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Impressive as it was, the successful strike against bin Laden was the exception to, rather than the rule of, U.S. military-intelligence operations, Aid argues. In his comprehensive look at the country’s massive spy network, from policy to technology, personnel to budget, the author of The Secret Sentry, investigates the gap between the resources devoted to intelligence and the often disappointing results.
February 9, 2012
There are far too many superb works of literature by African American writers to fit into a single display at Politics & Prose or to be confined to a single month of celebration. Nonetheless, we appreciate the opportunity afforded by Black History Month to pay special tribute to black writers – novelists, poets, journalists, intellectuals, politicians, performing artists, and social critics – whose ideas and creative imaginations enrich the cultural life of our communities and our country.
Among our timeless favorites are the iconic works of Zora Neale-Hurston, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Langston Hughes. Given that this year Black History Month is focused on women’s contributions to history and culture, we take this moment to salute a younger generation of extraordinarily talented African American women writers, including ZZ Packer, Tayari Jones, Danzy Senna, and Heidi Durrow.
We also call your attention to works of fiction and non-fiction that reflect the wide range of experiences and voices comprising the African American literary community today: Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration; Gil Scott Heron’s posthumously published memoir, The Last Holiday; Manning Marable’s seminal biography, Malcolm X; Donna Britt’s Brothers and Me; Henry Louis Gates, Jr’s Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513 – 2008; Randall Kennedy’s The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency; Walter Mosley’s All I Did Was Shoot My Man, and the just published How To Be Black, a “satirical race manual” by social critic and editor at The Onion, Baratunde Thurston. These are but a handful of books and authors who deserve mention.
Coming up this month at Politics & Prose are several author events that reflect the continuing richness of African American literary talent. On Thursday, February 16, Jamal Joseph will read from his book, Panther Baby, a deep, unvarnished, and compelling tale of his own journey from Harlem to leadership of his local Black Panthers chapter to prison and then to the halls of academe. And on February 25, we will host Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell, who have co-written and illustrated a new graphic novel, The Silence of Our Friends, a semi-autobiographical tale about the experiences of two families – one black and one white – in Texas during the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s.
As important as Black History Month is, there is no reason to limit to February one’s appreciation, or celebration, of the vast contributions by African Americans to our history and culture. Indeed, we hope you will enjoy the wonderful books we have noted here -- as well as many others by African American writers -- today, tomorrow, this year, and throughout your lives.
Happy reading.
Brad and Lissa
All Politics & Prose Weekly Hardcover Bestsellers are 20% off for Members.
Click here to see what the community is reading and which of our hardcover fiction and non-fiction books we are discounting this week.
These are our top two titles.
Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power, by Zbigniew Brzezinski (Basic Books, $26)
The Orphan Master's Son , by Adam Johnson (Random House, $26)
Click here for more of our bestsellers.
Snowdrops, by A.D. Miller (Anchor, $15)
A finalist for the Man Booker Prize last year, Snowdrops reflects the Russia’s beautiful, tragic, nostalgic, and sometimes heartless complexity. It begins as a hard-bitten noir, almost farcically so, with a dead body and an impossibly gorgeous pair of women; but the story quickly evolves into an honest and evocative homage to the flaws and strengths of the Russians as they have moved from the bitter years of Stalinism to the hope and idealism of the thaw and perestroika to the uncertain present. Snowdrops is an entirely probable year in the life of a British expatriate lawyer who develops relationships with guileless ex-Soviet pensioners, glamorous youth, and thuggish members of the newly moneyed set and is led through a labyrinth of legal and illegal profiteering in Moscow. - Andrew Getman
Vaclav & Lena, by Haley Tanner (Dial Press, $15)
The children of Russian emigrés, Vaclav & Lena (Dial, $15) find comfort in their common origins, comradery in their attempts to navigate the English language, and purpose in their ambition to create a magic act in Brighton Beach. Then Lena disappears—and it’s not an act. The path to solving the mystery of Lena’s whereabouts will make you laugh and cry as Vaclav grows older and eventually uncovers the hidden truths behind the scenes of his friendship with Lena. Haley Tanner perfectly captures the wonder and possibilities of an imaginative childhood, one complicated by the incomprehensible, protective, and sometimes cruel behavior of adults. - Andrew Getman
Click here to read more of our staff reviews online. Or stop by the store to meet our booksellers and see our freshly updated staff favorites wall!
P&P is organizing a trip to the Philadelphia International Flower Show on Sunday, March 4. This year's theme is "Hawaii: Islands of Aloha". Click here for more information and to register for the trip online.
It’s not too late to register for Christopher Griffin’s class on Literary Washington, which begins on Friday Feb. 17 and runs for six weeks, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The first in an occasional series on the literature of South Asia will be held on Friday, March 2, from 1-3 p.m., and will involve an In-Depth Analysis of Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance, taught by journalist and filmmaker Alexandra Viets.
There are still spaces available in:
New spring classes will be announced soon, but enrollment is already open for:
For more information about these classes click the hyperlinks to our website. For other classes, please visit: http://www.politics-prose.com/classes/2012-classes. Keep an eye out—information about new 2012 Spring classes will be available soon!
Susan Coll
The Real Romney
Signed by Michael Kranish and Scott Helman
First editions, first printings.
Hardcover – January 2012
(HarperCollins, $27.99)
The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman and Leslie S. Klinger (Vertigo, $49.99)
Can't get enough Sandman? Have you collected all the trade paperback volumes, and even all the Absolute volumes? Well, just to show you how amazing and deep and intelligent this series really is, enter The Annotated Sandman. This oversize volume collects the first 20 issues of this award winning, groundbreaking series, with extra wide margins for the wealth of historical, anecdotal, literary and mythical annotations that can fit. Leslie S. Klinger worked in full cooperation with Neil Gaiman on this (along with Gaiman's original scripts for the series) so you get a lot of inside information you wouldn't have elsewhere.
Tintin: The Complete Companion by Michael Farr (Last Gasp, $35)
Michael Farr, the leading British expert on all things Tintin, gives us a book by book companion to Hergé’s comic masterpiece. With a wealth of information from Hergé’s archives, prepare yourself for a slew of reference photos, facts, anecdotes, and the real-life antecedents to Tintin’s adventures. Hergé was a keen observer (and strange predictor) of both world events and human drama, and this companion will undoubtedly reaffirm why Tintin remains one of the greatest comic creations ever.
Click here for more graphic novel reviews.
Writers Room DC
A small team of local writers plans to create an ideal space for writing, right here in DC - with a launch date in the spring of 2012. The name of the project is Writers Room DC. Many cities now have writing rooms of the kind envisioned in this case—quiet spaces equipped with Wi-Fi, well-designed work stations and ergonomic desk chairs. Generally, there’s a little comfortable furniture for sitting and contemplating. New York alone has six such writing rooms, some with waiting lists. If you’re interested, please go to www.writersroomdc.com.
The best Valentine’s Day gift is thoughtful, literary and utterly unique: When you give the gift of Book-a-Month, the special reader in your life will receive a handpicked book all year round. Long after February’s roses have wilted and the chocolate turned to cavities, your valentine will receive monthly books chosen by expert booksellers!
Our Book-a-Month Program is tailored specifically to your taste, each book handpicked by booksellers based on the information you provide: your reader’s interests and hobbies, and their favorite books and writers. Is your sweetheart an art historian with a yen for mysteries set in Southeast Asia? Or a lawyer addicted to presidential biographies? Or simply someone in search of the elusive, entirely transporting good read? Our reading-addicted, review-devouring staff of bookworms has you covered. Click here to see what people are saying about Book-a-Month!
Does your valentine refer to “built-in bookshelves” in a respectful hush or disappear from dinner parties to peruse the host’s library? Help your sweetheart build an impressive, irreplaceable library through the P&P Signed First Editions Club and we’ll send an autographed first printing every month. We’ll bring you the best, most exciting new titles from writers who inspire us with contagious enthusiasm. Sign up now and start with two of 2012’s most buzzed-about books: The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson (January) and What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander (February). Both programs are also available for children.
Call us at 202.364.1919 or e-mail at Bookamonth@politics-prose.com and SignedFirstEditions@politics-prose.com for more information.
Liz Sher & Michael.Patrick.Allen
Baby Shower and Wedding Registries
The new P&P wishlist feature on our website is great for birthdays, school libraries, wedding registries, and baby showers. Or use it to keep track of a collection of books that you might like for a rainy day.
An "Add to Wish List" button now appears alongside the "Add to Cart" button on product pages and book lists on our website. When you are logged into your online P&P account, pressing this button will add the book to your wishlist.
- Andrew Getman
Almost as long as there’s been life and death, there’s been cancer. In his comprehensive The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, the physician, researcher - and Pulitzer Prize-winning author - Siddhartha Mukherjee tells the story of this dreaded disease. He delves back to the earliest reports of cancer in history, looks at how society and medicine have responded, traces the effects of this seemingly incurable illness on human civilization, and profiles some of the many individuals who have battled this scourge. Available in paperback, $9.98.
The inimitable Mexican artist Frida Kahlo dressed as colorfully as she painted. She didn’t just wear clothes - she created dazzling costumes, and they are on display in Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress - Frida’s Wardrobe: Fashions from the Museo Frida Kahlo. With glossy full-color photographs that offer close looks at details of fabrics, embroidery, beadwork, and more, this album clinches the case for fashion as high art. It’s also a biography in images, matching photos of restored garments with those of Kahlo wearing the outfits while she worked, went out, or rested in bed. The accompanying essays by art historians, curators, and textile restorers discuss the clothes and their various roles in Kahlo’s life. Available in hardcover, $9.98.
The Comanche were the most powerful Native American fighters, and their resistance to European westward expansion led to forty years of warfare. S.C. Gwynne tells their remarkable story in Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches. And who was Quanah Parker? In a parallel story line, Gwynne recounts the Comanches’ kidnapping of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker, who gained renown (or infamy) as the “White Squaw” who refused to leave the tribe until forced to by the Texas Rangers. Her mixed-blood son, Quanah, was the last Comanche chief. Available in hardcover, $7.98.
Please call us at 202-364-1919 or stop by the store to shop for these and other discounted titles.
Thursday, February 16, at 6 p.m.
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street SE
Gigi Bradford, Louisa Newlin - Shakespeare’s Sisters (Folger Library, $19.99)
Dr. Michael Witmore, director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, cordially invites you to an evening with Rita Dove, Linda Gregerson, Elizabeth Nuñez, Linda Pastan, Jacqueline Osherow, and Jane Smiley. Contributors to the chapbook published in conjunction with the Folger exhibition Shakespeare’s Sisters: Voices of English and European Women Writers, 1500-1700
At 6 p.m., there will be an exhibition viewing and at 7 p.m., there will be readings from Shakespeare’s Sisters in the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room. The conversation will be moderated by Gigi Bradford and Louisa Newlin, editors of the Shakespeare's Sisters chapbook
Chapbooks will be available for purchase and a signing will follow the reading. Tickets are available for purchase online or call the box office at 202.544.7077.
For additional information about the Celebration of 1,000 Years of Women Writers,
visit www.folger.edu/womenwriters
NINA SIMONE EVENT THIS SATURDAY
This Saturday, February 11, at 1 p.m., Nadine Cahodas will talk about her biography of Nina Simone, Princess Noir. As part of the presentation, Ms Cahodas will show two rare performances: the first TV footage of Nina Simone, from 1959, and a 1964 excerpt from the Steve Allen Show, in which she talks about and performs “Mississippi Goddam.”
We will also be selling two other related titles:
The Definitive Collection (Hip-O, $12.98), which features 20 songs.
Live in ’65 and ’66 (Jazz Icons DVD, $19.99), filmed in concert.
THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK CONTINUES
Amy Cervini, Digging Me, Digging You (Anzic, $16.98) – Amy Cervini’s album is a wonderful tribute to singer, pianist, and composer Blossom Dearie, who died in 2009. Ms Cervini chooses some Blossom Dearie originals (“I Like You, You’re Nice,” “Hey John”), songs by composers Ms Dearie championed such as Dave Frishberg and, of course, great standards that she made her own, like the slowed-down “Tea for Two,” or the romping “Down with Love.” A cute ending to the album is Bob Dorough’s “Figure Eight” from Schoolhouse Rock—arranged for eight cellos. Ms Cervini is accompanied by such great players as Bruce Barth on piano, Anat Cohen on clarinet, and Matt Wilson on drums.
Meredith d’Ambrosio, By Myself (Sunnyside, $16.98) – Ms d’Ambrosio’s album is also a tribute—to the composer Arthur Schwartz and his lyricists (primarily Howard Dietz, but Yip Harburg, Maxwell Anderson, and Johnny Mercer are also here). This is a solo album, with Ms d’Ambrosio singing and playing piano on such gems as the title tune, “Dancing in the Dark,” “Haunted Heart,” and “You and the Night and the Music.”
Paul McCartney, Kisses on the Bottom (Hear Music) – As he tells it in the liner notes, Paul McCartney still has strong memories of neighbors and friends singing the happy American tunes gathered around the piano played by his father in post-war Liverpool. His heartfelt tribute to the songs of his parents’ generation is beautifully produced: Diana Krall and her band play backup (with guest John Pizzarelli on guitar) and lush orchestrations by Johnny Mandel and Alan Broadbent. Songs include “Bye Bye Blackbird” (complete with the rarely sung verse), “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” and “Inchworm.”
EVENTS: BEN ALLISON AT ATLAS AND THE ELLINGTON FESTIVAL AT STRATHMORE
The Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street, NE, has an exciting list of jazz and new music events this spring (see http://atlasarts.org/ ).
Next Wednesday, February 15, bassist Ben Allison brings his quartet. Allison has put out two of the best CDs of jazz in the past few years, last year’s Action Refraction, and 2009’s Think Free (both on the Palmetto label).
The Strathmore is at the very start of their ambitious “Discover Ellington” festival, with a family day open house, lectures, and many concerts, including an “Ellington Songbook” with Brian Stokes Mitchell; and Ellington’s “Sacred Concert” with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and the tap-dancing Manzari Brothers.
Please look for the details at www.Strathmore.org/discoverellington .
Two other concerts in the series I’m looking forward to:
Next Thursday, February 16, pianist Robert Glasper will play a solo program of Ellington and other composers in the Strathmore Mansion.
His next project, Black Radio (Blue Note Records) by the Robert Glasper Experiment, will be released on February 28.
On Saturday, February 18, Arturo O’Farrill will lead the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in “Big Band Ellington: Duke Goes Latin,” with clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera.
Mr. O’Farrill’s latest CD is 40 Acres and a Burro (Zoho Records).
Click here for more news and reviews. Please call us at 202-364-1919 or email me at agoldinger@politics-prose.com to order these CDs.
Children's Book of the Week
(20% off for everyone through February 15)
What sweet names do your parents call you? If you’re American, maybe you’re “honey” or “pumpkin.” In Australia, you might be “possum” or “flossie.” A French mother might call her baby “mon lapin (my rabbit),” a German father might tuck his “Butzilein (little kiss)” into bed, and an Ethiopian grandmother might read a story to “yeinay filiklik (my bubble of joy).” Jacqueline K. Ogburn has catalogued these Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99) in a picture book whimsically illustrated by Caldecott medalist Chris Raschka, creating the perfect way to say “I love you” to your littlest valentine. Ages 2 and up. – Dana Chidiac
Children’s Blast from the Past
(20% off for Members through February 15)
Flip is not happy about being sent away from her father to an all-girls boarding school in Switzerland. She is miserable, but a bright spot appears in the form of a new, unlikely friend. She meets Paul walking on the mountain and the two immediately connect, but his life remains a mystery to Flip. Originally published in 1949, Madeleine L’Engle’s And Both Were Young (Square Fish, $9.99) is a quietly romantic story of first love and healing in post-World War II Europe. Ages 12 and up.
Join us for our teen author panel at the Bethesda Library on Thursday, February 16 at 5 p.m. Four writers will discuss the challenges and rewards of writing for young adults. Participants include Marie Lu, whose new novel is Legend; Beth Revis, author of A Million Suns, the second volume in her Across The Universe Trilogy; Andrea Cremer, who concludes her Nightshade Trilogy with Bloodrose; and Jessica Spotswood, whose Born Wicked inaugurates her Cahill Witch Chronicles.
Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children and teens by clicking here.
Click here to see the Children and Teens' Department 2011 Favorites.
Story Hour
Each Monday at 10:30 a.m., BearSong offers storytelling and guitar music for children from birth to 5 years old. Click here to sign up to receive email updates. We will inform you of special story hours, changes or cancellations.
Please join us on Monday, February 20, 2012 for a special musical story hour with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer. We will meet at our usual time: 10:30 a.m., but we will meet upstairs.
Politics & Prose sells electronic books for most electronic devices.
Click here for instructions.
This week we are featuring new eBook releases from HarperCollins.
Night, by Elie Wiesel (HarperCollins, $9.99)
ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL BOOKS OF OUR TIME IS NOW AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK
Read Elie Wiesel’s terrifying, powerful account of his survival in Nazi concentration camps.
Night is Elie Wiesel’s masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. This translation by Marion Wiesel, Elie’s wife and frequent translator, presents this seminal memoir in the language and spirit truest to the author’s original intent. And in this preface, Elie reflects on the enduring importance of Night and his lifelong, passionate dedication to ensuring that the world never forgets man’s capacity for inhumanity to man.
Michael Chabon's classic novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union ($11.99) and his book of personal essays Manhood for Amateurs ($9.99) are now available as e-books for the first time. To see these and other books by Michael Chabon for your Nook, iPad, Sony Reader, or other digital reading device, visit our Michael Chabon eBook page
All eight novels (so far) of Armistead Maupin’s legendary Tales of the City series are finally available in e-book format! To celebrate, HarperCollins has lowered the price of the first novel, Tales of the City, to just 99 cents! Visit Armistead's Politics & Prose eBook page to download the books and begin-–or continue-–your adventures with Mary Ann, Mouse, Brian and the other denizens of Mrs. Madrigal’s apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane.
