost in opposition to itself.”

The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the fight over Presidential power by Jonathan Mahler ~ “An inspiring legal thriller set against the backdrop of the war on terror, The Challenge tells the inside story of a historic Supreme Court showdown. At its center are a Navy JAG and a young constitutional law professor who, in the aftermath of 9/11, find themselves defending their nation in the unlikeliest of ways: by suing the president of the United States on behalf of an accused terrorist in order to prevent the American government from breaking the law and violating the Constitution.”

Deer Hunting With Jesus: dispatches from America’s class war by Joe Bageant ~ “A raucous, truth-telling look at the white working poor-and why they hate liberalism. Deer Hunting with Jesus is web columnist Joe Bageant’s report on what he learned when he moved back to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, which-like countless American small towns-is fast becoming the bedrock of a permanent underclass. By turns brutal, tender, incendiary, and seriously funny, this book is a call to arms for fellow progressives with little real understanding of “the great beery, NASCAR-loving, church-going, gun-owning America that has never set foot in a Starbucks.”

Fleeced by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann ~ “In this hard-hitting call to arms, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the hundreds of ways American tax-payers are routinely fleeced—by our own government; by foreign countries like Dubai that are gobbling up American interests and spending millions to influence government decisions and American public opinion; by Washington lobbying firms that are pushing the agendas of corrupt foreign dictators on Capitol Hill; and by hedge-fund billionaires collecting huge tax breaks courtesy of the IRS.”

The Freedom Agenda: why America must spread Democracy just not the way George Bush did by James Traub ~ “Americans have been trying to shape democracy around the world for more than a century. It is the American mission, our distinctive form of evangelism. But when President Bush declared, in his second inaugural address, that “the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands,” he elevated this cause—the “Freedom Agenda,” as he called it—to the central theme of American foreign policy. Yet the war in Iraq has proven the folly of seeking to impose American democracy by force. As we leave the Bush era behind, the question arises: What part of our efforts to spread democracy can we rescue from this failure?”

The Limits Of Power by Andrew Bacevich ~ “The Limits of Power identifies a profound triple crisis facing America: the economy, in remarkable disarray, can no longer be fixed by relying on expansion abroad; the government, transformed by an imperial presidency, is a democracy in form only; U.S. involvement in endless wars, driven by a deep infatuation with military power, has been a catastrophe for the body politic. These pressing problems threaten all of us, Republicans and Democrats. If the nation is to solve its predicament, it will need the revival of a distinctly American approach: the neglected tradition of realism.”

The Obama Nation: leftist politics and the cult of personality by Jerome Corsi ~ “In this thoroughly researched and documented book, the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry explains why the extreme leftism of an Obama presidency would leave the United States weakened, diminished and divided, why Obama must be defeated—and how he can be.”

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley ~ “President of the United States Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees appointed to the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill A Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won’t have the guts to reject her — Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the nation’s most popular reality show, Courtroom Six.”

This Land Is Their Land: reports from a divided nation by Barbara Ehrenreich ~ “Taking the measure of what we are left with after the cruelest decade in memory, Ehrenreich finds lurid extremes all around. While members of the moneyed elite can buy congressmen, many in the working class can barely buy lunch. While a wealthy minority obsessively consumes cosmetic surgery, the poor often go without health care for their children. And while the corporate C-suites are now nests of criminality, the less fortunate are fed a diet of morality, marriage, and abstinence. Ehrenreich’s antidotes are as sardonic as they are spot-on: pet insurance for your kids; Salvation Army fashions for those who can no longer afford Wal-Mart; and boundless rage against those who have given us a nation scarred by deepening inequality, corroded by distrust, and shamed by its official cruelty.”

The War Within by Bob Woodward ~ “Woodward’s fourth book about the Bush presidency at war declassifies the secrets of America’s political and military involvement in Iraq. It will be essential reading for all citizens — and candidates — in this election year.”

Thurber Prize For American Humor Finalists Announced

Finalists for the Thurber Prize were recently announced. They are:

Larry Doyle for I Love You, Beth Cooper
“ A former writer and producer for the hit TV show, The Simpsons, Larry Doyle is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and has a monthly column in Esquire magazine. I Love You, Beth Cooper is his first novel, and has been optioned for feature film. One of this year’s judges, Firoozeh Dumas, herself a former finalist, said: “Clearly Larry Doyle was not the BOMC (“Big Man on Campus” for those of you who have suppressed the Eighties.) Had Larry been cool, he could have never written I Love You, Beth Cooper, a hilarious yet painfully accurate account of high school in all its pimply glory.”

Patricia Marx for Him, Her, Him Again, The End Of Him
“ A former writer for Saturday Night Live, Patricia Marx was the first woman elected to The Harvard Lampoon. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and she is a contributing editor to Time magazine. She is the author of several books, including a series of children’s books illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist, Roz Chast. She teaches sketch comedy at New York University. As 2008 judge, and former finalist, Robert Kaplow said of Him Her Him Again The End of Him: “…the care and exactness of language itself elevates the story into something more artful than simply a comic novel. There is a real sense of a complicated and contradictory human being, and it infuses every page of the novel.”

Simon Rich for Ant Farm
“Simon Rich is a former president of The Harvard Lampoon. He graduated from Harvard University in 2007. This is his first book, a collection of essays about life: desperate, ridiculous and extraordinary as it often is and the remarkable and endless comic potential he sees in it. Christopher Buckley, a 2008 judge and winner of the prize in 2005, praised Ant Farm “for its youth and freshness and impertinence,” and Jon Stewart, the 2006 winner, called the book “hilarious.”

The winner will be announced at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City on October 6, 2008. See extra details about the Prize and this year’s judges at: http://www.thurberhouse.org/program/adlt_prize.html

Teen Gaming Party

If you like gaming and you’re a high-school-aged teen, then join us on Tuesday, August 26th from 6:30-8p.m. for a gaming party. We’ll have the Wii, DDR, Guitar Hero, various board games and backgammon sets available. And come hungry because there’ll also be pizza and snacks!

Last Day At The Beach Party

On Tuesday, August 26 from 4-5 p.m. we’ll be celebrating the end of summer with Merry Coleman who’ll be reading some stories and helping children create sandcastles to take home.

Twilight Arrives Earlier

The good folks at Warner Brothers must be having a little trouble making ends meet what with higher gas prices and all those freeways in and around L.A. They moved the release date of their blockbuster-to-be Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince out to July, 2009. A move they say will guarantee them a much bigger return on their investment. Oh well.

As a response, Summit Entertainment saw their opportunity and moved up their release of the film Twilight-from the fantastically popular young adult vampire series by Stephenie Meyers-by three weeks, to the recently-vacated Harry Potter date, November 11th.

Vampires 1, Witches 0