On May 4th, Chuck Palahniuk's new novel Tell All hits bookstores.  But you can pre-order it today from our favorite independent bookstore and affiliate St. Helen's Book Shop.  If you don't already know, Chuck loves this store and frequently visits them and signs their entire Palahniuk inventory.  But he goes one step further.  (doesn't he always?)

Chuck has an arrangement with St. Helen's whereby they take custom orders on their website that allow fans to request a person inscription when Chuck signs their books.  Basically, if you are unable to see Chuck on tour, this is the BEST way to get a signed copy of your book, with even a personal message on it!  St. Helen's has a great track record and we've been working with them on this endeavor for over three years now.

Peter Straub is an awarding winning novelist best known for his works in the horror and fantasy genres. He collaborated with Stephen King on The Talisman and Black House. His latest horror novel A Dark Matter comes out next week.

Praise for A DARK MATTER

“Peter Straub's new novel is a terrifying story of innocents-high school students in the turbulent sixties-who stumble into horrors far beyond their understanding. A Dark Matter is populated with vivid, sympathetic characters, and driven by terrors both human and supernatural. It’s the kind of book that’s impossible to put down once it has been picked up. It kept me reading far into the night. Straub builds otherworldly terror without ever losing touch with his attractive cast of youngsters, who age beautifully. Put this one high on your list.”
-Stephen King

He kindly took some time to answer ten questions from fans. Enjoy!

J.D. Salinger, legendary author of such classics as The Catcher and the Rye and Franny and Zooey died yesterday at the age of 91 of natural causes.  He was in his remote house in Cornish, NH during the time of his death, where he lived for decades in a sort of self-imposed auscultation.

Salinger is responsible for the creation of one of American's most beloved rebels and antiheroes, Holden Caufield.  I read The Catcher in the Rye many times throughout my life.  I always found it a comfortable book to return to, whenever I'd be suffering from a reading drought.  It was also one of the first books that I can recall truly speaking to me as a youth.  

Let us take this time to remember J.D. Salinger and reflect in the comments below on what our experiences were reading his books.

Slavoj Zizek has, several times and with increasing emphasis, made it clear what he believes to be the purpose of philosophy: not to answer questions, but ask better ones. Too often this insight is ignored. Critics ceaselessly draw attention to his personal charisma, his “innovative” blend of psychoanalysis and Hegelianism, and his prolific output, all at the cost of taking him seriously as a philosopher. This has resulted in a few time-wasting activities for Zizek himself; if he only took less trouble responding to critics who don’t know how to read him anyway and instead focused on doing anything other than not repeating himself, he might in fact find himself with fewer critics. His latest book, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, is a step in the right direction. Unlike his longer (and more provocative than interesting) “revolutionary” opus In Defense of Lost Causes, this new work is concise and largely void of self-repetition.

Buy First as Tragedy, Then as Farce from Amazon.com

Thanks to everyone that sent in such thoughtful questions. It was difficult to narrow it down to ten.

The following people should expect their signed copies of A Dark Matter  by Peter Straub soon!

Drum roll...

• Chris P, Supply, NC
  
• Brent C, Brooklyn, NY 
  
• Jerry F, Brainerd, MN
• Katherine M, Medford MA
  
• Carl L, Monroe, NY
  
• India R, Duck, WV
  
• Colin M, Lake Zurich, IL
  
• John K, Grand Rapids, MI
  
• Derek H, Tuam, Ireland
  
• Eric B, Hydeville, VT

-The questions and answers will be posted as an interview in February!

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Order 'A Dark Matter' Here!

 We have GREAT news for fans of aclaimed horror writer Peter Straub:  A DARK MATTER, Straub's  first novel in six  years  is being released next month on February 9th!

To celebrate, Mr. Straub has kindly consented to a fan-based "interview".  He will answer ten questions and if one of those questions is YOURS, you will receive a free copy of A DARK MATTER before it hits your local book store!

How this works:

• Email your question to the following email address: PeterStraubInterview@chuckpalahniuk.net.
• Include your first and last name and your mailing  address, along with your question.
• We will then choose the 10 questions that go to Mr. Straub and notify you if yours is chosen. You will be identified in the the interview by your first name and city.
• If the same, or a very similar question, is asked, we will either choose the one that was submitted first, or the one that is more grammatically correct and eloquent. So choose your questions and your words carefully!
• The cut-off date for questions is next Thursday, January 28th at 9:00 PM, Pacific Time.

Peter Straub has received numerous literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award (several times), the World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award. He's prolific and amazing and writes some damn scary books!

Heartburn and Brain Freeze

Pop culture needs more people like Chuck Klosterman.

Klosterman seems to have that rarefied ability to make astute, observational stances for any number of subjects. From football plays to deconstructing the time he spent with Val Kilmer, he is possessed with an uncanny knack for indulging a wide variety of subjects and making them relevant, most of the time insightful, to a reader who may never have thought to ask the question that seems to drive Chuck: How can I say something original about this? He may not ask himself that but I would dare any reader of his new book, Eating the Dinosaur, to try and work through why he would spend as much time in the opening salvo in this new collection of short essays to talk about the nature of interviews when he himself is an interviewer and one who is interviewed. It’s all very meta but Klosterman makes the subject fascinating to delve into and it’s like this throughout the rest of the book. He’s possessed like an animator who flips between sketches to see how to slightly change the art that came before it; it’s a continuation of what he’s always done before but it does show forward movement in the way he strives to keep evolving as an artist.

Everyone’s favorite literary Scotsman is back, with another helping of profane characters and ridiculous situations. Welsh’s second book of shorts in almost as many years, Reheated Cabbage treats us to a batch of vintage 90’s era stories long since out of print. No more scrounging around in used bookshops and garage sales for obscure anthologies containing a scant few pages to complete your collection, they are all here in one convenient package.

Buy Reheated Cabbage from Amazon.com