This profile of my current fave gets to the heart of the writing life.
After winning a MacArthur writing grant,
"People ask, 'Did you feel extra pressure because of the MacArthur?,' but it's preposterous; it relieves the pressure. I was running out of money, I had spent all of my advances and I was teaching for a semester, and once I was done teaching I had no income. I had three months to figure out what to do, but I couldn't do anything but write. I was about to start looking for gigs and then the MacArthur comes in when you least expect it."
But then he's not the only one in the trade scrounging for dimes.
Perhaps if more people read novels of this calibre.
Posted by Dave
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A few tremors and a belch
It's already an interesting morning as Oprah Winfrey is reportedly losing a bit of steam.
Naturally it's Barack Obama's fault.
"“Not too long ago, she was like the pope,” rarely criticized by her ardent supporters, said Janice Peck, an associate professor of mass communication at the University of Colorado and the author of “The Age of Oprah,” a new book on Ms. Winfrey’s cultural influence.
Since the endorsement, however, angry criticism of her political stance became a regular feature of the message boards on Oprah.com, Ms. Peck said. “There are a lot of her fans who are not Democrats or who support Hillary Clinton who feel betrayed,” she added."
The article also notes Oprah's "overexposure" (!) and that the hugely successful endorsement of Eckhart Tolle's New Earth has riled some Christians who feel that the Oprah-fueled book "go against Christian doctrine."
I'm on record as being pro-Oprah insofar as she makes it easier for humble booksellers to sell good books on the backs of whatever she's doing. I've no desire to give three seconds thought to her otherwise; but in the unlikely event of her demise, I've got a rock solid replacement lined up.
She's smart, well read, and has a built in audience. She also looks great on television.
It can't miss.
Speaking of television, Scott McCellan is everywhere this morning with news of a book due any day that seems pretty candid in his assessment of the Bush presidency.
Contrition clocks in at a svelte 368 pages.
This matters because McCellan was the press secretary during the buildup to the war, thus the guy whose job it was to talk to the press. Those with even only longish memories will recall it was akin to a parlour trick involving a shiny coin and a few dozen easily hypnotized glorified shoe salesmen.
Posted by Dave
Naturally it's Barack Obama's fault.
"“Not too long ago, she was like the pope,” rarely criticized by her ardent supporters, said Janice Peck, an associate professor of mass communication at the University of Colorado and the author of “The Age of Oprah,” a new book on Ms. Winfrey’s cultural influence.
Since the endorsement, however, angry criticism of her political stance became a regular feature of the message boards on Oprah.com, Ms. Peck said. “There are a lot of her fans who are not Democrats or who support Hillary Clinton who feel betrayed,” she added."
The article also notes Oprah's "overexposure" (!) and that the hugely successful endorsement of Eckhart Tolle's New Earth has riled some Christians who feel that the Oprah-fueled book "go against Christian doctrine."
I'm on record as being pro-Oprah insofar as she makes it easier for humble booksellers to sell good books on the backs of whatever she's doing. I've no desire to give three seconds thought to her otherwise; but in the unlikely event of her demise, I've got a rock solid replacement lined up.
She's smart, well read, and has a built in audience. She also looks great on television.
It can't miss.
Speaking of television, Scott McCellan is everywhere this morning with news of a book due any day that seems pretty candid in his assessment of the Bush presidency.
Contrition clocks in at a svelte 368 pages.
This matters because McCellan was the press secretary during the buildup to the war, thus the guy whose job it was to talk to the press. Those with even only longish memories will recall it was akin to a parlour trick involving a shiny coin and a few dozen easily hypnotized glorified shoe salesmen.
Posted by Dave
Saturday, May 24, 2008
someone pay the babysitter
I've not been around much of late but all is back to normal.
I'm glad to see the new Aleksandar Hemon reviewed positively on Sunday. His first book the Question of Bruno was a tough, surreal collection of stories published in 2000, and I've kept up with him since.
Copies of that first book (I turned over several of them years ago at the urging of a friend)
have held up nicely.
Posted by Dave
I'm glad to see the new Aleksandar Hemon reviewed positively on Sunday. His first book the Question of Bruno was a tough, surreal collection of stories published in 2000, and I've kept up with him since.
Copies of that first book (I turned over several of them years ago at the urging of a friend)
have held up nicely.
Posted by Dave
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
And if he doesn't read his own stuff...
then there's no earthly reason for anyone else to.
James Frey on his craft.
"The books are written very deliberately. Sometimes it comes easily, sometimes not. Either way, I try to be very careful about the words and the punctuation, or lack thereof. I also never really read my own writing, so I try to make it perfect the first time through."
Where to begin?
Posted by Dave
James Frey on his craft.
"The books are written very deliberately. Sometimes it comes easily, sometimes not. Either way, I try to be very careful about the words and the punctuation, or lack thereof. I also never really read my own writing, so I try to make it perfect the first time through."
Where to begin?
Posted by Dave
Friday, May 16, 2008
or it could all end tomorrow
Amazon could end up with the whole industry or things could stay pretty much as they are.
Either way it was a pretty good day around the salt mine so that's good enough for now.
Posted by Dave
Either way it was a pretty good day around the salt mine so that's good enough for now.
Posted by Dave
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Dr. James Orbinski...
was in Waterloo last night and we'd just like to thank everyone for packing Knox Presbyterian Church. It's always nice to have a big crowd for the final author event of the season and Dr. Orbinski gave everyone a lot to think about.
There's a limited amount of signed copies of Imperfect Offering available at the shop, and if you're out there, and want to stay informed of our fall author events let us know.
Thanks again.
Posted by Dave
There's a limited amount of signed copies of Imperfect Offering available at the shop, and if you're out there, and want to stay informed of our fall author events let us know.
Thanks again.
Posted by Dave
does anybody really know what time it is?
One kind of expects the soft chewy centre of the astrology/personal growth sections of bookstores to blanch under scrutiny, but it turns out the hard edges of economic forecasting is similarly open to interpretation.
"Today's financial Armageddon writers tend to be a confident group, assuring readers that their theories are ironclad. Some go further and take the opportunity to tell you that they are terrific guys.
Arnold says his concepts are ``unchallengeable.'' Author Stathis, who mysteriously doesn't share his first name with buyers of the book ``America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit From the Next Great Depression,'' says on the back cover that his forecasting concepts have been proven ``beyond any doubt.''
William Brussee, author of ``The Second Great Depression,'' asks the question: ``Could this book be completely wrong?'' but dismisses the possibility. ``It is difficult to believe that the premise put forward in this book is completely wrong.''
I'm so glad we got that straight."
A financial guru without a first name?
Suddenly it all makes sense.
Tinfoil hats will be available at the precipice.
Posted by Dave
"Today's financial Armageddon writers tend to be a confident group, assuring readers that their theories are ironclad. Some go further and take the opportunity to tell you that they are terrific guys.
Arnold says his concepts are ``unchallengeable.'' Author Stathis, who mysteriously doesn't share his first name with buyers of the book ``America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit From the Next Great Depression,'' says on the back cover that his forecasting concepts have been proven ``beyond any doubt.''
William Brussee, author of ``The Second Great Depression,'' asks the question: ``Could this book be completely wrong?'' but dismisses the possibility. ``It is difficult to believe that the premise put forward in this book is completely wrong.''
I'm so glad we got that straight."
A financial guru without a first name?
Suddenly it all makes sense.
Tinfoil hats will be available at the precipice.
Posted by Dave
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
See if you can guess
Second that
The local takes a look at the denuded state of the short story.
It's a sad old song, but Kyl Chhatwal gets most of it right here. Short stories are where the craft is and there's a great whack of novels that are hurt or ruined by needless padding.
There's no room for that in short fiction, but because it isn't reviewed much it doesn't find nearly the audience that it should.
There's also the stubborn perception that a reader doesn't get the bang for the buck because (I guess) short stories don't carry the full narrative arc of a novel.
It's silly, but if I had a dime for every time someone turned away from the genre...well I could afford to publish short fiction.
Just saying, but George Saunders, Kevin Brockmeier, Lorrie Moore, Lisa Moore, a slew of fine anthologies... and one of my faves has new stuff coming in the fall.
Beats this every day of the week.
Although, picking up "under-circulated" books at a library sale isn't a barometer of public affection for any book. Norman Levine was under-circulated for years.
Posted by Dave
It's a sad old song, but Kyl Chhatwal gets most of it right here. Short stories are where the craft is and there's a great whack of novels that are hurt or ruined by needless padding.
There's no room for that in short fiction, but because it isn't reviewed much it doesn't find nearly the audience that it should.
There's also the stubborn perception that a reader doesn't get the bang for the buck because (I guess) short stories don't carry the full narrative arc of a novel.
It's silly, but if I had a dime for every time someone turned away from the genre...well I could afford to publish short fiction.
Just saying, but George Saunders, Kevin Brockmeier, Lorrie Moore, Lisa Moore, a slew of fine anthologies... and one of my faves has new stuff coming in the fall.
Beats this every day of the week.
Although, picking up "under-circulated" books at a library sale isn't a barometer of public affection for any book. Norman Levine was under-circulated for years.
Posted by Dave
On procrastinating
Slate has a selection of works devoted to procrastinating.
I've never read any of them, though I remember Geoff Dyer's Out of Sheer Rage from years back, and Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard was for a time, required reading for cool kids.
I'll read them later.
Posted by Dave
I've never read any of them, though I remember Geoff Dyer's Out of Sheer Rage from years back, and Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard was for a time, required reading for cool kids.
I'll read them later.
Posted by Dave
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Nixonland and Post American World
A couple of non-fiction titles that look interesting are reviewed in the Sunday New York Times.
I've been a fan of Fareed Zakaria since reading the Future of Freedom a few years back. He's kind of an erudite sage with a bit of a cool factor. His site is also required reading.
As for Nixonland, there's been a bunch of books that document whats been called the Rise of the Right, but Nixon put it in motion. For better or worse, it was Nixon who employed the Southern strategy that has all but locked up the White House for Republicans for most of the last three decades. He was a Shakespearean character, more cunning than smart and blessed with great political instincts and enough personal demons to make his every utterance and policy tack fascinating. Margaret MacMillan's Nixon in China was an especially fine book in that regard.
The review by George Will (another right wing guilty pleasure of mine and its a pretty short list) is wonderfully adroit as well.
Below is a typical paragraph, grudgingly complimentary all the way:
"Because the baby boomers’ self-absorption is so ample, there already has been no shortage of brooding about those years. We do, however, benefit from the brooding by Perlstein, who is not a boomer, for two reasons. First, he has a novelist’s, or perhaps an anthropologist’s, eye for illuminating details, as in his jaw-dropping reconstruction of the Newark riots of July 1967. Second, his thorough excavation of the cultural detritus of that decade refutes his thesis, which is that now, as then, Americans are at daggers drawn."
I'm sure going to make time for this.
Posted by Dave
I've been a fan of Fareed Zakaria since reading the Future of Freedom a few years back. He's kind of an erudite sage with a bit of a cool factor. His site is also required reading.
As for Nixonland, there's been a bunch of books that document whats been called the Rise of the Right, but Nixon put it in motion. For better or worse, it was Nixon who employed the Southern strategy that has all but locked up the White House for Republicans for most of the last three decades. He was a Shakespearean character, more cunning than smart and blessed with great political instincts and enough personal demons to make his every utterance and policy tack fascinating. Margaret MacMillan's Nixon in China was an especially fine book in that regard.
The review by George Will (another right wing guilty pleasure of mine and its a pretty short list) is wonderfully adroit as well.
Below is a typical paragraph, grudgingly complimentary all the way:
"Because the baby boomers’ self-absorption is so ample, there already has been no shortage of brooding about those years. We do, however, benefit from the brooding by Perlstein, who is not a boomer, for two reasons. First, he has a novelist’s, or perhaps an anthropologist’s, eye for illuminating details, as in his jaw-dropping reconstruction of the Newark riots of July 1967. Second, his thorough excavation of the cultural detritus of that decade refutes his thesis, which is that now, as then, Americans are at daggers drawn."
I'm sure going to make time for this.
Posted by Dave
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Cleared for takeoff
A few days back I mentioned that its been awhile between crime novels. A good run will do that, but in addition to a new Mo Hayder, there's a new George Pelecanos coming(!) and I'm well into Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. It weighs in at over 400 pages, but the back end of Stalin's Russia pretty much demands a big canvas.
Ridley Scott has scored the rights, and film or not the book is going to be a big deal.
Pretty damn fine so far
Sarah Weinman weighs in here.
Posted by Dave
Ridley Scott has scored the rights, and film or not the book is going to be a big deal.
Pretty damn fine so far
Sarah Weinman weighs in here.
Posted by Dave
Oh well
The Last Lecture is getting harder to find, as a result of an enviable publicity crunch. The Wall Street Journal notes that it's out of stock at all the usual places.
Uh..we had eighteen copies this morning.
Posted by Dave
Uh..we had eighteen copies this morning.
Posted by Dave
word of mouth (breathers)
James Frey's new novel is out today.
Sara Nelson of Publishers weekly describes it as " a train wreck of a novel, but it's un-pudownable, a real page-turner — in what may come to be known as the Frey tradition."
The Frey tradition?
Based on his work so far that would be a run on sentence written entirely in capital letters.
Posted by Dave
Sara Nelson of Publishers weekly describes it as " a train wreck of a novel, but it's un-pudownable, a real page-turner — in what may come to be known as the Frey tradition."
The Frey tradition?
Based on his work so far that would be a run on sentence written entirely in capital letters.
Posted by Dave
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
To live and write in L.A.
Mark Sarvas holds forth on the state of play in the world of novels and litblogs.
"But with the Elegant Variation I saw an opportunity to join a conversation that was just beginning to take off. There are now thousands of book blogs: If I did nothing different with the Elegant Variation but launched it today, I'd be a cork in the ocean. So I benefited from timing."
I'm really more of a bottom feeder myself.
By the way, Harry Revised is still a great book and Mark is so cool he's spawned imitators.
Posted by Dave
"But with the Elegant Variation I saw an opportunity to join a conversation that was just beginning to take off. There are now thousands of book blogs: If I did nothing different with the Elegant Variation but launched it today, I'd be a cork in the ocean. So I benefited from timing."
I'm really more of a bottom feeder myself.
By the way, Harry Revised is still a great book and Mark is so cool he's spawned imitators.
Posted by Dave
Fly my pretties, fly
The new guy at Harper Collins might be onto something.
He's been around awhile, but other publishers in the U.S. are getting on board.
`In this age of global warming it's insane to be shipping books back and forth across the country for no good reason,'' said Margo Baldwin, president of Chelsea Green Publishing Co. of White River Junction, Vermont. ``It's just a waste of energy and, not only that, it still encourages the overproduction of books -- many of which end up in landfills.''
Baldwin, a publisher of titles about sustainable living, has started a ``green partnership program,'' signing up 30 bookstores that have agreed to take books on a non-returnable basis. In exchange, she gives them extra discounts and priority access to her authors for readings and events."
Bring it on publishers.
The rate of returns at our place is a good deal lower than the 31 per cent Bloomberg noted in 2005, and if the industry wants to lower returns, they could put a few chain stores on notice.
I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by Dave
He's been around awhile, but other publishers in the U.S. are getting on board.
`In this age of global warming it's insane to be shipping books back and forth across the country for no good reason,'' said Margo Baldwin, president of Chelsea Green Publishing Co. of White River Junction, Vermont. ``It's just a waste of energy and, not only that, it still encourages the overproduction of books -- many of which end up in landfills.''
Baldwin, a publisher of titles about sustainable living, has started a ``green partnership program,'' signing up 30 bookstores that have agreed to take books on a non-returnable basis. In exchange, she gives them extra discounts and priority access to her authors for readings and events."
Bring it on publishers.
The rate of returns at our place is a good deal lower than the 31 per cent Bloomberg noted in 2005, and if the industry wants to lower returns, they could put a few chain stores on notice.
I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by Dave
Monday, May 05, 2008
O happy day
I'm a few days away from starting it, but I've been quite content staying away from crime fiction lately. There's some wonderful stuff kicking around that means I don't have much inclination for the genre, but then this showed up and I'm ready to swear off all others.
There may be more precise craftspeople out there, and some Brits may do a bit better job of getting their place right; but nobody makes those pages turn like Mo Hayder.
She's a keeper.
Posted by Dave
There may be more precise craftspeople out there, and some Brits may do a bit better job of getting their place right; but nobody makes those pages turn like Mo Hayder.
She's a keeper.
Posted by Dave
Don't touch my stuff
Most decent independent bookstores don't hire very often. Booksellers tend to stick around once they've learned most of the required minutiae and it says here you can't beat the hours.
But once in a very great while someone leaves so we've got a new member of the band.
Jocelyn Underhill has read as much or more than I have, is half my age and she's committed more to memory in her first week than I did in two yea...
The hell with it, I hate her already.
Welcome Jocelyn.
Posted by Dave
But once in a very great while someone leaves so we've got a new member of the band.
Jocelyn Underhill has read as much or more than I have, is half my age and she's committed more to memory in her first week than I did in two yea...
The hell with it, I hate her already.
Welcome Jocelyn.
Posted by Dave
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Here's the curative
I'm in danger of just plain falling in love with the man, but the bilious taste of the Times' efforts today can be washed away by this review of Gil Adamson's first novel by Ron Charles at the Washington Post.
Posted by Dave
Posted by Dave
And some have irrelevance thrust upon them
I share the hand wringing around the book trade suggesting that as newspapers continue to lose their relative influence, books will have lost a vital place to be widely discussed and promoted.
But then shit like this shows up in the New York Times (that would be the Paper of Record, folks) and then I don't care if I read another review by the "television critic at Slate and the film critic at Spin" ever again.
What the hell, NYT? Was there no reviewer with a background reviewing books to do this?
Harry Revised is a solid first novel and the NYT is a crock.
Posted by Dave
But then shit like this shows up in the New York Times (that would be the Paper of Record, folks) and then I don't care if I read another review by the "television critic at Slate and the film critic at Spin" ever again.
What the hell, NYT? Was there no reviewer with a background reviewing books to do this?
Harry Revised is a solid first novel and the NYT is a crock.
Posted by Dave
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Can I have your number?
Hey, over here in the cheap seats
Faber and Faber is looking to bring some chestnuts back into print, and has begun canvassing to compile a list, to be made available as print on demand titles.
This is a lovely development, and the Guardian has asked some heavies what they'd like to see.
He's not British, or especially literary, but how come one of the greatest crime writers of all time has become so hard to find lately?
Seriously, he's a giant and better than Carl Hiassen ever was. And there's nothing wrong with Carl Hiassen.
Posted by Dave
This is a lovely development, and the Guardian has asked some heavies what they'd like to see.
He's not British, or especially literary, but how come one of the greatest crime writers of all time has become so hard to find lately?
Seriously, he's a giant and better than Carl Hiassen ever was. And there's nothing wrong with Carl Hiassen.
Posted by Dave
Thursday, May 01, 2008
suck it up Bezos
Amazon is pissed because they have to collect taxes on behalf of New York State if the court rules against them.
Time was , a company with no "physical presence" in a state in which it did business wasn't subject to tax laws around collection.
Based on a wider definition of what constitutes a presence in the state, New York is going after taxes for out of state revenue from Amazon affiliates, of which there are very very many.
"The issue isn’t whether people should pay taxes when they buy goods from out-of state sellers like Amazon, which is based in Seattle. For decades, New York and other states have required their residents to pay use tax — equivalent to sales tax — on out-of-state purchases for which sales tax wasn’t collected.
The question is whether the vendors must collect those taxes on behalf of the state. Generally, only those companies that have a physical presence, such as an office or store, in the state of the purchase are required to collect the taxes."
It's almost like Amazon is a place that sells stuff. It seems, for example, that if Amazon can use roads to deliver their stuff, they can kick in a few nickels once in awhile to keep them in shape.
Bring on that carbon tax.
Posted by Dave
Time was , a company with no "physical presence" in a state in which it did business wasn't subject to tax laws around collection.
Based on a wider definition of what constitutes a presence in the state, New York is going after taxes for out of state revenue from Amazon affiliates, of which there are very very many.
"The issue isn’t whether people should pay taxes when they buy goods from out-of state sellers like Amazon, which is based in Seattle. For decades, New York and other states have required their residents to pay use tax — equivalent to sales tax — on out-of-state purchases for which sales tax wasn’t collected.
The question is whether the vendors must collect those taxes on behalf of the state. Generally, only those companies that have a physical presence, such as an office or store, in the state of the purchase are required to collect the taxes."
It's almost like Amazon is a place that sells stuff. It seems, for example, that if Amazon can use roads to deliver their stuff, they can kick in a few nickels once in awhile to keep them in shape.
Bring on that carbon tax.
Posted by Dave
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