I have been an evangelist for the novels of the Italian author Italo Calvino since my university days. Sadly, he is underappreciated and seldom read here in North America. Over the years, I have had many copies of his better known translated works and often lost them in lending or through book sales. Recently, I saw the wonderful three-volume slipcase edition of his popular novels on a blog and instantly regretted selling my copy years ago.
This excellent release by Harcourt Brace included my all time favorite Calvino book If on a winter’s night a traveler, as well as Invisible Cities and The Baron in the Trees. The moral of this tales don’t sell the books that you love.
The anonymous street artist and provocateur Banksy has opened a new online store, called Gross Domestic Product. The launch was heralded by an art installation-come-shop in the London Borough of Croydon, which stocks Banksy-related merchandise. However, the IRL store can’t be entered.
Announcing the enterprise via his Instagram, the illusive artist said that the store is a “showroom” for “display purposes only” but that “all sales will be conducted online when the website opens soon.” Currently, a landing page featuring an image of a flooded mall can currently be found at grossdomesticproduct.com.
A notice at the shop suggests that the decision to open a store was due to an ongoing legal battle over copyrights. It reads, “This shop has come about as a result of a legal action.” A greetings card company appears to be trying to seize legal custody of the name Banksy from the artist, who has been advised the best way to prevent this is to sell his own range of branded merchandise.
Eventually, the store will stock products “handmade in the UK using existing or recycled material wherever possible, including the ideas.” Some items on display in the storefront location include a disco-ball version of a police helmet, a copy of the Union Jack stab vest that Banksy created for recording artist Stormzy the summer, and a pillow embroidered with the saying “life’s to short to take advice from a cushion.”
While I am a voracious reader, I am not a regular user of audio books. Other than long road trips, I rarely listen to recorded books. But it appears that I am a member of a shrinking population of hold outs. According to a new survey by the Pew Foundation the rate at which adults listen to audio books has nearly doubled since 2011.
The poll of 1,502 adults taken between January 8 and February 7, 2019, showed that 20% of them had listened to an audio book in the last 12 months. Back in 2011, that number was just 11%.This survey comes at a time when e-book sales seem to be plateauing. In fact, audio books may soon surpass e-book sales.
Where do you fall on the digital vs print book debate? Full disclosure: I recently downloaded a number of free audio books and one purchased book in preparation for a long road trip.
Thailand’s largest bookstore chain Naiin has just opened this beautiful bookshop called Mind Space on two floors of the new Samyan mixed use complex. The stunning bookstore stocks both Thai and English language titles, and is even open 24-hours daily. The shopping complex also houses co-working spaces, movie theaters, and Thailand’s biggest Muji department store.
A book buyer recently asked about “those little hands” that he keeps seeing in photos of books for sale. Well, that’s exactly what they are, tiny metal hands that safely hold pages for display or photographs. They are cool, though, and just a little creepy.
The U.S. Library of Congress has recently announced a new collaboration with Poison Pen Press to launch the Library of Congress Crime Classics Series. Beginning this Spring, classic American crime novels will see new life with the reissue of fiction originally published between 1860 and 1970. The titles will be chosen from the Library’s collection of out-of-print books.
The series will begin in Spring 2020 with the publication of three books: “That Affair Next Door” by Anna Katharine Green (1897), “The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope” by C. W. Grafton (1943) and “Case Pending” by Dell Shannon (1960).
This unique series is edited by Leslie S. Klinger, a two-time Edgar-winner. He has selected lesser known titles that represent a range of genres within crime fiction. Along with the original text of the novel, each publication includes an introduction by Klinger, as well as an author biography and suggestions for further reading and discussion questions for book clubs and classrooms.
The three spring titles each represent a first. Green’s “That Affair Next Door” introduces the first female detective—Amelia Butterworth—to appear in a series. C. W. Grafton, author of “The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope,” is one of the first American crime writers to add humor to the hard-boiled style of Chandler and Hammett. Dell Shannon, author of “Case Pending,” is one of the first American women to write police procedurals,
The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library opened in a donated storefront in the author’s hometown of Indianapolis in 2011. Over the years, the institution’s success as a tourist attraction and literary pilgrimage site made it obvious that the museum couldn’t stay at the location long term. So when the museum/library’s lease expired in February 2019, the board decided not to renew the lease. After several months without a home, the museum is now preparing to open in a permanent facility thanks to a fund campaign that raised $1.5 million.
The rebooted Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library opened for a “sneak preview” on September 22, just in time for the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week; at the museum, though, the event is called “Freedom to Read Week” because, as the museum notes on its website, “some folks thought we were celebrating the banning of books!” Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five ranks among the most frequently banned literary classics, and the author was an outspoken advocate against censorship.
Travel Between The Pages 