TOM WOLFE + FERNANDO OTERO "Upstairs at the Square" March 13, 2008

NEW YORK, NY – March 4, 2008 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced the next event in its popularly acclaimed series, “Upstairs at the Square,” held at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in Manhattan (33 East 17th Street at Union Square). On Thursday, March 13th, at 7pm, bestselling author and journalist Tom Wolfe makes his only appearance at a New York event to discuss new editions of his classic works, The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities (Picador, March 10). Appearing with him is Argentinean composer/pianist Fernando Otero, whose new album is Pagina de Buenos Aires (Nonesuch). They will discuss and perform their work in conversation with journalist Katherine Lanpher, who hosts the program. Admission is free, and no tickets are required. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

One of America’s best known and controversial authors, Tom Wolfe (www.tomwolfe.com) has written more than a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and I Am Charlotte Simmons. Over the last five decades, these books have firmly established Mr. Wolfe as America’s “pre-eminent social realist” (Newsday). Picador will publish new editions of two more Wolfe titles, The Painted Word and the 40th Anniversary edition of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, in December, with more to come in 2009.

On Fernando Otero’s (www.fernandootero.com) Nonesuch debut, Pagina de Buenos Aires, he evokes his native Buenos Aires through his innovative use of the bandoneon, the accordion-like instrument at the heart of all tango. But the world Otero conjures up is really all his own, and it’s no surprise that the Kronos Quartet commissioned a piece from him, performed last month. Otero has, for some years now, been a well-kept secret among jazz and classical insiders. All that is about to change. As The New York Times wrote, Otero’s recent performance at Joe’s Pub was “like the quiet before a gathering storm.”
Katherine Lanpher (www.katherinelanpher.com) is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist. Springboard Press published her first book, Leap Days.

“Upstairs at the Square,” which will celebrate its two-year anniversary this June, has paired authors such as Anne Enright, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, David Lynch, Anna Gavalda, and Armistead Maupin with musicians including The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Duncan Sheik and members of the cast of Spring Awakening, Sondre Lerche, Au Revoir Simone, Camphor and more. A full archive of recordings of all previous events is available on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com/upstairs), where “Upstairs at the Square” is enjoyed by listeners around the world in addition to its live audiences.


About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 798 bookstores in 50 states. For the fourth year in a row, the company is the nation’s top bookseller brand, as determined by a brand’s overall strength based on its combination of familiarity, quality and purchase intent, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

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Official Website: http://www.bn.com/upstairs