Why would a smart New York investment banker pay twelve million dollars for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock' s drip painting No.5 1948 sell for $140 million? The first book to look at the economics of the modern art world, and the marketing strategies that power the market to produce such astronomical prices, this surprising and revelatory book explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored. Drawing on interviews with past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art to reveal the source of Charles Saatchi's Midas touch, and how far a gallery like White Cube has contributed to Damien Hirst becoming one of the highest-earning artists in the world.

Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting "No. 5, 1948 "sell for $140 million?

Intriguing and entertaining, "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark" is a "Freakonomics" approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.

This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on interviews with past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark" reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.

If there was an official poet laureate of the West, Don Thompson would be my choice. For four decades he has reminded us what it means to be alive out here, coping with a world we do not fully understand. In Local Color, he employs an original format to present, as usual, wonderful word-pictures. Also as usual, "place" is a character in his work, but not just any place: the south San Joaquin with all its peculiarities and wonders. No writer has seen more there or told more telling tales as a result. This is narrative poetry that really narrates
-Gerald Haslam, author of Straight White Male and Leon Patterson: a California Story

Allison Walker is an enigma. It seems that the bright young owner of Rain City Yachts has another side to her personality-one irresistibly drawn to the field of medicine. Allison is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and committed to mandatory participation in a clinical trial at a prestigious psychiatric institute. But when she discovers her own misdiagnosis and the true source of her medical knowledge, she learns something even more disturbing: the institute's executives are hiding deadly side-effects from the FDA and Allison is the only patient left alive with enough knowledge to expose them.

In Everything Barren will be Blessed the images are immediate and memorable, of hot Southern California valleys and desert populated with wild and civilized life-coyotes, hawks, egrets, pistachio and almond groves, humans: "Crows never make excuses, / unlike us-but like us / complain bitterly about their blessings." These poems remind us of the significance of water, the importance of our relationship with nature, and our mortality: "the way we watch a stranger go by, / wonder where he's going, if anywhere, / and forget him as soon as he's gone." Our isolation and our coexistence with nature must be inevitable: "An old coyote alone in the fog, / somehow lost where he lives, / looking over his shoulder / in a way we all recognize," Don Thompson's poems coalesce into a "collective voice for the San Joaquin Valley of California" (Allan M. Jalon, in the LA TIMES). His lifelong immersion in agricultural landscape is as clear as the water and stone in Preacher Valley: "Everything we need to know / has been written in unhurried longhand / between the hills and the sky. / You can trace it with your finger."

What if coins could talk? In The Adventures of Lucky and Nicky they can And much more On one hand, Lucky (The Penny) and Nicky (The Nickel) are like your typical 12 year old boys that like to run and play. But on the other hand, the predicaments they encounter are very different. This book Lucky Gets Trapped in a Penny Loafer finds our coins in an unusual situation. As Lucky and Nicky are racing down the sidewalk, Lucky sees a boy running towards them. Let 's get out of here shouts Lucky. Timmy chases the coins until they slow down and fall over with exhaustion. He scoops them up and runs towards his mother. He is very excited because he knows coins are valuable and plans to add them to his piggy bank. But his mother has a better idea for Lucky. She shows Timmy how to put the coin between the flaps of his penny loafer. Lucky is trapped. Later that night while Timmy is sleeping, Nicky finds Lucky sad and frightened under the bed. Unable to free him, Nicky dashes off looking for help. Soon, he finds Diana, a beautiful young dime. She tells Nicky I don't think I can be much help, but my father will help you. She yells, father, come quickly Out of the crack in the wall, like a locomotive coming through a tunnel, appears a big and powerful 50 cent piece called Mr. Jack. Nicky leads Diana and her father to Lucky. Soon Lucky will be free. I hope to write more books involving Lucky and his friends. Children could learn math, multiculturalism, diversity, friendship and cooperation.

Places Not Here is the concluding book of the Stellar Woods trilogy. In this final adventure, young adults Tom and Katie Morrison are called back to Seattle for the reading of the will of their departed mentor, Dr. Spencer Blankenship.
When the facts of Dr. Blankenship's demise don't add up, Tom and Katie must decide whether to ignore the disturbing details and return to their safe and successful academic careers, or to risk further investigation. Their decisions lead them down dangerous paths, challenging the limits of rational thought, and culminating in unsettling discoveries about their mentor, themselves, and the fate of the world itself.

YOUR LIFE IS A MOVIE contains some of the most provocative thinking about media, film and culture you're likely to encounter anytime soon. Drawn from scholars, political pundits, filmmakers and film critics-ranging from the famous to the relatively obscure-this anthology of interviews and essays covers a wide range of topics and issues, and is a must-read for anyone concerned about the direction of film and media in modern culture. Thought-provoking and often controversial, this is the kind of book that can change your view of the world. YOUR LIFE IS A MOVIE is a compilation of essays and interviews from SolPix-the film and media webzine published by the WebDelSol (www.webdelsol.com) media complex. Contributors: Eric Alterman, Ray Carney, Patricia Ducey, Timothy Dugdale, Shelley Friedman, Todd Gitlin, T. B. Meek, Kayoko Mitsumatsu, Michael Neff, Rob Nilsson, Nicholas Rombes, Mike Shen and Don Thompson. Editors: Don Thompson and Nicholas Rombes

In this sequel to "Steller Woods," Tom and Katie are really into Northwest life. Their family has inherited a 58-foot trawler and they are ready for amazing salt-water adventures.

Young teenagers Tom and Katie Morrison move to a new city, fearing boredom and isolation. But they find just the opposite when two unusual going-away presents and a mysterious forest become the keys to an amazing adventure that defies conventional explanation.

In the 1950s and '60s, co-operative jazz clubs opened their doors in Canada in response to new forms of jazz expression emerging after the war and the lack of performance spaces outside major urban centres. Operated by the musicians themselves, these hip new clubs created spaces where jazz musicians practised their art. Live at the Cellar looks at this unique period in the development of jazz in Canada. Centered on Vancouver's legendary Cellar club, it explores the ways in which these clubs functioned as sites for the performance and exploration of jazz as well as for countercultural expression. Jago combines original research with archival evidence, interviews, and photographs to shine a light on a period of astonishing musical activity that paved the way for Canada's vibrant jazz scene today.

In the 1950s and '60s, co-operative jazz clubs opened their doors in Canada in response to new forms of jazz expression emerging after the war and the lack of performance spaces outside major urban centres. Operated by the musicians themselves, these hip new clubs created spaces where jazz musicians practised their art. Live at the Cellar looks at this unique period in the development of jazz in Canada. Centered on Vancouver's legendary Cellar club, it explores the ways in which these clubs functioned as sites for the performance and exploration of jazz as well as for countercultural expression. Jago combines original research with archival evidence, interviews, and photographs to shine a light on a period of astonishing musical activity that paved the way for Canada's vibrant jazz scene today.