"If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads." —Ann Patchett
Despite
that we are nearing the store's watershed anniversary of forty years,
reaching an age that's usually characterized by ossification of
opinion, Island Books is becoming known as a tastemaker and trendsetter. First there was Eragon, then the garden gnomes (remember?), followed by the worldwide newsflash about our penguin adoption, the local buzz about our House Girl reading, Kendama Madness, and finally the New York Times tailing us on the short story trend. Soon after we announced the launch of our short story contest, the Times ran a big feature article touting short stories as a "Good Fit for Today's Screens." While I welcome their support and enthusiasm, I have my doubts about their reasoning. I think this is about the message, not about the medium. Yes, there is a flood of fabulous collections out right now: George Saunders' bestselling Tenth of December, Karen Russell's Vampires in the Lemon Grove, and the masterful Alice Munro's Dear Life, but our house has books by all three authors that we read years before it became trendy to squint at a glowing phone. These days you have to be careful not to get lost in the thicket of Kindle Singles and internet fanfic, or disappear into the cloudy, airless layers of the blogosphere.
Instead
buy a copy of Lorrie Moore, Junot Diaz, or Chuck Palahniuk if you want
the Now. Or just before bed read Ray Bradbury, Italo Calvino, Stephen
King, or Joyce Carol Oates and see what your dreams made of. Learn from
Carver, Cheever, and Trevor. Stop the world from spinning with Chekhov,
Singer, and Isaac Babel. That's sort of the point of short stories and
has been their strength since the days of gaslights and parlors. They
are tiny perfections, narrative gems. You can sit down some evening
after work, crack open a story, and be gone in a single line, or a
paragraph, or a page. I find it works best in the bathtub. And it sure
beats checking email or that other stuff. Try it tonight.
SHOP WITH ROGER DOLLARS ON MARCH 23rd
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March Madness Sale
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TELL ME A STORY
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Short and Sweet
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THE BOOKSTORE TWINS: FIVE MONTHS OLD
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From the In-House Infants
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BOOK CLUB COMBOS
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Fiction and Nonfiction Pairs
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HOT TOPICS ON OUR STORE JOURNAL
Reading-Related Rambles
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COUNTER INTELLIGENCE
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Cindy's March Pick: Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles
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GET IN TOUCH
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3014 78th Ave. SE MI, WA 98040 (206) 232-6920 Store Hours Mon-Wed: 9:30 - 7:00 Thurs: 9:30 - 8:00 Fri: 9:30 - 7:00 Sat: 9:30 - 6:00 Sun: 11:00 - 5:00 |
Downton Withdrawal?
Here's how fans of the hit Masterpiece Classic series Downton Abbey can survive the break between seasons.
The Short Version
Enter our short story contest! The details: There are prizes! The deadline is March 17, 2013. Stories should be 1000 words or fewer. That’s basically it.
Drop them off in person at Island Books, or email them to us with the subject line THE SHORT VERSION.
MoreOpen Book Club
20% Off Indie Bestsellers
Catch up on the titles dominating the indie bestseller lists and save 20% when you order online.
MoreeBooks
Did you know you can download ebooks from our website and read them instantly? Or that we sell top-notch ereaders and tablets ourselves?
Read more about it. You'll be glad you did.
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Island Books | 3014 78th Ave. SE | Mercer Island | WA | USA | 98040 |