SoMinn THE BOOKWORM SEZ

Trashlands: A Novel

by Alison Stine

c.2021, Mira $27.99 / $34.99 Canada 384 pages You gotta do what you gotta do. Whatever it takes to survive, nothing’s off the table in a crisis. Hunt, scrounge, gather, you’d do it if that was required. Anything to have a roof over your head and food in your belly, a few bucks for the basics, maybe an unnecessary gewgaw for comfort. Do what you gotta do in the new novel, “Trashlands” by Alison Stine... or die. Fresh, clean water from a pipe and heat from the oor. Mr. Fall was the only one in Trashlands who was old enough to remember those things, and so most people were skeptical. Coral, though, had known Mr. Fall her entire life, and she knew he wouldn’t make things like that up. She supposed that in The Els, where damage from oods was minimal, people had clean water and heat but as a plucker in Scrappalachia, the only thing Coral knew for sure about was plastic. Plucking, in fact, was the only way she had to make money. Her partner, Trillium, did tattooing for the girls who worked at Trashlands, the garishly-lit club that lent its name to the junkyard where everyone lived. Mr. Fall held school for children who might show up. Summer made clothes, Foxglove danced for men, they all relied on plastic as currency and so Coral spent her days plucking recyclable plastic from the brackish water of a nearby river. She had to. She needed to save to buy her son’s freedom. Shanghai was small when he was snatched, and that was the point: children’s hands were more adept at sorting plastic. Coral thought he’d still be at a factory, but which one was anyone’s guess. She often wondered what he’d be like now; back then, when he lived with her and Trillium, the boy was angry and dangerous and she still wanted him back. He made her who she was. She loved him. He was the reason she stayed at Trashlands... So you’re kind of concerned about climate change? Then take this warning and buckle your belt tight, because “Trashlands” is about to scare the pants off you. Not in a jump-out-and-boo! sort of way, either: author Alison Stine maintains eerie calm and quiet here, with just enough blanks left un lled to leave readers feeling the cringey kind of unease that happens when you’re anticipating something bad and oops, it’s tomorrow. The story isn’t really even dystopian; it’s more futuristic, set in a possible someday time when society is almost entirely feral and the gulf between has and has nothing is as wide as an ocean full of plastic garbage. Start it, and you can smell the tale from your reading spot. The prose feels sandy, but not pleasantly so. Have fun thinking you know how this book ends but forget it, you don’t. “Trashlands” isn’t exactly sci- , but just to the left of it and one step up. It’s a book to share with someone, quick, so you can discuss. If you love good future ction, you gotta read it.

How Magicians Think:

Misdirection, Deception, and Why Magic Matters

by Joshua Jay

c.2021, Workman $27.50 / higher in Canada 310 pages Pick a card. Any card. Don’t show it to anyone. Just look at it, quick, and put it back in the deck anywhere at random. Now think about that card. Think about the number, the suit, how many symbols were on it, the color, the shape. Concentrate hard on the card you chose and then wonder – as in the new book “How Magicians Think” by Josuha Jay – what the magician is concentrating on. How did he do that? If you’re like most people, that’s your rst reaction when you catch a magic act: how did the person with the tricks manage to fool you, right in front of your face? That question, says Joshua Jay, is the wrong “mindset.” “Magic tricks aren’t puzzles,” he says, “but most of us see them that way..” Still, it’s natural for you to wonder about Jay’s world. Being a magician, for example, seems like a glamourous life but Jay says that touring means that he misses birthdays, holidays, and “all the important stuff.” He practices constantly and because his hands are essential to his work, he’s given up previously-enjoyed hobbies in order to avoid possible injury. Jay says he’s traveled all over the world to perform and to watch others perform – he says magic is done differently in every country – and he’s been to the famed Magic Castle. He’s invented a number of tricks that he knows can be teased apart by other magicians but he’s not worried because “Magic has a strict code of ethics.” If you love being surprised and you love the show, good for you, he says. Magicians work hard to keep the illusion, and if you want that, too, then listen: a magician’s words are very important distractions, but they can also ruin the trick. Never watch the same show twice and never try too hard to nd the secret. “When nothing is left to the imagination,” Jay says, “there is nothing left to imagine.” On our most mawkish days, we sometimes like to romantically think that we’ve managed to maintain the innocence of a child. That’s not good, from a magician’s POV, says author Joshua Jay; in reality, kids are the hardest customers to fool. And so that coin-behind-the-ear trick you planned on doing at Thanksgiving? Throw it out and read “How Magicians Think” instead. Here, Jay explains why even the most jaded among us need magic these days, and how today’s magic has gone beyond the tired tropes to become the big-stage attraction that it is, even when some of it is bigger-than-life and often dangerous. In that, he assures readers that what they see is real. But how can that be? Jay (no relation to Ricky Jay) isn’t telling. What you read in this book – including his list of favorites and tales of performing and creating – won’t ruin the illusion for you. You can enjoy “How Magicians Think,” you can walk yourself through a trick, shake your head, and still be wow’d. In fact, slack-jawed awe... yeah, it’s in the cards.

American Comics: A History

by Jeremy Dauber

c.2021, WW. Norton $35.00 / $47.00 Canada 592 pages A towel worked pretty well. If Mom got mad about you stealing one of her bathtowels, then a folded sheet was good, or even an old shower curtain. Superheroes never worried about the fabric of their capes, and you didn’t, either. As long as kid-you could leap and climb and ght crime, you were happy. Even better: having “American Comics: A History” by Jeremy Dauber in your hands today. Though, in a way, the history of American comics started with Egyptian hieroglyphics,you can also easily state that political cartoons were really this nation’s rst cartoons. By 1827, comics without words, or the “picture-story,” was recognized as something valid that even semi-literate colonists could enjoy in books. Early newspapers eventually found cartoons, or the other way around, but those rst comics were meant for adults. Still, turn-of-the-last-century children were savvy enough to understand the mischief of the Katzenjammer Kids and soon, comics were beloved by the whole family as they held up a mirror to what Americans were doing or dreaming about. That included conquering the Great Depression and the Fuhrer: by 1939, fourteen new superheroes had appeared in the nation’s comic books. American GIs were voracious consumers of comics during World War II, as Sad Sack and Dick Tracy joined Barney Google in the service and Daddy Warbucks became a three-star general. Comic book publishers also joined the War Effort when forced to use just a single staple to keep their product together, something a superhero surely could’ve helped do. WWII comic lovers returned home to some controversy: shortly after wars’ end, comic books were said to contribute to juvenile delinquency. The 1950s saw the heyday of horror comics and satire magazines that were not necessarily meant for consumption by children. Racism and sexism had always existed in comic books, but the 1960s saw a rise in strips by African American artists and more comic books with a feminist angle. And by the 1970s, comics had become “comix” and nearly everything changed... Once upon a time, you had piles of comic books. Well-loved, well-thumbed-through, you even read the ads on the back, didn’t you? Yeah, and with plenty of nostalgia and cultural touchpoints, “American Comics” will remind you of those rainy Saturdays spent ghting pixelated crime in POWs, BAMs, and WHAMs. But here’s the thing: author Jeremy Dauber never lets readers forget that comic book history is inseparably American history. We can trace this country’s past almost entirely through comics like Krazy Kat, Lil’ Orphan Annie, Captain America, Sad Sack, Archie, and Wee Pals, and we can see how American opinions changed according to our favorite funny pages. That makes this book perfect for comic book collectors, unusual-history buffs, and anyone who thought they were wasting time all day when (ha!) they were just reading comic books. Dear Mom: We forgive you for throwing out all our comic books so long ago. We’d rather have them back, but this book is a warm reminder of them. For sure, “American Comics” is a great es-cape. Beware: this is truly scary stuff, and you really don’t want to hand this book to a 12-to-17-year-old who’s prone to nightmares. There are a lot more books for big and little ghosts and goblins out on the shelves so if these four, above, don’t t your exact idea of a boo-tiful read, then look for some of your beloveds from your own trick-or-treat days or be sure to ask your favorite bookstore or librarian for help. They’ll know exactly what to put in your cold, cold hands because not having the best Halloween reading is too scary to imagine.

PerformanceDates: December3-4,&10-11 | 7:30pm December5&12 | 2:00pm

•Onlineboxof ceatLittleTheatreofOwatonna.org •In-houseboxof ceopen•Mon.-Weds.5-6:30(ByPhone) •Thurs.-Sat.5:30-7:30•Sun.12:30-2 Directedby ZackeryKnapton TechnicalDirector KristiWestergaard