Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit has spawned a whole bunch of new books ons horce racing. The Louisville Courier-Journal has a review of several of them, including Funny Cide: How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took on the Sheiks and Blue Bloods … and Won which received a first printing of 250,000 and which the reviewer doesn’t deem worth the trouble.
Ed has the exclusive on Joyce Carol Oates’ publishing schedule.
April: I Am No One You Know
May: You Are No One I Know
June: Love: A Rape Story After A Love Story
July: Brunette: A Novel
September: We Are No One Anyone Knows
October: My Quill Can’t Stop
November: Because the Heart Always Patters Twice
December: You Must Remember This Book
That leaves a full three months free, Ed!
I’ve only just now noticed the Missouri Review‘s Scott Kaukonen’s comments on Zoo Press’ cancellation of its award. He addresses a point that hasn’t yet been commented on by others, namely publisher Neil Azevedo’s statement that “the experiment did not unfold the way we had hoped, as, I guess is the nature of experiments.” Says Kaukonen:
I did not give my money and my manuscript to Zoo Press so that it could be used in an experiment. I assumed, as I believe any writer who enters such a contest, especially from a reputable source, has the right to assume, that the contest will adhere to the guidelines that it has set forth, advertised, and published. I also assume that the people running the contest have ensured that they will be able to fulfill their obligations, that, in this situation, they’ll be able to absorb whatever costs the contest may incur. If money is lost in that first year or if expectations are not met, then there would be no Second Annual Zoo Press Short Fiction Contest. But to abandon the First Annual Zoo Press Short Fiction Contest after accepting entry fees and manuscripts and then announcing that those fees will not be refunded is, quite frankly, unethical.
The contest entrants and the rest of the lit blogosphere are still awaiting reaction from Azevedo.
(Thanks to Katrina for the link. )
In an opinion piece for the Mercury News, Daniel Sneider asks why the White House is focusing so much attention on Bob Woodward’s latest book, Plan of Attack. The revelations in the book (see Slate’s condensed read for a few) aren’t flattering. Sneider offers this theory:
What the White House likes — and why Bush in fact collaborated with Woodward — is that the book portrays Bush as the man in charge, as a resolute and decisive leader. It continues the portrait Woodward drew in a previous tome, “Bush at War,” about the response to Sept. 11. In this election year, Woodward’s book, despite some damaging revelations, is almost a campaign biography.
I fear he may have a point. While Bush’s approval ratings are slipping, recent allegations don’t seem to have the effect on his numbers that one mighte expect.
You can listen to SF Chronicle book critic David Kipen reviewing new California literary journals for NPR: Swink, Black Clock, and Los Angeles Review.
Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho is a household name in most parts of the world. His new novel, Eleven Minutes, was a global best seller last year — everywhere but in the United States. According to Coelho’s publishers, his books have sold 50 million copies in 150 countries — sales figures comparable to those of John Grisham and J.K. Rowling.
But the Coelho phenomenon seems to stop at the shores of the American literary market, which remains stubbornly indifferent to foreign best sellers.
NPR catches up with Coelho here. I wasn’t sure if he was being facetious when he said,
” Madonna spoke about the book, and President Clinton was photographed reading [it],” Coehlo says. “I think it’s a matter of time.”
As if.
Related: Malaysian writers are told to put their work online to try to reach a wider audience.
The shortlist for the international IMPAC Dublin Award, one of the world’s largest prizes, was announced four weeks ago. According to this article, Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex was nominated by the largest number of libraries, so he seems like the popular choice. The jury is comprised of Anita Desai, Knut Odegard, Eugene R. Sullivan and Shirley Geok-Lin Lim.
A library in Maryland has started to offer coffee drinks to its patrons as part of a pilot program.
The library staff will monitor for spills, and if damage occurs, it will restrict the drinks and food to the lobby area. Cafe employees are responsible for cleaning up messes under the county contract.
“A lot of people are concerned about the books having coffee spilled on them, but a lot of time when books are checked out, we don’t know where they go,” Ortega said. “They go in bathrooms, for crying out loud.”
Fair enough, but while the cafe owners will make money, I’m not sure the library will necessarily get more patrons. With recent budget cuts, libraries can’t afford to buy new books. So when the choice is between the local library and the B&N…
