In the B&N Bargain Bin

[Dan]

Thought I would put up a post for book finds in the bargain section of B&N. If someone else would like to do the same with finds on Amazon.com or a used bookstore or such, feel free. If you like a particular book on the list and want to make that a future choice for reading, speak out.

$3.98 The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
$4.98 The Double by Jose Saramago
$5.98 Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle
$5.98 A Bit on the Side by William Trevor
$5.98 Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder
$5.98 The Mysterious Flame of Gueen Loana by Umberto Eco
$6.98 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
$6.98 The Pacific by Mark Helprin

one last one was less reading than it was looking, Ralph Steadman is most famous for illustrating the work of Hunter S. Thompson. His work is pretty fantastic.

$7.98 Untrodden Grapes by Ralph Steadman

[Ed]

A few more from the bargain section.

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster 5.98
Black Girl/White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates (don't remember what I paid)
Until I Find You by John Irving (not sure of the price)

And today I bought:
High Lonesome: Selected Stories 1966-2006 by Joyce Carol Oates 6.98
(This is not the one that you and I saw Dan. This one is new to the bargain section.)

And I don't know if you saw this Dan but they also have:
Ariel (The Restored Edition) by Sylvia Plath With a facsimile of her original manuscript. 5.98

[Dan]

I picked up Oblivion by David Foster Wallace for 2 bucks today. I think there is one copy left.

[Ed]

Another book to consider: Anthony Swofford's Jarhead, back in the discount section. Forget how much. Paper. About 5 or 6 dollars. And yes, it is the book that the movie is based on.

[Bob]

Just yesterday saw these in the discount bin; maybe one could be next month's read?

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
The Raw Shark Texts: A Novel by Steven Hall

and the hardback edition of
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco

[Dan]

I am reading the Umberto Eco, and like it a lot. Very impressed with it, in fact. I am unfamiliar with the other two, are they any good?

[Bob]

They say Raw Shark Texts is. That's what I've read. And Special Topics is apparently a book by a Lit snob for Lit snobs...so...attractive book, no? Each chapter is named for a lit classic. Special Topics was actually a top 10 book in 2006 on a few lists...

I haven't read either, however...

[Dan]

I might buy the second one based of that description alone.

[Monty]

A 2004 article from The Age calls Umberto Eco's _Foucault's Pendulum_, "the thinking person's Da Vinci Code," a two-faced compliment if there ever was one.

On the first hand, I get the the speaker is attempting to make Eco's esoteric (is that a word?) sound laudable, but on the other hand, it's using a book a newer (and lesser) work as comparison. It's like calling Bob Dylan "the thinking man's Everlast!"

[Dan]

This particular book by Eco, "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana", is really interesting. The plot is centered around a character who loses his memory, yet remembers every book he has ever read. So, in an attempt to recover the rest of his memory, he digs through old books, trying to make real-life connections from books he read at different points. I find that concept especially appealing: a book connecting to a specific period of your life, with memories tied into the reading. I can think of several books for me, hell, even specific poems that bridge memories.

The book, on another front, is beautifully illustrated with hundreds of comic book illustrations, cigarette labels, book covers, etc. It really helps the reader connect to the main character.

Eco's Foucault's Pendulum - A thinking man's Da Vinci Code. Awesome. I am not as down on Dan Brown's book as other people, check my review of it for more on that subject.

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[Dan]

Just got back from BN. Bought "Special Topics..." as well as "Ariel". Excited about both.

[Bob]

is it the Ariel revised? B/C I'm about to buy that this evening...

[Dan]

Yeah, my bad. With the photocopied original. Bargain bin is bad ass. Of course, I also get an extra 30% off.

[Ed]

What you describe in Eco's book, I also do in my life. Except I do it with Gilligan's Island reruns. :(