Supermen!

We just received a few copies of Supermen! - The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941, an anthology of never-before-reprinted vintage comics in the vein of Bat-Manga; but with less Japanese Batman (none actually), and more comics by legends such as Fletcher Hanks, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Basil Wolverton, Jack Cole or Lou Fine. This book is a definite must-buy for all with a remote interest in comics, ok?

Marimekko

Gorgeous new books in:

* A beautiful retrospective on Finnish textile designer Marimekko, whose contribution to the canon of design transcends the realm of fashion, etc. Filled with color plates and a really definitive text.

* Also, a visual dictionary of Western textile patterns complexly arranged based on era, movement, content, and social history. Like The Grammar of Ornament, this is a veritable feast for the eyes!!

Shortcomings in paperback...rainbow colors

Shortcomings is here in paperback! In a coat of many colors!

Fantagraphics

Yesterday we received a large shipment of books from Fantagraphics, so on your next visit you may notice a couple of new or re-stocked items.

I was really impressed with Fanta's completely decadent and over-gratuitous packaging. First, the books are wrapped in small bundles with craft paper, as carefully taped and folded as a Christmas package. After they've passed through the tender hands of she/he who wrapped, they are lovingly suspended by trillions of styrofoam peanuts in a carefully taped box. Every edge of the box is sealed up, presumably so that the already remote possibility of damage from the elements is completely extinguished.


Not like Baker and Taylor...they just throw the goods in a box. Whenever I open their shipments, I actually imagine dudes in a warehouse playing basketball with books and boxes.

Fantagraphics, you can give me a job at your warehouse, I really love wrapping presents.

Happy Birthday To Us! D+Q 20th Anniversary Concert!

Hard to believe or easy to believe? Yes, D+Q is 20 years old this year. To celebrate, D+Q is teaming up with other two other indy Montreal organizations, Blue Skies Turn Black and Suoni Per Il Popolo, to present a not-to-be-missed concert here in Montreal, TV on the Radio and the Dirty Projectors! Mark your calendars, it's June 3rd at the Metropolis. How does this get any better? Well, Adrian Tomine kindly provided the beautiful poster, which will be on sale and plastered around the city of Montreal soon.

211 Bestselling Fiction

Look at this list, it's full of local goodness! (sales since last August)

1 - No One Belongs Here More Than You. Stories by Miranda July
2 - What is the What by Dave Eggers
3 - Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Local!)
4 - The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret
5 - Butcher's Block by Deanna Fong (Local!)
6 - The White Tiger : A Novel by Aravind Adiga
7 - The Fruit Hunters : A Story by Adam Gollner (Local!) (non-fiction! what is it doing here!)
8 - When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
9 - We Will Be Fish by JP King (Local!)
10 - The Art of Trespassing by Anna Leventhal (Local!)



Gosh, it doesn't seem like Miranda July's series of compelling short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, is going anywhere else but at the very top of our list of best selling fiction titles. Luckily, we carry the book at all times, in its hardcover, paperback and even audio CD (!) editions.

New Stock Chez Nous

Here are some new titles received just this morning, in no particular order:

Brand new Mcsweeney's (issue no. 30) Featuring short stories by Author and others such as: Michael Cera, Wells Tower, Etgar Keret and Catherine Bussinger. It was printed in Iceland, and in a round about way if you purchase this book you too are supporting Iceland. Isn't that a nice thought?
I saw this movie earlier this Winter and enjoyed it. I'm not sure that I like the concept of a book made with animation stills directly from a film, but the content is really moving.

Baloney Launch Yesterday

Yesterday was the launch for Pascal Blanchet's Baloney, his latest book to be translated and published by Drawn & Quarterly. D+Q translator Helge Dascher, brought the tastiest meat-shaped cookies to the launch. Here she is, with Pascal, posing in front of the aforementioned treats:

And here's a shot of some of the fine-looking people that stopped by the store that evening:

KYEUT!

Latest 211 Bestsellers!

In anticipation of a new regular feature on this blog, here's our recent bestsellers list! A little more tweaking and this will be a regularly updated sidebar. Look at those locals go! (sales since last August)

#1. OJINGOGO by Matthew Forsythe

#2. LOUIS RIEL by Chester Brown

#3. WATCHMEN by Alan Moore

#4. BEBE by Nadia Moss

#5. MILK TEETH by Julie Morstad

#6. NO ONE BELONGS HERE MORE THAN YOU. Stories by Miranda July

#7. ACME NOVELTY NO.19 By Chris Ware

#8. Various posters by Montrealer Jack Dylan

#9. WHAT IT IS by Lynda Barry

#10. MOOMIN BOOK 3! By Tove Jansson

Tonight! Launch For Baloney w/ Pascal Blanchet

Come join us tonight for the launch of Pascal Blanchet's: BALONEY. Pascal will be in the store to talk about and sign his new book. Hope to see you all here!

Spring Magazines

We have a great new batch of magazines for the spring! Here is a sample of what is arriving:
Art on Paper,
The Believer 2009 Film issue (I really enjoyed last year's which featured an abstract recount of Hitchcock's BIRDS)
The Walrus and The New Yorker

I love that the Walrus' cover poses a question about Obama's leadership while the New Yorker comments on Michelle O.'s style!

Attention, Awesome Art

We're pleased to announce an exhibition of works by Victoria artist Caitlin Gallupe and Brooklyn-based Eric Shaw.


I remember having heard a few years ago about Eric's work from a friend, and was really impressed with his teeshirts - completely hand drawn from start to finish. William Morris would be so proud.


And we're really excited to be housing Caitlin's work. She's a personal friend of many on staff and I know I can speak on everyone's behalf in saying that it's been a real privileged to watch her process over the years and see her current work take form.

The elaborate drawings of these two radical artists have met in the middle here in Montreal and will be shown from March 16th to April 14th. Come take a gander during store hours and leave with your brain swamped in brilliant line and color.

Picks o' the Week

We've got Bolano's The Savage Detectives in stock! I haven't picked it up yet, so I can't really provide you with a proper review or even a worthy synopsis, but if you've been meaning to go through Bolano's whole repertoire, you can start here.


This next title is a really great survey on figure painting, ranging from the stodgy to the contemporary. Matt first showed it to me and I agree that it's a pretty definitive compilation on the subject, divided into 5 parts: The Figure Unravelled, The Urban Condition, Other Worlds, Folk Tales, and the Past Deconstructed.


Filled with great color plates, synopses on each painter's practice, and artist bios...more than just another coffee table book, and reasonably priced too! ($37.95)

Also, can I please remind you how sweet this book is?

Check out the new D+Q title in store!

Fresh off the press, we've just received Gabrielle Bell's CECIL AND JORDAN IN NEW YORK stories
I'm trying to get work done but i just keep opening it up! Two stories down, back to work!

Winter Silkscreening workshop round up

Here are some some pics from our silkscreening course that wrapped up last night. The results are incredible! Check out Tin Tin in the bottom right hand corner! Check those colours!
Nice work class!

Karen Kilimnik

Now in store is the most up-to-date catalogue on Karen Kilimnik, released in honor of a traveling museum survey of the artist back in 2007. This luxurious book with a sweet glittery gold inside cover showcases the work of this inspiring artist whose work many have likened to Elizabeth Peyton's. The two are famous for their glam 19th century-inspired portraits of beautiful people painted with a naive, sensible and romantic edge.

Kilimnik has touched drawing, painting, video, collage and installation art, but no matter what medium she uses, romantic decadence and glamorized lifestyles always transpire. Look at these melancholic, fragile and valiant lines!

I found this installation, The Hellfire Club Episode of the Avengers, to be especially exquisite. According to Artinfo, it is "a cluttered arrangement of photocopied images, clothing, drawings, and other objects that reverently obsesses over the glamour, danger, and mod kitsch of the 1960s television show." The picture I took of this cleverly haphazard-looking installation is really bad, so all the more reason for you to come to the store and take a look at this gorgeous book in person!

Groundhog Day

Spring is finally, maybe, coming. Maybe. I'm one of those winter curmudgeons, so the fact that it's been raining (as opposed to snowing, or just sunny and freezing) fills my heart with glee. I'm already thinking about gardening on my balconies. Actually, I've been thinking about gardening on my balconies since the first cold day when my geraniums bit the dust. If you are fantasizing about gardening too, you should take a look at the few horticultural gems we stock at the store.

^ This one, a manifesto and how-to guide on urban guerrilla gardening, is very suitable for the coming season. One thing a lot of people love about Montreal as a landscape and as a metropolis is that it's crumbling and thereby totally suitable for botanical reclamation. Oh yeah, except for that whole "winter" thing. Doesn't exactly promote life. Can you tell that I'm sick of winter?


This next title has really nothing to do with gardening, but is a favorite of mine. Amos Tutuola is a Nigerian writer who was greatly influenced by Yoruba folk traditions, particularly those told by his grandfather, a master of the Yoruban oral storytelling genre. His stories, more like novellas, were written and published in English, and his unique use of the English language coupled with his totally bizarre and amazing narratives are sure to please. Read it on your balcony, amongst your freshly planted geranium bulbs.

Did you know?...

That we are going to be having a puppet making workshop?!!

Shadow Theater And Puppet Making (ages 12 and up)

Winter/Spring Session
Tuesday Nights: March 31, April 7, April 14 And April 21 6:15-8:15
Fee: $100 for whole session. The fee covers supplies.

Course Description: This 4-week course will go over the different forms of building , creating and performing with shadow theaters and Marionettes.Participants will go home with a completed shadow theatre.

Instructor: Salim Hammad has been puppet making and teaching shadow theater since 1992. Salim has attended L'Ecole de Mime de Montreal , has traveled the world performing with theater companies and has made a name for himself as a solo performer.

To reserve a spot for the course, stop by the store during opening hours to
drop off your registration deposit ($65). If you have any questions, email
us at rory@drawnandquarterly.com or call 514-279-2224

Fake $50 bills (American)

Someone's passing fake $50 US bills around town. Keep your eyes peeled. Rory spotted the scam today--don't you get fooled.

UPDATE!!: This is the second attempt at using a fake $50 at the store (the first attempt worked, they bought Fear of Loathing, I should have known!) The most recent fake bill duo were in their early thirties, Caucasian and of average height. In both cases they said the money was given to them by their parents or grandparents. She tried to buy this book:

The Other Cohen in Montreal You Should Care About...

Yesterday I sauntered into the D+Q bookstore and wound up buying Empires of Tin, a gem of a DVD by Jem Cohen, (no pun intended) and a brand-spankin' new edition to the Libairie's DVD section.

I don't know if anyone reading this got a chance to see Jem's master class during Film Pop last year, but if you did, you know darn well why I am so excited that we're carrying this title from Constellation Records. For those who didn't see his mind-blowing, life-changing talk, this is the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the filmmaker's important, breathtaking aesthetic.

Filmed at the Vienna International Film Festival, this epic work was a commission of video/live music, and Cohen's intensely introspective use of space and his unparalleled cinematography are coupled here with reading and music by the likes of members of Silver Mt. Zion, Vic Chesnutt and Guy Piciotto. A staggering work of heartbreaking genius....

Kenneth Patchen

This Kenneth Patchen book was a pleasant surprise. Beautiful brushy drawings, snappy verse. It's the kind of thing that is so often done so badly and then there's the rare perfect example like this book.


Celery-Flute player indeed.

What Girls Want, What Boys Need

Look, if you don't know about these books then it's a good thing you're reading this blog because I'm pretty much going to set you up with birthday gifts for every boy and girl you know in the 8 and above age range. No probs.