Book-of-the-Week

It's what's for dinner.

Warning: Books Can Be Dangerous!

Today is the first day of Banned Books Week, an annual event near and dear to our Vromanian hearts. Sponsored by both the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association, Banned Books Week strives to bring attention to titles that have been removed from libraries, challenged in school curricula, or limited to a "select" group of readers. In short, Banned Books Week celebrates the right of readers to read whatever we darn well please.

Why are books banned (or, more commonly, challenged)? Usually, a parent objects to some aspect of a book's content - sexuality, coarse language, violence, racism, witchcraft, and "defiance of authority" in the storyline are commonly cited complaints - and wants it removed from a list of required student reading; sometimes someone will try to have the book not only taken out of the classroom, but from the school or public library as well. It's one thing to object to your own child reading a particular book; it's quite another to decide that a book is unfit for anyone else's consumption. Book banning is censorship, plain and simple.

We at Vroman's feel strongly that readers are capable of deciding for themselves what is appropriate reading material. (Kids, of course, do benefit from the guiding hand of knowledgeable adults, who can steer them towards age-appropriate material. But our employees aren't going to tell children what they can or cannot read.)

If you're in the main store this week, check out our Banned Books Week displays both downstairs and up in the kids' department; our Hastings Ranch store has a big display, too. You'll see many familiar culprits featured (The Catcher in the Rye, The Joy of Sex, The Communist Manifesto, The Grapes of Wrath) as well as a few that may surprise you (The Lorax, Little House in the Big Woods). Treat yourself to one of these books and see how enjoyable "dangerous" reading can be.

For more information on Banned Books Week, take a look here.

Quotes of the Day

"In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read."
- S. I. Hayakawa

"It is so unsatisfactory to read a noble passage and have no one you love at hand to share the happiness with you."
- Clara Clemens

"The oldest books are only just out to those who have not read them."
- Samuel Butler

One Door Closes, Another One Opens

The other day at a management meeting I received the sad news that both Rick's Drive-in and the White Hut are going to be closing -- or at least moving their places of operation. I hear that the land on which each sits has been sold to make way for more luxury condos and apartments. New neighbors are nice, but the disappearance of a couple of favorite local eateries has thrown my co-workers into a tizzy. Where will we ever be able to get fries as good as Rick's?

Naturally, with lunch on all of our minds, the talk around here this morning was all about Famima!! which just today opened about a block from Vroman's, on the ground floor of the new Trio Apartments. I decided to drop in at midday and pick up some lunch for myself. If you've never been to Famima (please forgive me if I drop those exclamation points) before, I can best explain it by describing it as an upscale convenience store. They sell fresh packaged food, sushi, pastries, some groceries, a few office supplies, and sundries. I hear they're famous for their beverage selection. I got a packaged roast beef panini with blue cheese and caramelized onions (which the nice guy at the counter grilled for me), some Sun Chips, and a peanut butter brownie. A co-worker bought a tasty-looking teriyaki bowl and some crackers. On my way out the door I spun a wheel for a door prize and won some chocolate Pocky sticks. Everyone working there seems friendly and enthusiastic, and although I don't think they sell fries to rival Rick's, it seems that a pleasant new lunch joint has arrived in the neighborhood.

Drive-by: SIMON CALLOW

Simon Callow is best-known for his acting (Amadeus, Shakespeare in Love, Four Weddings & a Funeral), but he's also a well-reviewed author. The second volume of his biography of Orson Welles was published recently, and today he stopped by the store to sign copies. He'd just done an interview on KPCC with Larry Mantle and seemed relaxed and casual; he was wearing flip-flops, which seemed a bit startling: it drew a sharp line between the man and the characters he plays.

I asked Mr. Callow if he'd known Orson Welles, and he said no, sounding relieved -- he thinks Welles would probably have tried to take over the writing of the biography and change everything around to suit his fancy. Mr. Callow also inquired as to the availability of a forthcoming Welles biography in which the author, he believes, has something blistering to say about him and his take on Welles's life. He didn't seem too perturbed by the notion and seemed to want to read the passage for his own amusement.

I was left with the impression that Simon Callow is a great raconteur and would probably make the most delightful dinner companion.

Recommended Reading: A Thriller for Nonfiction Fans

I hate trying to predict a book's success. Too often some little title I adore never makes the big time, despite my efforts (and probably those of hundreds of other devotees) to promote it. So I'm not going to predict great things for Max Brooks's new novel World War Z -- I'm just going to say that you'll be doing yourself a great disservice if you pass this book by, thinking its subject matter isn't for you.

The Z, you see, stands for "zombie." Now, before you outclick, let me state that this book is well-written, exciting, impressively researched, and one of the most thoughtful and intelligent novels I've read in ages. Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide, does seem to have a bit of an obsession with his subject matter. But in his latest effort he has transcended the genre label and produced something of potentially wide appeal. So seriously does the author treat his subject that at times it's possible to forget that you're reading fiction.

World War Z is a collection of oral histories of the Zombie War, gathered a number of years after the end of that terrible conflict. The unnamed narrator, identifiable only as an American, travels the globe collecting stories from all sorts of individuals who experienced the war: military personnel, students, artists, peasants, families who fled north in hopes that freezing temperatures would protect them from a seemingly unstoppable army of the reanimated dead. You'll meet the man who developed a "cure" for the zombie virus, as well as the former vice president of the U.S., a.k.a. "the Whacko," and a popular filmmaker who revitalized his career directing independent propaganda films for the war effort. From the book's beginning, when a mysterious new viral outbreak causes the dead to come back to life, through the absorbing heart of the novel in which the living and the dead battle for control of a world thrown completely out of balance, until the ending, when the author revisits interviewees to get their take on post-war life, Brooks maintains a sense of excitement and mystery, as well as the growing weariness and frustration that accompany any extended conflict.

What makes this book work is that Brooks not only writes easily in many, many different voices about a wide range of subjects, but that he also has done his homework. He has pulled together many disparate elements -- science, history, military tactics, psychology, and more -- and integrates each into the narrative with calm authority. World War Z takes current issues, such as political disharmony and fear of avian flu, and projects them into the near future, asking What if? What if some incurable disease spread across the planet? How would an unprepared and uninformed government and populace deal with the crisis? Brooks's responses to this scenario are thought-provoking and sometimes chilling, making World War Z an excellent and highly recommended read.

Q&A With Award-Winning Author Ron Dahl

Q. Where did you get the idea for “Just Drive”?

A. Sometimes the easiest way to begin a story is to start with a “What-if.” This is one that started that way. I began to think about the premise, what if you were stopped at a light and someone yanked open the passenger door and hopped in and stuck a gun in your face? I let that percolate in my brain for a while until I came up with the roughed-out characters. I didn’t really have a story, though, until I hit on the idea that she had a bad marriage. Once I realized that, the rest kind of fell into place—after about eight drafts.

Q. How long did it take you to write the story?

A. I actually wrote this story a couple years ago, so it’s a bit hazy as to how long it took. I can tell you that I spend a lot of time walking around with an idea in my head before I get up the gumption to begin writing. At least with short stories, I feel the need to flesh them out a little before I ever sit down to the keyboard… which is the most difficult stage for me. My first drafts are always complete crapola and never bear any resemblance to the finished product. Even with novel-length things I do many drafts and endless revisions. I actually enjoy the revising much more than the original composition.

Q. How does “Just Drive” compare to other things you’ve written, whether it’s subject matter, writing style, etc.?

A. I have to say that the “voice” of this story is pretty similar to most other things I’ve written. I feel most comfortable with stories that stay in a single point of view, but I have written probably as many first-person narratives as I have close third-person. As far as subject matter, that can be all over the map. I just finished a story that takes place during a big earthquake that happened in Yellowstone in 1959. One of my favorite writers, Jim Shepard, finds super-interesting (and little-known) historical settings for his stories. He’s been a big influence on me, and I’ve been drawn to historical settings.

Q. You work full-time as a court reporter. How do you find the time to write?

A. I definitely don’t have a regular writing schedule. My job involves a lot of after-court time sitting at a computer editing transcripts. You’d think I’d come up with a different avocation than writing fiction, but at least I know how to type fast. In court, some assignments are less time-consuming than others, but right now I work in a busy criminal trial court so I haven’t had much time lately. I usually just pick a time to write and do it. I work best when I have a couple undistracted hours because it takes me a while to get into the flow (and then get back out). I wish I had more time.

Q. What’s next on your writing agenda?

A. I’m working sporadically on a complete re-do of a novel I wrote about six years ago that takes place in 1900 up on the Mount Lowe Railroad in Altadena. I’m still hoping to publish another (contemporary) novel that I’ve been submitting for a while. I had a story workshopped this summer at the Tin House Writers Workshop that I’m going to start submitting to magazines, and I am currently hammering out a draft of a new short story.

Q. Anything else you’d like to add?

A. As a matter of fact…yes. For me, reading the best way to learn to write. Here are a few (of the many) of my all-time favorite short stories:

"Same Time, Same Place" – Tim Gautreaux
"White Angel" – Michael Cunningham
"The Wamsutter Wolf" – Annie Proulx
"The Love of My Life" – T.C. Boyle
"Love and Hydrogen" – Jim Shepard