Max Frei's THE STRANGER Reviewed in USA Today

Book critic Carol Memmott takes a look at Max Frei's The Stranger in a round-up of "International Voices" in USA Today: "Max Frei is the "Nocturnal Representative of The Most Venerable Head of the Minor Secret Investigative Force" in the city of Echo, the dreamlike fantasy world in this epic written by Russians Svetlana Martynchik and Igor Stepin under a pseudonym that also happens to be the name of the novel's protagonist. Fans of Jasper Fforde and Susanna Clarke will happily jump into Frei's world, where the one-time slacker — now magical secret agent — solves bizarre cases in an enchanted alternate world. Published in 1996 in Russia and a best seller there, it's the first in the Labyrinths of Echo series."

PICKING UP THE REINS by Norman Moss in Publishers Weekly

More praise for Norman Moss's eloquent study of America, Britain, and the Postwar world, Picking Up the Reins, in Publishers Weekly: "A precarious world recuperating fromthe horrors of WWII and clawing for stability emerges in author Moss’s portrait of Britain andAmerica in the postwar world. While today American dominance may seem an inevitable fact, Moss outlines how a crumbling Great Britain “turned over its now-faded world leadership to the UnitedStates.” With great attention to historical details, Moss evinces thevarious American motivations for accepting that position: to limit the Communist threat, which in turn would limit the need for future defense spending; to unite the disparate European nations and secure the American ideal of “free institutions”; and to maintain European markets forAmerican goods. Moss describes the political and diplomatic give-and-take thatled to the Marshall Plan, NATO and othersteps that made America a world power. Very informative, this book will also entertain readers with Moss’s irreverent metaphors (he compares Ernest Bevin’ s reluctance to become entangled in European alliances to “a commitment-phobic man on a date”). It’s a timely analysis of the development of America’s role in international diplomacy at a time when the world’s balance of power could again shift."

THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA: Required Reading for the 2009 Tupelo Elvis Festival

Note to Elvis fans: The 2009 Tupelo Elvis Festival will take place on June 5-7, 2009 in Elvis' birthplace of Tupelo, Mississippi. Three days of fun events, including an Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest preliminary, live concerts, a parade and more! If you're planning to attend, you'll first want to check out Adam Victor's monumental celebration of all-things-Elvis, The Elvis Encyclopedia. The Elvis Birthplace and Museum opened in 1971 and is the most visited attraction in Mississippi with over 100,000 visitors every year. Another Tupelo Elvis site worth seeing, according to Victor, is the Tupelo Hardware Store (at the time Booth's Hardware), where Elvis bought his first guitar.

Salman Rushdie on P.G. Wodehouse's THE CODE OF THE WOOSTERS

Salman Rushdie picked a few of his favorite books in yesterday's "In My Library" column for the New York Post, and included the P.G. Wodehouse classic The Code of the Woosters: "When I was growing up in India, the most beloved English-language writers were Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse. I read industrial-size quantities of both. If I stretch myself, I can probably still recite, from memory, passages from The Code of the Woosters."

Milton Glaser Documentary TO INFORM AND DELIGHT in Theaters May 22

Coming soon to a theater near you is Wendy Keys's full-length documentary film on the celebrated graphic designer - and beloved Overlook author - Milton Glaser. In "To Inform and Delight," director Keys has astutely crafted a profile that, while rife with examples of his talent, goes far beyond merely chronicling Glaser’s career highs. It also shines a light on the intelligent, compassionate man behind the portfolio—a man whose love of life, food, art, and New York City resonates with a profound sense of warmth. As this impressive documentary makes clear, in both his life and his work, Glaser joyfully obeys the mantra he adopted from Horace regarding the purpose of art—to inform and delight.

Kris Saknussemm Performs PRIVATE MIDNIGHT at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn

Kris Saknussemm takes the stage at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 25th (that’s this Saturday), at 6pm for a rare PERFORMANCE of his new novel Private Midnight. Yes, he performs. And he’ll be joined by the very amazing jazz saxophonist Eric Wyatt as well as a TBA keyboardist. This is not your usual reading. This is Private Midnight, people! We'll see you there! Pete's Candy Store is located at 709 Lorimer Street (Take L train to Lorimer. Walk North on Lorimer towards Conselyea. Keep walking. Venue is on your left.)

Los Angeles Celebrates NEW YORK IN THE 70s

Allan Tannenbaum's recent photography exhibition, "Bright Lights Big City: New York in the 70s," was a great success. Sponsored by Art in Tune and Overlook Press, the opening night gala raised money for Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles. Pictured here at the April 2 opening is actress Rose McGowan, in front of a classic shot of Frank Zappa (on his 35th birthday in 1974) from the book. For a behind the scenes look at the making of this extaordinary exhibit, click here, and here for some views of the installation.

Overlook Preview: THE ARTIST'S MOTHER

Just in time for Mother's Day (May 10) is a new book that illustrates how artists have found ways to incorporate their mothers into their most famous paintings. The Artist’s Mother is the first-ever collection of paintings by famous artists of the women who created them. This beautiful book offers masterpieces by some of the greatest painters in history, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Mary Cassatt, James McNeill Whistler, Vincent van Gogh, Archibald Motley, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Arshile Gorky, Andy Warhol, and many others. The portraits are accompanied by the touching, surprising, and timeless stories about each artist’s relationship with his or her mother, and how each painting came to be. With an introduction by National Book Award winner Judith Thurman, The Artist’s Mother is a true celebration of the mother-child bond and of the many ways in which mothers make the world a more beautiful place.

SMOGTOWN Authors Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly to Appear at Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly's Smogtown has been named a runner-up in the 2009 Green Book Awards, an annual competition honoring books that contribute to greater understanding, respect for and positive action on the changing worldwide environment. The authors will be appearing on two different panels this weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the UCLA campus. Chip will be on a panel about L.A.'s forgotten/unknown history and Bill will be on one focusing on climate change. The authors will also be available for a meet, greet, and sign after both panels.

Eric Simons's DARWIN SLEPT HERE in San Diego Union-Tribune

Scott La Fee of the San Diego Union-Tribune surveys the recent books on the life of times of Charles Darwin, including Overlook's Darwin Slept Here: Discovery, Adventure, and Swimming Iguanas in Charles Darwin's South America: "Charles Darwin was a prolific and diverse thinker, writing 25 treatises on subjects ranging from volcanic islands and barnacles to orchids and earthworms. Far more books, though, have been written about him. Like other great minds of science, from Newton to Einstein, Darwin has been the regular subject of scholarship and biography, especially this year, the 200th anniversary of his birth and the 150th of "On the Origin of Species. . . Young and unemployed, Eric Simons decided to follow Darwin's example, retracing the Englishman's 19thcentury travels through South America. He re-explores the histories, legends and people that Darwin first wrote about, providing a fresh perspective about how much life has - and hasn't - changed."

Charles Freeman's A.D. 381 Reviewed in Houston Chronicle

Charles Freeman provocative new book, A.D. 381, is reviewed by Steven Alford in the Houston Chronicle: "In two books, The Closing of the Western Mind and A.D. 381: Heretics, Pagans, and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State, Charles Freeman has sought to trace the process through which the West abandoned the Greek ideal of free, rational inquiry, replacing it with the assumption that orthodox Christianity was the only avenue for discovering truths about the world. With this transition, credulity replaced reason and blind adherence to orthodoxy replaced open speculation about the nature of spiritual and earthly life. The Closing of the Western Mind focused on the broad thesis that the Greek rationalist tradition had been destroyed by the politicization of the Christian church by the state, while A.D. 381 focuses more closely on the important transitions that took place in the relationship between Church and state in the last thirty years of the fourth century. . . Clearly written, well organized, and compellingly argued, A.D. 381 provides an absorbing window into “one of the most important moments in the history of European thought.”

David Crystal's THE STORIES OF ENGLISH in The Wall Street Journal

David Crystal's The Stories of English is nominated by Michael Quinlon in The Wall Street Journal as one of the Five Best Books on the English language: "This richly textured, nontechnical account of the evolution of English is fascinating because it interweaves multiple narratives. In parallel with the standard language, David Crystal discusses varieties usually considered nonstandard -- dialect, slang and the speech of ethnic minorities -- which previously hadn't received the same level of attention. Traditionalist speakers and grammarians deplore such varieties as inferior or corrupt, but they are increasingly becoming accepted as legitimate, not least because only one in three speakers of English now has it as a mother tongue. With a cornucopia of examples that range from "The Canterbury Tales" to "The Lord of the Rings," and from the correspondence of medieval kings to Internet chatroom gossip, Crystal's exposition is a delight."

Librarian's Choice: P.F. Kluge's GONE TOMORROW

P.F. Kluge's beloved novel Gone Tomorrow has been selected as a May pick by the San Francisco Public Library: "P. F. Kluge's affecting new novel, Gone Tomorrow, is the story of George Canaris, a writer who spends his career not writing but rather as a creative writing teacher at a small, bucolic Ohio college. (The college is, I suspect, not unlike Kenyon, where P. F. Kluge not only attended as an undergraduate, but where he has taught for a number of years.) This tale of the blessing and curse of an academic life for writers is framed by the search for a long-awaited, possibly non-existent, new novel of Canaris's. He wrote one novel in the 1960s, which brought him fame, fortune, a permanent place on the list of greatest works of fiction of all time, and a tenured position at a small but prestigious college. Then his agent and his publisher, not to mention the president of the college, the head of his department, his students, and his legion of fans, waited--in vain, as it turned out--for the appearance of a second novel, supposedly called The Beast. Finally--and against all the rules of tenure--the college decides to replace Canaris with a younger, more with-it (and productive) writer. What follows forces Canaris (and us) to think about fame, about what's important in life, and about love, loyalty, and the nature of creativity. Canaris is a simply wonderful character; the story of his life is moving, honest, tender and--occasionally--very funny. (When George meets John Henry Mallon, the wunderkind writer of gargantuan novels who replaces him, George reports this exchange in his journal: "'I've read your books,' he said. 'Great.' 'I've lifted yours,' I responded. 'Heavy.'") This is a good choice for readers who enjoy character-driven novels, but it's a must read for anyone who's spent any time in the world of academe. Kluge knows whereof he writes."

Doug Kmiec, author of CAN A CATHOLIC SUPPORT HIM?, on The Colbert Report

Legal scholar and Catholic activist Doug Kmiec was a guest on The Colbert Report on Thursday, April 16 on Comedy Central. Kmiec is the author of last year's Can A Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Questions About Barack Obama, a groundbreaking argument on abortion, the Catholic Church, and the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. Watch the clip as Kmiec and Colbert go head-to-head on gay marriage, religion, and the Catholic church.

Allan Tannenbaum's NEW YORK IN THE 70s Featured in Paper Cuts

David Kelly at Paper Cuts, the book blog of The New York Times, takes a look at Allan Tannenbaum's New York in the 70s: "Only the 1970s could have brought Yoko Ono and P. J. O’Rourke together. Yoko provides the preface, and P. J. the foreword, for “New York in the 70s,” a new book of eye-catching photographs by Allan Tannenbaum.

As O’Rourke makes clear, that decade produced its share of odd couples (and odd threesomes): How did the 1970s become so wild? The squares did it. They got hip. … No one was too L-7 to be a hepcat. If you doubt it, turn to the last photos and see Roy Cohn, Senator Joe McCarthy’s chief persecutor of degenerate commies, lounging at the Mudd Club between Halston and Steve Rubell. O’Rourke also zeroes in on the practical problems all that widespread hipness created: The essence of hipness — besides sleeping until noon — is a knowing, clued-in superiority to average citizens. However, when the average citizens are hip. … You see the problem the 1970s faced. Everybody was more wised-up than everybody else and nobody was awake to make the bagels."

R. Scott Bakker's THE JUDGING EYE in Science Fiction and Fantasy News

R. Scott Bakker's The Judging Eye is given a lengthy review by Rob Bedford in Science Fiction and Fantasy News:" The Prince of Nothing trilogy established R. Scott Bakker as one of the young, pre-eminent voices in Fantasy fiction. What not many people knew when The Darkness that Comes Before hit bookshelves was just how large in scope Bakker’s vision would turn out to be. With the publication of The Judging Eye, Bakker begins The Aspect-Emperor, the second trilogy comprising the greater Second Apocalypse set of books and set 20 years later . . . The Judging Eye should satisfy Bakker’s growing legion of fans and the book should also help to lure more readers into his sway. It is a leaner, more precise novel than the three preceding novels, but no less thought-provoking and engaging. Once again, Bakker has reminded readers why he is in the upper echelon of 21st Century writers."

Daniel Kalder's STRANGE TELESCOPES Reviewed in Booklist

Daniel Kalder's provocative new travel book, Strange Telescopes, is reviewed in the current issue of Booklist: "In unusual travels in Russia, Kalder, who spent a decade in the country, explored four worlds decidedly beyond the normal. Each is defined by its character, two of them religious in nature, the other two resembling hobbies taken a little too far. In Arkhangelsk, Kalder pursued the builder of what reputedly is the world's tallest wooden house; in Moscow, he cajoled a tagalong episode with a man obsessed by the city's tunnels; in Ukraine, he attended an exorcism; and in Siberia immersed himself in a community of believers centered on a traffic cop turned self-proclaimed Son of God, with whom he eventually secured an audience. Declining to default to cynicism toward these people, Kalder ruminates on their self-willed separation from mainstream Russian life and is impressed by their determination to define their own realities, temporal or transcendent. Without surrendering observational acuity about the oddities of the four realms he visits, and including bemused commentary about Russian travel per se, Kalder's venture into the eccentric extends the boundaries or ordinary travelogue, surely much to the readers' satisfaction." - Booklist

Early Praise for Alastair Campbell's ALL IN THE MIND

Two early notices for Alastair Campbell's novel All in the Mind, due in June:

"Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former spokesman and director of communications and strategy, has crafted a skillful and compelling debut novel about Martin Sturrock, a psychiatrist whose simmering meltdown informs him that he may be in need of treatment of his own. The novel weaves together the stories of Sturrock’s patients— a woman victimized by sex traffickers, a philandering lawyer, an alcoholic MP, a depressed factory worker, an Albanian refugee raped during a home invasion—on the streets of contemporary multicultural London. With their many flaws, Campbell’s characters are fully formed people—sharply observed and nicely nuanced—and while plenty of time is spent in sessions, no prescriptions are ever issued, keeping Campbell away from clumsy aphorisms or magic pill answers to the problems that ripple out into the patients’ (and shrink’s) families and the wider world around them. Interestingly, Campbell takes a few swipes at his former political life, depicting it as full of backstabbing treachery and cutthroat competition. Despite the sometimes brutal subject matter, the many moments of kindness and hope make this a strong first novel providing much catharsis in its own right." -Publishers Weekly

"Campbell set the bar high for his fiction debut, attempting to get inside the heads of numerous patients served by Martin Sturrock, one of London's premier shrinks. And he often pulls it off; the book contains many virtuoso passages that reflect a rich understanding of depression and its victims . . . and he crafts some top-notch characterizations. The author clearly wants to make a case for the complexity and value of psychiatry, but late-stage mawkishness strips the book of its power. Campbell has a talent for imagining lost souls, but he needs a story worthy of them." - Kirkus Reviews

Roy Blount on Southern Humor and Charles Portis

Author and humorist Roy Blount writes about his favorite Southern novels in The Wall Street Journal - and includes Norwood by Charles Portis: "His many writerly enthusiasts periodically proclaim that Charles Portis, of Arkansas, is a great, grossly underappreciated comic novelist, and we are right. Some prefer The Dog of the South or Masters of Atlantis, and I would be the last to deny the merits of those . . . Oh Lord, I've been sitting here for half an hour trying to think of some way to evoke how purely, unforcedly funny Portis is without using pushy words like "hilarious" that he would die before using. Norwood is my first love among his novels, but I don't want to thrust it upon you; it can take care of itself. In fact, it probably isn't any better than those other two, or than True Grit, which was Portis's one big popular success. Norwood is the story of a Korean War vet traveling to New York to collect a debt. Along the way he meets the world's smallest perfect fat man and rescues a performing chicken named Joann.

Sex, Sax, and Shaggy Tails: Kris Saknussemm LIVE in New York

Here's a review of Kris Saknussemm's performance earlier this week in New York: "After a break, Amy returned to the podium to introduce new friend, painter, sculptor, and acclaimed cult novelist Kris Saknussemm. His latest novel, Private Midnight, she said, has been described as an "erotic supernatural thriller set in a noir crime world of jazz, junkies, and shadows from out of time." The promotional copy, she noted in an aside, came with a pair of plastic handcuffs, which said it all, and Saknussemm owned to it being pornography more than erotica—based on his selection, I'd say it's definitely kinky (as the joke has it, they use a feather, not a whole chicken)—but also called it a love story between a police detective and a beguilingly mysterious woman. It was one of the most unusual presentations in the Series' long history, as Kris’s darkly atmospheric passages were interspersed with jazz solos on tenor sax by Eric Watts while Saknussemm treated the audience to a bizarre display of performance art, tossing along the floor sex paraphernalia, lingerie, and face masks, and at one point, whipped the floor with a cat-o'-nine-tails. (Freund's radio listeners, said Goldschlager, were missing out on the performance.)" - Mark Blackman, SF Scope.

Next stop on the Private Midnight book tour is Booksmith in San Francisco on April 10, Changing Hands in Tempe, AZ on April 15, and Rio Rita in Austin, TX on April 17.

More Raves for Max Frei's THE STRANGER

Another rave review for Max Frei's The Stranger:

"Before I say anything else I have to tell you that I’ve never looked forward to the publication of a book more than I did Max Frei’s The Stranger (Overlook). It’s been such a long time coming. I’ve been hearing about it for years but, in retrospect, it felt like whispers of things. Rumors from other lands. Something well imagined that could not possibly be true. Because both The Stranger and its almost iconic author, Max Frei, have taken on mythic proportions. All right, I’ll cop: in some circles, not so mythic. But in those circles, The Stranger -- and the books that come after -- had become almost the Holy Grail of books. If only, we said, Frei’s work could be translated into English, nothing would ever be the same as it had been.And then, of course, it was. And nothing ever will be the same, but not in the way we anticipated. See: it’s simply not possible to come to a book with the expectations I owned and not be disappointed on some level. And, in certain ways, I was. I am. But I do understand that you simply can’t run out and translate a Russian novel and expect it to play perfectly in English. And I’m talking any novel here. But with something as chewy and nuanced as The Stranger, you can amp all of that up considerably. This isn’t just a book, it’s an event. Clearly, that’s a little tough to live up to. The Stranger is epic fantasy on a quirky philosophical level. But if those words bring Terry Pratchett to mind, just clear your head: Frei’s work is nothing like that. In The Stranger, even the author is a fictional character. It has come to light that the actual author of Max Frei’s books is a woman named Svetlana Martynchik. Max Frei, the quasi author, is also at the center of his tales, which begin in The Stranger with Book One of the Labyrinths of Echo. It took my tightly honed North American sensibilities quite a while to pick up the rhythm of Freis’ writing: the alternate universe of dreams, the fact that he is a sort of magical secret agent who must stop a murderer from our world from getting his way in the new one. North American readers will find themselves slogging through at first: this is not your grandmother’s fantasy. But stick with it: all becomes clear after a while, as well as the density of wit we’re unused to reading English language authors. The Stranger is a fantastic book and the first of many to be published in English. If I don’t miss my guess, reading it now will put you in the vanguard." -Lincoln Cho, January Magazine

Five Stars for CHURCH SIGNS ACROSS AMERICA

L. Dean Murphy reviews Church Signs Across America: "Simon & Garfunkel brilliantly sang that words of prophets are written on subway walls. And on church signs, as captured in a spectacular photo journal by the creative couple Pam and Steve Paulson. Andy Warhol used everyday scenes as a medium of art, Campbell’s Soup, Marilyn Monroe. Church Signs Across America earns Five Stars for its creativity and portrayal of witty words written across America by unknowns. Church Signs Across America is more than a photog journal. It is a journey through the publishing world without a map, by two people destined to create something to inspire others, though odds were against them. It also exhibits architectural concepts of the churches that feature marquees with witticisms in this well-executed coffee-table volume. Agnostics and even atheists appreciate clever quips captured by the Paulsons. The value of art can be measured by the impact on society the work has. Vincent van Gogh never sold a painting, while he was alive. Is his art good? You decide, on some starry, starry night. As a cross-section of America’s church signs, some are thoughtful, some amusing. If scratching your head doesn’t help to understand the meaning, put away the book for a couple of days and think about it!"

Allan Tannenbaum's NEW YORK IN THE 70s in Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair calls New York in the 70s, "Allan Tannenbaum's eulogy for that memorable decade." This unique and largely unseen picture of the excitement of New York in the 70s is a cultural time capsule that should not be missed. Filled with amazing shots of musicians from that era, including The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Donna Summer, Frank Zappa, Bob Marley, Patti Smith, Blondie, Miles Davis, Charles Muddy Waters, Elvis Costello, and many, many more.

Here's one of our favorites: The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, on Broadway.

Meet Kris Saknussemm, author of PRIVATE MIDNIGHT, at the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series Tonight

Kris Saknussemm, author of Private Midnight, will read tonight, Tuesday, April 7, at the South Street Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan as part of the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series. 7:00pm - 9:00pm at 12 Fulton Street, 4th Floor. Kris will be accompanied by jazz saxophonist Eric Wyatt. Don't miss this rare New York city appearance! For more information on Kris, check out this interview with Literary Escapism.

More Raves for Jem Poster's RIFLING PARADISE

Trine D. Paulson of Bookspot Central offers a lengthy review of Jem Poster's acclaimed novel Rifling Paradise: "Rifling Paradise is the second novel of the critically acclaimed novelist and poet Jem Poster. The praise is indeed well-deserved – Rifling Paradise is a very well-crafted piece of literary fiction; it is intense, vivid and thoughtful in its exploration of the hidden passions, forbidden desires and the unspoken social codes of Victorian society, all of which is subtly mirrored in and filtered through the more fundamental relationship between man and the natural world. . . . Rifling Paradise is a very well-written novel – subtle, vivid and intense. It is a book about man and nature, and the secrets we keep from others and from ourselves. One of its strengths is the fact that the narrative never directly addresses the secrets and omissions that structure the story and the characters – rather it lets the reader get a glimpse and the elegantly redirects the focus, leaving the reader to form his or her own opinions as to what really happened. . . Though “technically” a piece of historical fiction (though the historical setting is always silently implied), Rifling Paradise will most likely appeal better to those whose tastes have a more literary bent."

Adam Victor, author of THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA, on NPR's Weekend Edition

As part of NPR's Weekend Edition's series "On the Couch," Scott Simon speaks with Adam Victor, author of The Elvis Encyclopedia (an A-to-Z guide to Presley's life), and Gordon Stoker, a singer in the superstar's backup band The Jordanaires, to discuss the legacy of the man still known as "The King." They're joined by fans Tess Foley of New Haven, Conn.; Jerry Sailor of South Bend, Ind.; and NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. Listen here.

SIMA'S UNDERGARMENTS FOR WOMEN Reviewed in The National Post

Ilana Stanger-Ross's debut novel Sima's Undergarments for Women is featured in Canada's National Post: "Stanger-Ross’s great talent, at least on this occasion, lies in her understanding of the shadings of female friendship. She never pretends that all of it is benign. There are moments of revenge, of schadenfreude, of jealousy, but she wraps all of it within a richly authentic-sounding language and compassionate grace." Meet the witty and wonderful Ilana Stanger-Ross on Thursday, April 23, at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut.

Celebrating Benjamin Zucker's BLUE, GREEN, and WHITE

In the novels Blue, Green, and White, author Benjamin Zucker brilliantly combined contemporary literature with classical literary tradition—telling the story of the Tal family of Manhattan, Zucker interspersed the text with Talmud-style commentary that moves alongside, beneath, and above the main story text, deepening the narrative and enriching the reader’s appreciation of both the subject matter and the art at hand. Now, these three books—in sum a truly monumental work—are available together in one boxed set. Last night, The Overlook Press celebrated the publication of this magnificentl achievement with a reception honoring Benjamin Zucker. With full-color illustrations on every page and enlightening “commentary” from such historical luminaries as Kafka, Vermeer, Monet, Joyce, Bob Dylan, Bobby Fischer, and Joan Baez, these books belong on the shelf of any true lover of art and letters."

Overlook Publisher Peter Mayer Talks to GalleyCat

Peter Mayer spoke to Jason Boog of GalleyCat this week in Overlook's SoHo office. Here's the post: "GalleyCat caught up with Overlook Press founder Peter Mayer to study the fine art of literary obfuscation. This month, Overlook Press will publish The Stranger by Max Frei--a literary fantasy novel supposedly written by the novel's main character. In reality, The Stranger was written by a reclusive female artist and has sold millions of copies in Russia. After hearing Russian readers rave about the book, Mayer scooped up the eight-book series. "A great deal of Russian literature has been disguised," he explained. "Russia was an autocratic state with great curtailments on people's personal lives... [obfuscation] is a feature that kept a lot of writers out of jail for many years."

Mayer saw some recession-era parallels in the book: "Max arises from his despair in life and creates his own reality. People are looking for escapism during a recession... But the recession was the last thing I was thinking about when I bought it." Mayer said Overlook picked up fantasy books "by accident," but carved out a niche in the market. "There's a dumb world of fantasy and an intelligent world of fantasy. I'd like to think we inhabit the later."

The publisher also told readers to look out for A Quiet Belief In Angels, R.J. Ellory's thriller by set in Georgia, USA. Overlook will publish between 50,000 to 100,000 copies of the British thriller this fall. "This guy can really write. He wrote 22 novels before he published," Mayer said. "He said, 'Those books were my university. That's how I learned how to write.'"

Max Frei Introduces THE STRANGER: Altered Egos and Alternate Realities

Book blogger Rick Kleffel takes on The Stranger by Max Frei in this inspired new post:

"Literary tricksters get up to all sorts of shenanigans. Take for example, "Max Frei," the "author" of The Stranger. It might take readers a few heartbeats to figure out what exactly is going on, even though the title of the first chapter "Debut in Echo" is a pretty good clue, because "Max Frei" is both the author and the narrator of this novel. A memoir, you ask? Well, sure — a memoir in which the author journeys to an alternate reality when he sleeps. And that's probably the least strange aspect of this novel. Max Frei, the narrator / author of The Stranger tells us from the get-go that he just doesn't sleep very well, except during the day. And there's an exception there, as well, because when he falls to sleep he awakens in a dream world that's vivid enough to support what is now a ten-novel series, written originally in Russian.

The Stranger offers up a series of adventures but not necessarily a single plot arc beyond the continual and quite entertaining evolution of "Max Frei." That said, the spiky, smart prose and the often exceedingly cool surrealism that shoot through this book will certainly satisfy those looking for something rather different. The Russian flavor of the proceedings gives even the most ordinary stuff a weird sort of exoticism. Now all this sidesteps a rather major issue to my mind, that is, that the book is actually the work not of "Max Frei," the main character, but instead Svetlana Martynchik, who has been publishing book reviews as well as books under the pen name of Max Frei. So, big surprise, there is no city of Echo, and the only magicians are the ones who made half the wealth of this world disappear like, overnight.

While the world dances on the graves of Publishing Establishment, the establishment itself seems to be doing rather better than one might presume. Overlook Press is a great example. Peter Mayer and his crew of iconoclastic editors have a charmingly eclectic sense of taste, they work totally independently, and they're a general interest press, publishing non-fiction, literary fiction and outside stuff like this in hardcover original editions. Perhaps it's Overlook that resides in a dream world; and it's not a bit surprising that they've found Max Frei."