Superior Person's Tuesday!

Thermanesthesia n. Inability to feel heat and cold. The use of this term might justifiably be adapted to signify insensitivity to the one or the other. Each of us knows someone who may be found rejoicing, coatless, in the bracing early morning air of a late winter’s day; and each of us knows someone who may be found huddled over the radiator, shivering, on a balmy spring evening. Fate has decreed that the two invariably marry each other. The lexicographer’s contribution to their plight is that they may henceforth excuse their own condition, or commiserate with their helpmeet’s, by the use of the above term.

Long term side effects of thermanesthesia may include the inability to distinguish between sports.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Thermanesthesia appears in the First.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Musophobia n. The morbid dread of mice. Supposedly a condition of the female human, though not of any female known to the present author.

The mighty elephant may in fact suffer from musophobia.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Musophobia appears in the Third.

December Review Round-Up

Here at David R. Godine, Publisher, we strive to produce high quality books above all else. So, when our books and authors are praised, we hope you'll forgive us for acting like proud parents. Please join us in celebrating the recent success of a few of our talented authors.

The “orderly chaos” of Rosemary Verey was reviewed by The Bowed Bookshelf. Here is an excerpt from that review:

Verey’s gardens remind me a little of jazz musicians. A great and successful jazz musician (Branford Marsalis?) once said that great art is not completely improvised: it is creating something new within the constraints of an accepted form. I like the idea of constraints, because we all have them, and some do better than others when operating inside of them. And this is so for Verey. The gardens she created will always be lovely, but they won’t have her individual spark of genius without her.

Read the full article here.

For the aspiring “Anglophile American” gardener, Publishers Weekly's review of Rosemary Verey is one not to miss…

In this well-crafted, very personal biography, one of her apprentices, attorney and gardener Robinson, paints a loving but clear-eyed portrait of this great designer. Those who only know this doyenne of British gardening through the genteel, authoritative voice of her books will meet a more complicated character in these pages. Beneath her calm upper-class exterior was a very ambitious woman, motivated by financial pressures, troubled by family relationships, and pinched by vanity.

Continue reading the article here.

Barbara Paul Robinson was also featured on NPR's Here and Now. Here is a quick snippet from her interview with Robin Young:

Robinson says Verey could have been an anonymous country lady – with a handsome house, a nice family who was devoted to her church and hunted, too. But this gardening chapter came late in her life and it became her career.

Give your eyes a reprieve from reading and take a listen to the full interview here. Buy a copy of Rosemary Verey on our website today!

In honor of the Christmas season, Susan H. Gordon from Biographile reviewed Elizabeth David’s Christmas. Here is an excerpt:

David brandishes an idiosyncratic mix of formality and do-what-you-like on both sides of the kitchen door. After decades of preparing her recipes for eight books and articles in publications like Vogue magazine and The Sunday Times, she doesn’t hide how weary she’s become of cooking, but she shares her stories and recipes for even the richest dishes anyway, and with a warmly authoritative precision: Her recipe for a Christmas pudding is accompanied by an admission of not having made one in years -- and a perfect set of instructions for making one. Once seated, her description of each meal reverts to a candidly delighted description of each dish, regardless how plain or splendid.

Read the full article here. If you have any late holiday parties to prepare for (or if you'd like to be way ahead of the game for next Christmas), you can pick up a copy of Elizabeth David's Christmas on our website.

Finally, December also included some buzz for one of our upcoming titles, Linda Bamber’s Taking What I Like. Ben Fountain, lawyer-turned-author and nominee for the National Book Award, mentioned the book in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered when asked to share which books he’s looking forward to in 2013. Here is an excerpt:

In another, a man is serving time in prison for murder, and he plays Hamlet in a prison production of the play. And - I mean, I've never read anything quite like these stories. They have attitude, they shake things up. They're playful and inventive and funny, and Bamber gets the entire world into each one of her stories. They have the effect, the same effect as when you see a great production of a Shakespeare play. It makes the work come alive.

Continue reading the article, or listen to the interview, here, and watch out for Taking What I Like this spring!

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Pogonophobia n. A morbid dread of beards. As many whilom (q.v.) bearded ones can attest, the severity of this complaint is as nothing compared with the severity of its opposite number – the morbid dread of family members of a face from which a beard has just been removed.

The children succumbed to pogonophobia well before they reached the mall Santa.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Pogonophobia appears in the Second.

Boston Book Festival Wrap Up

Last month, David R. Godine, Publisher, attended the Boston Book Festival and had a fantastic time meeting readers, selling books, and soaking in the literary atmosphere. Here is a recap of the day's events from our interns, Lauren and Ryan.

While we loved the bustling crowds at the Brooklyn Book Festival in September, we felt more at home in Copley Square at the Boston Book Festival. The smaller venue allowed for a more intimate exchange with our customers, fellow book-lovers, and avid readers alike. The Boston Book Festival goers were book-enthusiasts. They admired, read, and bought our books, even as we were packing up the booth at the end of the day.

Each year the Boston Book Festival sends young readers on a “Passport to Imagination” adventure and we were lucky enough to be apart of the magic. The children picked up a passport at the BBF tent and traveled through Copley Square searching for stamps. When the participating children came to our booth, we read an excerpt from Catie Copley, which is the story of the real-life black Labrador that is a member of the guest services team at the storied Fairmont Copley Plaza. Catie was scheduled to be away for the weekend, but she made it back early and stopped by our booth in the afternoon. It was a delightful encounter that only solidified Catie’s claim to being the Copley’s totem of hospitality. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Catie Copley and Catie Copley's Great Escape were our biggest sellers of the day.

(l-r) Kristin, Lauren, and Ryan awaiting readers at the start of the Book Festival. [Ed. note: We did not stand in height order intentionally...]

When attending a book fair, one does not generally anticipate many unexpected events or noteworthy high jinx, but rather expects a more discerning and subtle affair. Yet, the 2012 Boston Book Festival managed to be both at once. For instance, how often do you get to watch a man dressed as a sandwich interact with members of the public? And, as a result of said interaction, receive a tasteful t-shirt? I would say seldom, if not often enough. The intrigue deepens - what does a seven foot tall fully articulate Sasquatch (and/or wood ape) mannequin have to do with a foam rubber suit Curious George? On a good day I hope very little, but at the Boston Book Festival, patrons had the opportunity to meet both. We also had a very convincing elf stop by our booth.

Point being, aside from perusing publishers and their wares, engaging in enthused conversations about literary personalities, obtaining varying degrees of swag, and attending free lectures, a book festival – and the Boston Book Festival in particular – is well worth attending. Even if you come simply for the books, you’ll find yourself staying for the manifestations of the literary community.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, and an even bigger thank you to those who bought a book or two (or more!). We had a great time meeting and talking to all of you. Till next year…

If you saw something you liked but didn’t get a chance to buy it during the Festival, you can buy any of our books at Godine.com. And for a limited time you can receive up to 3 free books with your order!

Superior Person's Word of the Week!

Futtock n. A particular wooden component — the exact nature of which is unknown to the author — in the structure of a ship. A ridiculous word. If you have a yachting friend or otherwise nautical friend, make a point of always greeting him with the cheerful inquiry: "And how are your futtocks these days, old bean?"

I for one, make it a habit of checking my futtocks daily, so to prevent inundation while at sea.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Futtock appears in the First.

NEIBA Recap

Back on October 4th, David R. Godine and some intrepid interns attended the 39th Annual Fall Conference of the New England Independent Booksellers Association (or, for those who care to relish in the art of acronyms, NEIBA).

The three-day conference took place in the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI. Throughout the week there were a myriad of presentations and a profusion of authors dispensing autographs, but the best part of the week’s events, in our humble opinions, was the booksellers exhibition. Though the number of booksellers has dwindled as of late and is no longer the biblio-behemoth sprawling across the convention center, it was still a sight to behold.

We arrived in Providence with a comfortable chunk of time before things got underway. Time enough to receive an exhibitor badge, lug an extra table into the conference hall, and display our bound accoutrements. Things began slowly as people trickled into the hall. The sullen overcast sky teetered on the verge of rain that never came; instead an unseasonable mugginess permeated the landscape. Thankfully this did not keep away the great multitude of book buyers who ebbed and flowed as the day wore on.

The archipelago spread out before us and tables piled with books upon books filled the room. Fellow publishing house representatives milled about, showcasing their wares to prospective buyers. A man in a carrot suit occasionally jogged through the throng (seriously), catalogues were exchanged, swag was rendered onto those who cared for it, raffle tickets were dispersed, and scavenger hunt questions answered. For those who missed our booth, our answer was Turkish Armenia (the question: which country was Yousuf Karsh from before moving to Canada?). We had a great time meeting with everyone who stopped by our booth.

We here at David R. Godine, Publisher, would like to thank those of you who made orders with us at this year’s NEIBA:

            The Bookloft of Great Barrington, MA
            Books on the Common of Ridgefield, CT
            The Bookworm of Omaha, NE
            Bridgton Books of Bridgton, ME
            Buttonwood Books & Toys of Cohasset, MA
            Devaney, Doak & Garrett of Farmington, ME
            The Flying Pig Bookstore of Shelburne, VT
            Galaxy Bookshop of Hardwick, VT
            Hickory Stick Bookshop of Washington Depot, CT
            Kennebooks of Kennebunk, ME
            Northshire Bookstore of Manchester Center, VT
            Open Door Bookstore of Schnectady, NY
            Parnassus Book Service of Yarmouthport, MA
            Red Tail Books of Wilmington, VT
            Children’s Book Shop of Brookline, MA
            Toadstool Bookshops Inc. of Peterborough, NH
            Wellfleet Marketplace of Wellfleet, MA

For our Boston-area fans, don’t forget to check us out this weekend at the Boston Book Festival! The event takes place Saturday, October 27th, from 10 am until 5 pm. We hope to see you there!

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Jar-Owl n. The European goatsucker. I swear that this is the complete definition as given by my source. Goatsucker? Do not write to me or to the publisher to explain this. Neither of us wishes to know.

The ambiguity of the word jar-owl is enough to drive goats into trees and jar-owls into chupacabra.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Jar-Owl appears in the Second.