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Bookstore Hours:
Mon – Sat 9 am – 10 pm
Sunday 10am – 8pm |
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5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
202.364.1919
800.722.0790
Fax 202.966.7532
Membership Hotline:
(202) 363-7651
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Upcoming events
Sunday, November 30, 5 p.m.
THE FIRE
KATHERINE NEVILLE
(Ballantine, $26)
Neville’s sequel to The Eight is part adventure, part fantasy, and part historical novel. Alexandra has grown up and now, a player in The Game, she searches for an ancient chess set that holds the key to the secret of immortality.
Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m.
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street NW, Washington, DC
A MERCY: A NOVEL
TONI MORRISON
(Knopf, $23.95)
We are honored to present the Nobel Laureate. She returns to the theme of slavery; this time, in a period soon after the nation’s founding. A Publishers Weekly starred preview says, “Morrison’s lyricism infuses the shifting voices of her characters … Morrison’s unflinching narrative is all the more powerful for its relative brevity.”
Tickets for this event are SOLD OUT. It is still possible to buy the book and have the author sign it (202)364-1919, but tickets are sold out and there is no waiting list.
UPCOMING OUT-OF-STORE EVENTS
Friday, December 5, 8 p.m.
PEN/Faulkner Presents
PEN/Malamud Award Memorial Reading 1988–2008
CYNTHIA OZICK and PETER HO DAVIES
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol St. SE
This year's PEN/Malamud Award winners, Cynthia Ozick and Peter Ho Davies, read in a memorial celebration of the 1988-2008 anniversary of the award, established by the family of Bernard Malamud to honor excellence in the art of the short story. For tickets please call 202-544-7077, or visit www.penfaulkner.org
schedule change
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Wednesday,
November 19 |
We’re happy to announce that Margaret Atwood will be in the store Wednesday, November 19 at 4 p.m. to talk about PAYBACK: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, her new collection of essays that explores the idea of debt as a central and ancient motif in religion, literature, and the structure of human societies.
And we are sorry to announce that Jon Meacham has had to cancel his appearance for AMERICAN LION that same day. We hope to reschedule this in January.
For the full November/December calendar, click here
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 On Monday night, November 10, Tim Noah, a senior writer at Slate, presented REPUTATION, a second volume of Marjorie Williams’s collected articles. Marjorie died tragically early of cancer in 2005. The next year, Tim brought out a volume of Marjorie’s writing called The Woman at the Washington Zoo, comprised of columns and longer pieces, including a magnificent article about her mother, called “The Alchemist.” Often a book of collected articles feels a little like a grab bag. The Woman at the Washington Zoo felt like getting to know a very charming and smart woman. I suggested—as I am sure many others did—that Tim consider a second volume.
In The Woman at the Washington Zoo I was particularly drawn to the profiles because I had missed some and did not remember others very clearly. I loved “The Rainmaker,” about Vernon Jordan, because I know him slightly and it seemed that Marjorie had captured him perfectly. Reputation is entirely devoted to the astringent profiles that Marjorie Williams wrote, including those on Clark Clifford, James Baker, Lee Atwater, a joint profile of James Carville and Mary Matalin, and Colin Powell. Washingtonians in particular will enjoy these.
Tim, in introducing the book Monday night, noted that the profiles were written in a particular historical moment—most of them originated in the ’90s. (She was not well enough to chronicle the Dark Age that we have just passed through.) As Tim said, this is the beginning of a new era. We can see that these figures, many of them pivotal in their time and place, have faded. Perhaps the sense of outrage that we would have felt ten years ago has also lost its edge. We read the profiles with bemusement, but also with a recognition that these are archetypes whose successors are still around to excite and annoy us.
Click here for more of Carla's Comments.
signed book of the week
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OBAMA: The Historic Campaign in Photographs (Amistad, $26.95)
by Deborah Willis and Kevin Merida
Signed by Kevin Merida
Signed first editions, first printings.
Timed to coincide with the 2008 presidential election, this deluxe commemorative photo book is filled with 150 full color and black and white photographs that chart Obama's historic campaign, from its idealistic beginnings through his triumphant Democratic primary nomination.
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BOOKS OF THE WEEK
(20% off through 11/19)
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ABC3D (Roaring Brook, $19.95), by Marion Bataille, is an elegantly simple pop-up book. It’s a black, white, and red abecedary about the very forms of the ABCs. Letters metamorphose and typography becomes clever architecture. From the holographic cover to the stately, stand-up Z, it’s a new way to look at the alphabet. All ages. •
Andras Goldinger |
“Remainders,” can be found in lower
level of the store. These books are often onlyavailable for a short time, so come
in soon to find what you want.
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The man behind California pizza, Spago, and now the Source right here in Washington, Wolfgang Puck is well known in culinary circles. He also has some great cookbooks, among them, ADVENTURES IN THE KITCHEN: Delectable Recipes from the Kitchens of the Most Famous Restaurants. This book will help you recreate Puck’s famous Spago house salad dressing, his tuna sashimi, 6-grain country bread, whiskey fudge cake, and more! Available in hardcover, $6.98.
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Toni Morrison’s new novel, A Mercy, is getting some great reviews. Catch up with the work of this Nobel laureate before her appearance December 4 at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, with her 2003 novel, LOVE. Set in the fading ocean resort of Up Beach, it centers on Bill Cosey, the late proprietor of a once-glamorous hotel, and the people who knew him. Haunting and haunted, this novel is full of Morrison’s trademark lyrical prose and magical imagination. Available in hardcover, $5.98.
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Still have the presidency on your mind? Joseph Ellis, author of Founding Brothers, goes back to the very beginning in HIS EXCELLENCY: George Washington. This acclaimed biography of our first president looks behind the icon to present the man; using Washington’s letters and personal papers, Ellis shows how Washington thought and felt about the events he took part in. Available in paperback, $5.98.
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The Founding Fathers and Brothers weren’t the only players on the revolutionary scene. In LADIES OF LIBERTY: The Women Who Shaped our Nation, NPR and ABC journalist Cokie Roberts follows up her Founding Mothers with this account of the contributions women made to the early years of the United States. Using letters, journals, and other primary resources, Roberts writes about familiar figures, like Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison, and unfamiliar educators and explorers such as Margaret Bayard Smith and Rosalie Calvert. Available in hardcover, $6.98.
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THE FAMILY THAT COULDN’T SLEEP: A Medical Mystery, is D.T. Max’s fascinating look at some strange diseases. What do sheep scrapie, mad cow disease, fatal familial insomnia, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease have in common? Prions, proteins that don’t fold properly, causing a range of symptoms, including chronic insomnia. Max tracked down the doctors who tracked down the prions, interviewed an Italian family afflicted with a bad strain of these proteins, and clearly describes the biological and chemical processes at work. Available in hardcover, $4.98.
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WASHINGTON CHORUS OFFER
On Sunday, November 16, at 5 p.m., at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the Washington Chorus, with new conductor, Julian Wachner, will perform Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Internationally-renowned Baroque specialists will sing the solos: Lisa Saffer, soprano; Jessica Grigg, mezzo soprano; Daniel Taylor, countertenor; Charles Daniels, tenor; Sanford Sylvan, baritone.
There will be a post-concert discussion with Julian Wachner and Mary Deissler, formerly of Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society. On Saturday, November 15, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Georgetown Day School, 4200 Davenport Road NW, there will be an annotated open rehearsal, and master class with the chorus and soloists. Admission is free.
SPECIAL OFFER: 20% off for P&P Subscribers:
Order online with the Washington Chorus with the promotion code: TWCBACH1108 or call (202) 342-6221
(enter the code in the “Promotional Discount” box at checkout and click “Submit.” Be sure that the discount was applied before confirming your order.)
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Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Ticket Drawing
The University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is giving away two pairs of tickets to a performance of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on Friday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Second-year students from UMD’s Opera Studio will present Britten’s “fanciful comedy,” with the libretto adapted from Shakespeare by Britten and Peter Pears. It’s a minimally-staged production, with piano (not orchestral) accompaniment, plus supertitles. For more information and program notes, click here.
To enter the drawing, email: agoldinger@politics-prose.com , with DREAM and your FIRST NAME in the subject field. Winners will be notified next Tuesday.
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New Christmas Titles
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Yo-Yo Ma & Friends, SONGS OF JOY & PEACE (Sony, $17.98)—The lineup is amazing: Renée Fleming, Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Joshua Redman, members of the Silk Road Ensemble, fiddler Natalie McMaster, bagpiper Cristina Pato. There are four improvisations on Dona Nobis Pacem, featuring Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile; the Assad Brothers; Paquito D’Rivera; and Chris Botti.
Mary Chapin Carpenter, COME DARKNESS, COME LIGHT: 12 CHRISTMAS SONGS (Zöe/Rounder, $17.98)—Twelve original songs of the season.
Tony Bennett, featuring the Count Basie Big Band, A SWINGIN’ CHRISTMAS (Columbia, $17.98)
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, JINGLE ALL THE WAY (Rounder, $14.98)—One of the most original Christmas albums ever.
Straight No Chaser, HOLIDAY SPIRITS (Atlantic, $17.98—The reunited a capella group, originally formed at Indiana University, recently profiled in the New York Times. Check them out on YouTube.
Imani Winds, THIS CHRISTMAS (KOCH, $17.98)
A JAZZ AND BLUES CHRISTMAS (Putumayo, $14.99)
Kristin Chenoweth, A LOVELY WAY TO SPEND CHRISTMAS (Sony Classical, $16.98)
Harry Connick, Jr., WHAT A NIGHT! A CHRISTMAS ALBUM (Columbia, $17.98)
Enya, AND WINTER CAME (Reprise, $17.98) |
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Gramophone’s Best of the Year
Every year, Gramophone, the great English classical music magazine, selects its prestigious recordings of the year. Here are some highlights—some CDs are here already, some are on their way:
Recording of the Year:
BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATAS, VOL. 4, Paul Lewis (Harmonia Mundi, 3 CDs for the price of 2, $39.98) |
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Contemporary Music:
JONATHAN HARVEY: BODY MANDALA, Anu Komsi, soprano; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov, conductor (NMC, $19.98) |
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Chamber Music:
SCHUMANN & BRAHMS PIANO QUINTETS, Leif Ove Andsnes & the Artemis Quartet (Virgin Classics, $17.98) |
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Choral:
HAYDN: THE CREATION, Gabrieli Consort & Players, Paul McCreesh, conductor (Archiv, 2 CDs, $33.98) |
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Recital:
MARIA, Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo; Orchestra La Scintilla, Adám Fischer, conductor (Decca, $17.98) |
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Baroque Instrumental:
BACH: BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS, European Brandenburg Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord & conductor (Avie, 2 CDs, $32.98) |
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Baroque Vocal:
MONTEVERDI: L’ORFEO, La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina, conductor (Glossa, 2 CDs, $39.98) |
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Editor’s Choice Award:
MR. ABEL’S FINE AIRS, Susanne Hienrich, viola da gamba (Hyperion, $20.98)
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•András Goldinger
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