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1511 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84105 801-484-9100 Inkslinger2009 Holiday Edition Matchmaker, Matchmaker: A Holiday Chorus in Books The collective voice of The King’s English booksellers In this season of thanks and gift-giving…Whether it’s a $12 no-frills paperback or a lavishly illustrated $200 hardcover, a book is, dollar for dollar, the best possible present for people of all ages and stages of life. Why? Because there is one particular book that is perfect for practically everyone. The booksellers at TKE know this because it’s our daily preoccupa- tion, this occupation that allows us the bliss of matching books to people. So scroll through this cast of characters we’ve come to know and love until you spot your own friends and family members. You’ll find the perfect book(s) to match their passions listed by category. CAST OF CHARACTERS, READERS ALL: l Bibliomaniacs Bibliomaniacs Magnus Opus For the collectors among us who value the value of books or who love Outliers particular writers with passion, a signed first edition is a treasure be- True Believers yond measure, a gift never to be forgotten. Margaret Atwood’s Year of the Flood, Sherman Alexie’s War Dances, and Richard Russo’s That Old Excellent Women Cape Magic gleam on our shelves, signed firsts Sons and Lovers one and all, waiting for homes in the libraries of our bibliophilic friends. And what better gift Naturalists for the women who loved The Time Traveler’s Photographers Wife than a chance to meet Audrey Niffenegger Artists Within and get a first edition of Her Fearful Symmetry personalized? Wrap up a first edition now, and Writers and Readers we’ll include a ticket for Niffenegger’s January Detectives of the Mysterious 20th appearance at TKE. Better still, sign the Wits and Wags bibliomanical love of your life up for a subscrip- tion to our signed first editions club; he or she will receive at least three of the above-mentioned books along with LET THE MATCHES BEGIN! surprises and collector’s delights all year long.

KING’S ENGLISH CALENDAR OF EVENTS Buy Local First Week Saturday, Nov. 28, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m. Starts Saturday, Nov. 28th! Join us for a special Go, Dog. Go! storytime with the Local author Anne Palmer Peterson Get 10% off regularly priced cast of the Salt Lake Acting Company! And catch the will present a slideshow and merchandise during entire live performance of Go, Dog. Go! by the Salt Lake discussion of her new book, Years Buy Local First Week. Acting Company, December 2—December 27th. of Promise: The University of Utah’s See our website for more details. Visit www.saltlakeactingcompany.com for more information. A. Ray Olpin Era, 1946-1964. Thursday, Dec. 3, 5:30–7 p.m., Local Food, Local Fun Friday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m.

10+10=20% discount during our annual King’s English Holiday Party! On Thursday December Don’t miss Lucinda Scala 3, 5:30–7 p.m. add an additional 10% to the 10% discount for Buy Local First Week! We’ll have Quinn as she presents a tanta- many of your favorite local authors on hand to sign copies of their books, including Heather Arm- lizing array of hearty recipes- strong, Pat Bagley, Chris Cokinos, Sister Dottie, Terrell Dougan, Jessica Day George, Shannon Hale, and delicious samples-from her Robert Kirby, Carol Lynch Williams, Jean Reagan, Dave Hall, Blake Spalding, Emily Wing Smith newest cookbook, Mad Hun- and Sara Zarr. Come celebrate Utah’s bounty of literary talent! Let us wrap and mail while you shop. gry: Feeding Men and Boys.

Sunday, Dec. 6, 9–11 a.m. Books and Bagels! Enjoy a nosh while King's English booksellers present books for holiday giving. We'll wrap and mail for you too! page history of the fabled organization MI5? Defend the Realm (Knopf, $40) by Christo- pher Andrew exposes identities and tells tales never before revealed in an intriguing tell-all biography of this secret institution. Speaking of secret histories, there’s not much that’s more secret, or mysterious, than one’s g unconscious. And whose unconscious could Magnus Opus arouse more curiosity than that of the famous These are some truly addicted and utterly voracious readers whose Carl Jung? His Red Book (Norton, $195), eyes light up at a vision that turns most to stone: the sight of a created between 1914 and 1930, is a sort of Book of Kells of psy- 700-plus-page book. Whether fiction lovers, history buffs, artists, chotherapy, a brilliantly illuminated exploration of the unconscious or cooks, these people are of the “more is better” school of thought. and of Jung’s theories of personality. Epic They’re looking for the larger world view, the biggest possible in scope and stunningly beautiful, this canvas, the epic tale. If the super-sizer on your list is a lover of fine psycho-biography is a worldwide pub- fiction, there is a wondrous welter of weighty tomes to choose from, lishing event—not only a must-have for first among them our favorite novel from the first part of the year anyone interested in Jungian psychology, which remains our favorite as winter draws near: but a chance to own something utterly Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Knopf unique in the world of literature. $26.95). This saga of twin brothers, both doctors, Given the times (Ayn Rand hasn’t been spans decades, worlds, and cultures, taking us this popular in decades), what better from a missionary hospital in Ethiopia to New book than a biography of this compli- York City’s most poverty-stricken hospitals, and cated woman—and how ironically apt is involving us in the worlds of medicine, of love, page from The Red Book it that in Ayn Rand and the World She of family, and of all that humankind holds in Made (Nan Talese/Doubleday, $43) by common in the process. Anne C. Heller, the life of an author known for her huge tomes is Two more novels of surpassing length, both created with surpass- limned in an 800-page biography? Love her or ing style and skill, are Wolf Hall (Holt, $27) by hate her (or her books), Rand remains a force Hilary Mantel and The Children’s Book (Knopf, to be reckoned with. One only has to consider $26.95) by A. S. Byatt. Byatt’s is set in the years Alan Greenspan to recognize that her influence leading up to WWI and features Olive Well- isn’t on the wane, and any student of intellec- wood, a writer of children’s books, her husband, tual history will be fascinated. Slightly lighter brood of children, and art- on the biography front (at a mere 736 pages) is ist friends. Richly themed The Last Empress: Madame and adorned with cultural Chiang Kai Shek and the and thematic furbelows, Birth of Modern China by it will fascinate those who Hannah Pakula (Simon & love the intricacy of a multi-character cast Schuster, $30). Epic history as well as biography, twining its way through society and history. this tale of the beautiful and powerful woman at Wolf Hall, on the other hand, is limited to one the heart of China’s march to modernity is full of viewpoint—that of Thomas Cromwell. Com- drama as well as history, peopled with everyone plex, secretive, a brilliant tactician, and the from Sun Yat-sen to Sitwell, Chairman Mao to right hand of Henry VIII, Cromwell is both witness to and actor in Henry Luce. Tudor history. Mantel’s evocation is breathtaking and Wolf Hall is as For lawyers with large literary appetites satisfied only by biogra- perfect for those as hungry for history as for the lover of large liter- phies, there’s no gift more sure to please than Louis D. Brandeis, ary novels. Both books were short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, A Life (Pantheon, $40) by Melvin Urofsky. This 926-page scholarly and Wolf Hall is the recent winner. account of the Supreme Court Justice who There are two more door-stopping tomes for those who gulp down helped build a protective bulwark around history—especially military history—by the quart rather than the our freedom that has withstood decades of thimbleful. The first, The Imperial Cruise by assault, not only makes fascinating reading James Bradley (Hachette, $29.95), is the tale of but also reminds us with what toil we gained Teddy Roosevelt’s Secretary of War, William the rights and protections we so value. Finally, Howard Taft, and his secret mission to Asia—the the funniest and most ferocious writer of our consequences of which echo through history generation, a man who believed fervently right to the present. Bradley, who wrote Flyboys in the powers of both booze and the written and Flags of Our Fathers, brings history to life, word, Hunter S. Thompson, has left us a huge making the 600+ pages fly by. And what could (752 pages) and hugely entertaining posthumous collection of letters be more heart-(or door-)stopping than a 700- edited by Douglas Brinkley and appropriately, entitled

—2—The King's English Bookshop—www.kingsenglish.com—801-484-9100— The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings and Missives the fireside, organized chaos, impeccable order...bibliophiles of all from the Mountaintop 1977-2005 (Simon & descriptions will revel in these pages of books and more books. Schuster, $35). Thompson had an appetite for The last of our door-stoppers are also stocking stuffers (although the life rivaled only by his instinct for observation, stockings had best be on the large side): Roberto Bolaño’s master- for the outrageous, and for the signature com- piece 2666 (Vintage, $19.95) is available in bination of insight, irony, and humor that made a single-volume paperback for the first time his brand of “Gonzo Journalism” famous. and is as stunning as it is unforgettable, as is For the gonzo epicurean, what more appropriate The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Ecco, $16.99) by title than How to Roast a Lamb (Little, Brown, David Wroblewski, a book impossible to put $35) by Michael Psilakis. Subtitled “New down once begun—particularly for dog lovers. Greek Classic Cooking,” this lavish tome by the chef The New Yorker labeled “the Greek American Mario Batali” com- bines the best in Greek cooking with at- tention to the fresh and healthful. Home cooks who have Mediterranean palates and like simple dishes will love the reci- pes of Psilakis, named Best New Chef of the Year in 2008 by Food and Wine and Chef of the Year by both Esquire and n Bon Appetit. In Ad Hoc at Home (Workman $50), Thomas Keller, Outliers author of the fabled French Laundry Cookbook, brings some of his best recipes home, showing Lovers of the slight, the sly, of books that allude, elude, so that readers how to make great meaning dissolves just as we reach out to grasp it (sometimes dis- meals in their own kitchens. solving us in laughter in the process) will love Summertime (Viking Lavishly illustrated with 250 $25.95) by J. M. Coetzee. Due out this Decem- color photos (a pig adorns ber, this novel that is supposedly an account of the cover) and weighing in research-in-progress for the biography of one John at over five pounds, this is Coetzee, the great South African writer, employs another treasure for family- off-kilter reality to catch, or at least shed light on style cooks. For those who the will-o’-the-wisp that is so-called truth. As the aren’t afraid of the compli- young biographer interviews those who knew the cated, Ruth Reichl edited author well, what emerges is the young Coetzee the new Gourmet Today as he imagines himself—or does it? Hard to pin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, down, this Booker-winning (twice) author’s latest is often funny $40). Sadly, the doors to the wonderful magazine closed even as the and as often inspired. As is Generosity (Farrar, book was hitting bookstore shelves. This may well become a collect- Strauss, Giroux, $25) by Richard Powers, a novel ible! featuring a narrator who is a writing teacher (ar- guably Powers himself) fascinated by a student For those with an appetite for all things Italian, Slow: Life in a seemingly blessed with a “happiness gene.” A Tuscan Town (Welcome, $50) by Douglas Gayeton, introduction by gene for happiness? As always with Powers, the Alice Waters, is a unique questions outnumber the answers and whatever and wonderful book answers do appear merely make reality more chock-full of sepia photo- mysterious, underlining the nature of the bound- graphs of the residents of aries of our perception. a Tuscan village, people who live their lives slow- E. L. Doctorow, in his new novel Homer and ly, savoring everything, Langley (Random House, $26), likewise seems especially food, which preoccupied by such questions as what, exactly, is the center of their reality is and how, exactly, one defines normal. existence. Replete with Doctorow’s latest is at once lilting and haunting, a notes, anecdotes, recipes, historical novel about two brothers, one of whom quotes... it’s magnifico! has lost his vision, the other his grip on reality, Finally, for book addicts and both of whom live in a moldering mansion of all tastes, Books Do Furnish a Room (Merrell, $39.95) by Leslie on New York’s Fifth Avenue. As the two men retreat further and Geddes-Brown is a must. Filled with color illustrations, it provides further from the outside world, we move closer to them, gaining endless examples of the creative display of books in every nook and new understanding of the validity (and the sometimes tragic nature) cranny of every sort of house and apartment, proving on page after of different angles on reality. page that books improve any room in which they reside. Floor-to- Continued... ceiling shelves, cases under clerestory windows, baskets of books by

—801-484-9100—www.kingsenglish.com—The King's English Bookshop—3— Continued from page 3... A world far-removed from that of Fifth Avenue is Margaret Atwood’s setting for The Year of the Flood (Nan Talese/Double- day, $26). Life on earth has ended, or nearly so. But a pole dancer, isolated because of a sexual disease, has survived, as has a wom- q an from a religious/environmental sect. As True Believers each surveys the remnants of what used to be civilization, we look with them and, de- For those who know the truth or at least believe spite the devastation, manage to laugh and it might exist, Karen Armstrong’s The Case to find hope. Reading Atwood is a bit like for God (Knopf, $26.95) examines human- listening to the Monty Python song from the Life of Brian, “Always kind’s search for God from Paleolithic times to Look on the Bright Side of Life”, i.e., funny, but darkly so. For most the present, questioning everything from our of us and for many of our customers, a signed first edition of The modern disregard for Him to the Fundamental- Year of the Flood would be indeed a treasure beyond measure (are ists’ apparent justification for violence, eyeing you listening, spouses and children?). various traditions and asking us to move beyond ourselves in an effort to find a path to faith that If Atwood sounds appealing for the cynic in your life, so should will bridge the growing polarization that seems to be the defining Bright-Sided (Metropolitan $23) by Barbara Ehrenreich, a book that characteristic of our age. takes on those bloody optimists who will take the positive view regardless of the facts. She For those who like their spiritual lives untethered to questions the efficacy of the sunny outlooks one organized belief system and who seek a life of that are pervasive these days, pointing out the peace, Eckhart Tolle’s new treasury, Oneness with dangers of the irrational optimism which has All Life (Plume, $16), is an obvious choice; Tolle has become epidemic in everything millions of followers and fans worldwide, and this from the medical profession inspirational treasury is to religion to business (not to ideal for any of them. And mention academia). Another those who follow the Zen social analyst with interesting path to culinary delight might enjoy The insights is Malcolm Gladwell. In a new collection of Complete Tassajara Cookbook by Edward his best essays from The New Yorker, What the Dog Espe Brown (Shambala, $34.95). In a simple Saw (Little Brown, $27.99), he mines quirky subjects approach to food that features hundreds of from women’s hair dye to cookies to ketchup to dog gourmet vegetarian recipes, Brown em- whispering, all in ways that reveal and amuse. phasizes the seasonal and also the joy that cooking can bring. Writers who reveal their dark sides, while somehow still able to find mystery and even magic in their surroundings are a rare breed. On a different tack, Consequential Strangers (Norton, $25.95) by William Fiennes has written what can only Melinda Blau and Karen L. Fingerman is, as its subtitle suggests, an be described as a bittersweet memoir of a boy examination of “The Power of People Who growing up in a moated castle with an older Don’t Seem to Matter But Really Do,” painting brother who suffered from epilepsy. Love and the comforting (and interesting) notion that the surreal, mystery and family warmth, en- those semi-strangers we live among in our chantment and terror co-exist in consonance communities all have impact on our lives in in The Music Room (Norton, $24.95), a re- ways little understood but nonetheless perva- markable and remarkably imaginative memoir. sive. Ehrenreich might disapprove of this no- As is David Small’s graphic memoir Stitches tion, but we find it intriguing. In yet another (Norton, $23.95). If you exercise in belief, Michael Sandel in Justice think you’ve had the childhood from Hell, (Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, $25) tackles big moral read this memoir of child abuse that makes questions, applying philosophy to reality in Roald Dahl’s imagination seem, well, child- ways that make us reexamine everything from ish. Caldecott-award winning Small, who affirmative action to the free market, patrio- somehow grew up to be a transcendent writer tism to abortion to taxation, in an effort to of children’s books, has created a moving and look at familiar issues in new ways. Known for unforgettable tour-de-force that will rivet his popular class at Harvard, Sandel’s work is teens and adults alike. thought-provoking and of interest to believers and questioners alike. Finally, for a stocking stuffer, Let The Great World Spin ($15, Ran- dom House) by Colum McCann, which just won the National Book award, captures the grit as well as the vibrancy of New York City, a heartbreakingly beautiful, achingly sad, and utterly wonderful novel.

—4—The King's English Bookshop—www.kingsenglish.com—801-484-9100— this book and a ticket for her appearance at TKE on January 20th would make the perfect gift for any of the women in your life—espe- cially those who loved The Time Traveler’s Wife. And, speaking of time travel, Half Broke Horses (Scribner, $25) is a novel in which Jeannette Walls channels her spunky and outspoken grandmother who was born into a hardscrabble Texas family in s the early part of the 20th century. From chasing Excellent Women cattle to teaching in a one-room schoolhouse, For many women, taxed as we are by multi- to taking flying lessons, Lily tasking, short stories sometimes hold more Smith was the embodiment of appeal than novels. There are some remarkable the frontier spirit, and Wall’s collections out right now, first among them, A portrayal is involving and fascinating. Finally, Short History of Women (Scribner, $24) by Kate for those who prefer history to fiction as they Walbert. This tale of five generations of women travel back in time, Abigail Adams by Woody in one family has as its matriarch a woman who Holton (Free Press, $30) offers a wonderful new starved herself for suffrage. Dark? Not really, but perspective on the days following the American fascinating, as that one act echoes through genes Revolution and on one witty, and surprisingly and generations. Walbert has always been a brilliant writer but as forward-thinking woman’s place in our nation’s we watch these women struggle, pulled between history. their desire to mean something and their need to give and receive love, her work takes on astonishing emotional resonance. In Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It (Riverhead, $25.95) by Maile Meloy, the bonds of love are equally tenuous although for different reasons; like Walbert, Meloy writes with blinding resonance, and her characters inhabit our heads and hearts, leaving us longing for more. Then there’s the h incomparable Alice Munro whose collection Sons and Lovers Too Much Happiness (Random, $25.95) delves into everything from childhood secrets from Notorious literary bad boy Sherman Alexie has always known how the past to fragile relationships in the present, to make his readers laugh so hard they don’t all told with her customary blend of complex- notice the knife slipping between their ribs. ity, wisdom, and narrative verve. And finally, Nothing would make the man in your life a in Going Away Shoes (Algonquin, $22.95), Jill better gift than a signed first edition of Alexie's McCorkle explores every facet ferocious and often funny new collection, War of women’s personal lives— Dances (Grove Press, $23), his signature mix women alone or in bad marriages; women as of satiric, insightful, and painfully human. Tell- mothers, some good, some bad; women as sisters, ing tales of boys and men, husbands, fathers, as friends; women in charge of too much or too sons, each at some pivotal moment, whether in little. Whether her vision is forgiving or chilling as terms of action or understanding, he examines she examines the reasons to flee and the reasons to marriage, fatherhood, the loneliness of a writer or of someone living stay, revelation is present on every page. in memories. The result is stories that are universal, funny, gut- wrenching and revelatory. For those women who, time deprived or not, prefer novels, Lor- rie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs (Knopf, $25) has as its protagonist In This Is Where I Leave You (Dutton, $22.95) by Jonathan Trop- Tassie, a young Midwestern woman hired by a per, a young man is forced to sit shivah with his three siblings (none couple who wish to adopt and want Tassie to of whom he really likes) when their father dies. This often laugh- be part of that process. The resultant dynamic out-loud tale of siblings and in-laws, parents becomes a wonderful pool and children, of the absurd and sometimes of cross-currents and hidden touching moments they share or inflict upon depths. And Her Fear- one another is irreverent, totally entertaining, ful Symmetry (Scribner, and graced with heartfelt moments. And in $26.99), Audrey Niffeneg- Juliet, Naked (Riverhead Books $25.95), Nick ger’s newest, is a ghost story featuring 20-year- Hornby once again mines musical obsession old twins Julia and Valentina, pulled by family as a couple’s relationship is shattered by an secrets from an aimless existence with their ill-fated tour of the U.S. This warmly rendered parents in Chicago to the London flat of their novel examines love and desire, friendship, mysterious, recently deceased aunt. A copy of Continued... —801-484-9100—www.kingsenglish.com—The King's English Bookshop—5— Continued from page 5... much food for thought. On an entirely different obsession, and the many ways we fumble through life towards tack, the gambler in your life will love Cowboys happiness. Also set among the young set (young being a relative Full: The Story of Poker (Farrar Strauss & Gir- thing), Jonathan Lethem’s Chronic City (Doubleday, $26.95) features oux, $30). Offering an intriguing history of gam- a former child star (whose fiancée is trapped bling’s greatest game from its early roots through among the stars aboard an orbiting space sta- its present incarnation as a pastime, not just for tion) who is searching for truth among the living rooms but in professional contests, James drugs and junk food and East Side parties that McManus tells of the great face-offs between fa- seem to offer little besides delusion. On a darker mous players, the cheats, the cunning strategies, but absolutely wondrous note, Pete Dexter has and the amazing variations the game of poker written another coming-of-age story, Spooner can take. And the historians on your living room (Grand Central, $26.99), which, like Hornby’s couch will love The Monuments Men: Allied and Lethem’s, is possessed of a heady mix of Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure humor and the absurd. About a troubled (to Hunt in History (Center Street, $26.99) by Rob- put it mildly) kid with the good fortune to belong to a stepfather ert Edsel which tells the tale of the Allied force who is a former military officer and who loves created to track and recover art looted by the and supports him through thick and thin, this Nazis. Working separately behind enemy lines, will knock the socks off of any man or woman. these men ferreted out and recorded the path of (Richard Russo, when asked to name a new the art even as it disappeared. A heart-stopping favorite novel, picked Spooner.) tale never before told, this is the ideal gift for any WWII buff. Speaking of Richard Russo, Speaking of history, for anyone with for those men on the far a keen interest in the recent history side of 40, this Pulitzer of the Middle East, not to mention Prize-winner’s That Old the world, 44 Days: Iran and the Cape Magic (Knopf, $25.95) weaves magic that Remaking of the Modern World makes it a perfect gift (particularly a signed (National Geographic, $50) by our copy, available while they last at TKE). Opening own world-renowned photojournal- with Jack Griffith ferrying his father’s ashes in ist David Burnett, with a forward by the trunk of his car and thinking about his par- Christiane Amanpour and an essay ents’ marriage, unaware that his own marriage by John Kifner, is the perfect gift. is teetering on the brink, this novel takes the From the unrest that led to the fall reader on a wry and witty ride down the rocky of the Shah to the political maneu- road of marriage and of life. Nobelist Orhan vering that led to the triumph of the ayatollahs, Burnett’s shattering Pamuk, on the other hand, writes of a man who and revelatory photographs tell a tale of the events and emotions never married the woman he loved and lives that utterly changed a country and, in a life of obsessed adoration in The Museum of the end, a world. Adventuring back in Innocence (Knopf, $26.95). Passion, desire, and time, The Heart of the Great Alone: Scott obsession are themes in this rich novel, but so Shackleton and Antarctic Photography are introspection and the light it can shed. On (Bloomsbury, $47.50) by David Hemple- a far different note in Crossers (Knopf, $27.95), mann-Adams, Sophie Fordon, and Emma Philip Caputo tells a tale of the hardscrabble Stuart offers another treasure-trove of West and of a man, Gil Castle, seeking to rebuild photographs—those of the early polar his life after 9/11. The beautiful if desolate land explorers. That the glass-plate negatives near the Arizona-Mexico border offers redemp- even survived is a miracle, and the collec- tion, but the men who traffic in humans and run tion of remarkable images of everything from ice floes to dog sleds drugs on that land live in a world of violence to Antarctic flora and fauna is a fascinating and beautiful record of a linked to Castle’s own family’s past. An often- landscape and an environment that is vanishing. brutal novel that examines the power of the past in a very different way than do Russo’s or Pamuk’s, Crossers is riveting. Where Men Win Glory (Doubleday, $27.95) is another perfect men-centric tale born of 9/11, this time nonfiction. Jon Krakauer’s biography of Pat Tillman is a gripping story of a football superstar who left at the top of his game to join the army after 9/11, and two years later died in Afghanistan. The fact that this death was from “friendly fire” was covered up, coming to light only gradually, makes for a powerful read and

—6—The King's English Bookshop—www.kingsenglish.com—801-484-9100— $60), and is Andrew Zuckerman at the top of his game. An exotic profile, a wing tip, a flurry of feathers in arrested motion, birds in outrageous color, in the ordinary cloak of a sparrow—these photo- graphs, taken separately, are stunning, taken together, breathtaking. Few guardians of the natural world are more respected than Jane Goodall. In Hope for Animals and Their World (Grand Central, $27.99) she brings us good news about endangered species, fascinating survival stories of the red wolf, Cali- Naturalists fornia condor, gray wolves of Yellowstone among No one has been more loquacious on others, crediting professionals and the subject of nature this year than volunteers who have helped save Ken Burns in his splendid film aired them. And for the stocking, no one writes about on PBS this fall. And what better gift the natural world—or the world at large—more for those who sat enrapt through all lyrically, with more passion, or more knowledge its episodes than the book that is a than Terry Tempest Williams. Now in paper, her companion to the film, Our National convention-(and heart-)breaking Finding Beauty Parks: America’s Best Idea (Knopf, in a Broken World (Vintage, $16) takes us from the $50) by Dayton Duncan and Ken world of mosaics in Ravenna to the prairie dogs of Burns. Pictorially spectacular, yes, but Utah to a village in Rwanda. No also full of informed and fascinating narrative as one can really make sense of our well as extended interviews by those whose lives ragtag population of animals near- have been shaped by the land (Terry Tempest ing extinction, humans who react Williams among them). In a celebration of dawn with incredible savagery one min- that any lover of the out-of-doors will cherish, ute, kindness the next, artists who Diane Ackerman, in Dawn Light (Norton, $23.95) piece together truth and beauty, has written a series of meditations that takes us but Terry Tempest Williams comes through the cycle of seasons, awakening us to the as close as anyone could. world at dawn and to the dawning of our own The love of animals reflected in the works of Goodall and Tempest consciousness. It is an impassioned appreciation of Williams is represented in stunning black and white in the tri-tone the miracle of evolution and of the spiritual appeal photographs of Nick Brandt. A Shadow Falls (Abrams, $50) col- of nature as well. Speaking of evolution, Richard lects Brandt’s (On This Earth) work on the animals of East Africa Dawkins, in The Greatest Show on Earth (Free and pairs those photographs Press, $30), answers the proponents of so-called with essays by philosopher “intelligent design” with as clearly documented a Peter Singer and photography proof of the theory of evolution as is imaginable, historian Vicki Goldberg, mak- doing so with his customary combination of eru- ing this the ideal gift for lovers dition and wit. Dawkins is one of our planet’s major of Africa, of the natural world, thinkers, and this is a present perfect for every scientist you know. and of photography alike. The For the birders in your life, particularly those of a color photographs of the animal literary bent, Tim Dee’s A Year on the Wing (Free world in Bear Portraits (Little Press, $24) is a glorious exploration of what con- Brown, $26.99) work to very nects us to birds, tracking their influence through different effect; they’re not just literature and science, art and aviation. Lyrical in photographs but portraits as terms of prose, evocative both in terms of his- well and are as revelatory as tory and ornithology, this is a book that pulls us photographic portraits of hu- skyward. And for the birder/poet, Bright Wings: man beings can be. An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds (Columbia, $22.95), Finally, surprising just in terms of its edited by Billy Collins, illustrated beauty is One Hundred Butterflies by David Sibley, takes us from Ca- (Little Brown, $50) by Harold Fein- tullus to Amy Clampitt, Thomas stein. Gorgeous photographs display Hardy to Seamus Heany, enchant- the range of these exotic creatures ing us with bird verse from some from the famous Blue Morpho to of the world’s greatest poets, even the Asian Swallowtail. Guaranteed as the ornithologically correct and to quicken the hearts of amateur beautiful paintings of David Sibley lepidopterists worldwide, it deserves engage us. Certainly the most a place on the coffee table of every stunning avian book of the season naturalist as well. is simply titled Bird (Chronicle,

—801-484-9100—www.kingsenglish.com—The King's English Bookshop—7— Finally, who couldn’t love Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire (Rodale, $23.99)? Edited by Graydon Carter, this compilation of short surveys by 101 celebrities gives us an intimate (and often hilarious) insight into what makes famous people tick.

Photographers Nature isn’t the only subject that brings out the best in professional photography. Finally available in paperback is Annie Leibovitz’s A Photographer's Life: 1990- 2005 (Random House, $75) Brimming with photos of famous people and events, some you will recognize and some that will surprise you, this masterwork by one Writers and Readers of the world’s most famous photographers is a treasury anyone on your list will love. What do Vladimir Nabokov, E. B. White, Vir- Another book perfect for the serious pho- ginia Woolf, Seamus Heaney, Milan Kundera, tographer in your life is Dorothea Lange: and Susan Sontag have in common (besides A Life Beyond Limits (Norton, $35) by Linda Gordon. A biography huge literary talent)? In The Story about the rather than a collection of images, this thoroughgoing portrait helps Story (Tin House $19.95) edited by J. C. Hall- to explain the discerning eye that uncovered the man, each of these literary luminaries ponders truth (and the humanity) beneath the stony vis- a great book from the canon of world litera- ages of the depression’s rural poor. Married to ture. In so doing, they explore the works of Maynard Dixon and then to Paul Taylor, Lange Hemingway and Kafka, Salinger and Melville, worked and socialized with the likes of Isadora sometimes shocking us, sometimes making Duncan and Alfred Stieglitz in New York, Ansel us snort, and always making us think. The Adams, Edward Weston, Frida Kahlo and Di- poet in your life will adore Riprap and Cold ego Rivera in San Francisco; her development Mountain Poems (Counterpoint, $24) as Gary as both a photographer and social historian is Snyder celebrates the 50th anniversary of his documented by Gordon in great detail. first book of poetry. Included is a CD of the poet reading these and the translated poetry of We may be one region west, Han Shan. And National Book Award winner but we couldn’t resist Great Marilyn Hacker returns with Names (Norton, Plains: America's Lingering $23.95), a celebration Wild (University of Chicago, of language from one of $45). This coffee table book is America's most important filled with photographs and poetic voices. A novel sure essays celebrating America’s to appeal to poets is The heartland and how it is adapt- Anthologist, (Simon & ing (and not), as developers Schuster, $25) by Nichol- move in and set up shop. We son Baker, narrated as it is especially love the forward by poet Paul Chowder who by Ted Kooser. Although we is supposedly writing the will miss Tony Hillerman and his introduction to a new an- wonderful mysteries; fortunately, thology. Funny, romantic, his daughter, Anne, has kept his and steeped in poetry from memory alive with her new book, Tennyson and Yeats to Bogan and Merwin, this Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On is a tour de force in every way. Finally, if love, the Road with Chee and Leaphorn sex, infidelity, villainy, drunkeness, and murder (Harper, $39.99). The people and are your poetry of choice be sure to include Pe- places of Tony’s adored Southwest ter Ackroyd's retelling of The Canterbury Tales are lovingly brought to life through (Viking, $35) on your holiday list. photos and essays that remind all of us why we choose to live here and not somewhere else.

—8—The King's English Bookshop—www.kingsenglish.com—801-484-9100— The Artist Within We’ve never seen so many beautiful books on every topic, and k Detectives of the Mysterious those from the worlds of art and architecture are no excep- P. D. James, in Talking About Detective Fic- tion this year. Consider The New tion (Knopf, $22), discusses the fine art of the Acropolis Museum (Skira Rizzoli, mystery from every angle: her own methods of $50) edited by Bernard Tschumi writing, the critics’ responses over time, the part Architects, which takes the viewer/ the mystery plays in social history, the differ- reader from the conception of ence between the genre in America and Britain. this amazing museum through Lively and intriguing, this is the perfect gift for its production and to the final mystery-loving readers and writers alike. And presentation of the building and in the tradition of P. D. James, Susan Hill’s The its contents in 2009. The book is Vows of Silence, (Overlook, $24.95) is complex, a compilation of colorful photo- baffling, and very British. Faced with a mount- graphs, sketches, and essays that ing series of crimes by a faceless killer, Chief reveals the thinking and planning Inspector Simon Serrailler is relieved when his of architects and politicians alike. sister and her family return from Australia— Also exciting is Painting the Native until he discovers that his brother-in-law has World: Life, Land, and Animals cancer. Throw in an old love, even more of the (Museum of Art and Indian Cul- complicated family angst that fuels this wrench- ture, $24.95) by Valerie K. Verzuh, ing British mystery series, and the result is a Antonio R. Chavarria. The Modern page-turner of the highest order. On the other Indian Art Movement in Santa Fe, side of the Atlantic, the American “hardboiled” New Mexico, encouraged a group of mystery is ably represented (and spoofed) by innovative Native American art- Thomas Pynchon in Inherent Vice (Pen- ists from the 1930s to the 1960s, guin, $27.95). The psychedelic ‘60s are an using watercolor and tempera and apt match for the hallucinogenic nature of as subject matter the land and their Pynchon’s language as he paints an L. A. heritage, to create simple, stark and noir canvas, peopling it with surfers and colorful images of ceremony and daily hookers and hoods, drug dealers and ex- life. The book will appeal to both the cons, and cops who should be cons, gang- lover of traditional Native American sters and maritime lawyers and billionaire art and those who appreciate minimal, developers. The likeable detective of this contemporary images. And if the art of psychotropic feast, Doc Sportello, makes his the Old West holds appeal for some- way through the smoggy underbelly of L. A., one on your list, The Masterworks of taking it all in with aplomb, thanks to his inherent naiveté and to the Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective of dope he continually smokes. This is a time-warp of a mystery, and Paintings and Sculpture (University of Pynchon’s sidewinding satirical screwball plot, his densely detailed Oklahoma, $39.95) is the perfect choice. Finally, an ideal gift for the descriptions, his eye for foibles and for moral contemporary art devotee in your world is Francis Bacon (Rizzoli, ambiguity—not to mention his sense of $60). Edited by two towering figures of humor—make this an experience not to be the British art world, Matthew Gale and missed. On a more serious if equally mysteri- Chris Stephens, and published as an ous note, in Hardball (Putnam, $26.95) by accompaniment of the show at the Tate Sara Paretsky, V.I. Warshawski returns older, Modern, this lavish volume not only but not necessarily wiser. Family, old sorrows, illustrates the power of Bacon’s art, but and past wrongs all play a major role in a also helps us to understand the sources wonderfully crafted story of Chicago’s tainted for those tortured human figures for past. V.I. learns to forgive, rights an old which he’s known. injustice from the Civil Rights era and, in the Continued...

—801-484-9100—www.kingsenglish.com—The King's English Bookshop—9— Continued from page 9... process, almost loses her life. And in The Coral Thief (Random, $25), Rebecca Stott delivers a historical mystery set in the breathing space between the exile of Napoleon and the corona- tion of a new king. When young Daniel Connor arrives in Paris, his job may be over before it starts. While he slept, a beautiful stranger stole his papers of introduction and priceless coral Christmas Stories specimens. The search for this philosopher-thief Reviewed by Ann Cannon leads Daniel into the underworld of post-revo- lutionary Paris in a book that blends history and philosophy, science The Christmas Magic, written by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by and romance into one good read. Jon J. Muth On the light side and perfect for the stocking, “Every year, just when the nights are longest and Dog on It (Atria Books, $15) by Spencer Quinn the stars shine brightest, Santa feels a tingling features, of all things, a dog detective. Silly? You in his whiskers. Then he knows that the Christ- bet. But the perfect evocation of the PI voice mas magic will soon be here.” Picture and prose makes it an ideal gift for lovers of dogs and combine perfectly in this beautiful story about mysteries alike. the days leading to Santa’s annual journey. Our favorite new book of the holiday season, hands On a much darker down. – Scholastic, $16.99 note, the compelling The Girl with the Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas, written by Jane O’Conner, Dragon Tattoo (Vin- illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser tage, $14.95) or (in hardcover) The Girl Oh, come on. Admit it. It’s hard to resist Nan- Who Played with Fire (Knopf, $25.95) by cy and her love for all things fancy. This time Steig Larssen are impossible to put down our heroine can’t wait to top the tree with the and, together or separately, are the perfect GORGEOUS angel she bought last summer gift(s) for lovers of mysteries (as long as because “it is never too early to prepare for they don’t mind violence in a good cause). Christmas.” Unfortunately—and fortunately, as well—things don’t work out the way Nancy had planned. Silly and sweet. – Harper, $17.99 Stick Man, written by Julia Donaldson, illus- trated by Axel Scheffler It’s not easy being a stick man. Dogs want to fetch you. Kids want to drop you in the river. Swans want to turn you into a nest. What’s a poor stick man to do? Especially when all he wants is to be home for holidays? “Stick with m us and find out.” – Arthur A. Levine, $16.99 Wits and Wags Merry Christmas, Splat, written and illustrated by Rob Scotton Lastly, for lovers of laughter, plain Splat the cat wants a really, really, REALLY big and simple, pick up a copy of The present for Christmas, because BIG! Is BETTER! Onion Presents: Our Front Pages: But has he been good enough for Santa to visit? 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Only time (and little sisters) will tell. Scotton’s Moral Rectitude from America's good-natured illustrations are hard to resist. Finest News Source (Scribner, $28), – Harper, $16.99 a hilarious collection of covers The Gingerbread Pirates, written by Kristin Kladstrup, illustrated that have parodied our headlines by Matt Tavares and world news for the past two What happens when Santa encounters a decades. This “Towering Pillar crew of gingerbread pirates on Christmas of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Eve? Will he (gasp) EAT THEM? Or grant Rectitude” is guaranteed to break the wish of a boy’s heart with a most unusual up the whole family during holiday gift? We love this book’s bright, bold illus- dinners. Don’t leave Dad (or Mom trations. – Candlewick, $16.99 either, for that matter) without it.

—10—The King's English Bookshop—www.kingsenglish.com—801-484-9100— Have You Been Naughty or Nice?, written and illustrated by Ethan Long Duck answers the question for us neatly: “Um . . . Yes?” Kids (and their parents) are bound to smile while viewing Duck’s con- flicted Christmas Eve preparations. – Little, Brown, $10.99 Under the Star: a Christmas Counting Story, written by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen Welcome Winter “Under the star, under the star, One The Mitten, retold by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Barbara angel sees a manger afar.” Thus begins McClintock Yolen’s lovely new book, which uses both rhyme and number rhythms to It’s easy to forget that the story of a lost woolly glove re-tell the traditional Christmas story. didn’t originate with Jan Brett. In fact, The Mitten is Recommended – Key Porter Books, a traditional folk tale, given new life here by Ayles- $19.95 worth and McClintock. Great reading for a snowy day! – Scholastic, $16.99 Here Comes Jack Frost, written and illustrated Kazuno Kohara Quite honestly the text of this new book is only so-so. BUT! The look of Here Comes Jack Frost is nothing short of stunning. A silvery celebra- tion of all things winter. – Roaring Brook Press, $12.99 Hanukkah Comes Just Eight Carl’s Snowy Afternoon, written and illustrated by Alexandra Day Nights A Year! The world’s most famous canine babysitter is back for another adventure. This time Carl Zigazak! A Magical Hanukkah Night, written Eric A. Kimmel, il- slips a snowsuit on toddler Madeleine and the lustrated by Jon Goodell two spend an afternoon romping through a Unlike many Hanukkah books which are often winter wonderland. After all these years the instructive in nature, story comes first in Zi- Carl series is still pure magic. – Farrar, Straus gazak! In this case, villagers find their holiday and Giroux, $12.99 K celebrations hijacked by two mischievous devils. How the rabbi deals with the evening’s I events is both surprising and delightful. A wise and wonderful book for all ages and TKE Inkslingers all audiences. – Doubleday, $15.95 Betsy Burton Wendy Foster Leigh Dawn Houghton Hoppy Hanukkah!, written by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Daniel Howarth Barbara Hoagland Aaron Cance Jenny Lyons Simon and Violet, two little rabbits, are Kathy Ashton Sally Larkin Lisa Goldstein Kieda excited for Hanukkah to arrive. But before Ann Cannon Dawn Ann Owens Lynda Cooley they can light their candles, Mama and Papa explain what the family is celebrating. Anne Holman Deon Hilger Vivian Evans A nice introduction to the holiday. Anne Brillinger Jan Sloan Jenn Northington – Albert Whitman, $15.99. Paula Longhurst Margaret Brennan Linda Gurrister Hanukkah Lights, written by David Martin, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Candlewick, $5.99 and My Chanukah Playbook, written and Sue Fleming Neville Larry Leigh illustrated by Salina Yoon, Little Simon, $10.99 M I These simple board books cover basic Hanukkah customs. My Chanukah Happy Thanksgiving, Playbook has the added at- Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad, M traction of being interactive. KMerry Christmas and Happy Holidays I Especially good choices for to you all! the very young child. O G

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The King’s English Bookshop 1511 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84105 801-484-9100