New York, New York – January 25, 2007 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, announced today that Chris Bohjalian’s The Double Bind (Shaye Areheart Books) will be the second selection in the Barnes & Noble Recommends program.  This “gripping story,” which will be published on February 13th, can be pre-ordered now at any Barnes & Noble store or at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com/recommends).  The first book in the Recommends program was Diane Setterfield’s first work of fiction, The Thirteenth Tale (Simon & Schuster).  The book broke the company’s sales record for a debut novel in its first week.

“Chris Bohjalian’s The Double Bind is a mesmerizing story with the twists and turns of a classic mystery combined with an intensely personal tale,” said Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc.  “Bohjalian’s clever use of characters from The Great Gatsby is ambitious, but it works, right down to the climax and shocking ending.”

Nothing is what it at first seems in The Double Bind.  Not the savage assault college sophomore Laurel Estabrook suffers during a bike ride on Vermont’s back roads.  Not Bobbie Crocker, the elderly man with a history of mental illness whom Laurel comes to know through her work at a Burlington homeless shelter, a man who was once a successful photographer of celebrities.  Laurel becomes obsessed with uncovering Bobbie’s past.  In a fast-paced and riveting tale, The Double Bind combines the suspense of a thriller with the emotional depths of the most intimate drama.  The book’s breathtaking surprises will stun its readers.  As one of Barnes & Noble’s booksellers who helped picked this selection said, “It kept me up reading until 3:00 a.m.  A gripping story with a completely unexpected ending, which I reread several times in disbelief.”

Though Bobbie is fictitious, the photos in the book are by a real-life photographer.  They were taken by Bob Campbell, a man who had gone from photographing famous people, as Bohjalian writes, to “winding up at a homeless shelter in Northern Vermont.”  Bohjalian is donating a portion of the book’s royalties to the Burlington Committee on Temporary Shelter.

The Barnes & Noble Recommends program will include:

• Discussions of The Double Bind, which will be held in Barnes & Noble stores across the country.  Look for the announcement of reading group discussions at select stores at www.bn.com/recommends.
• Author appearances.  Meet Chris Bohjalian, author of The Double Bind, at Barnes & Noble.  Visit www.bn.com/recommends for information on Bohjalian’s store events.
• An online reading group.  Talk with Chris Bohjalian in our exclusive reading group.  Log on to www.bn.com/bookclubs throughout March. 
• A free guide.  Ask any Barnes & Noble bookseller for a copy of our free guide to starting your own reading group.   The guide can also be found online at www.bn.com/recommends.

Selections for Barnes & Noble Recommends are chosen by a group of the company’s booksellers from across the country.  Each selection is a book that Barnes & Noble recommends unconditionally, believes it’s “unputdownable” and especially appropriate for discussion in in-store and online book groups.  The inaugural selection, The Thirteenth Tale, immediately became the company’s number-one fiction bestseller and continues to sell well five months after publication.