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 Indies Battle Amazon - by becoming publishers

Under attack from e-books and e-commerce, bookstores fight back by creating their own unique titles. more

 

 

World Book Night is a campaign to find light or non-readers in the community and hand them each a book. Sign up by February 1 to be a book giver on World Book Night! All you need to become a giver is a little time, a love of books, and the desire to give something to your community.

Naked Came the Leaf Peeper: A Serial Collaborative Novel by Brian Lee Knopp et al

Twelve authors based in or near Western North Carolina celebrate Malaprop's 30th Anniversary with their contributions to the serial collaborative novel, Naked Came the Leaf Peeper.  John P. McAfee, Susan Reinhardt, Vicki Lane, Tommy Hays, Wayne Caldwell, Fred Chappell, Alan Gratz, Annette Clapsaddle, Gene Cheek, and Linda Marie Barrett outdid themselves as they built upon a story arc brilliantly imagined in the first chapter by Brian Lee Knopp and brought to a laugh-out-loud finish by Tony Earley.

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Rich



I tend to read in thematic fits and starts. Recently, I've been reading lots of books about the Internet, social media and the future of the "written word." The best among these has been Cory Doctorow's Content, Clay Shirky's fascinating tour through the reasons why social media has taken off, Here Comes Everybody, Martin Lindstrom's eye-opening Buyology, and Seth Godin's inspirational book about tribal leadership, Tribes.


As I ease out of this period, I find myself easing into a period of reading foreign literature in translation. Booksellers often bemoan the fact that only 3% of books published in the US annually are translations from other languages. So periodically I try to catch up on some of the best or most interesting (at least to me) of the current year's crop of books. So far, Dubravka Ugresic's essay collection Nobody's Home is smart, poignant, often funny and always illuminating, and Amara Lakhous' tragi-comedy Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio is turning out to be exactly as advertised.


When I find the time, I'm planning on reading Esther's Inheritance, the fourth novel by Hungarian Sandor Marai to be translated into English.

One of my other interests is futuristic fiction, and I lead a monthly discussion of some great futuristic, fantasy & weird fiction at our Speculative Fiction Book Club. We meet on the last Monday of each month, and online all year long through our Yahoo group, what_if_sfbc. New members are always welcome.

Check out the list below for some of the books I'm currently recommending:


Vanessa and Virginia (Hardcover)

By Susan Sellers
$23.00
ISBN-13: 9780151014743
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 5/2009
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Brooklyn (Hardcover)

By Colm Toibin
$25.00
ISBN-13: 9781439138311
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Scribner, 5/2009
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Secret Son (Hardcover)

By Laila Lalami
$23.95
ISBN-13: 9781565124943
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 4/2009
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Netherland (Paperback)

By Joseph O'Neill
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780307388773
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 5/2009
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The Enchantress of Florence (Paperback)

By Salman Rushdie
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780679640516
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1/2009
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Paperback)

By Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780385341004
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback, 5/2009
Other Editions of this Title
"A fabulous, fun read to make you forget about politics and the economy for a few hours. Set in 1946, England begins to get back to normality after the war, and Juliet, a young writer, stumbles across a remarkable group of people on the island of Guernsey. As their story is slowly revealed through a seres of letters, readers are treated to a fascinating history lesson, sparkling prose and a satisfying love story all rolled into one. Enjoy!" -- Rich

My Revolutions (Hardcover)

By Hari Kunzru

ISBN-13: 9780525949329
Availability: Out of Print. Please check with Downtown Books and News
Published: Dutton Adult, 2/2008
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What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-1933 (Paperback)

By Joseph Roth, Michael Hofmann
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9780393325829
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 8/2004
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Dangerous Space (Paperback)

By Kelley Eskridge
$18.00
ISBN-13: 9781933500133
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Aqueduct Press, 6/2007
"This is the best collection of stories I've read in forever. Cutting edge in every sense, Eskridge mines the raw edges of emotion -- love, lust, and fear -- and places her characters in settings just a bit different to our own -- the near future, the recent past, or the slightly fantastic.

If you like Kelly Link, Nicola Griffith or Neil Gaiman you'll love Kelley Eskridge." -- Rich


Zoo Station (Hardcover)

By David Downing
$23.00
ISBN-13: 9781569474549
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Soho Press, 5/2007
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"An intriguing thriller which takes place in Berlin in the early days of 1939. Downing's morally compromised protagonist is a British journalist resident in Berlin, who wishes only to remain near his young German son and actress girlfriend, but who can clearly see the certainty of approaching war. The Russian intelligence services recruit him to write propaganda pieces, and both the British and German intelligence services think this would be a wonderful opportunity for Russell to spy on the Russians for them. Meanwhile, a friend of Russell's is mysteriously killed while researching an article on the darker aims of Nazism, and Russell comes into possession of the evidence to back up the explosive story.

Downing depicts life in Berlin at this pivotal moment in history with exacting detail and dramatic flair. Russell's dilemma is that of anyone who sees the writing on the wall, knows they're ultimately powerless against the larger forces, yet feels they have to try to do something, no matter how small, to oppose them.

Zoo Station is engrossing thriller, and a vivid history lesson with great relevance for us today." -- Rich


Voyage of the Shadowmoon (Mass Market Paperback)

By Sean Mcmullen
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780765347138
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Tor Science Fiction, 2/2004
Other Editions of this Title
"OK, so it's out of print, but still a great fantasy adventure. You should find it at Downtown Books & News, our used bookstore." - Rich

Ragamuffin (Mass Market Paperback)

By Tobias S. Buckell
$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780765354105
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Tor Science Fiction, 6/2008
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Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Hardcover)

By Seth Godin
$20.95
ISBN-13: 9781591842330
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Portfolio Hardcover, 1/2008
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Halting State (Mass Market Paperback)

By Charles Stross
$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780441016075
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Ace, 7/2008
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In the year 2018, a daring bank robbery has taken place at Hayek Associates. The suspects are a band of marauding orcs, with a dragon in tow for fire support, and the bank is located within the virtual reality land of Avalon Four. But Sergeant Sue Smith discovers that this virtual world robbery may be linked to some real world devastation.

Half Life (Paperback)

By Shelley Jackson
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780060882365
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Harper Perennial, 7/2007
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"Let's just say you haven't read anything like Half Life before. Jackson spins a fascinating tale of an alternate America where nuclear testing has given rise to a explosion of Siamese twins, who as they grow tend to seek like-proportioned friends and move to the 'twofer' community in (where else) San Francisco. Around these mutants there arises both a new-age cult, the 'Siamystics,' and the usual group of bigots and religious fanatics detecting evidence of god's wrath among the twofers.

Into this melee comes Nora, a twofer whose twin, Blanche, is in a coma. Nora has made the decision to have her twin removed, a dangerous and back-street surgery frowned upon by twofer society. Nora must follow mysterious instructions to find a secret clinic where separation surgeries are performed, as she goes further underground things turn more surreal until Nora is not sure which is crazier, the world or herself.

Half Life will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link or those who like to read daring, new voices." -- Rich


Elantris (Mass Market Paperback)

By Brandon Sanderson
$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780765350374
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tor Fantasy, 5/2006
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Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

This is a rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.


Un Lun Dun (Paperback)

By China Mieville
$9.95
ISBN-13: 9780345458445
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Del Rey, 1/2008
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A Booksense Pick!

"Un Lun Dun is where the lost things go: umbrellas blown away in a storm, bicycles left too long chained to a railing, and last year's hip consumer gadgets gathering dust in the basement. Two young girls find their way there one strange night in apparent fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Fortunately, nothing goes as expected, and readers are treated to a much more creative, witty and refreshing adventure because of it.

Un Lun Dun is too big, too fun and much too clever to be described in a few sentences. Read it, revel in it, name your pets after your favorite characters and give it to every jaded or reluctant reader you know, of any age. Books like this come but once a generation. This will be a favorite of YA book clubs, adult fantasy book clubs and adventurous readers of any age." -- Rich


The Baum Plan for Financial Independence: And Other Stories (Paperback)

By John Kessel
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781931520508
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Small Beer Press, 4/2008
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"John Kessel's writing exists at the edge of things, in the dark corner where the fiction section abuts the science-fiction shelves, in the hyphen where magic meets realism.

Reading this wonderful collection is like staying out too late partying and seeing strange angels while stumbling home in the dawn's first light. This is one of those too rare short story collections that I can recommend with confidence to both the literary snob and the hard-core computer geek." -- Rich


The Good Fairies of New York (Paperback)

By Martin Millar, Neil Gaiman
$13.95
ISBN-13: 9781933368368
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Soft Skull Press, 10/2006
Other Editions of this Title
"For those of you who loved American Gods or dig Terry Pratchett and find yourself wondering what to read next look no further than The Good Fairies of New York.

A group of disparate fairies from the British Isles get drunk and wind up unexpectedly in New York City, where they attach themselves to some 20-something slackers, a delusional bag lady and the ghost of Johnny Thunders, deceased lead guitarist for the New York Dolls. The resulting hi-jinx include a ham-handed attempt at match-making, inadvertent fairy race riots, and a quest to bring punk rock sensibilities to traditional highland fiddling.

Millar�s story never goes where you expect and provides plenty of laughs along the way." -- Rich


In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

By Geert Mak
$35.00
ISBN-13: 9780375424953
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Pantheon, 8/2007
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Divisadero (Hardcover)

By Michael Ondaatje
$25.00
ISBN-13: 9780307266354
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Knopf, 5/2007
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A Booksense Pick!

Breathtakingly evoked and with unforgettable characters," Divisadero" is a multilayered novel about passion, loss, and the unshakable past, about the often discordant demands of family, love, and memory. It is Michael Ondaatje's most intimate and beautiful novel to date.


The Uncommon Reader: A Novella (Hardcover)

By Alan Bennett
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780374280963
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9/2007
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"A deliciously funny novella that celebrates the pleasure of reading. When the Queen in pursuit of her wandering corgis stumbles upon a mobile library she feels duty bound to borrow a book. Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, Bennett describes the Queen's transformation as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word. With the poignant and mischievous wit of "The History Boys," England's best loved author revels in the power of literature to change even the most uncommon reader's life." -- from the publisher

Circling Home (Hardcover)

By John Lane
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780820330402
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: A Wormsloe Foundation Nature Book, 11/2007
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"After many years of limited commitments to people or places, writer and naturalist John Lane married in his late forties and settled down in his hometown of Spartanburg, in the South Carolina piedmont. He, his wife, and two stepsons built a sustainable home in the woods near Lawsons Fork Creek. Soon after settling in, Lane pinpointed his location on a topographical map. Centering an old, chipped saucer over his home, he traced a circle one mile in radius and set out to explore the area." -- from the publisher

The Execution Channel (Hardcover)

By Ken MacLeod

ISBN-13: 9780765313324
Availability: Out of Print. Please check with Downtown Books and News
Published: Tor Books, 6/2007
Other Editions of this Title
A Quills Nominee!

It's after 9/11. After the bombing. After the Iraq war. After 7/7. After the Iran war. After the nukes. After the flu. After the Straits. After Rosyth. In a world just down the road from our own, on-line bloggers vie with old-line political operatives and new-style police to determine just where reality lies.

James Travis is a British patriot and a French spy. On the day the Big One hits, Travis and his daughter must strive to make sense of the nuclear bombing of Scotland and the political repercussions of a series of terrorist attacks. With the information war in full swing, the only truth they have is what they're able to see with their own eyes. They know that everything else is--or may be--a lie. -- from the publisher


Hick (Paperback)

By Andrea Portes
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781932961324
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Unbridled Books, 5/2007
Other Editions of this Title
A Booksense Pick!

A disturbing road trip in the company of an irrepressible spirit; 13-year-old Luli McMullen is a smart-mouthed runaway with a disturbing lack of street smarts. Falling into bad company, Luli does her best to navigate her way to safety, although she really has no idea of what a safe environment looks like.

Luli is a female, and very modern, Huck Finn striking out for the bright lights of Las Vegas, with no plan other than constant movement. Her courage and naive optimism makes this an enthralling tale." -- Rich


Brick Lane (Paperback)

By Monica Ali
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780743243315
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Scribner, 6/2004
Other Editions of this Title

The Way of Ignorance: And Other Essays (Paperback)

By Wendell Berry
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9781593761196
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Counterpoint, 9/2006
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Never Let Me Go (Paperback)

By Kazuo Ishiguro
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781400078776
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Vintage, 3/2006
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Hardcover)

By Mohsin Hamid
$22.00
ISBN-13: 9780151013043
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 4/2007
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A Booker Prize Nominee

"My favorite to win the Booker.

A gripping story of one Muslim man's love of America and his growing disillusionment after 9/11. This novel never goes where you think it will, and calls all your assumptions about Muslims into question." -- Rich


McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland (Paperback)

By Pete McCarthy
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780312311339
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: St. Martin's Griffin, 3/2003
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The Melancholy of Anatomy: Stories (Paperback)

By Shelley Jackson
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780385721202
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Anchor, 4/2002
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My Family and Other Animals (Paperback)

By Gerald Durrell
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780142004418
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 7/2004
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Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England (Hardcover)

By Lynne Olson
$27.50
ISBN-13: 9780374179540
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 4/2007
Other Editions of this Title
"A great story that shows the power of a small group of brave people when they stand up and voice unpopular truths.

At the start of WWII, Britain had a Prime Minister tempermentally unfit to run a war. Unfortunately, then as now, people believed it was unpatriotic to criticise the government during wartime. If a small group of elected representatives had not voiced their concerns loudly and often, Winston Chuirchill may never have become Prime Minister, and Britain may have lost the war.

A great book that again reminds us if we don't know our history, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past." -- Rich


Life Class (Hardcover)

By Pat Barker
$23.95
ISBN-13: 9780385524353
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Doubleday, 1/2008
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Sly Mongoose (Hardcover)

By Tobias S. Buckell
$26.95
ISBN-13: 9780765319203
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Tor Science Fiction, 8/2008
Other Editions of this Title
"The best science-fiction adventure I've read this year!" - Rich

Accelerando (Mass Market Paperback)

By Charles Stross
$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780441014156
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ace, 7/2006
Other Editions of this Title

Poison Sleep (Mass Market Paperback)

By T.A. Pratt
$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780553589993
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Spectra, 3/2008
Other Editions of this Title
"Fun, fun and more fun. For fans of Kim Harrison & Buffy the Vampire Slayer." - Rich

The Steep Approach to Garbadale (Paperback)

By Iain Banks
$13.00
ISBN-13: 9781596923034
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: MacAdam/Cage Publishing, 10/2007
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Vogelein Volume 1: Clockwork Faerie (Paperback)

By Jeff Berndt, Jane Irwin
$12.95
ISBN-13: 9780974311005
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Fiery Studios, 9/2003
When Jakob, Vogelein's Guardian of fifty years, dies quietly in his sleep one night, her life is thrown into utter turmoil. Left without someone to wind her, the tiny clockwork faerie has less than five hours to live - unless she can find someone to trust. Unable to reach the keyhole in her back, she continues to wind down until she stops - and then her memories of the past three hundred years will quickly slip away, leaving her a simple automaton unable to speak or move on her own. In her search for a new Guardian, Vogelein must grapple with her own past, her current daily survival and a true Faerie who has taken an instant disliking to her, all so that she will not lose her memories - and her self.

The Graveyard Book (Hardcover)

By Neil Gaiman, Dave Mckean
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9780060530921
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: HarperCollins, 10/2008
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The Floating Island (Paperback)

By Elizabeth Haydon
$5.99
ISBN-13: 9780765347725
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Starscape, 4/2008
Other Editions of this Title
A Booksense Pick!

"Magical creatures, spirited heroes and heroines, despicable villains, and a fantastical landscape all combine to create a wonderful new fantasy adventure that feels like an old favorite, even on the first read through." -- Rich


Vogelein: Old Ghosts (Paperback)

By Jane Irwin, Barb Lien-Cooper, Park Cooper
$12.95
ISBN-13: 9780974311012
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Fiery Studios, 9/2007
"A fabulous graphic novel about a clockwork fairy who could live forever if she can just find somebody trustworthy to wind her every day.

My favorite graphic novel." -- Rich


Little Brother (Hardcover)

By Cory Doctorow
$17.95
ISBN-13: 9780765319852
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Tor Teen, 4/2008
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Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future (Paperback)

By Cory Doctorow
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781892391810
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Tachyon Publications, 9/2008
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Lonely Werewolf Girl (Paperback)

By Martin Millar
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9780979663666
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Soft Skull Press, 3/2008
Other Editions of this Title
"Just a fabulous read. If you loved The Good Fairies of New York, you'll love Lonely Werewolf Girl!" -- Rich

The Secret History of Moscow (Paperback)

By Ekaterina Sedia
$12.95
ISBN-13: 9780809572236
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Prime Books, 11/2007
Other Editions of this Title

Mainspring (Mass Market Paperback)

By Jay Lake
$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780765356369
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Tor Science Fiction, 4/2008
Other Editions of this Title

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Hardcover)

By Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
$24.00
ISBN-13: 9780385340991
Availability: Temporarily out. Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: The Dial Press, 7/2008
Other Editions of this Title

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