The Bibliophile
Takes a Road Trip

by A. Bookseller

We have a joke in my family that goes something like this: "Say, did I tell you I've taken up Russian/cake decorating/tennis/bridge?"

"Really?"

"Why, yes. Last week I bought a book about it."

So it follows that vacation planning is directly tied to the success and enjoyment of the trip itself. How could it not be, with all the referencing and cross-referencing among the different guidebooks, road atlases, and maps? Frommer's recommends Highway 101 for coastal driving from Seattle to San Francisco; Fodor's says the El Gaucho is the best place to stay in Novato, while Moon doesn't mention it at all; and Lonely Planet has a wonderful sidebar on the Infineon Raceway. The coup, of course, is to find an entire book set in or written about your intended destination. It makes you wonder if it is necessary to make the actual trip.

The really nice thing about car trips for bibliophiles is that, along with the required reference books, there is ample space for all the planned and potential books as well. A few years back, our family drove from Seattle to Denver. I did not flinch in the slightest at bringing one more bag filled with books, including Michael Chabon's sweet foray into young adult literature, Summerland (Hyperion); the firsthand, fast-paced, behind-the-scenes look at the Culinary Institute of America, Soul of a Chef, by Michael Rulhman (Penguin); the fantastic fantasy Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville (Del Rey); and the subversively dark Invisible Monsters, by Chuck Palahniuk (Norton). Fortunately, during our stay in Denver, we stopped at both branches of The Tattered Cover, and I picked up a few things to tide me over until we reached home.

Books on tape and CD are increasingly popular with the commuter crowd. Personally, I prefer unabridged audio and titles that are considered "children's literature"—for example, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (Listening Library), in which the author reads all the books himself. This is perhaps the key to why it is so enthralling; as the creator of these unforgettable characters and scenarios, Pullman masterfully modulates the pitch and rhythm of his speech to aurally represent the books' different characters. The same is true for Wolf Brother, book one in The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, by Michelle Paver, read by Ian McKellen (Harper Audio). The story, set about 6,000 years ago, tells of young Torak, who must make his way alone in the ancient forest after the death of his beloved father at the hands of an enchanted bear. Torak befriends an orphaned wolf cub that will become his guide and dearest companion throughout this riveting adventure.

One exception to my children's-literature-only rule in audio is Erik Larson's brilliant study of light and dark (in this case the visionary architect of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the sociopathic serial killer who preys on fair visitors), Devil in the White City (Random House Audio), read by Tony Goldwyn.

Even though I have over a month to plan, I have already started to create my list of possible literary companions. For my food book, should I take The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine, by Rudolph Chelminski (Gotham), or Garlic and Sapphires (Penguin), the newest book by the always-delightful Ruth Reichl? Perhaps now is the time to read Something Rotten (Viking), by Jasper Fforde, the latest Thursday Next installment or The Bradbury Chronicles, by Sam Weller (William Morrow), the biography of my hero Ray Bradbury, or maybe this is the perfect opportunity to start...

The Indirect Approach

by Matthew N. Voss

The landscape of contemporary American crime fiction is as diverse as America, and the hard-boiled-detective tradition born here has produced great authors, most prominently Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, whose darkly comic tones resurface in the works of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Chandler's tough detective Philip Marlowe is reflected in contemporary female detectives, most notably Sarah Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski. The protagonist of Hammett's short-story collection Continental Op, published by Random House, (the name refers to the book's nameless, individualistic investigator) has been succeeded by the case-hardened, disillusioned cop of today's police procedural, as exemplied in Hieronymus Bosch, hero of Michael Connelly's excellent series. Violent heirs to Jim Thompson's psychotic protagonists, such as Lou Ford of The Killer Inside Me (Random House), still stalk the pages of Thomas Harris and James Ellroy.

This new breed of hard-boiled American crime noir writer draws on a rich literary tradition—entertaining and edifying—crafting contemporary novels with characters and situations that, while perhaps not within the average reader's experience, are certainly recognizable. There were bound to be changes to this subgenre as the "lurid era" of the twenty-five-cent paperback ended and large publishing houses began to see paperback mysteries as profit centers. But although books with lurid and titillating covers disappeared from the racks in soda fountains and bus stations, their styles and ideas fueled a whole new generation of writers in the hard-boiled tradition.

In his out-of-print novel No Beast So Fierce (Random House), Edward Bunker, who spent much of his adult life in prison, draws on his experience to write about the effects of incarceration, deprivation, and exclusion from the criminal's point of view. This story of Max Dembo and his attempts, and failure, to do time in San Quentin, deals with the rage and frustration he feels at a society that at best tolerates him and at worst hates him.

James Crumley is another writer in the tough tradition of Hammett and Chandler. Crumley describes himself as "a bastard child of Chandler," but his morality is much less traditional than Philip Marlowe's. Crumley's sensibility was conditioned by Vietnam, and as a result his sense of justice is much less clear cut. In The Last Good Kiss (Random House), his hard-drinking loner protagonist, D.W. Sughrue, is sustained and fulfilled by his eccentric alliances with criminals, alcoholics, and other misfits.

Writer Charles Willeford began publishing in the paperback era. The cover of his early novel Pick-Up (Random House) has one of the great cover teasers of all time: "Any guy with the price of a drink could have her for a night...Why did one man want her for a lifetime?"

After years of writing, Willeford hit the big time in 1984 with the publication of Miami Blues (Random House). Willeford's creation of Miami homicide detective Hoke Moseley established his place in the hard-boiled genre. In Miami Blues and three subsequent novels—New Hope for the Dead, The Way We Die Now, and Side-Swipe (all Random House)—Hoke Moseley develops into one of crime fiction's most memorable characters. He is beleaguered, downtrodden, a little punchy at times, a hell of an investigator, and toothless. (You'll have to read the books to find out about that last one.)

Whatever approach you take to reading this summer—the direct path or the more circuitous route through marginalized genres and nonmainstream writers—the destination is the same: to arrive at a point of understanding, having been entertained and educated along the way.

The Owner's Box

by Peter Aaron

Homage to a Great American

This July, we celebrate Stanley Kunitz's one-hundredth birthday. Kunitz, indisputably this nation's greatest poet of the past fifty years, has lived a uniquely American life, including suffering this nation's penchant for paying scant attention, and offering little encouragement to its preeminent artists.

Hardship struck Kunitz from the outset—his father committed suicide before his birth, leaving his upbringing in the hands of a tough-minded, independent mother, except for a brief period when a stepfather entered his life, before he died, too, of a heart attack. A frail, sensitive child, Kunitz spent much of his time alone, in the woods or on the farm, thriving on the freedom to explore the teeming life, plant and animal, with which he felt most at home.

Graduating summa cum laude from Harvard, Kunitz assumed he would be offered a teaching position, until he was informed that the university's Christian students would not accept being taught by a Jew, an experience that propelled the young scholar away from academia and onto a farm of his own.

As conscientious objector in World War II, Kunitz—after the army reneged on its agreement to assign him to noncombatant duty—spent two years on latrine duty, an assignment that nearly killed him. After surviving this ordeal, Kunitz was "rescued" and restored to the academy by means of a completely unexpected offer to teach at Bennington College in Vermont, the result of the machinations of fellow poet Theodore Roethke. As Kunitz tells the story, Roethke, seeing the walls closing in on him at Bennington as a result of his mental instability, literally blockaded himself in his house and agreed to leave only when given the promise that Kunitz would succeed him on the faculty. Thus began Kunitz's long career of teaching and nurturing developing poets, at Bennington and other institutions—including a stint as visiting writer (also in Roethke's footsteps) at the University of Washington—culminating in his years at Columbia University.

Kunitz is the recipient of nearly every honor this country offers a poet: Pulitzer and Bollingen Prizes, National Medal of the Arts, Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America. He served two stints as U.S. Poet Laureate.

To commemorate Kunitz's centenary, W. W. Norton has published The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden. This beautiful volume includes discussions and interviews about Kunitz's two abiding passions—gardening and poetry—as well as settings of several poems and photographs of the gardener at work. The emotional culmination of the book is the transcript of a discussion between Kunitz and his longtime assistant, Genine Lentine, shortly after Kunitz emerged from a near-death health crisis in 2003.

Responding to the question of what he thought had been happening, he said: I think all the forces, all the energies of my life are converging and that I won't know what my destiny is until a compelling voice takes over and says, "This is the right path for you to go. Follow me." And I'll go.

And then, near the end of the discussion, "I don't want to think about anything, except to become language." A transformation, an ascendancy, he is close to completing.

The following is the essential bibliography of Stanley Kunitz's books still in print at this writing:

The Collected Poems (Norton, 2000)
Interviews and Encounters With Stanley Kunitz (Sheep Meadow Press, 1993)
Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected (Norton, 1995)
Poems of Akhmatova (translator, with Max Heyward, Houghton Mifflin, 1976)
The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden (Norton, 2005)

Everything You Wanted to Know About Used Books

by Rich Harriman

Good afternoon and welcome to the used-book room of the Elliott Bay Book Company. For the past six years we have offered more than 20,000 used titles ranging from paperback mysteries to rare editions of some of your favorite works. Wander the stacks and peruse our extensive art and photography collection or familiarize yourself with our rich local history in our Northwest section. We currently have an amazing variety of collectible science-fiction titles, including Arkham house and Tartarus Press editions that are in excellent condition.

Besides having a large selection of unavailable and out-of-print works, we also have a notable selection of gently used copies of some of the more current titles available. Our famous reading series has also enabled us to offer an amazing variety of signed titles, from works by local authors to former presidents.

We also invite you to bring in books from home to sell to us. We're interested in a diversity of subjects—everything from antique children's books to modern military history—with the exception of computer books, magazines, and textbooks. Trade in your books for cash or take the equivalent plus fifty percent more in store credit, good for any purchase in the bookstore. If you simply want a bookseller's opinion on the value of an old, dusty tome you've had in your attic for generations or that stack of paperbacks you once bought on a whim, bring them by and we'll take a look.

Whether you bring in just a few titles or a dozen boxes, our staff will always be happy to help you bring in your old treasures. If we can't use some of the books, we can arrange to donate them for you. There is never a need to make an appointment. Our buying counter and Main Street entrance are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Feel free to call the store or email us at usedbooks@elliottbaybook.com with any questions.

Children's & Young Adult Books

Big Sister Little Sister
by LeUyen Pham (Hyperion)

LeUyen's Japanese brush pen-and-ink illustrations are the life behind this beautiful picture book about herself and her sister LeChi. It illustrates the importance each sister holds for the other and how their special quirks and skills accentuate one another. The sisters share special moments, such as reading to each other and caring for each other when one gets sick. And while LeUyen may be a little jealous of LeChi, she knows that her role as the little sister is just as important as her older sister's role. This book should be required reading for all girls who have a sister. -C. Reid

The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl
by Ma Yan (HarperCollins)

Ma Yan is a girl in rural China. Her dreams are big, but her family cannot afford to further her education. Yan's mother passes her daughter's diary to a French journalist who gets it published, and thus begins a chain of events that enable Yan and others to continue their schooling.

This is a heartwarming true story about struggle, determination, and, ultimately, good fortune. Yan's diary entries give great insights into her hopes, her family devotion, and life in modern China as experienced through the eyes of a teenage girl in a fascinating and inspiring read. -D. Hsieh

Voyage of Plunder
by Michele Torrey (Knopf)

Voyage of Plunder is far from a clichéd melodrama, but it still offers up a tantalizing stew of Treasure, Revenge, Moral Dilemma, Tropical Paradise, Adventure, Murder, and Piracy. Torrey's story of a privileged adolescent boy named Daniel, living in the 1670s, who is forced to become a pirate, is a richly detailed, nostalgia-free entry into the past. It covers a lot of philosophical territory, as Daniel must struggle with questions of guilt, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Nothing is as it seems to be in this story, and the reader benefits. -M. Helsel

Raven's Gate
by Anthony Horowitz (Scholastic)

Matt Freeman has always felt different, and since the death of his parents he has been adrift and unnoticed. Now nearly sixteen, he is being pulled toward the wrong element. His actions force him to choose between jail and becoming a ward of the state. He is being sent to a remote town, called Lesser Malling, under the care of the cold Mrs. Deverill. But something sinister is afoot in Lesser Malling, and it seems to be centering on Matt; people he knows are disappearing—or dying. -H. Myers

Kipling's Choice
by Geert Spillebeen (Houghton Mifflin)
translated by Terese Edelstein

When poor eyesight ended Rudyard Kipling's chance to fight for his country, he wasn't about to stand idle while the same thing happened to his son during his bid for World War I. John Kipling eventually succeeded, only to join the fight in the shadow of his family's name and his father's war writings.

Spillebeen's novel is an important work for young adults that illuminates the dark side of war and a young man's struggle to stay alive. John's injuries and ultimate death lead Rudyard to reexamine his own life and views on war. -C. Reid

Best Foot Forward
by Joan Bauer (Putnam)

Best Foot Forward is like Les Miserables set in a shoe store, which is a surprisingly good thing. Told from the perspective of a high schooler named Jenna, the story expresses how hard (and necessary) it is to do the right thing. Jenna's own story intertwines with that of her mentor, Mrs. Gladstone, who is struggling to retain her values in the midst of a corporate merger, and with Mrs. Gladstone's new hire, Tanner, a former shoplifter. Jenna is a pragmatic, warm character, and her voice ensures that this book is not just a morality tale, but a tough, humorous story about the needed power of principle. -M. Helsel

While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat
by Amy Reichert
illus. by Alexandra Boiger (Chronicle)

Little redheaded Rose has a lot of bedtime chores to finish before her mom gets off the phone with her uncle. But she quickly becomes distracted when a party shows up at her doorstep—first the guests, quickly followed by waiters and a jazz band. Her mother claims that she will "just be a minute," but Rose's minutes turn to hours as a party erupts in her living room.

Alexandra Boiger's watercolor illustrations bring highlights and detail to an already-telling story of a child's perception of her mother's "quick little chat." -C. Reid

The Book Without Words
by Avi (Hyperion)

The secrets of alchemy and eternal life are hidden in what appears to be a blank book that has ended up in the desperate hands of Thorston. After Thorston dies, his servant, Sybil, and talking raven, Odo, are left to unlock the secrets of the book to save themselves. But this proves to be difficult, as other characters seek out the same riches, and Thorston resurfaces, repeatedly.

Avi has created a rich and unique gothic tale set in eleventh-century England. The diverse set of characters and their narratives make for an unconventional read that will stir your mind. -C. Reid

Back Talk

by Janet Brown

You can always tell who the true Seattleites are; they're the ones who refuse to leave their city between May and September. Tourists aren't the only people enchanted by Seattle in the summer. Residents are right beside them, enjoying their hometown. The problem is that tourists are better informed, since they consult the guidebooks that Seattle citizens don't believe they need. They're wrong. A good guidebook presents a multiplicity of facts that they probably don't know and that will make summer in this city even more wonderful.

Top 10 Seattle by Eric Amrine (DK), is filled with surprises: West Seattle's sixty-eight acre Camp Long rents cabins for quick getaways; also in West Seattle, a Northwest version of Watts Towers can be visited from June through Labor Day at the Walker Rock Garden; and "one of the largest Chinese gardens outside of China" was built at South Seattle Community College by people from our sister city, Chongqing. Best Places Seattle, edited by Shannon O'Leary (Sasquatch), tells where to rent a rowboat, where to swim in heated saltwater, and where to eat in all corners of Seattle. Billed as a guide for locals, this book is a comprehensive directory of everything this city has to offer. Katy Calcott's The Food Lover's Guide to Seattle goes beyond the Pike Place Market to show where to buy and eat the diversity of food found in Seattle—it's not just lutefiske anymore! Buy this book and you'll never have to ask where Salumi is again. (That's a question we get frequently at the front counter.)

Want to find out where to buy a used jukebox, how to go to a University of Washington surplus auction, and which supermarket has a resident Chinese herbalist? (No, it's not Uwajimaya.) Pick up The Stranger Guide to Seattle, edited by Paula Gilovich, Traci Vogel, and the staff of The Stranger (Sasquatch), and discover things that no other guidebook divulges, like the Memory Museum and the Vintage Café, both located in the Goodwill store on Lane Street.

For living, breathing Seattle history, nobody does it better than Walt Crowley in National Trust Guide Seattle (Wiley). Breaking the city into its neighborhoods, Crowley reveals Seattle's history through its architecture. The Globe Building, where we can be found, was once the site of "Seattle's first hospital, run by Doc Maynard."

Whether you were born in Seattle or have lived here for decades, explore our Northwest section and find a guidebook to carry with you while you explore new facets of your city.