Hi Everyone-

Hope all is well with you. Just wanted to take this opportunity to say that if you haven't been our stores lately, you're missing one of the most incredible literary seasons in the fifteen years I've been working at Olsson's. For proof, I'd like to cite recent issues of the New York Times Book Review and the Washington Post Book World.

Typically, between the two there is usually a review once every month to six weeks which is so glowing that we as booksellers need to hunker down and make sure we've gotten every copy we can get our hands on. For the last few weeks, there have been many such reviews, and it's left me amazed by the quality of what's coming out this fall. New authors are producing amazing first-time efforts, and veterans are coming out with works that re-define their careers. Just a few examples:

Both Frank Rich in the New York Times and Michael Dirda in the Washington Post have raved about Zadie Smith's new novel, On Beauty. Rich says: "On Beauty is that rare comic novel about the decisive cultural politics of the new century likely to amuse readers on the right as much as those on the left... Yet Smith is up to more as well: she wants to rise above the fray even as she wallows in it, to hit a high note of idealism rather than to sink into despair. How radical can you be? Blame it on her youth." Dirda says: "it's evident that Smith is a writer for the long haul, an artist whose books we will look forward to every few years, a real and deeply satisfying novelist." Both reviewers compare her (favorably!) to E. M. Forster. And by the way: we've got her! She's going to be reading and signing copies of "On Beauty" at our Lansburgh/Penn Quarter store on Wednesday, September 28th at 7pm. Come by and meet this major literary artist and buy yourself a signed first edition.

In the meantime, on to Salman Rushdie. Did you see the rave that Ron Charles gave his new book Shalimar the Clown in the September 11th Book World? Charles comments that Rushdie's analysis of extremism, on which he was well-versed long before the rest of us realized the threat, has become ever more insightful: "...Rushdie has written an intensely political novel, infused with recent events, but its emotional scope reaches so far beyond our current crisis and its vision into the vagaries of the human heart is so perceptive that one can imagine Shalimar the Clown being read long after this age of sacred terror has faded into history." It was my very great pleasure to meet Mr. Rushdie when he stopped by our offices last week to sign copies of this terrific new work. As a result of his visit, we have signed first editions available now at our stores or through our website. Supplies are limited, so pick some up today!

The publication of Lewis Dabney's great new biography of Edmund Wilson leads Colm Toibin to muse on the importance of this intriguing figure: "...because of his fascinating, restless mind and his habit of being right some of the time, he remains a central figure in the history of the United States in the 20th century." This long overdue biography covers both the tremendously influential intellectual and the tumultuous (in the form of a marriage to the equally outspoken Mary McCarthy), and it's essential to an understanding of this greatest of critics. Once again, I'm pleased to say we have the author: Mr.Dabney will be reading and signing the book at our Lansburgh/Penn Quarter store on Thursday, October 6th at 7pm. Don't miss a chance to hear a discussion of Wilson and to pick up this book: I know you will find it entrancing.

I'll leave it here for now, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. As the weeks go on, I'll be sure to mention more of these incredible fall books (don't forget a personal favorite of mine, Hilary Spurling's majestic new biography, Matisse the Master).

As an independent bookseller, we've always tried to be a cultural meeting place. Come in, talk to our staff and managers about the great fall books (they really care!) and, please, email me with what you're looking forward to this fall at jmurphy@olssons.com.

See you in the stores,

—Joe Murphy, Head Book Buyer