Happy Birthday to Us!

Recently we celebrated our second birthday, and Garrison dressed up for the event.

Literary News of the Week

Why aren't American poets considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature? One answer from David Orr of the New York Times:"American poets, it’s sometimes suggested, are private, introspective — more interested in the nature of poetry than the nature of the world." Read the rest here>>>

Liberty, Garrison Keillor's latest Lake Wobegon novel reviewed in the New York Times.

20th Annual MN Book Awards Finalists Announced

Some names that have come up a few times here since this blog began appear on the list for the 20th Annual MN Book Awards as well: Garrison Keillor, Patricia Hampl, Kevin Kling.

Charles Baxter's The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot is in the General Nonfiction category. His new book, The Soul Thief, comes out on Tuesday. Here's an excerpt from the first chapter, and you can pre-order here. (If you read the bio from Ploughshares and the first chapter of The Soul Thief, notice what the person on the West Coast says after reading one of Baxter's early novels and the way Jerome Coolberg describes Nathaniel Mason when talking about his name. A little insight into the working mind of this author, eh?)

Others on the list are Leslie Adrienne Miller for The Resurrection Trade and Eireann Lorsung for Music for Landing Planes By, both books of poetry; The Wet Collection by Joni Tevis--a nonfiction collection that I know at least one of the judges is very excited about; and William Kent Krueger for his novel Thunder Bay.

Winners will be announced on April 12.

It's Been A While

Blogs are timely. They are meant to be updated in a timely fashion. People check their favorite blogs on a daily basis for updates on the world which those blogs are representing.

Let me assure you, we are still here in our cozy basement home, selling away, if not blogging. My apologies. For 2008: More blog entries for any of you out there still coming by. Promise. Tell your friends.

So, what's new? A nice little event happening this weekend. Bill Holm will be down the street at the church talking with Garrison about his (Holm's) new book, The Windows of Brimnes. (My favorite lines in the book come early (mostly because I've just started it): "There are too many of us, and we are too hard to keep track of. We like to put things in numerical order, in case the authorities should need us suddenly.) If you haven't read Holm's book The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth, it would behoove you to get a copy.














And besides the fantastic writing, just look at that guy. He's awesome, right?

Alright, more soon. I leave you with an essay from the above-mentioned author.

I'll be working the event, so come by and say hello.

--David

Oh, and a new look...