Balm for One of My Pet Peeves

(partial) Quote of the day:
…Ayn Rand, who is to traditionally female attributes like empathy and interpersonal relationships what Grover Norquist is to functioning government… Salon Magazine

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve been pretty busy. For that matter, over the past 24 months, but that’s neither here nor there.

Wednesday evening I was trolling one of the several Internet message boards I scan to keep up with news about books. I came across a posting by an author, Robert Thompson, who was seeking to promote his new book on leadership by offering to do Internet radio interviews. In his sign-off, he blithely told the board to “Order Your Copy Today at: Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com.”

I’m sympathetic to the difficulty authors face in getting exposure and sales for their books. In Mr. Thompson’s case, he had taken his professional skills as a trainer and translated that into a book. The book had been picked up by a major publisher of business books, but, as you will see in the correspondence I’m sharing below, he was surprised at how much of the burden of selling his book had fallen to him.

But this blissful ignorance, this example of taking the easiest way, sounded my gong. So I flamed him, albeit gently. Here’s what I said:

Hi, Robert.

I have a new BTR show that will be about half books and half local public affairs. I'm also an independent bookseller.

Should you realize that amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com arent' the be-all, end-all of bookselling, we'd be happy to schedule you on our show.

Every time an author solicits bookseller support and then says "check me out on amazon," another angel falls from heaven.

I thought that was gentle. I have the same reaction when I hear the word “Kentuckiana.”

We Indies, the independent booksellers of America, are an amazing resource for authors of “midlist” books like Mr. Thompson’s. At this moment, I can’t tell you if the Indies would or could make his book a bestseller. His publisher, Jossey-Bass (an imprint of John Wiley & Sons), hadn’t chosen to promote it by sending it out for evaluation and I’m perfectly willing to admit that I would never have heard of it, in all likelihood, or at least I wouldn’t have remembered hearing about it.

Here’s the book, in case you were wondering. If you click on the book jacket, you will be directed to our Web site, where you can purchase it. More about that later.

To his credit, Mr. Thompson (I’ll call him Robert from now on) responded with alacrity.

He wrote: Randy, so sorry for all of the fallen angels. :-)

As a first time author, I am learning I am somewhat clueless to the industry but trying to learn as quick as possible. Thanks for the new lesson…If you ever forgive me, I would be happy to be a guest on your show. If your store carries my book it could be a mutual benefit.

Again, sorry. No offense intended.

Cheers, Robert.

Thus began a rapid-fire exchange in which I tried to educate Robert to the realities of the 1,800 independent booksellers in America who could, unless supremely insulted by the author’s attempt to drive sales to monolithic, soulless, quarterly dividend-chasing online retailers, help to sell his book.

Indies contribute to their local communities at about 150% the rate of chains. As best as I can tell, nonlocal online retailers not only don’t contribute to your community, they, inexplicably, don’t even collect or pay sales taxes.

Over the course of the day, Robert instructed his technical people to insert a link deep on his Web site that would also direct those who are aware of the distinctions between Indies and the chains and online parasites to other choices, including our own www.destinationsbooksellers.com.
Oh, and by the way, Robert’s e-mail signature now reminds his correspondents that they can buy his book at their local independent bookseller. And I learned a bit more about how authors think during the exchange of e-mails, too.

What does this mean for you, the typical reader, a person who likely shops at Destinations Booksellers and gets it? Probably not much. But let me share with you some of the reasons it’s important to shop local first.

First of all (in my words), your shopping choices are your votes. When you shop at Destinations Booksellers, you’re telling us you want us to stay in business, that having a local independent bookseller is something valuable to you. If you were building a city from scratch, wouldn’t you choose to have a bookstore? If you were to, instead, buy your books from national chains or internet purveyors, wouldn’t that be your vote to replace your local bookstore with something else – either something you prefer or, God forbid, another empty building?

But take a look at these reasons (not my words, but ones I wholly endorse):

Thanks for shopping at
Destinations Booksellers
Here's what you just did!

1. You kept your dollars in our economy
For every $100 you spend at one of our local business, $68 will stay in our community. What happens when you spend that same $100 at a national chain? $43 stays in our community.
2. You embraced what makes us unique
You wouldn't want your house to look like everyone else's in the U.S. So why would you want your community to look that way?
3. You created local jobs
Local businesses are better at creating higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.
4. You helped the environment
Buying from a local business conserves energy in the form of less fuel for transportation, less packaging, and products that you know are safe and well made, because we stand behind them.
5. You nurtured community
We know you, and you know us. Studies have shown that local businesses donate to community causes at twice the rate of chains.
6. You conserved your tax dollars
Shopping in a local business district means less infrastructure, less maintenance, and more money available to beautify our community. Also, spending locally instead of online ensures that your sales taxes are reinvested where they belong - right here in your community!
7. You created more choice
We pick the books and gifts we sell based on what we know you like and want. Local businesses carry a wider array of unique products because we buy for our own individual market.
8. You took advantage of our expertise
You are our friends and neighbors and we have a vested interest in knowing how to serve you. We're passionate about what we do. Why not take advantage of that?
9. You invested in entrepreneurship
Creativity and entrepreneurship are what the American economy is founded upon. Nurturing local business ensures a strong community.
10. You made us a destination (Destinations?)
The more interesting and unique we are as a community, the more we will attract new neighbors, visitors, and guests. This benefits everyone.

Love your local
Community, Business, and Neighborhood Alliance

More News on Enzo!

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, has risen to the No. 3 spot on the latest Indie Bestseller list. Those of you paying close attention will have witnessed the correspondence between New Albany Books Daily and the author, including Garth's self-deprecating comment about his standing vis-a-vis "brand-name" authors.

Well, just for comparison, Salman Rushdie sits at No. 4. Stephenie Meyer is at No. 2. Pretty good company, if you ask me.

Plaudits to our staff and to you, our patrons, who have played a small part in elevating Enzo to such rarefied air near the summit of the coveted Indie Bestseller fiction list.

We're almost sold out again and trying to build our order for the coming season. It would be a big help to know how many of you intend to give the book as a gift this Christmas. Send us an e-mail at ops@destinationsbooksellers.com and let us know what you thought about the book. With your permission, we'll post some of the comments, with or without identifying you.

Word of mouth is more important to a book's success than bookseller recommendations, so tell your friends, too.

Sharing a Little Inside Baseball

An intriguing set of survey results fell into my lap this week and I thought I'd share them with you.

The Zogby organization conducted this survey for their client, Random House.

11% of people enjoy reading books digitally.
13% of people under 30 are open to reading books digitally.
6% of people over 65 are open to reading books digitally.
43% of people go into a bookstore looking for a specific book.
77% of people make an additional purchase when looking for a specific book. (Really?)
52% of people are swayed to purchase by cover art.
49% of people are swayed to purchase by reviews.
60% of people are swayed by recommendations from friends or family.
35% of people are swayed to purchase a book because of a cover quote.
86% of people seek out books by authors they like. (That's why we all need to discover new authors!)
49% of people who shop at Indies also shop at chains and online. (Destinations Booksellers is online, too, if that's more convenient for you, and our Patron Passport Rewards apply there, too.)
9% of people usually shop at Indies. (By the way - those 9% who shop at Indies purchase from 16-18% of all books purchased. Thank you.)

Below, you'll find our SOA picks reviews in greater detail. At the radio station's Web site, you can find the list of all of the books recommended on Tuesday's broadcast.

Again, we hope you didn't embarrass you with our appearance on the radio.


The news report is courtesy of Publishers Weekly.

A Good Day, All in All

Thanks to all the patrons who've commented favorably on our guest spot on WFPL's State of Affairs today. It was a real pleasure to share the microphones with such professionals and I have to say the callers were a "cut above" today, too.

If you missed the show or want to hear it again, or just don't want to navigate through www.wfpl.org, click here to hear the show.

Listen to WFPL 89.3 on Tuesday!

I'll be appearing again on State of Affairs this Tuesday, June 17, to give my summer reading recommendations.


Thanks to producer Robin Fisher and show host Julie Kredens for inviting Destinations Booksellers to participate! The show runs from 11 a.m. to noon and is rebroadcast that evening at 9. You can also access the show by Web streaming and podcast at http://www.wfpl.org/.


Joining the discussion will be Robert Gieszl of Louisville's Free Public Library and Kelly Estep, one of the family of booksellers at Carmichaels bookstore, a fellow IndieBound independent bookseller.


Here's a preview of the books I'll be discussing.

America America

The Art of Racing in the Rain

A Voyage Long and Strange

Palace Council

America America

America America: A Novel
By Ethan Canin
2008 Random House Inc.
Hardcover and unabridged audiobook, HC 9780679456803, $27

The time is the 70s. The place: upstate New York. Corey Sifter is the teenage son of working-class parents in the ultimate company town. Fortune comes calling when Corey’s work ethic catches the eye of the patriarch of the Metarey family, ancestral owners of the land for miles around.

The Metarey family, one and all, bring Corey into their lives, paying to send him to a prestigious boarding school and involving him in their lives of power.

The story actually stretches over more than three decades, but it revolves around those few years leading up to the presidential campaign of 1972. Corey becomes a lowly, but important aide to the classic liberal Sen. Henry Bonwiller, who, backed by the Metarey influence, seeks the Democratic nomination to dethrone Richard Nixon.

It is at once a story of moral clarity, adult responsibility, and gripping mystery. I’m a sucker for stories about political campaigns, but this is far more than a political thriller. The characters are compelling, flawed, and seductive. And you’ll wish you could meet them all.

It belongs on the shelf for anyone who, like me, adores Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men. And I think this will certainly be a finalist on many book-of-the-year lists. It, like several of the picks on today’s show, is an IndieNext selection, what was once called the Book Sense Picks. These books, praised by independent booksellers across the U.S.A., are well worth seeking out.

About the author…decades ago, Canin considered himself a failed writer. So he went to Harvard Medical School and became a doctor. Today, he teaches at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, having returned in triumph to the locus of his “failure.”

He is the author of numerous other works, including the collections, Emperor of the Air and The Palace Thief.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel
By Garth Stein
2008 HarperCollins Publishers
Hardcover, Luxe PB, and unabridged audiobook, HC 9780061537936, $23.95

The takeaway from this, my favorite book of the season, is to remember: Somewhere the Zebra is Dancing.

This book is deeply philosophical, wryly funny, and frighteningly poignant. But most of all, it’s a great read, and one you’ll want to share with everyone you know.

As I told the readers of my books blog, I really want you to meet my new friend Enzo.
For my readers, I was very careful to keep them in the dark about who Enzo was until they, too, could fall in love with him. For Enzo is an incredibly likable fellow. His philosophy is somewhat simple, but certain and profound.

We meet Enzo near the end of his life. He’s waiting desperately for his lifelong companion, Denny Swift, to return home. Why must he wait? Well, Enzo is a dog. But not just any dog.

Enzo is a dog with a human soul. He’s convinced of it, and you will be too, for Enzo has the insight and empathy, the compassion and love that we all would desire in a life partner.

As Enzo tells the story of his life and the lives of the family he’s raised by, he shares with us the wisdom he has acquired. As Denny’s companion, he’s learned, for example, that there’s more to racing than going fast. That that which you manifest is before you.

He has also learned a key truth from the excessive amounts of TV he has watched, including countless documentaries. A documentary on the dogs of Mongolia changes Enzo’s life. It seems that when a Mongolian dog reaches the end of his life, his owner whispers into his ear the hope that he will return as a man. Once Enzo accepts the concept of reincarnation, he knows he has been put on this earth to prepare.

Yes, it’s frustrating for Enzo to be unable to open doors (no opposable thumbs) or communicate in English (his tongue is just too floppy to form the syllables). But knowing his destiny, Enzo can’t wait to become human.

Stein says he was inspired to tell this story from Enzo’s point of view after hearing Billy Collins at a reading in Seattle. Collins’ poem, The Revenant, begins, "I am the dog you put to sleep...come back to tell you one simple thing: I never liked you—not one bit."

Stein, a former documentary filmmaker from Seattle, wrote two previous novels - How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets and Raven Stole the Moon, and a play, Brother Jones.

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
By Tony Horwitz
2008 Henry Holt & Company, an imprint of MacMillan Publishers
Hardcover and abridged audiobook, 9780805076035, $27.50

Horwitz, author of the acclaimed Confederates in the Attic, brings us another historical trek that reads like an adventure story.

And an adventure story it truly is, one that ranges all across our continent to unveil the brutal and relentless nature of European discovery in America.

The author visited Plymouth Rock a few years ago and, as is his wont, struck up a conversation with the interpretive ranger on site. The Rock is, in many ways, surprisingly unimpressive, especially when surrounded by gum wrappers and marred by souvenir-seekers through the years.

But what launched Horwitz on his undertaking was something the ranger said. It seems that far too many visitors inquired as to why the Rock had the date “1620” inscribed. Why, they asked, didn’t it say “1492?”

No, Columbus didn’t drop off the Pilgrims before returning to Ferdinand and Isabella’s court. But it motivated Horwitz to ask himself why he, trained as a historian and earning a living as a history writer, could not verifiably fill in the blanks of that century and more.

Thus begins a delightful retracing of the routes of Leif Eiriksson (or was it Bjarni Herjofsson in Vinland and Columbus and his successors in the Caribbean.

We learn how close a thing it was that much of America didn’t speak French and how the Spanish of St. Augustine (the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the U.S.) and Senor Menendez defeated M. Ribault and the French of what is now Jacksonville.

Ponce de Leon’s journeys lead us to Hernando de Soto’s (properly Soto) grueling and merciless travails throughout the southeast United States.

Meanwhile, Coronado’s quest for Cibola and the “lost” cities of gold becomes much richer in Horwitz’s telling. The delightful “revenge” taken by descendants of the natives he terrorized is one of the better stories in Voyage.

And we learn the real truth about the English and their Virginia colonies that preceded the “Pilgrims” by a generation.

Palace Council

Palace Council: A Novel
By Stephen L. Carter
2008 Alfred A. Knopf, Publishers, and imprint of Random House
Hardcover only, 9780307266583, $26.95

Stephen Carter is a literary daredevil.

Palace Council is a sprawling epic of America during its most tumultuous period, and Carter conveys the idealism, the ruthless ambition, and the paranoia of America over two decades, from the Cold War of 1954 to the end of an era, 1974 and the crumbling of the Nixon White House.

Carter is a professor at Yale Law School and the author of two previous novels, The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White. I think it’s fair to say that his unique talent is an ability to capture, as reviewer David Keymer put it, “the nuances of human behavior on both sides of the color line.”

It’s 1954. Eddie Wesley is a middle-class black man determined to succeed. He gravitates to New York, specifically Harlem, and renews his acquaintance with the people at the highest echelon of black society. Over the course of the novel we’ll observe as that society unravels, but at the start, Harlem society is wielding enormous influence in the culture and in politics.

Put in his place at a party, Eddie stomps off into the night, only to stumble over the body of prominent white Wall Street lawyer Philmont Castle. That begins a twenty-year search for the clues to Castle’s death and the conspiracy that spawned it.

Junie, Eddie’s sister, disappears, then later becomes a notorious fugitive from justice as the most famous member of “Jewel Agony,” precursor to the Weather Underground. Finding her becomes the key to unraveling the conspiracy.

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover makes recurring cameo appearances, as do Joseph P.Kennedy early, and Jack Kennedy later when Eddie joins the White House speechwriting staff. Richard Nixon, who may be a conspirator or who may be a victim of the conspiracy, summons Eddie several times, seeing him as someone he can confide in.

Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison show up, too.

It’s a love story, a thriller, and a mystery, and the payoff will surprise you. What makes this a great summer read is that you won’t want to put it down until you solve the mystery yourself.

Dear Garth,

Oh, I *have* to know what you think! Please post when you finish it! G.S.

That's what "roadgarth" had to say to an earlier posting.

It happens rarely, but I've found that the most astute and reader-centric authors tend to be eager for feedback. These perspicacious wordsmiths make use of the technologies to find out what the world might be saying about them and their works.

So for all of you, and most of all for you, Garth, I make apologies for my failure to live up to my renewed commitment to give you regular and daily blog postings.

When last I left you, I had just completed my third consecutive posting about my new friend Enzo.

Indeed, somewhere the zebra is dancing.

I was late in coming to an appreciation for Garth Stein and his masterful The Art of Racing in the Rain. I'll admit that. If I haven't related the story before, I'll do so now.

While I was aware of the book (mostly as a title from a usually reliable publisher, granted), I hadn't taken it up. We were privileged to receive an advance copy of the book at the Winter Institute (III) of the American Booksellers Association, which this year was held in Louisville at the Marriott. Ann and Mark (our senior bookseller) attended the Friday sessions while I kept the store open and I made it over at the end of the day on Friday.

Ann, I later learned, got to meet Mr. Stein on Saturday during the author appearances. Oblivious to the writer or the book that day (I was concentrating on other authors, including Warren Adler, penman of Funny Boys), I recall Ann being lured by what appeared to be "dog treats" and thus obtaining, as funnyman Steve Martin used to affirm, "a close, personal encounter" with Herr Stein.

[The "dog treat" was, in fact, cookies made for human consumption. As none of us in the Destinations Booksellers' family had a dog at that time, it was an aspirational endeavor. That wishful thinking has been ratified since. We added the lovable "Chloe" to our "family" in the last few weeks.]

As I recall it, it was a Tuesday night and I was nearing the end of a nonfiction title. Spying the attractive cover of The Art of Racing in the Rain, I warned my bride that if she did not take it up before I finished that book, I was going to "take" it. Considering that we seldom read the same book, that was a preemptive threat. Before 11:30 that evening, I picked it up, and 100 pages later I was enthusiastically planning my e-mail to Kerri Sikorski, telesales rep non pareil in the Scranton office of HarperCollins, to enter a massive order for the book.

By Friday morning, before I reached the store (I'm known to walk the 1.7 mile route with my head in a book), I had finished the book and was already worried about running out of my initial distributor order.

In fact, we did run out before the end of that day, which explains why I did not fulfill my commitment to continue my teaser campaign to you, dear readers.

I am happy to report to you the early returns. I cannot recommend this book more highly. I have been embarrassed by the thanks our patrons have expressed for my recommendation of this book. To be sure, I have been effusive in my praise while handselling this book, utilizing my rare "guarantee" that you will adore the book. No one has asked for their money back. I even sent the book to a temporarily invalid friend at a 99.999% discount, knowing full well that when she recovered, she'd gladly remit the appropriate payment.

But what I haven't done yet for blog readers (or the recipients of our well-received e-mail newsletter) is tell you specifically about the book.

Mr. Stein has expertly captured what we believe, rightly or wrongly, are the actual thought processes of "man's best friend." My friend Enzo, I will now confess, is an ultimately perceptive canine. Enzo, who we meet near the end of his life, relates the story of his life and the life of the family that becomes his in Racing.

Do not doubt that you will be captivated before you have finished the first three chapters. Despite clear portents of coming tragedy, you will find your funnybone stimulated for the first half of the book. But it's not, in any way, a whimsical fantasy. At no point did I find myself unwilling to believe that Enzo was anything but sincere and true.

Garth Stein has conveyed the emotional and intellectual life of this dog in a way that is so natural and plausible that I (and other readers) never doubted its sincerity. He captures the naivete we expect from our canine companions - that guileless faith we exploit and revere - and the ratiocination that we project onto our pets. If my intuition is true, Enzo thinks the way my dog Chipper did.

Stein reveals a philosophical side I had never suspected, but one that I found myself captivated by. I can only hope that our dogs understand us as well as the narrator of Racing in the Rain does.

I promised a "reveal," and here it is. Denny, Enzo's human companion, is a uniquely talented road racer. We do not learn whether he carried the talent to excel in championship racing, but we do discover that when it comes to controlling and propelling a high-performance vehicle in less-than-perfect race conditions [read: rain], he has few peers.

Events conspire (partly) to thwart Denny's professional ambitions, but the principles he imparts to his Enzo become a lesson to us all.

You may believe you don't care to read a "dog" story. You may believe that a story about a race car driver won't interest you. Forget it. Fuhgeddaboudit! I know of no one who will regret reading this book.

I'm not prepared to say that Stein's book will be read 100 years from now. But I will say that if you read only one piece of fiction in 2008, you couldn't do better than to read this one.

And when you do, you'll want to pass it on [SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: Hold on to your copy. Tell your friends to buy their own - or buy it for them].

As I write this, we've again sold out of the "Luxe" larger print editions and we still await the audio version. But I will repeat my contention that before the end of the summer The Art of Racing in the Rain will be hailed as THE book of the season.

We have ample stock of the primary hardcover edition. Let me encourage you to pick it up now and get the jump on the rest of America. I assure you that you'll be proud to have discovered it long before it becomes THE gift book of the year. Go ahead and pick up two copies, because I know you'll want to give this book as a gift at Christmas time.

FYI: I will again be giving my book recommendations on WFPL-FM, 89.3, during State of Affairs' Summer Reading Program, hosted by Julie Kredens. Producer Robin Fisher has extended an invitation to Destinations Booksellers to give our recommendations on-air on Tuesday, June 17, at 11 a.m. and then for later rebroadcast.

Can you guess which book will be my No. 1?

P.S. The bestseller lists haven't yet caught on to this one. But I predict that when we usher in the New Year, Enzo will be haunting the lists. For the measuring period ending last weekend, in Lousville, Stein's book ranked in a three-way tie for 39th.

On this week's New York Times fiction bestseller list (a week later), TAoRitR is 14th. As Mom used to say, "hide and watch." Ms. Hamilton and Mr. Patterson won't be there in 10 weeks, but Mr. Stein will be. Or so I say.