I went to the Warehouse Theater last night to attend the screening, nay, the DC premiere of the first in the Out of the Book Film Series hosted by Olsson's. This event included a 30 minute film about Ian McEwan and his latest book On Chesil Beach produced by the fine folks of Powell's Books in Portland, OR. The film series is an endeavor that Powell's has undertaken to bring a little bit more to the reading experience, to bring a little more community and conversation to the table. And, of course, to bring a side of the author that many readers are clamoring for that we may not get from the usual radio and TV talk show circuit.

I'd actually already seen the film at a special screening at the BEA with a very special talk with Mr. McEwan afterwards, but I enjoyed it so much I wanted to see it again and I also wanted to drag a friend of mine to it. There is a bit at the end of the film after his readings and the very intelligent commentaries on his writing where the film crew takes an assortment of pebbles that Mr. McEwan had removed from Chesil Beach back to the beach lest he be prosecuted for environmental vandalism. A bit of levity after a somber meditation on a well-crafted, compact, and earnest novella.

Before I went to sleep last night I spent some more time with a collection of short stories called Beware of God by Shalom Auslander. I am reading these in preparation for the publication of his memoir The Foreskin's Lament. I'd read his piece "Playoffs" in The New Yorker back in January and I almost immediately picked up Beware of God, which was originally published in 2005. But after losing it to one of my many piles of books I uncovered it upon hearing of his forthcoming work.

Reading Auslander is like watching really good comedy. It incorporates painfully intelligent and incisive observations into a rhythm of almost uncomfortable restraint followed by face-smacking delivery. I think I like it. Auslander's subject matter is almost always religion. He was raised in an isolated Orthodox Jewish community in New York State and has spent the bulk of his adult life reconciling his lack of orthodoxy with his staggering guilt. This has resulted (to his reader's benefit) in some painfully hilarious and often seething prose that is an absolutely enthralling read.

Starting Friday you'll be able to pick up three paperback Penguins for the price of two! Olsson's is going in for another round of our now legendary Buy 2, Get 1 Free Sale, this time with a whole host of Penguin, Berkley, Riverhead, and Penguin Classics to choose from.