Image of the Day: Winning Jump
As Austin Ratner accepted the fifth annual Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Tuesday evening, he told the audience gathered at Manhattan's Center for Jewish History about doing the research for The Jump Artist (Bellevue Literary Press), his novel about the life of photographer Philippe Halsman, and coming across a letter Halsman wrote from an Austrian prison to his girlfriend: "Tell me, Ruth, have you ever felt you were flying?" It's a universal dream, Ratner acknowledged, but one with particular resonance to Jewish history, in which, he explained, "the wish to rise up and its predicate, the dread of extinction," were pervasive themes--even, he continued, in the story of Superman (whose creators, like Ratner, hailed from Cleveland). He spoke of the hope with which every author starts to tell a story, and described the Rohr Prize as a sort of fulfillment that "makes me feel, myself, like Philippe Halsman, the jump artist." And then he stepped away from the microphone and, in the center of the stage, performed the sort of leap Halsman was able to coax out of celebrities from Marilyn Monroe and Richard Nixon to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
During the ceremony, the Jewish Book Council, which presents the $100,000 prize each year to an emerging author whose work promotes an interest in Jewish themes, also gave the $25,000 Sami Rohr Choice Award to Joseph Skibell for A Curable Romantic (Algonquin). The other three finalists--Allison Amend, Nadia Kalman and Julie Orringer--were also in attendance. Next year's prizes, which will focus on nonfiction titles, will be presented in Jerusalem.--Ron Hogan
photo courtesy Jewish Book Council
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Gores Group, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, is in discussions to purchase more than 200 of Borders's 405 remaining stores "in a deal that would keep the bookstore chain operating as a going concern," according to the 
A brief profile of Alec Gores in the 
The last nine Borders stores in Australia will close during the next two months, 
On Tuesday, the California State Assembly passed a bill "aimed at closing a legal loophole that allows Amazon.com Inc. and other Internet retailers to avoid collecting California sales taxes on purchases made via computer," the 
In South Carolina, the House voted 90-14 to approve a compromise brokered last week in the Senate. The measure now goes to Governor Nikki Haley, who previously said she will not veto it. The Associated Press (via the 
Three in 10 British children live in households that do not contain a single book, according to a recent survey by the National Literacy Trust of more than 18,000 young people across U.K. The 
What do the booksellers at 
Author Caroline Leavitt 
Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin is under discussion on 
One price we all pay for other peoples' fame is that increasingly the novel "has become another piece of merchandise stamped with the name of celebrities, who often pass off the book as their work alone despite the nearly universal involvement of ghostwriters. And the publishing industry has been happy to oblige," the 
Cool idea of the day: In the tradition of Chicago's legendary 
Font geeks take note: Making Faces: Metal Type in the 21st Century is a new documentary by Richard Kegler about the late Jim Rimmer, the Canadian designer of nearly 200 typefaces. 
"These complaints arise all over the country. There is no geographic center," said Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, in her opening remarks last week as moderator of the BEA panel "Book Banning 2011: A Report from the Front Lines of the Battle for Free Speech." Bertin observed that complaints "involve not just the books you might expect, but also books you might not think of," and noted there has been an increasing number of "attacks on high school advance placement classes."
Anderson looked beyond the headlines to try to understand the motivations behind book challenges. "I'm a preacher's kid," she said. "My dad is a Methodist minister. I understand the conservative mindset, especially the religious conservative mindset." 
Mystery author and Wyoming resident Craig Johnson knows not to appear at signings without his signature accessory: a cowboy hat. Although space is at a premium when he travels by motorcycle, "I have to designate one entire saddlebag just for holding my hat," he said. One year he sported a baseball cap on tour instead. "Everybody was totally disappointed. Every time I showed up at an event people asked, 'Where's your hat?' "
The abode is situated in the shadow of the Bighorn Mountains, where much of Hell Is Empty takes place. In his latest adventure, Longmire aids an FBI taskforce transporting a group of prisoners though the mountains. When the convicts escape and reinforcements are trapped by impassable roads during a severe snowstorm, it's up to the sheriff to stop the bad guys.
When this novel was first published in 1969, followed by a steamy TV adaptation, it was quite controversial. Now, the book is back and another TV version was recently screened in the U.K., though not yet available in the U.S. At first blush, the tale of a father's obsessive love for his daughter might seem like a limited theme, but before story's end there is a good bit of discussion and psychological meandering about an appetite for violence on the part of the mother and daughter, Cassie and Prue, that overrides the scintillating whiff of possible incest.
On February 15, 2011, few were surprised by the news Borders had filed for bankruptcy. Bookstores around the country have been suffering from the same fate. A few days earlier, indie stalwart Powell's Books, Portland, Ore., announced it was laying off 7% of its workforce. The regional bookseller Joseph-Beth Booksellers entered bankruptcy with nine stores and emerged with five stores, one of which is closing. In a search through retail obituaries, we'd find 18 bookstores closed, went bankrupt or were in search of a new owner since Borders entered bankruptcy in February.
Maney says when Amazon launched the Kindle, it pursued the fidelity side of the continuum. In interviews at the time, Jeff Bezos talked about the importance of emulating the experience of reading a book--the size of the screen, the weight of the object. Bezos even mentioned that the product team studied the book's vanilla-like scent and considered how to include that in the device. The entire approach left the market confused. Amazon was a company that for its entire existence had pursued one goal: using low prices, infinite shelf space and quick delivery to make buying things as convenient as possible.
The passing of Seattle bookseller Kim Ricketts caused me to reflect on what she accomplished and what it means to the retail segment of book publishing. Anyone in bookselling knows the story of Kim's migration from the University of Washington bookstore to her own business creating events that sold books. I was fortunate to be a beneficiary of her efforts firsthand during the launch of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time in 2009. At corporate events, like the one I spoke at, as well as her other events, Kim brought together wonderful groups of people who shared curiosities and passions. And while it is important for me to pay tribute Kim and the business she built, it is even more important for all of us to understand what Kim Ricketts Book Events exemplifies for the future of bookselling.
In its flagship City of Books location, Powell's Books has created a Disneyland-like destination--I don't mean in the costumed characters sense (though you can get a green-screened photo of yourself in front of the store printed on a T-shirt). The store stocks more than a million new and used copies of books, more than in any Barnes & Noble. Like Ameoba Records in Hollywood, Calif., Powell's has created a high definition experience that makes the store a destination for any book lover.
Todd Sattersten is the founder of BizBookLab, a company that identifies, develops, and launches business books around the world. He lives in Portland, Ore.