HEAVY

If the flood of events that Green Apple is hosting this month doesn't satiate you by the beginning of October, I've got one final suggestion that will hopefully exhaust you for a while until we can catch up with your break-neck pace. On October second Peter Beste, the acclaimed photographer behind the 2008 release (and Christmastime bestseller) True Norwegian Black Metal, will be attending a reception and signing copies of his book at Articulated Gallery in the Haight. The show itself promises to be a brutal showcase of many of the finer points of the Norwegian Black Metal lifestyle, a surreal and often times gratifying sight to behold even if it may be through the window of another's camera lens.

While I've heard a couple of critics assault the photograph subjects in libel as "posers" who "weren't there" (simply not true in the case of the latter accusation), I still encourage people to check out the show while keeping in mind a couple of questions. A) "What is it that spawns curious subcultures such as these?" And B) "Where is the line drawn between the emulation of a movement and the real thing?" The answers are difficult to provide in any particular context, but curiously applicable from subject to subject. Take the attention off of Norwegian Black Metal for a moment and change the focus to say, I don't know, Amazon (dot) com. What spawns a curious subculture such as a subculture of censorship and 'blandification'? And where is the line drawn between an intentionally lacking lit-on-kindle selection and flat out libricide?

Okay... I'm really reaching here. Check out the cool black metal photo show, don't shop on Amazon, and come buy the new Christian Mistress LP from Green Apple's annex. I should have mentioned that earlier. It slays.

Poem of the Week by Gustaf Sobin

Happy Monday. The poem of the week returns with one from Gustaf Sobin's Collected Poems (Talisman House, 2010).

MADRIGAL


with you
what I know of

the world
opens, has

that of
swelling, wave as

it tatters, a
ruled line, against

reefs, a
breadth that

still
spreading, breaks

in-
to dull tokens, spent

petals, what the
poem

would
close on, hold

in its
swift tissues, those

blown
ex-

panses,
shadows as

if
pouring, light

from your
fingers, your

blue, un-
loosened sash.

Trivial Pursuit

I'm a little strapped for time today so a quick spritz of bibliophile trivia is all I've got for you then and I'm off to do some other bookstore stuff. Did you know that Frank Miller designed this edition of Gravity's Rainbow? I didn't, but a friend of mine recently pointed out that there's a little 'FM' in the bottom right corner there. Kinda' neat. Anyway, I'd better get going. Later, dawgz.

Too Damn Many Books!

Sometimes we just get so many books in our warehouse that we have to clear some of them out. Here's the Yelp review of the clearance store we had up the street a few years ago. That surplus was due mostly to shutting down our internet warehouse and suddenly finding ourselves with thousands of more books than we knew what to do with. Not quite the case this time, but we do have some excellent remainders that our buyers just guessed wrong on. We thought they would sell in droves, and some of them did, just not droves enough. These are quality books like Pen/Faulkner winner Netherland in hardback for a mere $2.99,`Eric Schlosser's young adult edition of Fast Food Nation called Chew on This for a mere $1.99, and maybe the best buy of all, The Ultimate David Sedaris audio collection on CD, which retailed for almost $100 when it was new, now it is only $24.98. Supplies are limited, get 'em while they're hot.

Check out these other highlights from the clearance table:

Roast Chicken and Other Stories: Originally $24.95 then $7.98 Now $3.99

McSweeney's 24 Originally $24.00 Then $9.98 Now $4.99

Chris Ware: Originally $22.50 Then $9.98 Now $4.99

September Author Events au go-go

For whatever reason, over the last year, more and more publishers and authors have offered to have (FREE!) events at Green Apple. That bounty has hit some sort of critical mass this month: we're hosting NINE events in September.

Last night was a look at SF history through photographs with Rebecca Schall. Tonight is Joseph Mattson, author of Empty the Sun. How can you go wrong with a pre-apocalyptic cross-country race to bury the murdered past, culminating in a gunfight with God? To top it off, the book comes with a CD that sets this beautifully reckless novel of transgressive loss to an open-road, open-whiskey soundtrack composed by Drag City recording artist Six Organs of Admittance.

Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs); Rick Bass (fiction); Dave Eggers (fiction); Saul Austerlitz (on American film comedy); Fred Lyon (on SF history in photographs) and John Casti (on why mood matters).

And next month brings Litquake and another bounty of fantastic authors.

So if you're not already on our email list, sign up here. Or bookmark our events page so that when you're itching to go out, you can include literature and your friends at Green Apple in your plans. There's a seat waiting for you. . .

(photo by Robin Allen; thanks, Robin!)