Sunday, November 30, 2008

Re-enacting books as performance

Clare Thornton is running this performance re-enactment project based on various books.
Interesting idea, no?

Lauretta

Friday, November 28, 2008

What we are thankful for

To those of you in the USA - Happy Thanksgiving!

What we are thankful for this year - not necessarily in this order -
family,
friends,
books,
music,
movies,
sales (our customers have made this year better than last and we are VERY thankful in this economic climate)

What are you thankful for?
Lauretta

PS Remember books, CDs and DVDs are less expensive than most everything else - and they are durable and recyclable (by passing them onto your kids).

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wag the Dog Beinhart


I chose Wag the Dog as a light read to balance Bob Woodward's latest 'The War Within'. I didn't finish Woodward's book - so much detail I couldn't unravel but I did enjoy the conclusions. I did finish Wag the Dog.

What a scandalous mix of fact, fiction and conjecture. Beinhart even includes himself in the narrative, as the scribe. Footnotes and a last chapter on the first Gulf War complete the reality warp.

If you've seen the movie then the book is different. It is the same premise told from different characters' perspectives. There's a Hollywood PI/former Nam vet hardness here. As the author writes Barry Levinson had to make movie choices, he made book choices in the plot.

Bush Senior's ratings are going down and what could bring them up? A war. Like Maggie Thatcher's. This is Lee Atwater's last idea. And who could produce this war? Why, Hollywood - they've been so successful staging other wars. Now which mover and shaker, which director. It just gets better.

But this is Top Secret, we need a security firm. Here's Joe, our hero, a loyal maverick. He is willing to ferret out this secret for his lady love, a luscious Hollywood star. This coupling of Hollywood and Washington took me to a new level of cynicism. This book would be a great book club read especially if you threw in the movie as well.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Wine Tasting tonight + Girl Scout Cookies Sunday!

Friday, November 7, 2008, 6-9pm Wine and Music @ the Bookstore
Wine from Vino 100, Munchies from Virgil's, Music from local guitarist Steve Colon. What else do you need?

Sunday, November 9, 2008, 12-3pm Girls Scout Cookies
We'll have a local Girl Scout troop selling cookies today 12-3 to benefit a program that sends cookies to the soldiers in Iraq. Bring your appetite!