i am holding it in my hand

i'm gonna tell you a love/adventure story about books. get excited.

just a few days ago i was in Bloomington, Indiana visiting my dear Anabelle, who attends Indiana University (which has an absolutely beautiful campus, but i digress). it was here that i stumbled upon something fantastic, something i've been coveting for a number of months, something i've had no luck (until now) obtaining. that something i'm telling you about is Tell Me Something by Jason. (the word play has no meaning other than my own personal amusement).

sometime last year i was first introduced to the work of Jason - while perusing the graphic novels section of the Downer Ave Schwartz - by the striking title I Killed Adolf Hitler. this book tells the simple story of a modern day contract killer who goes back in time to assassinate Hitler, fails and is stranded in 1939 while the Fuehrer returns to present day, learns of his would-be fate and disappears into our society. also included are a trans-time and trans-generational love story, jealous exes, conspiracy theories, bad dreams, etc.

yet when i say "simple story", i mean it. Jason is an expert at expressing a complex idea with simple visuals and dialogue. most of his works contain little to no dialogue, actually - entire stories can be read in facial expressions, twitches, color changes and movements. 

the entirety of Tell Me Something contains 7 lines of dialogue. it tells the story of 2 lovers and the trials they go through to be together, using dual layered story arcs differentiated simply by the panel borders to convey depth and reshape the story into an intriguing form.

back in Bloomington now: Anabelle knows me so well as to suggest that we pay a visit to a local non-profit bookshop, Boxcar Books (also on wikipedia) - a great shop in a converted house with small signs simply stating "We're not for profit, please don't steal from us!" of course i gladly agree to the venture  and remind myself before entering that i probably shouldn't buy anything (unemployment, you know) - unless, of course, it's something i just can't pass up. not 5 minutes into my exploration i find something that i just-can't-pass-up. 

sitting silently on a shelf is Tell Me Something - out of print, few copies available, not found in the 8 other bookstores i've searched - waiting for me patiently in the small backstreet bookshop i just so happened to visit on a rainy day after 3 years putting off my long overdue trip to Bloomington. we are finally united.

if the reader cannot find that scene superbly romantic, it must need to be described by a far better writer than i - or perhaps illustrated by Jason.

and the moral of this story? go to Boxcar Books, you'll be glad you did. stop into any small, out of the way bookshop and you'll be sure to find your personal literary unicorn.

-------------------------------

Jason is published in the US by Fantagraphics Books. according to the rear flap of I Killed Adolf Hitler:

"Jason was born in Norway in 1965. Suddenly he spoke to a cat. Winter filled the room. They could see the ocean."

mini-post that might encourage me to post more

i’m reading Wonder Tales by Lord Dunsany and loving every second of it. ex-Schwartz comrade Joe Lisberg introduced me to the Right Honorable Lord, but only recently have i begun exploring his works (unemployment begets free time).

his writing is superbly fantastic - and by that i mean it is steeped in surreal fantasy. these stories are short but exquisitely crafted and plotted, individual names speak volumes, specific words are chosen for the intense visual undertones they convey. everything is so damn epic that i can only indulge myself in short portions - i equate this phenomenon to slowly sipping from a glass of years-aged scotch, or gently tasting small squares of finely-wrought velvety chocolate.

indulge yourself, i implore you.

i’ve been looking for some excerpt that i could post, but everything is so long & involved that it’s difficult to find something short enough. i'll share with you this; it's the last paragraph from one of my favorite of the stories. i don’t think it quite adequately conveys the grandiose scope of the story, but it’s close.

"And Sippy very unwisely attempted flight, and Slorg even as unwisely tried to hide; but Slith, knowing well why that light was lit in that secret chamber and who it was that lit it, leaped over the edge of the World and is falling from us still through the unreverberate blackness of the abyss."

wow. epic? yes.

(this book was originally two books, the Book of Wonder and Tales of Wonder, repackaged into a single volume by Dover Editions)

also - check out what Joe is up to with Deep Sea Studios through their portfolio and blog.

The Flap is Dead? Long Live the Flap! or Why some epilogues are premature

Below this post you'll see one that was previously -- and presumptuously -- titled "The Last Official Post on the Inside Flap".

This title supposes at least two things: that one person can speak as an "official" representative of a group of individuals, without their consent, agreement or blessing; that the Inside Flap is changing or ceasing to publish reviews, interviews, insights and opinions on independent books and publishing - and whatever else loiters in our individual warped minds.

Neither of these are true.

The Inside Flap will continue to provide reviews, interviews, general thoughts on publishing and whatever else we are motivated to type and post.

What is true is that Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops are now "officially" no longer open. And, while the Downer Ave Schwartz was the hub that brought all of us as individuals together and molded us into a group of friends and sometimes enemies (okay, not really; it just sounded nice...), The Inside Flap was always a collection of individual's creative efforts, not a product of Harry W. Schwartz.

The goal of this blog, since it's inception in May 2007, has been to provide honest and independent views on books and publishing - not to serve as a corporate mouthpiece. Those of us who founded the Flap (and more , importantly, those of us now contributing to this collaboration) wouldn't be interested in reading marketing copy - why should you?

This is the essence of independence.

This is the Inside Flap.

This is what we, the Flappers, will continue to bring you. The Flap has always been an independent creative collaboration of booksellers as individuals, receiving no monetary or material support from any business. Sure, we often talked about things happening at Schwartz on Downer - this was what was happening in our lives and in our reading community. I'm sure we'll continue to bring you news on events hosted at Next Chapter in Mequon, Boswell Books on Downer, at Woodland Pattern in Riverwest, at local universities, etc.

I'd personally like to take a moment to thank everyone who continues to read the Flap: encourage us to continue by subscribing to our feed, forwarding us to your friends and, most importantly, joining the conversation by commenting or sending us a review.

And, while I won't structure it as a epilogue, I will say "good luck" to Next Chapter in Mequon and Boswell Book Co in Milwaukee - I hope we have two great new indies in the area.

I won't presume to let you know what everyone else is up to in 150 words or less.

I will, however, presume to welcome you to the Inside Flap, again, on behalf of all the folks who have worked so hard to bring you this site.

And now: the future:
Stay tuned for

• a slightly new look, as we'll respect Daniel Goldin's request that we remove the public domain image of Boswell from our logo. This was used as the logo of the former HWS and has been chosen as the logo for Daniel Goldin's Boswell Book Co. We liked the little guy, but we don't need to squat on anyone's identity for personal benefit.
• more reviews: Nella Larsen's Passing might be the next book you should read, unless Justin, Stacie, Carl, Sarah or Jordan disagree
• my sometimes coherent thoughts on the intersection of print, digital, reading, writing and ownership
• whatever else my brilliant colleagues have in mind

And, final plug, we'll soon have a feed in the Arts&Letters>Books section of Third Coast Digest, the former VITAL Source.

Daniel Goldin's Last Official Post on Inside Flap--Schwartz Bookshop on Downer Closed March 21, 2009

As I transition to a new life at the new Boswell Book Company, I am saying goodbye to a lot of important parts of my old life. It's actually a bittersweet experience, but the adrenalin surges (they look like enthusiasm but they are really driven by fear) mask these emotions to the outside observer.

One of the things I am saying goodbye to is the Inside Flap, this very blog started by a team of Downer booksellers. It was started to engage readers with their distinct personality and vision both to Milwaukee-area book buyer and the wider literary world, which it did quite successfully.

Sarah, Carl and Conrad, ex-Downer Schwartz folk all (Sarah has also been one of the key posters on "Flap", and I discussed the idea of asking Jay if we could take over the blog at our new store. But we agreed that it would be best to start afresh.

We're hoping to have booksellers start posting at The Boswellians any day now. I'll continue to have my Boswell and Books blog with a somewhat different perspective. (Not totally different, mind you--Sarah just let me know that a big mystery author that I love was interested in doing something with us, a friend of a friend thing, and I was absolutely jealous).

The Inside Flap gang (aside from the above folks who are moving to Boswell Book Company) has not so much left as dispersed over the last year, like butterflies leaving their cocoon:

Jordan, having conquered Milwaukee from his native Cleveland, is ready to tackle Chicago

Justin is giving up his hourlong commute from the South Shore for a closer-in part-time gig, allowing him to devote more energies to his writing, his art, and his kids.

Stacie, as discussed in the "Chris Cleave visits Milwaukee" video, is looking forward to leaving here so she can come back and visit. She's traveling west in April, but has a number of tricks up her sleeve for the future.

And Jay is immersed in life at UWM's English department, and of course is editor-in-chief of the Cream City Review. Teacher, student, new father, writer--he's keeping pretty busy.

That said, Jay is mulling the option of a post-Schwartz, post-Boswell, reincarnated Inside Flap. I wish him the best.

You Can Judge This One by The Cover

The paperback edition of the magical short story collection The View From the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier, flapped about in January of last year, landed yesterday.

The new cover is exquisite - its dark, beautiful, imaginative visage perfectly reflects the content inside. The painting that graces it, "Library", is part of a 'city without humans' series of paintings titled "The City" by Lori Nix. I highly recommend checking her out. She has an eye for disaster, nature and tableaux that is to be rivaled by few.

Also, the Fall 2008 issue of The Cream City Review (Volume 32, Issue 2) features a lengthy interview with Brockmeier, covering everything from writing to philosophy to fancy dijon mustard commercial reenactments.

Callisto - Torsten Krol

If Torsten Krol's debut novel went no further than the setup, a floundering young high school dropout getting in over his head in the go-nowhere titular town, it would be a great read. Krol has a fantastic gift for fleshed-out character creation and a command of quirk to rival that found in the best movies of the Coen brothers. However, like the Coens, Krol's story wades into the shallow end of strange and then something takes hold of its feet and drags it down into epic depths of weird and wonderful.

Odell Deefus is a loser by most objective standards. He's a drifter with no prospects who hits upon the terrible idea of joining the U.S. Army circa 2007 to fight "the mad dog Islamites" and gain recognition as a person who matters. His plan takes him in the direction of an Army recruitment center in Callisto, Kansas. Deefus's car, however, falls short of the goal by dying at a farm on the outskirts of town. You could call it fate, but only if you believe in a terrible God who enjoys laughing at the tribulations of the less fortunate.

This unscheduled detour assures that all of his plans, ill-thought as they were, have now gone off the rails, depositing Odell in a perfect storm of cross purposes and competing agendas. How does one man escape the entaglements of murder, lawn mowing, drug dealing, terrorism, local news, televangelism, small-town grudges, national politics and military "justice" armed only with a love of rum and Condoleeza Rice? Can not quite sharp enough instincts and a cracked spine copy of The Yearling guide Odell out of the troubles he's both fallen into and created for himself?

Callisto is a book equal parts George Singleton and George Saunders; exploring small town eccentricity and nation-sized paranoia; both a story of personal inventory and a chronicle of national dread. Far from another safe, 'there he goes again', funny, sad sack story, it's also a hilariously brutal indictment of a society too ready for story and not able to question what they're given. Odell Deefus is the post-9/11 Middle American Everyman, not stupid but unthinking; affable but less wise than the times demand. His journey may be highly improbable, but his part in the story rings true, God help us.

David Schwartz on Bookselling & Milwaukee (circa 1995)

we here at the Downer store would like to take this chance to share something with you that isn't ours. we do this often enough, of course, but this time it's a little something closer to home.

though some of us never had the chance to know David Schwartz, he's always represented to us the pinnacle of bookselling-as-it-should-be. we hear stories from all corners, tales of heroism and gallantry; first, second & third hand accounts that consistently paint the same picture - a man greatly loved, sorely missed, and forever held in the highest regard. 

with that said, we share with you a little blast from the past, a 1995 interview by Jim Peck on I Remember Milwaukee. recently we had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Peck at the Downer store, and fondly remembered the interview we're about to share.

Note: We own no permissions for this video, all credits go to Milwaukee Public Television.

without further ado:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


and once more (for good measure):

Bookselling was and is for me a cultural and political expression, an expression of progressive change, of a challenge to oppressive authority, of a search for a community of values which can act as an underpinning of a better world. The true profit in bookselling is the social profit; the bottom line, the measure of the impact of the bookshop on the community.

A. David Schwartz

(July 15, 1938 - June 7, 2004)