An Evening with the Warwick's Booksellers

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It's Roald Dahl Month!

In celebration of Roald Dahl month (his birthday would have fallen on September 13th) and the upcoming release of The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets (the missing chapter from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Mr. Dahl will be the featured author in the Children’s Book Department at Warwick's for the month of September. Along with a special in-store display of Dahl’s books, we will also have a variety of Roald Dahl inspired giveaways for our young customers!

Dahl is an extraordinary author whose work has in some way touched, entertained, or in some cases frightened, us all (let’s face it, The Witches is pretty scary.) Whether drawn to his work after having seen one of the many films adapted from his stories, or having picked up one of his books as a child, the works of Roald Dahl have managed to influence the imaginations of readers for decades. Whether we've been drawn to the honesty of his autobiography Boy or sucked into the fantasy of James and the Giant Peach, we all manage to find something that calls to us in Dahl’s words.

We recently polled our the booksellers with the question “What’s your favorite Roald Dahl work, which did you or do you still pick up to read over and over again?” The abundance of written works by Dahl (numbering well into the 60’s according to roalddahl.com) makes it rather difficult to pinpoint a specific beloved story (it’s like having to pick your favorite all time movie without the benefit of segregating by genre), but when asked, it was surprising how quickly and diversely the Warwick’s staff replied. Here are their responses:

Emily: Matilda

John: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Seth: The Twits

Heather: Danny the Champion of the World

James: James and the Giant Peach

Scott: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Steven: The Witches

Adriana: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Jan: The BFG

Adrian: Tales of the Unexpected

Janet: George’s Marvelous Medicine

Susan: James and the Giant Peach

What are your favorite Roald Dahl books?  Write in and let us know!

The Warwick's Questionnaire: Melanie Rehak

The so-called Proust Questionnaire was originally a 19th-century parlor game designed to reveal bits of the soul, personality, & deep secrets of the participants through a series of pointed questions.  Versions of the quiz were re-popularized in the 20th-century by Vanity Fair and Inside the Actors Studio.  Our version - The Warwick's Questionnaire - is a series of ten questions designed to plumb the depths of the souls of visiting authors.

Melanie Rehak is the author of the brand-new Eating For Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food From Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid.  Her previous book, Girl Sleuth, was the recipient of two prestigious mystery awards, the Edgar (for Best Critical/Biographical Work) and the Agatha (for Best Nonfiction.)  She also writes the food column Paper Palate for Bookforum.com and passionately hates celery.

1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• Right now?  That I got on a plane with a two and a half week old baby and flew cross-country just because my older son is so obsessed with surfing I didn’t want him to miss out this summer.  Usually? That I now know what to do with delicata squash and all that zucchini they always have at the farmer’s market.

2. What is your greatest fear?

• That I’ll realize I don’t actually like zucchini. Or that I won’t be able to think of any more books to write and I’ll be out of a career since writing is pretty much the only thing I’m good at.

3. If you were a superhero, what would your power be?

• The ability to make people forget that Facebook and Twitter exist for at least three to four hours every day.

4. If you could bring one writer back from the dead, who would it be?

• Frank O’Hara

5. What is your most treasured possession?

• A late 19th-century watch that belonged to my grandfather and then my father.

6. What do you dislike the most about your appearance?

• My eye bags (though I try to convince myself that eye bags are a writerly affliction to have, and at least they’re a far better one than being an alcoholic or a chain smoker)

7. What are you most looking forward to seeing on your tour stop in San Diego?

• My older son in the ocean - it’s pure, unmitigated, contagious joy.

8. What is your least favorite vegetable?

• Celery. Celery, celery, celery!

9. If you had to cook one meal for Nancy Drew, what would it be?  (Melanie's previous book was Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her.)

• Tea sandwiches made with local ingredients.

10. What is your motto?

• "You’re not made of sugar; you won’t melt."  My father always said this to me when it rained but I think it applies in any situation.

Melanie Rehak will be at Warwick's on Wednesday, August 25th at 7:30pm to discuss and sign her new book, Eating for Beginners.

Gary Shteyngart: Super Sad, Super Funny

Gary Shteyngart and The Warwick's Staff
Can't Stop Loving the Camera

Gary Shteyngart, critically acclaimed bestselling author of Absurdistan and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook stopped by Warwick’s on Wednesday August 11th, to read from his latest, Super Sad True Love Story, a brilliant, hilarious, super sad (of course) look into a dystopian future ruled by personal electronic gadgets, credit scores, male hotness ratings and a cowboy-hat-wearing cartoon otter. You can watch the complete video below and be wowed by Mr Shteyngart’s driving skills, diminutive stature, charming self-deprecating humor, chameleon-like ability to pivot from New York Guy accent to Russian speaking elderly Jewish lady mid-sentence and his intestinal fortitude as he cut through a thorny thicket of questions with his machete-like wit about what it’s like in Russia and if he’s ever touched a student. Capitivating stuff. Trust us, most of the staff was on hand for one of the best events of the year.



Still reading?  Can't get enough of this event?  You're in luck, as we also have the audio from Mr. Shteyngart's appearance conveniently squeezed into a reasonably sized  mp3 file, which, for the purposes of branding we are calling The Warwick's Bookcast.

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We'll be posting regular podcasts in the future at this site: http://warwicksbooks.podbean.com/.  In addition to audio from our author events, we hope to be adding author interviews, bookseller picks and other crazy content, so it might be worth adding to your podcast rotation.  You can Subscribe to The Warwick's Bookcast using iTunes, or, if you don't use iTunes, our podbean page has several other ways of subscribing.

The Warwick's Questionnaire: David Herlihy

The so-called Proust Questionnaire was originally a 19th-century parlor game designed to reveal bits of the soul, personality, & deep secrets of the participants through a series of pointed questions.  Versions of the quiz were re-popularized in the 20th-century by Vanity Fair and Inside the Actors Studio.  Our version - The Warwick's Questionnaire - is a series of ten questions designed to plumb the depths of the souls of visiting authors.

Historian & Bostonian, David V. Herlihy is the author of Bicycle: The History and the brand-new, The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance.  If Hitler had invented the bicycle, David may have had to rethink some of his answers in our Questionnaire. 

David Herlihy, proud Cinelli owner

1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• I’d say producing my latest book.  Second was beating Mark Allen (the future six (sic) time ironman) in a 9th grade cross-country run.

2. What is your greatest fear?

• Not making an impact.

3. If you were a superhero, what would your power be?

• Seeing through things.

4. If you could bring one writer back from the dead, who would it be?

• Maybe Edgar Allen Poe.  He’d have a lot to reveal about the afterlife.

5. Who is your favorite character from history?

• I’d have to go with Pierre Lallement, the original bicycle patentee.

6. Who is your least favorite character from history?

• Hitler.

Pierre Lallemont on his Velocipede

7. What is your most treasured possession?

• Probably my red Cinelli, ca. 1985.

8. What do you dislike the most about your appearance?

• Right now it would have to be the extra pounds.

9. What are you most looking forward to seeing on your tour stop in San Diego?

• The shoreline.

10. What is your motto?

• Never give up.

David Herlihy will be at Warwick's on Thursday, August 19th at 7:30pm to discuss and sign his new book, The Lost Cyclist.

The Warwick's Questionnaire: Elizabeth Brundage

The so-called Proust Questionnaire was originally a 19th-century parlor game designed to reveal bits of the soul, personality, & deep secrets of the participants through a series of pointed questions.  Versions of the quiz was re-popularized in the 20th-century by Vanity Fair and Inside the Actors Studio.  Our version - The Warwick's Questionnaire - is a series of ten questions designed to plumb the depths of the souls of visiting authors.

Elizabeth Brundage is the author of the novels The Doctor's Wife, Somebody Else's Daughter, and the brand-new A Stranger Like You.  She is a graduate of the world-renowned creative writing MFA program at the University of Iowa (known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop.)  She lives with her family in New York State, where she avoids the Empire State Building at all costs.

1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• My kids of course!

Elizabeth Brundage: not afraid of a few questions.

2. What is your greatest fear?

• Falling off a skyscraper.

3. If you were a superhero, what would your power be?

• The ability to fly, become invisible, and speak every existing language fluently including dog, cat and horse.

4. If you could bring back one writer from the dead, who would it be?

• James Joyce.

5. What is your most treasured possession?

• My corkscrew.

6. What do you dislike most about your appearance?

• My feet. Bunions the size of radishes.

7. What are you most looking forward to seeing on your tour stop in San Diego?

• The Polar Bears at the San Diego zoo. I’m a bear fan.

8. Present job as novelist aside, what would your preferred occupation be?

• Gourmet chef! I’ll have to learn to cook first, though.

9. Who is your favorite author from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop?

• Flannery O’Connor.

10. What is your motto?

• Lock and load.

Elizabeth Brundage will be at Warwick's on Tuesday, August 17th at 7:30pm to discuss and sign her new novel, A Stranger Like You.

Warwick's Books Presents Don Winslow

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Don Winslow, a great bestselling Southern California author, but also a great friend of the store, dropped by Warwick’s July 19th, 2010, to read and discuss his latest novel, Savages. Don talked about what influenced him and the inspiration he took from the filmmakers of the French New Wave for the style and structure of Savages, with its short jump cuts and fast pace. He also took questions about such things as his upcoming prequel to the legendary novel Shibumi by the late Trevanian and shared with the packed house the pitfalls of sharing the name Don Winslow with an author of, shall we say, downmarket adult fare. Ahem.



Signed copies of Savages, Winslow’s blazingly fast-paced crime noir of the SoCal/Mexican border drug trade, are still available for sale at Warwick’s.

Still Missing

by Heather

You know when you pick up a book thinking that you want to read it, but something about it makes you keep pushing it to the bottom of the pile? That’s how I felt about Still Missing, a debut novel by Chevy Stevens. Centered around a kidnapping victim and detailing her capture, imprisonment, escape, and ongoing recovery, Still Missing promised to expose those dark horrifying elements that so often appeal to me, but for some reason (probably the thought of reading about something that is all too relevant in today’s times) I just couldn’t bring myself to delve into it. This is very unlike me. Usually, the darker the better, I mean who else raves about the beauty of Gillian Flynn’s prose as her character Camille cuts majestic, harsh, and haunting words into her own skin? Maybe there was something wrong with me, who knows, but a couple of months ago I finally got around to it and took it to bed with me. Not exactly the kind of book you snuggle up with, the imagery is apt to cause a distinct lack of sleep, but I did it anyway. And yes, I did lose sleep, but not for the reasons you think. The lack of sleep was directly related to the fact that I just did not want to stop reading.

Chevy Stevens manages to make a horrific subject matter digestible. Her character, Annie, shows a remarkable dark humor, which she uses to maneuver around a world that is no longer and might not ever be safe. While her captivity could be described in a visceral manner, it is not, rather she (Annie) is upfront with the reader (the book is written in first person as told to her psychiatrist) about her experience; her feelings after her abduction, how she survived mentally during it, and how she now stumbles through life, spending her nights sleeping in a closet in order to feel secure. She manages to convey a delightfully sarcastic, occasionally dark sense of humor that not only endears her to the reader, but also allows us to see how she managed to survive so long in such a horrendous situation, while maintaining most of her sanity. The true genius of this novel is that never was I so appalled that I had to put it down. The transitions between time periods are smooth, and although the acts of violence are described, never are they too detailed or too shocking. When dealing with this type of subject matter it is easy to get engrossed in the brutality, but Stevens manages to convey the acts, while not overwhelming the reader with the vicious details.

This was an engrossing read. It also possesses wit that engages, suspense that thrills, and a twist, which will rock readers. I highly recommend Still Missing to fans of Gillian Flynn, Chelsea Cain, and Lisa Unger, or for anyone who loves a good psychological thriller.

The Warwick's Questionnaire: Gary Shteyngart

The so-called Proust Questionnaire was originally a 19th-century parlor game designed to reveal bits of the soul, personality, & deep secrets of the participants through a series of pointed questions.  Marcel Proust was a big fan of the game and took the quiz several times during his lifetime - enthusiastically enough that the world has named the quiz after him.  Modern versions can be seen in the back pages of Vanity Fair (take the interactive quiz on vanityfair.com) and from James Lipton, host of Inside the Actor's Studio ("What is a sound you love?" etc.)  But nothing screams 19th-century parlor game like an independent bookstore in California, right?  So we've devised a ten question version of the Proust Questionnaire that we will be posing to the authors that visit the store.

Gary Shteyngart, author of the critically acclaimed novels The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, and the brand-new Super Sad True Love Story, was kind enough to be the very first participant in our debut version of the Warwick's Questionnaire - ten questions designed to reveal the dark reaches of an author's soul.  Or something like that.  Gary's answers mostly have to do with boiling water and Mark Twain. 

Gary Shteyngart, willing participant

1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• Turning 38 without learning how to drive or boil water.

2. What is your greatest fear?

• Dying in a car crash or being horribly burned by boiling water.

3. If you were a superhero, what would your power be?

• The power to drive while using a tea kettle.

4. If you could bring one writer back from the dead, who would it be?

• Mark Twain.  Duh.

5. What is your most treasured possession?

• A Stalin-era copy of Tom Sawyer in Russian.

6. What do you dislike the most about your appearance?

• The stuff below the neck.  The head's not great either.

7. What are you most looking forward to seeing on your tour stop in San Diego?

• The Pacific Ocean. I've heard good things!

8. Was James Franco your prettiest student? (Actor Franco was one of Gary's students in the Creative Writing MFA program at Columbia University.)

• Columbia is known for its hot student bod. He blended in nicely.

9. If dachshunds didn't exist, what would be your favorite dog? (Gary owns a longhaired wiener dog.  Not a euphemism.)

• If dachshunds didn't exist I wouldn't want to live either.  Who would make me smile?

10. What is your motto?

• "Can you please boil some tea for me and then drive me to the airport?"

Gary Shteyngart will be at Warwick's on Wednesday, August 11th at 7:30pm to discuss and sign his new novel, Super Sad True Love Story.  Check out the book trailer: