David Rakoff was a mainstay on public radio’s “This American Life”, and the best-selling author of Fraud, Don’t Get Too Comfortable, and Half Empty. He died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 47, shortly after finishing “Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish, a short novel” in verse that jumps from decade to decade, tracking a panoply of American characters across the 20th century: 1920′s slaughterhouse workers, 1950′s office girls, AIDS victims and 1980′s yuppies.

Rakoff marries deft, humane observation with jauntily tripping verse structure - in places, you’ll find yourself thinking of Dr. Seuss - to create a series of jewel-toned interlocking miniatures. NPR reviewer Alan Cheuse said, “Rakoff makes such pairings as virago and Chicago, ceases and paresis, skittish and Yiddish, antelope and envelope, horas and Torahs, Alzheimer’s and climbers, for 100 cleverly rendered and entertaining pages.”

In this excerpt, set in the 1980s, never-satisfied Susan is about to marry shallow lawyer Josh, and cruelly, she has invited her ex-boyfriend Nathan to give a toast at the wedding. “Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish” was published by Doubleday (a division of Random House) on July 16th, 2013.

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Thank you NPR Books and R. I. P. David Rakoff.

This is pretty exciting news! Well, to me anyway… you see, I’m a HUGE fan of both Marc Maron AND Davis Sedaris. So, it’s so ultra cool that Marc interviewed David yesterday and you can hear it all, right now, right here, down below. The weird thing though, David Sedaris has a big book out right now, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” and during the podcast they don’t even mention it but they sure do talk a lot about Marc Maron’s new memoir, “Attempting Normal”. OK, it’s still a great interview, check it out!

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Over at THE NEW YORKER Magazine Website, in their PAGE-TURNER section, they have a special monthly feature they like to call “Books To Watch Out For”. They usually list about 9 or 10 new titles coming out in that period that have caught their attention and the choices are always very good and also very well-thought out. Well, we’re really proud to say that for JULY they added David Rakoff’s new book, "Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel" (Doubleday) to the list!

Now, this book won’t officially be out until July 16th, but right now you can read their extremely excellent review (and story description) by following this link RIGHT HERE. We want to thank them for adding this important book to the list. What an honor!

OK, just to clarify. We say “important book” because it is, quite sadly, David Rakoff’s very last book he wrote before he passed away last year at the age of 47. For many years his work has been enjoyed by a large group of serious fans and this has all been very sad news. Also, for people who just love reading books in general, and have never read him before, they should check him out as well because his writing is extremely clever and he has always had a really great sense of humor. We should also mention that the cover was designed by his friend, Chip Kidd, with artwork supplied by the cartoonist Seth.

Here’s a quick shout out for our friend and a great Cartoonist named Ivan Brunetti. This is to let everybody know that he did the artwork for this week’s cover of The New Yorker Magazine! His new book, Aesthetics: A Memoir, just came out last month (Yale University Press) and is doing quite well.

The theme of this week’s cover shares the trails and tribulations of starting a Gardening Box in your backyard and the rewards of doing so, perfect!

The Seattle Public Library recently launched its 2013 Summer Reading Program by setting a new world record for the longest book domino chain. Here’s the video to prove it and a funny side-note is that the very first book used to set everything off has the title, “Before The Fall”.

Over at the XOJane website there’s an angry Librarian named Claire (we’re only using the word “angry” in a humorous-joking way, she actually seems like a nice sweet girl, ha ha) who recently posted a very interesting article about the importance that Libraries still have today, not only to people who love to read books, but to entire communities as well. She makes the point that when people say, “… everything can be found on the Internet”, is nothing but a lame-ass myth!

She explains how Libraries teach people to read, introduce children to reading, teaches English to non-English-speaking people, teaches Seniors how to use a computer, holds cultural events (Music, Art, Poetry), teaches small business people how to do their taxes, etc….

It’s well thought out, interesting, and it might change your view on a few things. So, please be sure to check it out, just CLICK HERE!

THE DAILY BEAST recently caught-up with Neil Gaiman who has been insanely busy promoting his new book, “The Ocean at the End of the Lane”, and talked with him about his future projects. Neil Gaiman spoke about the upcoming prequel to the hugely popular SANDMAN comic book series (Vertigo/DC Comics). The author also expanded on a potential GOOD OMENS movie (with Terry Gilliam?), his wife Amanda Palmer, the fun of writing episodes for the DR. WHO British Sci-Fi TV Series and his new book, “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.” Here they are, check ‘em out! And, as always, please remember to share this site with all your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or any other Social Media, Thanks! Now, enjoy.

We’re totally excited to announce a major art event happening soon in Chicago. On June 29th (and running until October 13th, 2013) the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago will present an exhibit titled, MODERN CARTOONIST: THE ART OF DANIEL CLOWES.

This major survey, the first museum retrospective of Daniel Clowes's work, presents more than 125 original drawings and artifacts in an elegant, inviting installation combining today's graphic style with shades of a Victorian parlor. A traveling exhibition that first appeared at the Oakland Museum of California Art (the city that Chicago-born Clowes now calls home) the show will be expanded significantly for its MCA Chicago presentation. So, if you’re a fan of this incredible artist then you will not want to miss this show!!

For more information, please CLICK HERE!

Here’s some wonderful news to share. Jennifer Doody, a Correspondent at the Harvard Gazette, recently wrote a very excellent article all about when Neil Gaiman and Chip Kidd gave a lecture series at Harvard where they discussed their latest collaboration, the creation of the MAKE GOOD ART Speech Book.

While on stage they discussed other projects as well. Neil Gaiman spoke about his new novel, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," his scripts for the BBC's "Doctor Who," and a six-part miniseries of his "Sandman" comic. Chip Kidd touched briefly on his next new book he working on titled, “GO: A Kidd’s Guide To Graphic Design”. Due in October 2013 and to be published by Workman Publishing.

Overall the event went really well and a good time was had by all. We want to thank Jennifer for her wonderful article and we also wish to ask our readers to please check it out by clicking HERE!

In the video down below we get to see the Book Trailer for “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America”. This is the first book written by First Lady Michelle Obama (Published by Crown Publishing) and it is enjoying a lot of great reviews. Good for her! We’re sure this book is inspiring many Americans to start their own vegetable gardens and it might even inspire YOU! (As a side note, we should mention that this book cover was not designed by Chip. It’s just a really great book we wanted to share).

For the Official AMERICAN GROWN Website please CLICK HERE!

You can also join the AMERICAN GROWN Facebook Page by clicking HERE!