I’m a big fan of the good review, and I think it sells books, but you actually have to read something from time to time, just so you don’t sound like you’re piling on to a prevailing attitude.  There is a good chance that these books will sell in your store.  I can tell you that the book 03, just from the review in The New Yorker, from James Wood, will certainly sell, not only because it’s affordable, but the reviewer carries some serious weight, (How Fiction Works).  It also sounds sick, weird and voyeuristic in an interesting way.  03 is translated from French, so, it’s got that going for it…

When an Independent in Long Island calls me and says, “Jason, this book, The Thousand, did you read the review…? It’s selling really well.” Then I know reading the reviews, especially when Ms. Kakutani reviews the book, is worth my time, even if she hates the book.  Check out what Terrence Rafferty has to say about Shirley Jackson.  Did you know she died in her sleep in her late 40’s? She also didn’t like to go outside and this from the woman who wrote The Lottery, a staple in every bookstore I’ve ever been in.

Vanishing and Other Stories from the ridiculously talented Deborah Willis is probably the best book I’ve read since Freedom. She writes like a young Tobias Wolff, with a little A.M. Homes around the edges, she’s going to show it and tell it, in equal helpings, and we all can agree that trade paperbacks sell.  You’ll notice there isn’t a link to a review for Vanishing and Other Stories, because there really hasn’t been one… yet.   I just started reading the James Franco collection, Palo Alto (on sale October); I really liked the first story; it reminded me of Carver’s “A Small Good Thing”.  It doesn’t look like Franco will make the same mistakes Ethan Hawke did.