Vroman's

Nov 20 2009 ∞

Food Drive this Weekend.

This weekend, we’re teaming with the LA Regional Food Bank for a holiday food drive to benefit the hungry of Los Angeles.  This Saturday and Sunday,  November 21 and 22, stop by any Vroman’s location to drop off food.  We will have stations set up at each store to accept donations.  We will be accepting dry and canned goods, as well as personal care and cleaning products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap. This holiday season, take some time to think of the neediest among us and help Vroman’s make their holidays a little bit brighter.  For more information on the LA Regional Foodbank, please visit http://www.lafoodbank.org/.

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worldisphat:

Today was the day that pages (661-692) actually fell out of my copy of Gravity’s Rainbow.

There should be a special section in the store for books that will require duct tape binding.

Nov 18 2009 ∞
“ The Lipsyte passage, I gather, isn’t for everyone. The book, brilliant though it is, demands something from the reader. It offers, in my opinion, a little more resistance than the Didion. It’s not that Lipsyte’s novel is confusing or even difficult, really, but some of those sentences get a little sticky, and I wonder if this stickiness is what has prevented him from blowing up into the enormously popular writer I think he ought to be. In the past two weeks, I’ve laughed so hard while reading this book on the Metro that five people have moved to other seats to avoid being near me. That’s how great of a writer he is, and yet, his sales, from what I can tell, don’t yet match his talent. Either the marketing departments of his publishers are failing him or his style doesn’t attract that many people. Maybe when folks pick up a Lipsyte book, that first paragraph doesn’t just leap off the page at them. They might enjoy the book if they gave it some time, but come on, who gives anything time anymore?
— Some thoughts on challenging fiction and what might happen to it in the new digital marketplace.
Nov 12 2009 ∞
dancetotheradio: Want this necklace. I’m in favor of the book-as-jewelry trend.

dancetotheradio:

Want this necklace.

I’m in favor of the book-as-jewelry trend.

Nov 06 2009 ∞
“ Book tours are debilitating. My body clock is so screwed up that, on consecutive nights, I woke up in the middle of the night and had no idea where I was. My right thumb has swelled to 140 percent the size of my left thumb. My back is crumbling like blue cheese. My immune system might turn me into Patient X of Swine Flu 2.0 before everything’s said and done. Even my BlackBerry mouse no longer can move to the right.
—

Bill Simmons book tour and NFL picks Week 9 - ESPN

The Sports Guy blames his book tour for ruining his NFL picks.  Psh.  Michael Connelly is always on tour, and that dude can pick an NFL game, let me tell you.

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Part 3 in our Eating Animals series, where we get into the arbitrary nature of most carnivores.  Among the issues explored:  will I eat my dog, why don’t we eat horses, why do we eat pigs, and so much more.

All of these videos have been part of a week-long examination of our eating habits as part of our preparation for Jonathan Safran Foer’s appearance at our store on Sunday, November 8.  If you’re in Southern California, please join us for what ought to be an incredible evening of discussion.

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Part 2 of our Eating Animals series:  Backyard Chickens.

I personally think this video is better than the last one.  For one thing, there are animals in it.  For another, watching Sherri and I race around after the chickens is pretty funny, too.

Nov 02 2009 ∞

The first in a series of videos we’re making about eating meat (or not eating it) in anticipation of our Sunday night event with Jonathan Safran Foer.

Oct 30 2009 ∞
“

Realism: Take this test. When you read “These dishes have been sitting in the sink for days,” do you think (a) This is an indicator of my inner weather, or (b) Why don’t they do the dishes? Does the phrase “I’m going as far away from here as my broken transmission will get me, and then I’ll take it from there” make you think (a) Somebody understands me, or (b) Why don’t they stay and talk it out? What is more visually appealing, (a) a Pall Mall butt floating in a coffee mug, or (b) those new Pop Art place mats in the Crate & Barrel catalog? If you answered (a), do we have a genre for you.
Recommended for: The rumpled, drinky.

Ist: Simply add -ist to any oddball or unlikely root word, and run with it. You’d be surprised.
— Essay - What to Write Next - Picking a Genre for Your Next Novel - NYTimes.com
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Vroman's Own Allison Hill on Losing Her Literary Verginity

You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a paperback of John Irving’s bestseller The Hotel New Hampshire in the living room bookcase. My Southern Baptist parents who had dutifully protected my innocence by prohibiting me from watching “The Bad News Bears”, “Grease”, and “Three’s Company”, had never thought to lock up their bookcase the way one would lock up a liquor cabinet. And it would never have occurred to me to read their boring adult books if I hadn’t run out of “age appropriate” material, with my weekly library visit still days away.


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