books

Today, Matthew Chojnacki is set to release his new book, Alternative Movie Posters: Film Art from the Underground, a collection that showcases a mix of avant-garde art and minimalistic design for movies ranging from Sixteen Candles to Star Wars.

One “Absinthe Shrugged,” coming right up.

I found my favorite authors and slid my fingers along the spines of books I yearned to read. And not just read, but buy, hold in my hands, and, when finished, tuck onto a shelf, mine to remember and admire for all time.

There’s a video monitor in the library with a welcome message from Morley Safer that comes on every few minutes. At one point, it started skipping, and he sounded like Max Headroom.

I’ve become aware that my coworkers and friends are watching. I’m deathly afraid that someone will compile a gag reel of me scratching or tripping over the retention wall of books that pens me in.

Interviewer Hugh Vandivier is presently “locked up” at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis in observance of Banned Books Week. As of this posting, the Robert Weide–produced documentary about Vonnegut, referenced here, had yet to be completed.

When it was released last month, the Washington Post wrote that March “should be stocked in every school and shelved at every library.”

This month, Hoosier Julie Perry releases the second edition of a book that has turned into a bible for becoming a crew member on glamorous mega-yachts. Here’s the article that started it all.

His knees cracked down onto the cold, hard concrete floor. Jarhead followed him with the still-warm barrel of the gun. Touched the rear of Dote’s skull. … Jarhead was restless and a bit worried. He hadn’t beat on a bag since the robbery. He needed to expand his lungs. Feel some flesh give.

Bob Knight’s version of book promotion hit The New York Times Magazine today in an interview, “Coach Bob Knight on Why He’s So Unpleasant.” The headline riffs on the name of Knight’s new book, The Power of Negative Thinking, co-written with his longtime collaborator in Bloomington, retired sportswriter Bob Hammel. Related: Hammel on why Knight makes a good author.

In 1969, L.S. Ayres invited native son Kurt Vonnegut to sign copies of his latest novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, in the downtown department store. At earlier stops on the book tour, the literary icon had drawn throngs of fans; here, he was met with indifference—and the irony didn’t escape him. “I sold thirteen books in two hours, every one of them to a relative,” Vonnegut wrote to fellow novelist and Shortridge High grad Dan Wakefield. “Word of honor.”

I believe in the power of small, incremental change, but I’m really inspired by big, bold, visionary change. This is a really exciting time to be here. I feel good about our direction, but from here, things could either be okay or they could be kind of fantastic. To keep doing what we’re doing only gets us so far. What’s missing is a world-class public-transit system.

Honestly, I didn’t pay that much attention while reading Slaughterhouse-Five in high school English class. Even though it was short compared to other required books—I’m looking at you, Crime and Punishment—I didn’t fully understand the themes. So when assigned to check out a public media event for a new exhibit fashioned by Ball State University students for the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, I was a bit apprehensive. My Vonnegut knowledge was slim. Yes, I knew that he was from Indiana and that I should be proud of that. I also knew that he had one heck of a mustache. And that’s about it. So when I walked into the KVML yesterday, I was a clean slate personified, although my soul felt dirty for the Slaughterhouse-Five crime.

Three years of work came to fruition today for Indy Reads with the 11 a.m. opening of its new bookstore on Mass Ave. A modest crowd filled the beautifully designed interior of the spot to take a look at the first bookstore to grace downtown since Borders left last year.