tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16791382861641279122012-02-16T16:42:35.791-08:00Since 1989, A Cappella Books has been intown Atlanta’s only full-service general bookstore, buying and selling new, used, rare and out-of-print titles. Located in Atlanta’s bohemian neighborhood, Little 5 Points, we’re widely known for our selection of Beat literature, progressive political and counterculture books, and, as our name suggests, books about music. But we strive to carry important and unusual titles in most fields of interest.A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-65704605613141711542012-01-09T05:27:00.000-08:002012-01-09T06:06:01.905-08:00

As we prepare to move a half a mile (and half the rent) away from our home for the past eight years, it's obviously a time to reflect on that time. And, of course, there's the packing up process, and coming across things we haven't thought about in a while. Like the boxes of signed copies of first editions of the last book Al Franken wrote before becoming a US Senator: The Truth (with Jokes)

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-68009494506975700852010-04-12T05:26:00.000-07:002010-04-12T05:40:42.044-07:00

A little over a year ago, two young women who both lived in Atlanta but who didn't know each other both had debut novels published on the same day and both told the stories of strong young women grappling with the implications of their own privilege and their growing awareness of injustice around them, especially surrounding the issue of race, and both were written in highly original voices that

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-62689046143205181282010-03-11T05:48:00.000-08:002010-03-11T06:05:42.143-08:00

We're excited about tomorrow's visit from "Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s Jeff Garlin, in town to promote his new book, My Footprint and to perform at the 14th Street Playhouse on Friday night and at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center on Saturday. My Footprint is about Garlin's simultaneous attempt to lose weight and "go green." Like everything he does, though, it's also about making people laugh.

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-18278956294086292942010-03-05T10:25:00.000-08:002010-03-05T10:28:24.066-08:00

Have you visited A Cappella Books lately? If you have, you may have noticed some of the shelves looking a little thinner than usual, and that there's a lot of stuff piling up in the back room.Here's the deal: if you've been around us for long, you no doubt know that our store today is very, very different from what it was when we first got started over 20 years ago. It's been a process of slow

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-89333141336441816652010-02-25T11:58:00.000-08:002010-02-25T12:02:17.130-08:00

For almost as long as we've been doing what we do at A Cappella, Eyedrum has, in the words of Art Papers' Jerry Cullum "consolidated its position as Atlanta's premiere alternative art spaces." All the while, however, we've never done anything together. That all changes in the next several days as we head over there for two exciting book events, both (and I don't know what to make of this) dealing

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-69649672006999860022009-09-30T07:41:00.000-07:002009-09-30T08:08:22.320-07:00

Our official 20th anniversary is December 1.It was on that day in 1989 that we first opened our doors for business with about 3000 used books, no employees, no cash register, no credit card processing, no computer, and pretty much no money.We've got a lot more of all of the above 20 years later (except for money) and, of course, many amazing memories. I hope to write about some of these in the

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-73311135207581130012009-09-02T06:29:00.000-07:002009-09-02T08:44:31.985-07:00

For the past four years, Labor Day Weekend, which, frankly, I can't remember what it ever meant to me before, has meant only one thing: The Decatur Book Festival.Begun as a typically hair-brained but appealing idea of fellow biblio-entrepeneur Daren Wang, the DBF is an entirely unique experience. Typically, after weeks of preparation, and in anticipation of weeks of necessary follow-up, we work 4

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-65716884822380577542009-07-11T13:43:00.000-07:002009-07-13T09:06:07.298-07:00

I have written one fan letter in my life, and it was to Paul Hemphill, who died this morning at age 73 after battling cancer for the last couple of years.It was 1989, and I had just moved back to my hometown of Atlanta with the plans of opening a bookstore after years of managing one in San Francisco. Right before leaving the Bay Area, I stumbled upon a copy of Hemphill's first novel, Long Gone,

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-88384741639873617992009-06-12T06:24:00.000-07:002009-06-12T06:28:33.361-07:00

Young Pakistani author author Ali Sethi (The Wishmaker) reads on Sunday afternoon. Much more coming up the rest of June and early July.http://tinyurl.com/mgq3q5

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-38320519627583771152009-06-04T06:58:00.000-07:002009-06-04T07:30:56.289-07:00

Whenever anyone asks me for a recommendation for a good book about Atlanta, I always suggest Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn by Gary Pomerantz. Tracing the intertwining family histories of two of the Atlanta's most important mayors, Ivan Allen, Jr. and Maynard Jackson, Pomerantz reveals almost everything one needs to know to understand the distinctive nature of our city.If the seeker wants

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-859455900174993992009-05-26T07:15:00.000-07:002009-05-26T07:24:07.809-07:00

A Cappella's Latest Newsletter is out, with info on bad food, good beer, ethical business, "hip-hop" justice and beach reading even we can be excited about. http://tinyurl.com/qmvmuy

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-74302191930516905462009-05-22T06:58:00.001-07:002009-07-11T15:25:22.731-07:00

I guess it only makes sense that in serious times, serious people focus on the most serious aspects of life. And, of course, there could be no life without food, so we currently see many of our best writers and thinkers focused in one way or another on, what in other eras, passes for mere entertainment.It's easy to view the current outpouring of food-related writing (in books, magazines, blogs...

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-68954659461094239662009-05-18T11:24:00.000-07:002009-05-18T11:27:01.110-07:00

We've got another full week on our hands. We're in Decatur Tuesday and Friday, Downtown on Wednesday and back in Little 5 Thursday. Check out the link below for a full list of what's going on.http://tinyurl.com/pa57l4

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-90009890072591110152009-05-14T05:58:00.000-07:002009-05-14T06:25:08.617-07:00

Anybody doing any kind of work remotely related to communications has to be feeling tugged in a million different directions these days, trying to figure out a sane way to add blogging and facebooking and twittering, etc. to what they've already been doing, which, by my observation, was already stretching people thin. We're no exception. In fact, we might make a nice poster child.So, we haven't

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-74375974353202183992009-05-08T04:39:00.000-07:002009-05-08T04:42:11.028-07:00

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs054/1101430247833/archive/1102569418854.html

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-89960238166981555182009-04-23T06:27:00.000-07:002009-04-23T07:22:02.133-07:00

We have been involved in a lot of wonderful author events at the Carter Center over the years, but I can't think of any that have been more moving than last night's with Warren St. John, the author of Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, An American Town. The book is the story of a youth soccer team, The Fugees, made up of boys from families that have been relocated to the tiny southern town of

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-50703425325434466242009-04-02T06:28:00.000-07:002009-04-02T07:45:50.237-07:00

Yesterday morning was in some ways like old times.Ken Mallory--who worked for A Cappella for over a decade before venturing out to become a bona fide antiquarian bookman himself--joined me for a drive down to a Jonesboro storage unit to dig through 37 boxes of books accumulated by another inveterate bibliophile.A long time ago, these were the type of adventures that made our business what it was.

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-72874947029212994742009-03-18T06:24:00.000-07:002009-03-18T08:49:52.236-07:00

It was exactly three weeks ago when San Francisco writer Rodes Fishburne visited our store and provided a very entertaining presentation of his new novel set in San Francisco, Going to See the Elephant, at Opal Gallery next door. For those of you who couldn't attend, you can now witness at least some of it on Atlanta Forum Network. Due to some sort of technical snafu, a good portion of

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-1550378894561689262009-03-18T06:11:00.000-07:002009-03-18T06:24:10.187-07:00

Just as Hemingway once said all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn, many of us interested in Georgia literature would say that a good starting point would be the work of Flannery O'Connor. In the more than 40 years since her early death, the Savannah native's work, already considered among the absolute first rank of mid-twentieth-century American

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-5988206929497344252009-03-15T18:51:00.000-07:002009-03-15T20:00:49.094-07:00

So much about our putting on author events is fun and exciting and interesting, I only occasionally am reminded about one big drawback of the whole enterprise. Focusing so much on these "one-time-only" readings, lectures, launch parties, etc. makes us think about the books involved and their authors as tied to a specific date: "Walter Mosley? That's coming up next month. Nami Mun? That was a

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-35598422365589694782009-03-10T06:10:00.000-07:002009-03-10T06:18:02.139-07:00

I know you don't generally look to A Cappella for books about Ronald Reagan, and, frankly, if you're reading this blog we wouldn't expect such a subject to be at the top of your list of interests. But this Wednesday at the Carter Library, we are very honored to present a renowned author of a fascinating new book on our 40th president and his role in ending the Cold War. The Rebellion of Ronald

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-72656225217813771532009-02-26T09:58:00.000-08:002009-02-26T10:12:16.684-08:00

As promised, N. Frank Daniels' reading of his powerful novel Futureproof at this month's Ballroom Book Bash is now available on the Atlanta Forum Network. Check it out.

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-90626379575748147772009-02-25T08:35:00.000-08:002009-02-25T08:52:00.634-08:00

Twenty-five years ago, despite not knowing a single soul in the city, I packed up my few belongings (really nothing but books and records) into the back of my pick-up and drove across the country to live in San Francisco. Without a job, any prospects or even any discernible skills, and with a naivety that is impossible to exaggerate, I signed a lease on a roach-infested studio apartment in the

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-11207060545841074532009-02-12T07:40:00.000-08:002009-02-12T08:27:26.227-08:00

The Ballroom Book Bash at the Highland Inn began by accident, but it has become one of the best things we do and one of the things that remind us why we do what we do.A couple of years ago, we got the opportunity to host an event with legendary Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, and at the time our friend Marc Fitten, editor of The Chattahoochee Review, told us that, around the corner from our store,

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Last night, Christopher Dickey spoke to an intimate gathering in the Carter Presidential Libary's auditorium. He joked in his introductory remarks that he had seen his appearance listing in the AJC's section of "Cheap and Free" things to do around town and he also joked that, being the son of renowned poet and author and Atlanta native James Dickey, he was glad that not everyone in the audience

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-35088481099785151072009-01-30T05:50:00.000-08:002009-01-30T06:30:48.121-08:00

Perhaps the greatest success story of the blogosphere to date came through town last night as Christian Lander, creator of the blog and book, Stuff White People Like, talked to an overflow crowd about the overnight sensation that is he at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club in Little 5 Points.Lander told his remarkable story about creating a blog for the entertainment of just a few friends about a year

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Yesterday I interviewed the author N. Frank Daniels about his book, Futureproof, which was just published and which we'll official launch at our next Ballroom Book Bash on Feb. 10. The interview will air on Cover to Cover on Georgia Public Broadcasting some time in March.Daniels is an extremely serious writer and, seemingly, a very grounded young man. He acknowledges that his novel--about a

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On Monday night, January 19, 2009, when virtually every intelligent person in the universe was fixated on the next day's inauguration of Barack Obama, a small group of discriminating Atlantans joined us next door at Opal Gallery, to hear a first time novelist read from and discuss her "episodic novel" about a teenage runaway in New York.Far from being disinterested in important events of the day,

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-4782418062414932812009-01-11T20:40:00.000-08:002009-01-11T21:03:10.630-08:00

There are all sorts of indications that 2009 is going to be a year like no other, but at least one from my reading life is that the first book I read this year was a Southern novel told in the voices of three women, two wealthy, one a poor fundamentalist Christian. Not exactly the sort of thing that defines A Cappella or Frank Reiss' literary tastes. But, it was really great!It called Bound South

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-37261105604223345452008-12-12T11:13:00.000-08:002008-12-12T12:08:18.195-08:00

I've been seeing all of these year-end lists of "best books," including A Cappella's own Glen Thrasher's, so I am going to try to come up with my own, for whatever it's worth. In the meantime, the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Tom Sabulis asked me to name and write a little about my one favorite book of the year. That's tough, but here's what I came up with:Malcolm Gladwell's The Outliers.No

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-2045503203797398692008-12-04T06:43:00.001-08:002008-12-04T07:59:46.040-08:00

On Monday of this week, A Cappella marked its 19th anniversary in Little 5 Points. We opened on Dec. 1, 1989 at 1148 Euclid Ave., moved a year and a half later to 1133 Euclid Ave. and finally (we hope!) settled in at 484 Moreland. The good lord willing and the creek don't rise, we plan to have a great celebration next year, when we make it to 20.It's hard to avoid being reflective about the

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-39325520386553194882008-11-25T05:22:00.000-08:002008-11-25T05:49:05.102-08:00

The Thanksgiving holiday this week is a welcome respite from last week's torrent of activity, fascinating as it was.On Monday, we hosted Newsweek editor Jon Meacham at the Carter Library to discuss his new biography of Andrew Jackson, American Lion. We had an overflow crowd, unfortunately having to turn several dozen people away.The folks from Book TV were on hand, so anybody who missed out will

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-44844192772021673192008-11-13T19:59:00.000-08:002008-11-13T21:00:11.090-08:00

We made a tremendous purchase today, buying about 7 boxes of photography books from the former photography curator of the High Museum in Atlanta. The sheer number of volumes means we go in the blink of an eye from having a pretty good photography collection to having an unimaginably deep and interesting selection. Of course, it will probably be fairly short-lived. These kind of books don't last

A Cappella Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06165726578028721137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679138286164127912.post-38591766110419400802008-11-11T19:27:00.000-08:002008-11-13T19:35:25.774-08:00

Since A Cappella Books began as, and to a great extent continues to be, a used, out-of-print, antiquarian bookstore, I guess it's only fitting that we're always a little slow to embrace all of the latest technological advancements. So, while we've been told for some time now that we need a blog, we're just now getting around to it, just about 10 weeks shy of the beginning of the Age of Obama. The

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