Home on the Range

I'm taking vacation next week so that means you're not going to get one PEEP outta me next week. What should you do while you wait with baited breath for tales from the UBC? How about reading some of these books that evoke for me, a native Idahoan, the land of her birth to which she shall travel. Talking about myself in third person is weird.

The most recent book I read set in Idaho was Dennis Johnson's Train Dreams. A tiny little novella epic in scope, it is set in the untamed and the remote wilderness of northern Idaho as the railroads are built toward the coasts. It kinda made me a little homesick. I even craved huckleberries (they grow rampant throughout Idaho) though I never had a taste for them when I lived there.

Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping and Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose are both set in Idaho. Anthony Doerr spent some time there and there are a couple of short stories in The Shell Collector set in Boise, my hometown, that are really well done. Ezra Pound was born in Hailey and Hemingway went there to hunt and then die. We are a hardscrabble folk with a humble literary history, or something, but one book we acquired in the UBC last week really reminded me of home:

But what will I actually read on the plane? Dune by Frank Herbert. He was from Tacoma, and I'm also visiting my adopted hometown of Seattle. And Idaho is famous for its Bruneau Sand Dunes, so it totally makes sense. I'll have 20+ hours on a plane and my water bottle on me at all times just as I had an ice cream sammich on me at all times reading The Hunger Games.

So I'll catch you soon, Boise. I shall eat Flying Pie pizza and Idaho Spud candy and see my toddler niece who was a tiny newborn raisin when last I saw her but now walks, talks, and brushes her own long, glorious golden locks. And Brookline, take it easy on Carl next week while he flies solo. Bring him lotsa Coca-Colas and steak burritos.

Race Into the Booksmith!

It's that time again, folks! Time to get drunk and watch people with iron willpower rush past you! OR, if you're one of the elite few, time to race through our streets scantily clad without getting arrested. Go you!

Maybe this year is the LAST year you drink from the sidelines and next year you're going to do it. You're going to run the Boston Marathon. Better start training now because I hear it's pretty hard to qualify. But never fear, we've got this useful guide to eating right while training for endurance sports:

Or, this could be the year for you. In which case, the UBC has you covered. I'm sure it's against "regulations" and "rules" and you might get "disqualified," but maybe you should jazz it up this year and buy this book from us. You have the weekend to read it before you bust out barefoot running techniques on the streets Monday:

Finally, if you ARE running the race, here are a few helpful suggestions from your big fans in the Booksmith dungeon:

For while you're racing:

• Vegan pizza delivery in the Allston-Brighton area: Peace O' Pie (617) 787-9884. I recommend the E.P.
• Naked Pizza: Grab a gluten-free pizza as you rush down Beacon Street! They'll put fresh basil on it! (617) 232-2412.
• Pizzeria Dante! Awesome pizza, also down Beacon Street, with just about any topping you could want. Call ahead and I'm sure they'll pop out their storefront and pass it off like Grecian torch-racers of old! (617) 232-5353.

For after the race, you're going to need to relax in a bath of Epsom salts, and my colleague Carl has just the recommendation for deep relaxation:

Godspeed you iron-willed uber-humans! And Bostonian spectators, remember: beer before liquor never sicker. Thanks for reading!