Arts^Entertainment
Iowa seems a good place to buy books
Des Moines has
secluded shops
with big sales
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter^
This time it is Dcs Moines, Iowa,
and yes, I have been there before as
well. Twice, in fact, and both prior
trips were substantially more exciting
than my third and most recent voyage.
The first trip was, like that to Sioux
City, to see a punk concert. I rode out
in the back of a pickup truck belong
ing to a guy who borrowed my “Mr.
Zog’s Sex Wax” T-shirt and never
gave it back.
Justice was mine, though, because
eight milesoulsidcof Dcs Moines, his
engine spontaneously combusted.
Well, nol exactly. It turned out the
oil light had been on for weeks before
the trip, but he thought we might
make it.
Since it was raining and I was
huddled under a blanket, I did not
think much of the fog I saw behind the
truck. Then the fog became a swirling
funnel of smoke pouring from behind.
The driver pulled off onto the shoul
der and began coasting to a slop, since
the engine had quit running. I saw a
pairof headlights approaching through
the smoke and wondered why anyone
would follow a smSking vehicle off
the interstate and onto the shoulder.
They did not stop coming. This
guy just drove straight into the rear
end of the truck and lurched us for
ward a few more final, shuddering
yards.
The guy got out, looked kind of
dazed and stupid, and whined about
the damage to his vehicle. Then about
six leather-clad people stepped out of
the front of our truck, and he was
quiet.
Then the police came. They were
very nice and even drove some of us
to the concert a few miles ahead.
People at the concert were milling
about a parking lot and ran for cover
when a siring of police cars pulled in.
Then we stepped out of the cars and
laughed at everyone when the police
pulled out.
There must be something about
Iowa and oil, because my second trip
to Des Moines was in a bitchin’
Camaro with a severe oil leak. We
blasted Dead Milkmen tunes and
stopped every 30 minutes to add a
quart of oil.
A friend and I were driving to see
an Italian punk band called Raw Power
that was playing somewhere in Dcs
Moines. After driving all over the
town, we found that the building we
were seeking was a bar.
We were still in high school at the
time, but we decided thataflcrdriving
so far, they had to let us in. They just
had to.
Once we knew the name, the bar
was easy to find. Alas, the bouncer did
not sec things our way. I called to
punk brethren within, hoping to incite
Robert Borzekofski/DN
a demonstration or a riot, but they just
looked at me and ordered more beer.
Things got quiet as the people in
side moved upstairs to hear the first
band. My friend and I milled about
then moved behind the building. Af
ter falling only a few limes, we man
aged loclimb up the side of the build
ing and slide through a decrepit win
dow that had not been closed in
months.
We did not get any beer, but the
bands were great and people even
talked to us once wc were inside. We
had to dive into the thrash pit to hide
from the bouncer when he came up
stairs, but wc had no other real prob
lems in the bar or on the drive home.
So last week I drove to Dcs Moines
looking for books. The main event
was the annual Planned Parenthood
book sale, boasting a half-million
volumes filling Agriculture Hall on
the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
But once in Des Moines, I made
several other slops. I walked up and
down University Avenue, which hosts
Drake University, several bookstores
and other funky little shops.
I was reminded of the serenity I
feel on the Wesleyan campus or on
UNL East Campus until suddenly
jarred by a familiar, garish sight.
Right next to a Rastafarian market
sat a glaring Kinko’s copy shop in all
its brightly lit, 24-hour glory. The
copies never fade in the Kinko’s em
pire.
Not far away was Ron’s Book
store. There also was a Jim’s Books
and a Bob’s Books, though the latter
had moved to New Hampshire. Geez,
I could come up with belter names for
bookstores than these.
Kon s was UK out i couia not
understand how he had been in busi
ness for six years. There were few
customers, some books and prices
that were far too low.
While making one last circuit
around the store, I peeked behind a
curtain and found the secret: Ron sells
pomos in the back room.
Jim had more and better books.
They were far more expensive, but I
bought more there. It was a good
thing, too, because he did not like it
when I commented upon his com
ments about Jews and “Japs.”
Before getting to the fairgrounds, I
pulled into a DAVthrift store and was
startled to find that their books were
six times more expensive than those
in Lincoln.
This was, incidentally, also the
first thrift store 1 have visited that sold
used pomos. Maybe there is some
thing about Iowa and pomos.
The Ag Building had neither oil
nor pomos but plenty of books. I spent
far too much money and not enough
lime but loaded my car down and
worried about the axles snapping.
Madonna book packed with gossip, not proof
“Madonna Unauthorized”
Christopher Andersen
Island Books
By Stacey McKenzie
Senior Reporter
Any literature about the most fa
mous woman in the world today has
got to be gripping — and hard to put
down. , .
“Madonna Unauthorized” is just
this — not because of its prose — but
for its simple information.
The biography that traces
Madonna’s life through nearly every
source in Madonna’s life except Ma
donna herself was written by Christo
pher Andersen, author of 13 books,
including biographies of Susan
Hayward, Katherine Hepburn and Jane
Fonda.
Surprises for this Madonna fan
were:
• She was a straighi-A student in
high school.
• She is a highly trained dancer
who studied with Pearl Lang in New
York City.
• She practically starved to death
while she tried to make it in New
York. Cheese popcorn was one of her
favorite meals.
• Nearly every cause Madonna
pushes publicly makes her a hypo
crite il one checks out her private life.
The problem with Andersen’s book
is that it taunts the reader with opin
ions, personal accounts and spliced
interview quotes, leaving one to con
tinually say, “Yeah, that’s a really
great story, but what docs Madonna
have to say about it?”
Andersen did his best to keep up
with the charisma chameleon Ma
donna by including updates about her
life in his author’s postscript.
He even provides an account how
the idea for Madonna’s new sexual
fantasy book,“Sex,’’came to fruition.
Apparently, Madonna was ap
proached by Judith Regan, a editor for
Simon & Schuster Pocket Books with
the idea for “Madonna’s Book of
Erotica and Sexual Fantasies.”
Madonna asked Regan if she’d
approached any one else to do the
project.
“I won’l do it if anybody else turned
it down,” Madonna told Regan.
After asking many pointed busi
ness questions, Madon na agreed to do
me project.
“The next thing I know,” Regan
said in the book, “I hear that Madonna
has brought my proposal to Time
Warner, which owns Madonna’s
record company.”
Andersen sums up the self-made
wonder woman in his epilogue:
“She is, in truth, a Gordian knot of
contradictions; the straight-A student
from an affluent Midwestern suburb
vixen; the high school cheerleader
who ridicules traditional America
values; the thrift-shop reject who be
comes the single greatest influence on
fashion; the feminist who flaunts her
body outrageously, publicly declares
she likes to be spanked during sex ..
it
At least, that’s vyjhal Andersen says.
Courtesy of Gamma Liaison/Island Books
“Madonna Unauthorized,” by Christopher Andersen, gives startling information about the
superpop queen “that Madonna would give anything to keep unpublished.”