Chop Suey Books... The Blog

CHOP SUEY BOOKS & RIVER CITY READS present RICHMOND NOIR at GALLERY FIVE!

2010-05-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Chop Suey Books is partnering with River City Reads to present Richmond Noir at Gallery Five! Come help us celebrate the selection of Richmond Noir, from Akashic Books, as the first entry in River City Reads, Richmond's new citywide book club!

WEDS, MAY 12, 7:00 PM
Gallery Five, 200 W Marshall, RVA

Readers will include Richmond Noir contributors Mina Beverly ("Gaia"), Tom De Haven ("Playing with DaBlonde"), Conrad Ashley Persons ("Marco's Broken English"), David L. Robbins ("Homework") and Meagan J. Saunders ("Untitled")!

ALSO: editors Andrew Blossom, Brian Castleberry and Tom De Haven, and contributors X.C. Atkins ("A Late-Night Fishing Trip"), Laura Browder ("The Heart is a Strange Muscle") and Anne Thomas Soffee ("Midnight at the Oasis"), on hand to answer questions and sign copies of the book! PLUS music and a cash bar, courtesy of our kind hosts at Gallery Five! We hope to see you there!

For more information about Richmond Noir, River City Reads, Chop Suey Books, and Gallery Five, please visit the links aboce. The River City Reads program is a creation of the Frontier Project. The River City Reads/Richmond Noir poster is designed by Spencer Hansen of Team 8.

Michele Young-Stone's Book Launch

2010-04-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Please join us tomorrow (Sunday, April 18th) as we celebrate the publication of The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, the break-out debut novel by Richmonder Michele Young-Stone. The reading will take place between 5 and 7 at Gallery 5 (200 W. Marshall St.) and will be accompanied by live music, great food, and plenty of libations. This is a free event, and we welcome you all to attend.

Daniel Courdriet, Joshua Poteat, and Tarfia Faizullah Read On Saturday!

2010-04-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Richmond poets Daniel Coudriet, Tarfia Faizullah, and Joshua Poteat will read from their work at 1708 Gallery on Saturday April 3 at 6pm. The event also will be a book launch for Coudriet’s and Poteat’s new books. Yours truly, Chop Suey Books, will be there selling Josh's and Daniel's books.

Daniel Coudriet’s first book of poetry, Say Sand, recently appeared from Carnegie Mellon University Press. His poems have appeared in Blackbird, The Iowa Review, Boston Review, and other magazines, and his translations of the Argentinean poets Reynaldo Sietecase and Oliverio Girondo have appeared widely. Coudriet teaches at the University of Richmond.

Tarfia Faizullah is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s MFA program and former associate editor of Blackbird. Her honors include an AWP Intro Journals Project Award, an Academy of American Poets Award, the Ploughshares Cohen Award. Her poems have appeared in The Southern Review, Ploughshares, Poetry Daily, and elsewhere.

Joshua Poteat’s second book, Illustrating the Machine that Makes the World, recently appeared from the University of Georgia Press. He has received numerous fellowships and awards for his poetry, including an Individual Artist’s Grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the 2004 Anhinga Prize, and the Poetry Society of America’s National Chapbook Award. His poems have appeared in such magazines as Virginia Quarterly Review, Blackbird, and Ninth Letter. A light- and text-based installation made in collaboration with Roberto Ventura won Best in Show for InLight 2009. Poteat works at the Martin Agency and teaches poetry workshops at Virginia Commonwealth University.

For more information, contact 1708 Gallery at (804) 643-7829.

Gina Welch Hits the New Yorker!

2010-03-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

More great news for Friend of Suey Gina Welch, whose new book In the Land of Believers just received a nice notice from the New Yorker! You can see the piece here. Interested in learning more? Chop Suey Book s has In the Land of Believers on the shelf, so come by and take a look!

Gina recently wrote a piece for Richmond's own The Book Lady's Blog. You can see that here.

Our congratulations to Gina!

Lightning Strikes Twice for Richmond Author!

2010-03-29T12:37:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, April 18th from 5-7 pm, Michele Young-Stone will celebrate the publication of her first novel, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, at Gallery 5. This event is free and open to the public, and will feature live music and great food. Oh, and Michele will be reading from and signing copies of her new novel!

This book has already been picked by Publisher's Weekly as one of 10 debut novels of 2010 to look out for, and is a great read for fans of Alice Hoffman and Wally Lamb. The novel follows two lost souls separated by time and place, from the moment lightning changes their lives until the day it ceases to define them. Intercut with sections from a handbook written by one of the characters, this book is as charged as the lightning that appears throughout.

Michele, herself a lightning strike survivor, is already working on her second novel, though I expect she will be kept pretty busy with all of the attention she will be receiving surrounding this novel.

The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors will be released on April 13th, but is available for pre-order from Chop Suey Books for a 20% discount. Call now!

Richmond Noir at New York Deli!

2010-02-26T15:08:00.001-08:00

CHOP SUEY BOOKS & NEW YORK DELI celebrate the release of RICHMOND NOIR

THURS, MARCH 4
8:00 PM
@ NEW YORK DELI (2920 W Cary St)

featuring readings from contributors X.C. Atkins, Clay McLeod Chapman (The Pumpkin Pie Show, Rest Area), Dennis Danvers (The Watch, Wilderness), Dean King (Skeletons on the Zahara, Unbound), and Howard Owen (Littlejohn, Rock of Ages)

w/ editors Andrew Blossom (Makeout Creek), Brian Castleberry, and Tom De Haven (It's Superman, Our Hero)

PLUS a SPECIAL PERFORMANCE by the SCOTT BURTON TRIO

The latest volume in Akashic Books' award-winning Urban Noir Series, RICHMOND NOIR features fifteen tales of desperate characters set in diverse locations around the River City! Tonight's readings will touch down in Oregon Hill, Belle Isle, Texas Beach, Shockoe Slip, and Monroe Park! Plus music from the Scott Burton Trio, and the always excellent bar of New York Deli!

Book sales will begin at 8:00. Come early to meet the authors! The readings will start around 8:45, with the performance from the Scott Burton Trio following immediately thereafter. Meanwhile, of course the editors and authors will sign books, so be sure to stay around, have a drink, enjoy the music, and help us celebrate the release of Richmond Noir!

Richmond Noir: Now On Sale!

2010-02-12T13:56:00.001-08:00

Richmond Noir, a new anthology of Richmond-based stories published by Akashic Books and co-edited by our very own Andrew Blossom (with Brian Castleberry and Tom De Haven), is now on sale at Chop Suey Books on our Akashic Books shelf! And guess what? All copies of Richmond Noir are ON SALE. Buy Richmond Noir from us, get 10% off the cover price, every day!

Chop Suey Hours, 2010 Edition

2010-01-16T07:53:00.001-08:00

SUNDAY: 12 pm - 6 pm
MON-THUR: 10 am - 6 pm
FRI & SAT: 10 am - 8 pm

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

New Year's at Chop Suey

2009-12-29T08:23:00.000-08:00

Coming by Chop Suey Books this week? Please do! We're here! New Year's hours are as follows:

Dec 29: 10 am - 6 pm
Dec 30: 10 am - 4 PM
Dec 31: 10 am - 4 PM
Jan 1, 2010: CLOSED, BABY
Jan 2: 10 am - 8 pm (i.e., regular hours)

We've Been Distracted

2009-12-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

Why? Well, THOSE CRAZY HOLIDAYS, for one.

Here's another: Chop Suey Books has a Facebook page! We've caught up to... 2008? About time. Come check it out!

Oh, Really?

2009-11-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

Who Does This?

2009-11-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

Who pushes all the books against the backs of the shelves?

Seriously, we want to know. We went upstairs on Friday to discover that all the books in the front room had received this treatment. And this is certainly not the first time. You know how long it takes us to reposition that many books on our shelves? Two hours. No joke. Two wasted hours, all because someone is either: 1. a complete jerk, 2. obsessive compulsive, or 3. some combination of the above.

Customers of Chop Suey: we need your help. We position our books with their spines at the edge of the shelf so you may find what you're looking for quickly and conveniently. If you ever see someone rearranging whole rows of books, please come downstairs and alert Ward, Ryan or Andrew. We need to know who's doing this, and we appreciate your help in looking after the store.

Dear "Tooth"

2009-11-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

Ha ha ha, very good, you've certainly gotten the better of us! You are clever and, what's more, now everyone can see how clever you are due to your careful placement of your graffito signature. On top of clever, you are also famous. Or, infamous. If you come back in here, we will destroy you.

Talk That Deal

2009-11-14T08:05:00.001-08:00

This week on the $2 Deal shelf it's Talk That Talk, an anthology of African-American storytelling compiled by Linda Goss and Marian Barnes and introduced by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The book contains over 500 pages of oral folklore, cultural wisdom, and contemporary writing -- a true literary treasury! And it can all be yours -- this week, for only $2, and only at Chop Suey Books.

Zak Galifianakis movie at Gallery 5!

2009-11-10T11:50:00.001-08:00

Our friend Johnny Hugel of Fortnightly has arranged for Visioneers, a dark comedy featuring Zak Galifianakis, to be screened at Gallery 5 on Tuesday, November 17th at 7 pm. It is only $3 to see the film (proceeds go directly to Gallery 5, which is a perfect non-profit for you to donate funds).

Check out a trailer here: Visioneers!

BIG SALE ON BOOKS!

2009-11-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

We've been buying back hundreds of great books over the past few months, and now there is no place to shelve them. So to help clear space and give you a special savings on your early holiday shopping, we are running a sale through Friday, November 13th, 2009. All Used Books in the store are 30% off, and All New Books are 20% off. This includes the great selection of Velocity Comics' graphic novels in the back of the store. Come in now to get fantastic books for a crazy low price. And check us out next week to see all of the amazing new books we will be putting out!

Books On Wheels is your DESTINY!

2009-11-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Books On Wheels set up outside of the Richmond Zine Fest to accept donations for our new Thrift Store: Books, Bikes, and Beyond and to give away great books. It was a warm and fun afternoon, a time for Shelley and I to catch up with each other and with great friends and supporters.

One of the people we got to see was Shel, a Charlottesville native who has set us up with some great events in her city. She made it by the thrift store after the zine fest, and immediately found a great old typewriter. As she was paying for her purchases, she was telling Shelley that she had her fortune read at the zine fest, and was really confused and a little worried by one prediction: at some point that day, she was going to find a bag of fingers! She and Shelley were laughing about this odd fate, until they looked down at the typewriter she was buying and realized that this mechanism, though not a bag, was full of fingers! Her prediction was right! Fate, now just another free thing offered by Books On Wheels!

Here's a prediction: you will have an amazing time at the official grand opening celebration for Thrift Store: Books, Bikes, and Beyond (302 W. Brookland Park Ave.) this Friday, November 13th from 6-9 pm. Food will be provided by Joe's Inn! Bring cash or your credit card and plans to buy your destiny!

Truss Us, It's a Deal!

2009-11-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Jhumpa Lahiri was such a hit that The Namesake held out on the $2 deal shelf an extra few days. Alas, its reign has finally ended. Fortunately, we've found a worthy successor: The Lynne Truss Treasury, a collection of columns and comic novels from the grammarian behind the bestselling Eats, Shoots & Leaves. BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE. For a limited time, all copies of Eats, Shoots & Leaves and the follow-up smash Talk to the Hand are also JUST $2. Find them downstairs at the front desk -- this week only -- only at Chop Suey Books.

You'll Jhumpa This Deal!

2009-10-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Now in the $2 Book of the Week spot, Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. Find it at the front counter at Chop Suey Books.

Chop Suey Books Will Save Your Life

2009-10-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

A good customer of ours just came in to purchase some books on martial arts and chess. Over the past few years, he has come in every couple of weeks to buy random, specialized books on different martial arts. Though he is a very gentle, soft spoken man, it became clear that he is quite the badass. And as he honed his badassness with the great, inexpensive books at Chop Suey, he grew in street cred. Last week, while walking home at night, he was accosted by 3 dudes who hit him hard enough in the back of the head to give him a concussion. He turned around, dropped his wallet and phone, and said "I mean, if you have a gun, just take it." Unfortunately for them, they did not have a gun. A quick punch to the wind pipe (Karate-Do: My Way of Life, page 47), thumb gouge to the eye (The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do, page 89), and a flurry of kicks and punches (Kodokan Judo: The Essential Guide, page 35) sent the 3 running away.

Shop at Chop Suey Books today! The next life you save may be your own!

Thanks, New York Times!

2009-10-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Times published a travel piece on Richmond today that mentions Chop Suey Books. We kept telling this Justin Bergman guy that Chop Suey specializes in art books, design books, and literature. He really wanted to write that we specialize in "Japanese anime, underground graphic novels and comics." What can you do with a guy like that? "Japanese anime" isn't even a real type of book.

Don't Worry, Jesus

2009-10-16T11:23:00.001-07:00

We won't.

It's Cold On That Mountain

2009-10-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

Or so we heard. Anyway: our current $2 deal of the week. Check it.

We Got Books!

2009-09-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

Just sayin'.

John Irving Is Our $2 Deal of the Week!

2009-09-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Holy cow -- do we have a lot of these books by John Irving! Now they're on sale! A Widow for One Year is only $2 in paperback and hardcover, only at Chop Suey Books through September 24. This bestseller from the venerable New England author (The World According to Garp; The Cider House Rules) spans the life of its heroine Ruth Cole with traditional Irvingesque complexity. And it was the inspiration for the Jeff Bridges/Kim Bassinger movie The Door in the Floor. Whatta deal!

$2 Diaries: It's the Deal of the Week

2009-09-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

The Nanny Diaries. They made a movie of it with Scarlett Johannson. We've already sold a few of these babies, so come and get 'em before they disappear! Only $2 through Sept 17, only at Chop Suey Books.

The No. 1 $2 Book of the Week!

2009-09-03T12:17:00.001-07:00

The deals keep comin' at Chop Suey Books! This week it's Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith's Botswana-set bestseller The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the first book in the popular Precious Ramotswe series and the basis for the recent HBO movie of the same name. Only $2 at Chop Suey through September 10, or until all copies are gone, so get on over here today!

I Know This $2 Book of the Week...

2009-08-27T14:45:00.001-07:00

Come on down and get it! International bestseller, Oprah Book Club pick, story of twins separated by the curse of schizophrenia -- Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True. Just two dollars, in both hardback and paperback, now through September 2, only at Chop Suey!

Time for the $2 Deal of the Week

2009-08-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Another week, another excellent book on special! Through August 26, it's Kim Edwards's The Memory Keeper's Daughter, the story of two twins torn apart by a bad decision and the parallel lives they lead growing up. An international bestseller and the inspiration for a Lifetime movie (!), this is the book to help you beat the late August heat. Now $2 at Chop Suey Books -- this week only!

$2 Deal of the Week

2009-08-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

From now through August 19th we are offering a great deal on Gloria Naylor's first novel, The Women of Brewster Place. The novel is made up of 8 short stories, each chapter focusing on one of the seven women of Brewster Place, with the final chapter culminating in a block party which ties the community, and these seven women, together. Certainly a milestone in African American literature and Women's Literature, this fantastic novel has already been made into a movie (thanks Oprah!) and, most recently, a musical. For only $2, you can own the book that made it all possible!!! Get yours while supplies last.

$2 Deal of the Week

2009-08-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

Another week, another great book for only $2! This week we are offering Arundhati Roy's 1997 Booker Prize winning novel, The God of Small Things. Set in India, this story follows the lives of fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, jumping between the years 1969 and 1993. These twins are the victims of both circumstance and the past actions of other family members. This is an extremely popular book, and we have plenty on hand. Come in and get yours now!

Jonny Z Fest!!!

2009-08-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Our good friends at ART 180 are holding the 2nd Annual Jonny Z Fest this Saturday, August 8 from 12-5 on the 200 North block of Shields Ave (right in front of Joe's Inn). It will be a time to remember our good friend Jonny Zanin and to celebrate the love and energy he gave to Richmond and the Richmond art scene.

In addition to the block party with a mobile mural, music by WRIR Djs, activities for kids, raffle drawings, and great food and drink at Joe's Inn, we will be holding a Bizarre Market. Artists and crafters from around the Richmond region will be displaying their great work up and down the block, offering you the best in local, handcrafted work. If you are an artist with something to sell, we welcome you to set up at 11 am. It is free to set up, but we ask that you donate 10% of your sales to ART 180.

Spread the word! This will be a great block party and will ensure the continued success of ART 180!

Rock, On a Yacht

2009-08-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Do you like the smooth sounds of Steeley Dan? Toto? Hall and Oates? The Doobie Brothers, or any of the other amazing bands who wrote the soundtrack to the late 1970s and early 1980s?

Do you like taking a midnight cruise down the James while listening to a live band playing the biggest hits from such bands?

Do you like alcohol fashioned in the form of Mojitos, Margueritas, mixed drinks, wine or beer?

Then Yacht Rock is for you!

Chop Suey Books is now selling tickets for Richmond's best midnight cruise. $65 will buy you entrance to this 3 hour tour during which you will get free drinks, free food catered by Cous Cous, a DJ playing great dance music, and a performance by Three Sheets to the Wind, a cover band specializing in the best mucic ever.

More information and a break down of what you get can be seen here.

New at Chop Suey!

2009-08-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Harmonic resonance has been achieved. We're just saying.

$2 Deal of the Week

2009-07-28T14:52:00.001-07:00

It's that time of the week when we pick a great book that we have way too many of and offer it to you for only $2. This week's pick is Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser's in depth analysis of the fast food industrial complex, laying bare everything from the farm industry to the slaughter house to the McDonalds counter to the doctor specializing in diabetes. Supersize your intellect with this limited time offer!

$2 Deal of the Week

2009-07-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Our ongoing attempt to thin out our overstock is working!!! This week, we're offering copies of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for only $2. This "non-fiction novel," written in the style of Truman Capote and Norman Mailer, concerns the murder of Danny Hansford by Jim Williams, a wealthy antiques dealer in Savannah. The story traces the levels of doubt that this killing was done in self defense as Williams claimed, and eventually uncovers the bizarre relationship between Hansford and Williams. For only $2, you could do a lot worse!

Deal Of The Week!!!

2009-07-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Come in to Chop Suey Books between July 9th and 15th to get a great deal on Colleen Curran's debut novel Whores on the Hill. For only $2, you can take home a barely used copy of this great summer read. Thisbe and her two friends, Astrid and Juli, are 15 year olds enrolled at Milwaukee's Sacred Heart Holy Angels in the early 1980s. The fact that the school is set on a hill, combined with the young girls penchant for short plaid skirts, boys in fast cars, parties at the lake, and casual sex, gives these girls there moniker, one which they accept with indifference. The narrative makes for a quick read, despite the in-depth and sometimes terrifying expose of an adolescent girl's life. For only $2, you can't lose!

Listen to a great review on NPR here.

We are currently overrun with great fiction, so keep an eye out for our Deal of the Week reads. The title will change every Wednesday, but the great price won't!

Ride The Wild!

2009-07-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

Our current exhibition in the upstairs gallery is Ride The Wild, a collection of paintings by Steve Crandall and sculptures by Evan Venditti. There is a bonus collaborative skeleton in the closet. The show is great, and definitely one that you shouldn't miss. It will be on display through August 9th.

Wiggum the Pug isn't part of the show. He's just there to give you an idea of the scale of this show.

Month Of Independents!!!

2009-07-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of individuality, underdog perseverance, and the freedom of speech, Chop Suey Books will celebrate our 6th Annual Month of Independents throughout the month of July. In order to honor our brave patrons who realize the importance of small, independently owned bookstores, we have devised a sale that will save you money while helping you support other local booksellers. The idea is simple: give to your local bookstores, and they will give back to you. For the month of July, Chop Suey Books will give customers 20% off of used books if they provide a receipt dated in the month of July from a bookstore listed below. For customers who prove that they have supported three or more of these stores this July, we will extend a 30% discount.

Remember, support means support, so we expect for you to spend at least $10 at one of these stores:

Alchemists Books and Gifts

Aquarian Bookshop

Black Swan Books

Book People

The Book Room

Carytown Books

Creatures & Crooks

Ex Libris Books

Fountain Books

Midlothian Book Exchange

Narnia

Owens and Ramsey

Phoenix Rising

Richmond Book Shop

Stories

Velocity Comics

Whitings Old Paper

Dear Callers

2009-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

"Paperback" is not a genre of book. This is because all books are either paperback or hard cover -- one or the other -- so "paperback" is not actually a descriptive indicator of book type. When we ask you what kind of books you are trying to sell, please do not answer by telling us, "Paperbacks." This answer is of no help whatsoever.

Thank you.

Yrs,
Chop Suey

Dig It!

2009-06-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

On Friday we received a phone call from a telemarketer: "Hello sir, my name is Anthony, and I'm calling on behalf of The Association of Richmond Country Clubs with an exciting offer for you!"

We usually receive about 5 telemarketer calls a day, and I'm usually pretty quick with getting them off the phone. But that's because they either have a very tired, depressing tone to their voices, or they are asking for Mayron Chopsuey (obviously the owner of Chop Suey Books). But there was something about the way the man calling on behalf of the Association of Richmond Country Clubs talked that kept me on the line. I'm guessing he was new at the job, because he sounded really excited, like he really believed that this offer was going to blow our minds.

I cut right to the chase. "Sorry, I don't think there's anyone at this store who would be interested in joining a country club."

"Ok, but that's not why I'm calling," he said. "The reason I am calling is to offer you a chance to advertise at 5 of Richmond' s most prestigious country clubs, and only have to pay once! That's five ads for the price of 1!"

"Yeah, sounds like a great deal, but I don't think that we'd be advertising to the right demographic," I countered.

"Oh, why's that?"

"Because," I explained, "our store pretty much stands against everything that a country club stands for."

I wasn't sure what response I was going to get from this man, but it certainly wasn't this: "Oh, I get it. Fuck the Man! Right?"

I was floored, and gave a little chuckle. Even though he sounded really sincere saying "Fuck the Man," there was a chance that he was mocking me. But worse, I was worried for him. He was really excited when he said it, his voice raising in volume. This guy is going to lose his job, I thought.

He, however, was undetered. "Right on, brother! You have a good day." And with that, he ended a phone call that, I'm assuming, made each of our days that much better.

Tonight! James Hannaham Reads from GOD SAYS NO! Only at Chop Suey Books!

2009-06-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

It's last minute, we know, but we are very pleased to announce a SURPRISE READING TONIGHT, JUNE 16, at 6pm at Chop Suey Books (2913 W Cary St, Richmond, VA). Writer James Hannaham is currently on tour in support of his debut novel, God Says No, newly released by the folks at McSweeney's Books. He's passing through Richmond tonight and has graciously agreed to an impromptu reading from his remarkable new book.

So come on out to Chop Suey tonight!

Here is the McSweeney's summary of God Says Now, followed by praise it has received:

Gary Gray marries his first girlfriend, a fellow student from Central Florida Christian College who loves Disney World as much as he does. They are 19 years old, God-fearing, and eager to start a family, but a week before their wedding Gary goes into a rest-stop bathroom and lets something happen. God Says No is his testimony — the story of a young black Christian struggling with desire and belief, with his love for his wife and his appetite for other men, told in a singular, emotional voice. Driven by desperation and religious visions, the path that Gary Gray takes — from revival meetings to "out" life in Atlanta to a pray-away-the-gay ministry in Memphis, Tennessee — gives a riveting picture of how a life like his can be lived, and how it can't.

"A tender, funny tour of a mind struggling to do the right thing. A revelatory and sympathetic guide to a misunderstood world."

- Steve Martin, author of Shopgirl and Born Standing Up

James Hannaham's God Says No introduces a groundbreaking new American voice: a writer of spectacular sentences who has trained his sights on a world that has hardly been touched by literary fiction. Topical and ambitious, disturbing and hilarious, God Says No is everything a person could ask of a first novel -- and twice that much.

- Jennifer Egan, author of Look at Me and The Keep

"This novel is an absolute original. Gary Gray's search for wholeness and acceptance is a heartfelt (and often very funny) plea for all men (and women) to be embraced just as they are. A wonderful debut."

- Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl From The Left

“God Says No is a book that was desperate to be written but well out of reach. And then James Hannaham came along and wrote it, with the kind of care, wit, sympathy and fury that the book deserved. Imagine Candide -- okay, imagine Candide as a black man, a southerner, a Christian fundamentalist, middle-class, obese, married, a father, and utterly, even profoundly gay. If a comedy, in the classical sense, is a story then ends in a marriage, and a tragedy is a story that ends with a death, then what do you call a book that ends with a split and a resurrection? A truly daring first novel, and something to read.”

- Jim Lewis, author of Why the Tree Loves the Ax

We hope to see you there! For more information on the author, visit www.jameshannaham.com.

Newly Aquired Library!

2009-06-10T10:41:00.001-07:00

One of the coolest things about buying other people's libraries is that the collection of books gives you an incomplete view of who they are, enough to pique your interest, but full of holes that you have to guess at. It's like finding the third page of a love letter and having to make up the rest of the story.

Usually, we will at least have met the person selling the books, and that solves part of the mystery. But yesterday, we bought a collection of a few hundred books from an estate and never got to meet the person who they belonged to. Judging from the books, however, I can tell you this: he was really into chess, Jesus, and science, possibly in that order. Which gives us an indication of this man's character: he was an intense thinker, a private person who enjoyed the privacy of a deeply theoretical book, and if he was around other people, it was to play chess. As a side note, I was told that this person was a man, but would have assumed the same. And that part about him being at all social. I actually doubt it, having seen the computerized chess board that he owned.

This composite sketch isn't so strange. We've all known someone who could have fit the description, or at least come close. What makes it more interesting are the random books on drug harvesting (marijuana, and some harder chemical recipes) and the history of white supremacy.

Who was this guy?

In any case, there are now plenty of books on chess, on Jesus and his history within both Christian and Jewish theology, and on cutting edge science and math at Chop Suey. Some on marijuana. Oh, and none on White Supremacy.

Ode to WonTon

2009-06-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

The following poem is a collaborative effort by the Richmond Young Writers, inspired, of course, by our mascot WonTon:

Ode to WonTon

He is black and white like Michael Jackson.

When he sits down it looks like he has huge feet.

He has green bloodshot eyes.

He has big, long white whiskers.

The clicking of pens intrigues him.

He has a growing interest in writing implements.

The pen is purple, but I don’t know if cats can see purple.

Actually he seems to like all of the pens.

He loves attention.

He prances around the table and when somebody tries to pet him he slinks down.

He has his head in my pencil case.

Your Emmy Award-Winning Bookstore

2009-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Terrific, astounding news: on Friday, June 6, Alex Germanotta's recent documentary on Chop Suey Books and the Books on Wheels program WON A FREAKING EMMY!!! The short film was originally produced for VCU-TV/HD and rebroadcast on Richmond PBS affiliate WCVW.

You can watch online in full at the VCU-TV site, or in three parts on YouTube. The VCU press release about the award, which was bestowed at a ceremony in Washington, DC, can be found here.

Our congratulations to Alex, his team, and everyone at VCU-TV/HD! We're just honored that they wanted to put a bunch of silly-looking book people like ourselves on video in the first place...

Hey, here's a side note: we learned about the award this morning when it was announced on WCVE, the NPR station related to WCVW. Together they're known as the "Community Idea Stations." And how'd they announce the bestowing of this honor upon a film about a community business? The award, they said, was won for a documentary "about a local cut-rate bookstore." A local cut-rate bookstore? Thanks, Wayne Farrar! Is it hard for WCVE to say the name of the store? Which is the title of the award-winning movie? They can't call us a used bookstore? Which is what we are? They've gotta use a demeaning term? Listen, we're just thrilled with our Community Idea Stations, whose staff we've never seen in this community bookstore.

For our money, the real community broadcasters in Richmond are the good folks at WRIR. Maybe that's because when we go to events with Chop Suey or do community outreach with Books on Wheels, we actually see WRIR, you know, interacting with the community.

Richmond Young Writer

2009-06-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Valley Haggard started her Richmond Young Writers class in our upstairs gallery yesterday, and it looked like everyone had a great time. They went on a silent walk through Carytown and ended up writing lots of poetry. Cool. Valley is going to post the results on her website soon. In the meantime: when opening up today, I found a notebook belonging to one of the students set on a random shelf of books. I looked through it to find out whose it might be, and came across a chant-like poem about what the writer's name is and why he might have been named such. Then, on the next page, he talks about why he wouldn't want another name, because then he would have an "alternative ego" and "would hate sports, would never swim, would be stupid, would hate ice cream & candy, and would hate pizza a lot." I think I know exactly how he feels.

If you know a teen who is interested in writing, I can't think of anyone better than Valley to give guidance. There is more information on signing up for her classes on the RYW website.

Summer Weather Is Here

2009-06-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that Chop Suey is air-conditioned for maximum enjoyment!

Here's a digression: Why is it that so many people who come into Chop Suey ask us if Wonton is stuffed? Or else say, "Is that cat real?" Yes, he's real. Can't you see him moving? Did we somehow give you the impression that we enjoy deploying taxidermied animals at strategic points around the store? Because we don't. It's much easier to have one live cat that wanders around the place.

New Publication!

2009-05-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sound Screen Design is a new product design firm located in Brooklyn, NY, and Artist Music Journals is perhaps their most important contribution to modern art books. Published once a month, the AMJ series offers contemporary artists, designers, and musicians the chance to design a 24 page, 10 inch, stitch sewn book. The books are in turn packaged in a plain white cardstock slipcase resembling a 10 inch record jacket, and sealed with a letterpressed, hand-numbered sticker replicating the artist's signature. Each edition is limited to 1000 copies.

Issue 1 features the work of LA based performance and design artist Jason Yates. Chop Suey Books is lucky enough to be one of the selected stores (15 total) to feature this title, so come in and get your collectable copy now!

You're Getting Sleepy...

2009-05-23T12:54:00.001-07:00

Cooooome to Chop Suuuuuey...

Rites of Passage

2009-05-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

A couple was just in looking for a present for their son's 21st birthday. At one point the woman picked up Russian Criminal Tattoos III, and offered it up as a cool suggestion. "That," the man asked, "no way. Give him that and he'll end up getting one of them, and then he'll run into the wrong person and get himself killed."

"What? By who," his wife asked.

"I don't know. By a Russian, by some Russian criminal who knows what it says and doesn't like it. No way!"

"Come on" she responded, and I was expecting her to weigh the probability of their son running into a Russian criminal who not only recognized the tattoo, but found it offensive enough to kill someone over. Instead, she took a unique stance. "It's a pretty random way to go. Pretty cool, not something stupid like dying in a car crash."

"Yeah, well, let him do it on his own time," responds the man, and decides on the new Chuck Palahniuk book, Pygmy.

When they were checking out, the woman wanted to get a 2009 organizer, and had to choose between red and blue. "Red," she decided. "He needs to be more masculine." I guess that's a good compromise, building up his manhood with a red date book rather than a Russian criminal's tattoo.

I wonder what she's expecting for Mother's Day.

The Dead Walk Again!

2009-05-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

If you're a big Jerry Garcia fan, don't get too excited by this post's title. We're talking about the cool kind of Dead: Zombies! If you thought the Vampire renaissance over the past couple of years "sucked," then you'll be excited to know that Zombies are having a new Day... of the Dead!

Shuffle over to Chop Suey and check out our Zombie shelf, featuring recent releases like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, plus favorites of the genre like World War Z!

Dan Owen at Chop Suey Books!

2009-05-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 8th from 6-9 pm, Chop Suey Books will host an opening reception for Drawings, an exhibition of new work by Dan Owen. These fantastic and trippy drawings are really something to behold. They are also something to own, and Dan has priced them all at such low prices, you will be able to. The show is on display through June 7th.

What's Parked Outside!

2009-05-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

So today at Chop Suey Books there was a wicked downpour. When it stopped, we looked outside and this car was there! A purple 1970s Lincoln Continental Mark IV, with white vinyl roof, off-white leather seats, and a green shag dashboard. Obviously this baby rode in with the storm.

UPDATE (3pm): The Continental vanished as it came, with the wind, its departure not witnessed by a single soul in Chop Suey. We may never know if it was driven by a mortal man.

Weekend Success Rate= 100%!!!

2009-05-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend thanks to WRIR, Found Magazine, Gallery 5, the marriage of our friends Anna and Sam, and our loyal and friendly customers.

First, Chop Suey Books was on Buzzy Lawler's great show Shake Some Action on Saturday morning from 11-1 to help raise money during the WRIR (97.3 fm) fund drive. We originally challenged Chop Suey customers by doubling their donations up to $500. However, this goal was met in the first 50 minutes, so we went up to a $750 match. This goal was soon met as well, and with the help of our generous customers, we were able to add $1500 to WRIR's week long fundraiser. I'm not trying to brag on our customers too much, but WRIR says that they raised more money than ever before. Thanks friends!

Later that night, Chop Suey Books welcomed Davy and Peter Rothbart of Found Magazine to Gallery 5 for another night of discarded notes, love letters, photographs, and diary pages. As always, Davy and Peter delivered a great show. Between sets of music by Peter, Davy read from some great found notes, told a funny and touching story about their mother, and shared an essay from his new book, Requiem for a Paper Bag. He also informed us that Steve Buscemi has just finished writing a screenplay based on 3 of Davy's stories from The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, and they are meeting soon to discuss the details. Of course, all of Davy's work is available at Chop Suey Books, as we plan to ride with him all the way to the top!

After the show, we all drove to Chesterfield to take part in the revelries following the marriage of Anna Dreesen and Sam Vanneman. If you weren't able to attend the ceremony, make sure you congratulate this newly married couple. If you were there, please don't blame us for keeping you up late. We had a crazy long day, were excited to have Davy and Peter meet all of our friends, and couldn't help ourselves with all of the magic in the air!

May is for Maymont!

2009-05-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

For the month of May, a handful of your favorite Richmond retailers are supporting Maymont Park by offering discounts and freebies to Maymont members. Chop Suey Books is joining World of Mirth, Can Can, Creatures & Crooks, and many other Carytown shops to make sure that Maymont members are recognized and appreciated for their support of this Richmond landmark. If you're already a member, bring in your membership card during the month of May and receive 10% off all purchases. If you're not a member, now is the time to join. In addition to all of the discounts you will receive, you can get a second membership for 1/2 price. To learn more about this unique promotion, visit Maymont's website, or call 358-7166.

Found Magazine Returns!

2009-04-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

Make sure you don't miss Davy and Peter Rothbart of Found Magazine as they return to Richmond for a limited engagement, one show only, winner take all night at Gallery 5 this Saturday, May 2nd at 8 pm. Tickets are only $5, which is a real deal. That saves you some serious funds for purchasing Found books from Chop Suey and drinks from Gallery 5.

We Buy Books! However....

2009-04-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

Since we're mostly a used books bookstore, we are constantly buying books from people. If you're familiar with our store, you won't have any questions about what kind of books we buy. But some people do. And we get calls about this about 5 times a day, on average. Over the past 7 years, we've honed our abilities to decide whether we want their books before we even hear what books they have. If you are going to call, try to avoid these pitfalls:

1. Do Not refer to your collection of books as a "lieberry." This is pretty good indication that the person speaking has not actually read any of the books they are selling. Or, worse, that they have. In either case, we most likely won't be interested. An easy tool to remember this rule is "Libraries contain a number of books. Lieberries grow of Fib Trees."

2. When asked to identify what kind of books you have, Do Not classify them as "reading books."

3. When we ask for a more specific description, Do Not categorize them as "Paperbacks and Hardcovers." We realize that they are most likely either when we answered the phone. As a side note, it does not help your case to act confused when we ask "Yes, but what kind of paperbacks and hardcovers?"

4. Do Not say that you have "All kinds" of books. If you do say this and don't include Patricia Cornwell, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, James Patterson, or Dean Koontz when you get more specific, we will be amazed.

5. When you list the previously mentioned authors and we tell you that we don't buy them, Do Not become confused/irate by asking "Well, what do you buy?!?" This implies to the listener that you have no comprehension that authors other than the ones you read exist. When you do ask a question like this, it is more likely that you are a "book snob" than us.

6. Do Not ask "Do you buy books?" and follow up with "How much would you give me for old National Geographics?"

7. Do Not refer to your books as "really old" if they are from the 1980s. It's just insulting.

WonTon Has Issues!

2009-04-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

(of magazines)

Win This Bike!!!

2009-04-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

When we raffled off the bright green Diamondback cruiser out of our window last month, the response was so great that we decided to do it again. Also, we wanted to give all of you who had your heart set on 2 wheel travel another chance to live the dream. So now through May 6th we are selling $1 raffle tickets for an all but brand new Trek 4300 Alpha mountain bike! The frame measures at 44.5 cm, and this bike looks like it was ridden from the store to the house. Maybe. In any case, it is clean and cool and ready to hit the trails. You could pay a couple hundred for a used one, or get lucky with us and ride away for only $1. The drawing will take place at 4 pm on May 6th. Of course, all the money raised will be donated to Books On Wheels.

Funky Chickens

2009-04-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, April 21st at 5 pm, Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns will read from and sign her newly revised book Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs. After founding the UPC in 1990, Karen has published numerous books and tracts in defense of her fowl friends. Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs continues her struggle to bring the plight of these birds to the fore-front of the animal rights agenda. Most recently, Karen was published in the New York Times (last week's letters to the editor), and was talked about by Ira Glass when he appeared on David Letterman. Check out this video to see the impact she had on him:

Tenderly or Agressively

2009-04-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

We just got in an amazing biography of Joseph Pujol, a performer at the Moulin Rouge who, during the late 19th century, amazed and amused audiences so much that he was paid over twice what Sarah Bernhardt made. How? Well, it was a breeze. Literally. Pujol was an artist of the fart, able to summon great sounds at the drop of a hat. What a story! And inspiration! Think of where Eddie Murphy would be today had Pujol not lit up the entertainment world with his musical talent.

One of the best things about this book is how Pujol holds up a finger as he leans forward. I'm guessing he is giving the international sign for "hold that thought." Either that, or he's asking the photographer to pull his finger.

This book is a fine example of the quality reading you can find at Chop Suey. Don't blow it! Shop the Chop today!

A Barrel of Fun!

2009-04-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Chop Suey is now touting a bright blue rain barrel made and sold by Stu Harnsberger in our front window as part of our Spring gardening selection. There are many great reasons for using rain barrels, such as saving money on your water bill, watering your garden with non-chlorinated water, easing the strain on a weak city sewer system, and so on. There are two great reasons why you should use Stu's barrels: they are cheap, and they are blue! If you have researched rain barrels, you will know that $50 per barrel comes in at well under half price of most brands. And, if you have any problems with your barrel, you will already have a direct working relationship the local manufacturer. I personally have three of Stu's barrels hooked up to my gutter system, and after this week's rain, have 165 gallons of crisp water to distribute throughout my yard. If you have any interest in utilizing such a fantastic and simple device, I fully recommend that you contact Stu!

Davy Does It Again!

2009-04-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Davy Rothbart, known internationally as the point guard for Found Magazine and a flagrant hack on the basketball court, has just edited another great collection of Found material, Requiem for a Paper Bag. Unlike Found Magazine and the 2 Found books, however, this book is an anthology in which celebrities and civilians tell stories of the best lost, tossed, and found items from around the world. Miranda July, for example, writes about finding a painting of a quail that makes it into a final scene in her film You, Me, and Everyone We Know, and of how being receptive to "found moments" has shaped her artistic vision. David Simon relates how, while working on his book Homicide, he poured through old crime files and was set on a quest to find a missing letter from Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan) that had disappeared from one such folder. And, for those of you partial to local history, Tom Robbins tells a great story of how he literally found his second wife at a downtown Richmond bar. This is such a great book, filled with short, touching stories. If you are familiar with Found Magazine, you will know how the shortest discarded note can hint at hidden and secret worlds. The difference with Requiem for a Paper Bag is that you get to read about the great imagined worlds that are inspired in others. This book will be released and on sale in early May.

Davy and Peter Rothbart will be in town on May 2nd for a limited engagement at Gallery 5. Doors will open at 7:15 and the show will start at 8. A $5 cover will guarantee you a night of Found wonder.

Playing Friends

2009-04-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

On Friday night I was closing the store at 9 pm and was a little worried that I couldn't find our cat WonTon. I called for him, but he didn't come. With the weather kind of getting warmer, he has been staying out at night, showing up at the back door when we open in the morning. So I wasn't too worried.

When I got in the car, however, I caught a flash of black and white in the alley between Chop Suey and Bev's. It looked like WonTon had walked behind the stairwell. Then I noticed a opossum just hanging out right next to the spot I had seen WonTon. I jumped out of the car and carefully walked towards the opossum, thinking I was going to have to break up some crazy Nature Channel animal cage match. Instead, when I got back there, WonTon and the opossum were just hanging out. Not only were they not squaring off, they were palling around. I guess the opossum didn't like me, so he crawled back under the ramp to Bev's. Play date over.

Triffids Take Chop Suey!

2009-04-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

Appearing now on the Staff Recommendations shelf at Chop Suey Books is John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, one of the classics of post-apocalyptic literature, now available in trade paperback as part of the Modern Library's "20th Century Rediscovered" series. This reissue is not new -- it was first released circa 2003 -- but our ability to get it at Chop Suey sure is! (Before 2003, the book was out of print; so, as our friend Joel Control points out, there's some dissonance now in seeing it as something besides a beat up pulp tome with screaming B-movie queen on the front. But oh well; it sure is a handsome paperback the Modern Library has put together!)

Here's the plot: a few years after humanity has learned to contain a new species of walking carnivorous plants (the Triffids of the title), a spectacular meteor shower causes everyone who witnesses it to go blind. In the new sightless world, the Triffids begin to take over, and the few sighted folk that are left must mobilize their fellow survivors to safety. It's an extremely astute portrait of gradual social breakdown, narrated in the dry and somewhat befuddled voice of a protagonist attempting to face the end of the world like a proper gentleman. And it's a delight to read. Come check out one of the great overlooked novels of the last century!

And, if you're interested, here's a (Wikipedia) crash course on this John Wyndham fellow.

Canceled on ABC, Forever Alive at Chop Suey

2009-03-31T11:36:00.001-07:00

As you well know, Chop Suey Books proudly displays headshots from our favorite stars. As of last week, Amy Sedaris, Ice T, and Ralph Macchio are joined by the cast of Life On Mars. Though Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Moll, Jason O'Mara, and Jonathan Murphy will soon leave 1973 NYC, they will always have a comfortable home at Chop Suey Books. Eternal thanks to these generous actors and our great friend who worked hard to get all these signatures.

Though this will be a hard present to top, we are always accepting signed headshots to display in our store. Just bring them in our send them to 2913 W. Cary Street, Richmond, VA, 23221.

Devorah Wins!

2009-03-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

After a great fundraising event at New York Deli and a confusion over who the real "Barry" was, Devorah Barry emerged as the winner of the Books On Wheels bike raffle. Congratulations Devorah, and remember to thank Barry from the Deli for putting air in your tires. And Barry, we're really sorry for the confusion.

Used Relationship, Starting bid $18.00 (chips and losses)

2009-03-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

In her unique and inventive book, Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry, Leanne Shapton details Lenore and Harold's 4 year relationship with the flotsam and jetsam left in the wake of their love and subsequent break-up. Published in the form of an auction catalogue, this book offers for sale the couple's personal effects: gifts, shared books, photographs, love notes, postcards, and so on. This clinical categorization of a couple's relationship offers only small details into the private life of Lenore and Harold, but as the auction items amass, so do hints and shadows of the life these two shared. The effect is a mosaic, an incomplete picture of the relationship that is more compelling because of it's omissions. Reading through this auction catalogue, you will accompany the couple on highs and lows, be privy to pet names and biting insults, witness the fevered growth of a new relationship, and gather hints to the root of the couple's undoing while they are still giving each other presents.

-Ward

Another One for Ablutions!

2009-03-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

As of today (March 15), Patrick deWitt's Ablutions has been listed as an Editor's Choice over in the New York Times Sunday Book Review!

(Also on the list: The Believers!)

It's not that your friends here at Chop Suey Books are geniuses, necessarily. Or precognitive, even. It's just that... well, you know.

Anyway, come buy these suckers!!! They're good!!!

Richmond Welcomes Traveling Writers

2009-03-13T15:01:00.001-07:00

The New York Deli is hosting a reading tonight with Shawna Kenney (I Was a Teenage Dominatrix), Cara Bruce (Viscera), and Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints). And Richmond knows how to lay out the red carpet! I just heard a loud horse neigh outside and looked to see the Club Velvet (local strip club) Hummer (local strip club gadfly) driving by. I remembered that they like to drive around town and beep at girls using animal sounds. Wondering who they were picking out on this rainy day, I looked around to see Shawna standing alone outside of the Deli, trying to talk on her phone. I'm glad that such a warm welcome to RVA could be summed up so succinctly!

Ablutions by deWitt (or, Get Your Mell On)

2009-03-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Attention readers, drinkers, and double-threats! Chop Sue y Books now has Ablutions by Patrick deWitt, a novel about the drinking life that is receiving a lot of praise for its entrancing prose.

Dennis Cooper (Frisk) said: "Something truly fresh, something that gave me a reading experience as shivery and enlivening as I’ve had in a long time."

Luc Sante (Low Life) said: "Ablutions is funny and precarious, a novel that shifts the ground under the reader's feet, a naked-lightbulb self-examination that doesn't shy from high comedy. DeWitt has a gimlet eye and a dead aim with words."

A few months back, our good friend artist/writer Carson Mell prepared a short trailer for Ablutions that's been showing on the internet and is, ahem, THE COOLEST ADVERTISEMENT EVER MADE ON BEHALF OF A BOOK. Check it out below.

ABLUTIONS from Patrick deWitt on Vimeo.

And don't forget that Carson Mell is the author of Saguaro, a little treasure of a novel about rocker Bobby Byrd. It's available for sale on his site, sure, but also at your very own Chop Suey Books.

Straight Outta London

2009-03-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Already hailed by the Sunday Times (London) as "one of the outstanding novels of the year," Zoe Heller's newest novel, The Believers, was released to an American audience last week. A follow-up to her acclaimed Notes on a Scandal, this novel again focuses on the frailties of the human character. In particular, as the title suggests, themes of faith and doubt are tested, leaving the novel's characters to question long held beliefs in marriage, family, religion, sobriety, love, morality, and life.

Heller was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition this morning. If you missed it, you can listen to it here.

$1 BIKE!!!

2009-03-12T13:16:00.001-07:00

Books On Wheels is heading back to New Orleans with thousands of free books and enough spare parts to repair dozens of bikes, but first we need to raise some money. One way we are doing this is raffling off a brand new Diamondback Della Cruz 1.0, a really cool cruiser that is ready to roll. Tickets are only $1, and we will be selling them everyday through March 29th. That night, we will have a fundraiser at New York Deli, at the end of which we will draw the winning ticket. This is a $275 bike, but could be yours for only $1. Or $10. Or $50. It just depends on how you want to play the odds. The important thing is that every dollar will go towards our trip to New Orleans. If you want to know why this trip is so important, you can talk with Shelley or Ward at the NY Deli fundraiser, or just read Books On Wheels' blog entries for March 2008 detailing the specifics of last year's trip.

Nathan the Intern's Last Blog!

2009-03-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's late, but here's my last entry. Let's see what I can remember. I remember that at some point I organized some art books. I looked through photography. I shelved some African-American Studies. And then I had a lot of down time. I read some, mostly from this book about a supernatural detective. I listened to NPR a little. I learned that in the original book of Pinnocchio, Jiminy Cricket got squashed on page 9. At about 3, Ward let me go. Life is good.

Bukowski Flash!

2009-03-10T11:00:00.001-07:00

All of the sudden we have so many used Charles Bukowski books! We can't even fit them all in one picture! We're talking about like 35 books, outta nowhere!

Hollywood!
Love is a Dog from Hell!
Pulp!
Screams from the Balcony!
Septuagenarian Stew!
Women!
selected letters!
etc! etc!

As always, we have select new editions of Bukowksi for sale as well. So come on by Chop Suey and check out both our New Books and our Beats section! (Hurry, before word of this windfall reaches the folks at New York Deli!)

That's Not Kosher

2009-03-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is a menu from a new restaurant in our neighborhood.

I'm not sure about the legalities of making a "Friand" in France, but this is definitely the most illegal pastry in Richmond.

Typical French hot dog!

Nathan Blogs Again!

2009-03-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

On his second to last day as an intern at Chop Suey Tuey, Nathan has these reflections:

Hey everybody! It's Nathan again, and I just realized that I forgot to tell you about what happened to me in Coppola's on Tuesday. I had just had a sailor sandwich, and I went down the steps to go to the bathroom. I closed the door to the tiny room behind me, and I figured I should lock it, just in case. A minute later, I turned around to open the door, and it wouldn't open. "Oh right," I said to myself, "the door's still locked." So I tried to unlock it, but the little thing on the doorknob wouldn't turn. I realized the severity of my situation. I called Chop Suey. Andrew picked up. "Hey, it's Nathan," I said. "I'm probably going to be late getting back to work."
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Because I'm locked in the bathroom at Coppola's."
He laughed at that. I probably stayed in the bathroom for about two more minutes before a guy with a key got me out.

Things are going really slow today. I've hardly had anything to do. I organized a bunch of books on art and photography, and shelved some African American Studies, but honestly I've mostly just been sitting around. There was this ten minute period where I watched a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog bit with Ward on Youtube. It was the one where he heckles all the guys at the Star Wars. It was pretty funny, even though I'd seen it before. All in all, I like this job. It's definitely laid-back, and I feel like I'm part of something important. That's all I can really ask for in a job.

Meet Nathan...Our Intern!

2009-03-04T08:42:00.001-08:00

Nathan is a student at Trinity Episcopal School, and as part of his junior year he is required to work 30 hours at a business to gain a larger work/world experience. For some reason, he picked Chop Suey Books! While we do have access to the world wide internet, I'm not sure how much experience he'll pick up here. We'll see. For the next few days, we'll let Nathan tell us in his own words what working at Chop Suey Books has taught him:

Day 1: Ward started me organizing the upstairs. He told me not to work too fast. So I started straightening books, filling in the negative spaces on the shelves, etc. I've decided that Muddy Waters is probably the best old-school blues man I know. I've learned 2 things so far from organizing books. A: Bruce Lee actually wrote books on karate. Pretty sweet! B: Isaac Asimov wrote a LOT of books about robots. Things are pretty laid-back so far. I'm glad I chose this job.

Wired!!!

2009-02-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

Maybe it doesn't make sense that our first actual blog about books centers around a television series, but if you have watched HBO's The Wire, you will understand. The entire Chop Suey staff (all 3 of us!) are complete fans of the series, and we seriously encourage you to dedicate the better part of 2 months to watching the 5 seasons. Despite the fact that it is a television show, The Wire is a literary masterpiece, an assertion underscored by the fact that it has compelled us to search out and read the novels and books behind this show.

The creators of The Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns, already collaborated on The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, a journalistic/editorial examination of life on a specific drug infested corner in inner Baltimore. Of course, this book was also adapted into an HBO mini-series, but the book itself should not be ignored in deference to the television show. Breaking the year into the four seasons, Simon and Burns deliver the brutally honest and heartbreaking lives of a 15-year-old drug dealer, his drug addicted parents, the artist/junky who runs a shooting gallery, the community activist who refuses to give up on her neighborhood, and the many extras who populate the microcosm of the corner. An amazing example of "the Dickensian aspect" in modern American cities.

Before he collaborated with Burns, David Simon wrote the Edgar Award winning Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, an account of the inner-workings of the Baltimore Homicide Unit in 1988. The writing in this book is so well crafted, you at times forget that you are reading a piece of non-fiction. Simon expertly weaves murder investigations, the inner politics of the homicide unit, the personal interactions of the detectives with each other and the community, and the personal lives of detectives, victims, and survivors. We recommend this book without hesitation.

Author Richard Price wrote the introduction to the paperback release of Homicide, many of the teleplays of The Wire, and a number of amazing novels. I just finished reading Clockers, and was blown away. Clockers is the kind of book that makes you hurry home from work so that you can start reading it again. I'm not usually drawn to crime fiction, and had already seen the movie based on the book, which was fine but not mind blowing. But a friend and fellow fan of The Wire lent me a copy, and I can't thank him enough. The book is, to say the least, amazing. Price's latest novel, Lush Life, comes out in paperback next week, and I'm already recommending it based on Price's earlier work and the attention this newest book has already received.

Of course, these books are all available at Chop Suey. C0me in, read the first page of any of these books, and you'll be hooked.

WARD

Juresko Does Chop Suey

2009-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Adam Juresko, local artist and international winner of the Mountain Dew Design-a-Can award, is currently putting a mural on the wall of the stairwell to our upstairs. Check out his full wall painting on the way to find some great books.

WARD