Negative Reviews: What's the Point?

Yesterday, PWxyz asked a question that hit pretty close to home for me, as a publicist--"what's the value of negative reviews?" A good question, and something that I've wondered about myself when breaking the news to an author that a review--and it's worse when it's a major review or a first-time author--has panned his or her book.

PW's question was actually originally found on Sarah Rees Brennan's blog, in this thought-provoking entry. She brings the interesting perspective of both a reader and a writer, and knows how hard it can be to read that sort of criticism about something over which a writer has labored.

Like any other person who reads a ton of books, I hate many, many books. Oh, how I hate them. I have performed dramatic readings of the books I hate. I have little hate summaries. I have hate impressions. I can act out, scene by hateful scene, some of these books. I can perform silent hate charades.

And in the past, I have reviewed a couple of books I hate. And then I would always feel crappy afterwards.

And I would wonder why. After all, I hated them! It was a public service to warn people off them!

This is why. One is that I am sort of terrible at reviewing things I hate. I am not reasonable about it. I do not add ‘Oh, but despite my loathing for the subject matter, the prose was excellent’ or ‘Still, the idea of a dragon in love with a tree is an intriguing one.’ And I feel that, especially since hate reviews are the most popular ones, because people love to see people hating on stuff, nobody is sure why but it is fascinating! – I feel it’s important to be able to write a hate review as close to objectively as you can, explaining why and wherefore, and not only getting your cruel mock on.

She also (wryly and somewhat hilariously, for anyone who's ever held the hand of a poorly-reviewed author) discusses her "addiction" to reading her own reviews. Really, the entire entry is worth a read, but it also leads to something that's important to realize--most reviewers will only review books they like.

Well, I start with only reviewing books I really, really like, or books I love. The books I hate? No. The books I'm 'meh' about? Also no. And sometimes I don't review books that I do love, because I forget or I don't have time. (Another good reason not to review books I hate: no time, and I already wasted all that time reading them!)

But does this mean that nobody in the world should write negative reviews? No - I think people should. And this is lucky, because people will whether I think they should or not.

(As an aside, this also reminds me of this post on BookSlut, which made me comb through their recent reviews hoping against hope that they weren't referring to one of my authors.)

But the larger question asked by both Rees Brennan and PWxyz is a good one, and one that I struggle with fairly frequently. PW sums it up well with this:

The value of negative reviews is endlessly debated in reviewing circles. Some reviewers really enjoy putting the boot in, while others find it distasteful. Some, like Rees Brennan, both enjoy it and find it distasteful. PW publishes mixed and negative reviews, but many other publications don’t. However, no one debates the value of positive reviews, even though exactly the same considerations apply: they affect a writer’s morale, a book’s sales, a reader’s approach to the book. Reviewers and review publications would seem to have the same responsibilities in either case. So why are negative reviews so polarizing? And can this debate ever be definitively resolved?

You'll never find me in the "any publicity is good publicity" camp, but I do think that it makes sense that most book reviews are somewhat positive--unless it's a popular or big-name book, without reviews (or excellent marketing and sales!) most people will never read it and chance wasting their time and money on it, anyways. Helping steer people towards books they might like, and distilling why the book is worth reading, does seem like it should be a main point of book reviewing. If a book is simply not very good, why waste precious review space?

What are your thoughts? Have you ever read a negative review and read the book anyways? What do you do when you read conflicting reviews?

Newsday on THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD: "Weeding and Writing"

We loved the headline of this recent review of THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD in Newsday, especially with back-to-school fever sweeping the nation, although it's something of a typing-tongue twister ("weeding and writing"--we had to triple-check the spelling!).

Here's the full review, but here are a few of our favorite parts, below.

Every man, woman, child - not to mention dog and plant - owes its life to Jack Durkin. Had he and nine generations of Durkins before him not been weeding a field in a small New England town from winter thaw to first frost, we'd all be goners. For these aren't weeds, but lethal, fanged killing machines that, if allowed to grow, would have us all for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

At least that's how Durkin, the title character of Dave Zeltserman's delicious horror-ish novel, "The Caretaker of Lorne Field," sees it. His family was contracted 300 years ago by desperate villagers convinced that these Godzillas in the grass would destroy the world if left unchecked. ....

Zeltserman is the author of increasingly accomplished crime novels, distinguished by spare and crisp prose, believable dialogue, imaginative plot twists and tightly wound characters who don't wear out their welcome.

He may be even more suited to the fantasy/horror genre than to a literary life of crime. Without slowing the action, Zeltserman wryly sprinkles in sub-themes about belief vs. logic, sacrifice vs. selfishness, and one generation against another. Perhaps the most interesting characters in the book are the older people who believe in Durkin and who, knowing how underpaid and unappreciated he is, treat him like a local hero rather than the fool on the hill.

Of course, this is literally a dying breed of citizenry. The question is whether we'll all be a dying breed of humanity if Durkin isn't allowed to keep weeding. Me, I'm not saying anything except, keep reading. Durkin may or may not be a loose caboose, but Zeltserman is fully in control.

Hope all of you fantasy/horror fans have already picked up your copy of Dave Zeltserman's latest! Here's the Winged Elephant's full coverage of Zeltserman.

LET'S HAVE A BITE reviews are starting to arrive!

While Robert L. Forbes' delightful book of children's poetry LET'S HAVE A BITE! doesn't officially hit shelves until Sept. 16, a few lucky bloggers and media people have already gotten copies. Glad to see they're enjoying the fun rhymes and wonderful drawings by Ronald Searle as much as we are!

Naida at The Bookworm has one of our first reviews for this title, which she read with her 10-year-old daughter.

With rhymes like Hugh the Emu, The Rhino's Wine, The Inchworm Sprint and Flick the Fly, coupled with great illustrations to match, Let's Have A Bite! A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes makes for a fun book to read to the kiddies in your life.

... I really liked this funky collection, and my daughter(10) and I read them together. This one would make a great gift as well, especially if you're looking for something a little different than your everyday children's nursery rhymes.

Thanks, Naida! Check out her full post here, and hope that those of you with kids will get a chance to sit down and read something fun and whimsical as you gear up for the school year to start!

The New Republic on THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN TOUCH"

Today, The New Republic joins the New York Post and others in praising Sinclair McKay's wonderful THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN TOUCH: How the Bond Films Conquered the World. Read the review in its entirety here, but it starts out putting The Man with the Golden Touch in an excellent context of the canon of books exploring the James Bond phenomenon.

Like a number of successful novel sequences or film franchises, the James Bond movies have spawned a stream of books that analyze, often too solemnly, the artistic merit and the cultural relevance of the original works. These books tend to be written by people who take great pleasure in complete immersion in their subject. A book on, say, Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective is likely to know what kind of pipe Sherlock Holmes smoked, or where Dr. Watson underwent his training in medicine. The James Bond scholar (there’s a phrase!) is likely to know that Noël Coward was considered for the role of Dr. No, and that if Cary Grant had been willing to sign on for more than one film, he very well might have been cast as the lethal British spy.

Very well and good, you say—an author ought to know his subject. The problem is that such arcane trivia tends to cloud out the bigger picture; fandom, with its purely obsessive approach, does not always produce the most considered or insightful judgments. Most James Bond books (and I do not mean the fiction on which the films are based) tend to get lost in the universe under review—and, to paraphrase Ian Fleming, this world is not enough. Fans of Conan Doyle or P.G. Wodehouse or Star Trek know what I mean, however loathe they may be to admit it.

Another danger stems from the opposite problem: a tendency to condescend to the subject. There are few things worse than a 007 obsessive who pens an entire book about his hero, but, out of an apparent need to appear serious or highbrow, ends up trashing what he most worships. Where is the fun in that? This is a longwinded way of saying that Sinclair McKay’s new book is one of the very best attempts to take stock of the Bond films. It has its share of quirks, and is by no means appropriate for someone with a minimal interest in the series. But his analysis of the movies is smart and unexpected, and his grasp of Bond is obviously the result of thought and study.

The rest of the review can be found here. We also found out that yesterday was Sean Connery's birthday! Was he your favorite Bond?

Guest Post: Author Lesley McDowell on Jodi Picoult and "White Male Literary Darlings"

A recent article in The Guardian, "Jodi Picoult Attacks Favouritism to 'White Male Literary Darlings'," has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention in the book world. Lesley McDowell, author of Between the Sheets: The Literary Liasons of Nine 20th Century Women Writers, knows the feeling all to well. She shared her thoughts on the article--and how she thinks demographics can affect the gatekeepers of publicity, book reviewers--below. Thanks, Lesley!

When I stepped out of the world of academia in 1997 and into literary journalism, I had a mortgage and bills to pay. I needed to make money. So I took a look at the literary pages and thought, hmmm. No-one’s going to let me review the latest Martin Amis. Or the latest Salman Rushdie. Or the latest Ian McEwan...I could see I just didn’t have the right equipment for the job, despite a PhD on James Joyce.

Fortunately, though, I did have the right equipment to review the latest Jane Smiley. Or Carol Shields. Or Alice Hoffman. The women writers that the boys won’t touch with their barge poles. But that was fine by me – what they didn’t want, I took gratefully and all those reviews of all those superb women writers paid my mortgage and my bills. They still do. And I still don’t get the big boys to review – the latest Amis or Rushdie or McEwan goes, by and large, to lead male reviewers. I didn’t care, back in 1997. I built my own little ghetto and I was just fine with that. I needed the cash, plus I got to read some of the best literature that the late twentieth century had to offer.

And now? I do occasionally review a book by a man. Just as some male critics do very occasionally review a book by a woman (of the 26 reviews I’ve received for my own book, Between the Sheets, four – yes, 4 - have been by men). But I like pushing for the women writers – I see it as my job to give them attention they might otherwise be denied if a literary editor can’t find another female critic to review them in time. The financial pressure is still there, but I don’t see my reviewing, or the books I review, as part of a ghetto any more.

And yet that sense of a ghetto is still there. I’m guessing that Michiko Kakutani didn’t face quite the same financial pressures I did, when she began building her career as a major literary critic. I’m guessing she could afford to badger for the boys’ books, maybe wait till that important male reviewer was off sick and she could steal the latest Amis for herself. I’m not saying I never reviewed a lead title, but the lead titles are invariably by male authors, so if you want to be a major reviewer, you tend to have to concentrate on the boys. And so, I’m guessing, that’s what Kakutani did. It got her the status she has today.

So why would she take a step down and review the latest Jodi Picoult? Jodi Picoult, for heaven’s sake! What does she know about family drama? Nothing that Jonathan Franzen doesn’t know much, much better, it would appear. Women have been writing about the family for decades, and been castigated for it, marginalised as frivolous, domestic, local. Occasionally a woman writer is accorded proper status – oh, how it pains the literary boys to see Joyce Carol Oates up there with Roth and Updike and Mailer, contesting the title to Great American Author. But mostly, women are in the cheap seats at the back. Everyone knows that more novels are bought and read by women than men. But that volume still isn’t reflected adequately in reviews in the literary pages, or in the status of women writers themselves.

I can’t complain. Like I said, I received 26 reviews of my own book. I’ve hardly been ghetto-ised. And important women writers, like Ruth Padel and Diana Souhami, have reviewed my book. But what would it take for one of the major male critics to review me? A piece of equipment I don’t have? A book that defies my fragile female tendency to focus on the home and steps out instead onto enemy lines on a battlefield, perhaps? And would that make men pick up my book in a book store and buy it? It’s tempting to retort, I don’t care. But all writers care that their books are read.

When a friend of mine was interviewed for a University post fifteen years ago, she recited a list of her favourite authors, all of them women. ‘Don’t you like any men?’ one male academic asked. ‘Men, men,’ she thought furiously, and then brightened as she remembered. ‘Yes, of course. I’m a big fan of Keats.’ ‘Keats!’ the male academic exploded. ‘He’s an honorary woman anyway!’ ‘Ah, macho men,’ she thought, but could only come up with Len Deighton. Perhaps when women don’t have to be honorary men, and men don’t have to be honorary women, we’ll have a bit more equity in the books pages, too.

These are the opinions of Lesley McDowell. Contact her at info at overlookpress dot com, or leave your thoughts in the comments. We'd love to hear from you.

NYP: James Bond IS "The Man with the Golden Touch"

If you missed Sinclair McKay's interview on the Dennis Prager show, don't fret--this weekend's New York Post had a fantastic two-page spread dedicated to the much-praised new book, The Man with the Golden Touch.

Here's our favorite part of the article, but if you have a few minutes, we recommend you take the time to read the whole thing. If you're a Bond fan and haven't picked this book up yet, this wonderful piece will definitely make you want to do so!

McKay is at his most entertaining simply recounting the absurdity of the films themselves, sprinkled with bits of trivia. Like how cheap the early films were, with “Dr. No” costing only $1 million. Connery was understandably grumpy about his take, which was estimated on the fourth film, “Thunderball,” at about $350,000 — for a movie that took in $141 million worldwide!

Or the fact that most of the early actors, hired for their looks, had to be dubbed. Yet that only made Gert Frobe’s portrayal of Goldfinger better, McKay argues. The German’s lack of English lent him “a constant facial expression of belligerent confusion.”

Today, the greatest challenge facing James Bond is not coming up with an inventive way for the good girl to die — it’s the financial problems of film studio MGM, which has held up Daniel Craig’s third outing indefinitely.

It’s too bad. Because reading McKay’s retrospective, it seems like Bond is just getting started.

Already read, ordered or wish-listed the book? Leave your favorite Bond fan in the comments. We'll share ours later!

Peter Quinn in the WSJ

The Wall Street Journal introduced its Greater New York section earlier this year, and we've enjoyed it greatly as a companion to our other classic New York papers--the Times, the Post, the Daily News. Our author Peter Quinn always seemed like a great fit for the section, and Steve Kurutz agreed, featuring Peter and his new book, The Man Who Never Returned, in his weekly Q&A with a New York personality.

Click here to go to the site and read the full article, but a few of our favorite questions and answers below!

The book does a wonderful job of evoking mid-1950s New York, with references to Wanamaker's department store and the Herald Tribune.

That's the city I grew up in. I'm old enough to have been on the Third Avenue El. That city is gone. Of course, that's part of the magic and pain of living in New York—it's always going away.

So are New Yorkers forced to be less sentimental?

New Yorkers are incredibly sentimental. They're never quite happy in the city that is. They want the city that was. When I was a kid, my parents talked about the city at the end of the war. Now people are saying it was such a great city in the '70s. It was so alive and creative. Yes, but the crime was also so bad that you couldn't ride the subways.

...

How did your years as a speechwriter for two governors and five Time Warner chairmen influence your fiction?

It helped me write for the ear. I went through two mergers at Time Warner. I got to observe human behavior in extremis. It's all in my books.

You retired as a speechwriter in 2007. Without a day job, have you become more productive as a novelist?

The day I retired I took my dog down to the train station to say goodbye to the people I rode the 6:18 train with. Since then I haven't got up at 5:30 once. I get done in 12 hours what I used to get done in two. It's hard to write all day, although James Patterson seems to be very productive. He sat behind me in English class at Manhattan College. I tell people, "Jim and I together have sold 150 million books, worldwide. James Patterson has sold 149,996,000. I sold the rest."

For more information on Peter Quinn, check out our archives here on the Winged Elephant or his website, which has gotten praise from reviewers and bloggers alike. And if you're looking for a smart, fun, and unpredictable thriller, check out The Man Who Never Returned and let us know what you think!

Intern Adventures Finale: Farewell from Intern Michael

Today marks my last day as an intern at Overlook -- I hope you've all enjoyed the wild ride as much as I have. After three months on Wooster St. I think I have enough experience under my belt to be qualified as an "expert intern." A few days ago Kate posted up an article on our twitter feed called Six Myths About Publishing, a post that debunked rumors and popular misnomers about agents, editors, and book sales. As my way of saying goodbye to Overlook and all of our blog readers I thought I'd share my version of the same article, "Four Myths About Interning."

1. Myth: Interning is for college students
Truth: Interning is for the unemployed and the pre-employed (or the plain desperate)

I think there might have been a time when internships were more or less restricted to the summer months and positions were reserved for aspiring professionals of college or recent post-graduate age. If such a time ever actually existed it is certainly a far-cry from today's internship pool. Nowadays interns run the gamut from the traditional care free summer undergrad to ambitious high school students seeking a leg up on their university admissions applications to degree-wielding post-grads unable to find paying work. These days no internship is too big or small, no applicant too qualified for work.


2. Myth: Interns are slaves
Truth: While some interns do certainly toil on pointless errands and latte runs, there is substantial work to be found in most offices

I can't speak on behalf of all interns because I'm sure there are positions out there that do resemble the dreaded "gofer" (as in, "go for some coffee") job, but in my experience most employers are looking for interns who can actually assist them in their day-to-day activities. Unfortunately this material work might mean some data entry or mass-mailing projects, but along with these boring tasks is usually an opportunity to learn something useful. An intern can pick up a lot of experience just by observing and asking the right questions.


3. Myth: Internships are unpaid
Truth: Most internships are unpaid (especially in publishing), but even unpaid experience can be valuable in the long run

I guess this doesn't really apply to those in dire need of a paycheck, because yes, most publishing internships are unpaid. For those who can afford it, an unpaid internship is a worthy long-term investment. At Overlook, for example, an internship is a great entry to a salaried career. At least three current employees are former interns and those interns who graduate and don't get hired often move on to other jobs in publishing.


4. Myth: Once they've left, interns are easily forgotten
Truth: Interns may come and go seasonally but their legacies leave a lasting impression

This last one might be more optimism than myth-busting, but I like to imagine that the other staffers at Overlook won't forget about me once I've left (see: Summer Intern Already Forgotten).

Leave a comment if you think I've missed any major intern related fallacies or want to share a story of intern(hard)ship. That's it for this summer, see you next year when I'll hopefully be returning as "Editorial-Assistant Michael."

Freddy the Pig Fans in Connecticut!

We were thrilled to see these wonderful pictures of the fantastic Wilton Library's recent Freddy the Pig display. One of Overlook's most beloved series for children, we're re-releasing three titles this fall in paperback for a new generation to enjoy.

Originally published between 1927 and 1958, the 26 Freddy the Pig classics continue to be loved by children young and old (as the pictures show!). This October, Overlook will bring back Freddy the Detective, Freddy the Politician, and Freddy and the Bean Home News.

Stay tuned for much more information on these delightful books.

The writing of Hot Shot: Gary Ruffin's AJC Profile

Every once in a while, we come upon a story that is truly inspiring. For us at Overlook, that was the story of Gary Ruffin, whose first book, HOT SHOT, came out last week.

But our tiny "about the author" sections and space-constrained posts here (you might remember Gary from this one) can't possibly describe the full story of how Gary survived a brain tumor and wrote Hot Shot. For that, we have this fantastic profile that recently appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Here's our favorite excerpt from the article, but we definitely encourage you to head over to the AJC website and read the whole thing. Monday mornings can be discouraging--this story is the opposite.

In 2001, Ruffin was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor the size of a plum. Surgery saved his life but left him with a slew of disabilities. For nearly a decade, he has lived with double vision, fainting spells and an inability to swallow properly. He can't eat or drink and must absorb nutrients through a feeding tube.

In addition, he can no longer play guitar or sing in public, a painful reality for a working musician since age 12. But he doesn't complain. That's not his style.

"I miss it, but it's one of those crying-over-spilled-milk deals," he says. "You have to move on and concentrate on the things you can do."

Like writing.

On Sunday, Ruffin will have an informal book-signing of his first novel, "Hot Shot," a detective mystery. Part of a three-book deal with Overlook Press, "Hot Shot" is the story of a man who has had it easy for a long time, then gets slapped in the face with difficult situations. It sounds like Ruffin's life.

In 2002, Debra Rivard, a friend of Ruffin's and an English literature teacher in Indianapolis, told him he had a knack for writing and suggested he pen a book about his brain surgery.

"I just felt that if he started writing about his experience, it would be a catharsis to him and an inspiration to others," Rivard said. "He never groveled in self-pity. He just accepted his fate and even made fun of his Chewbacca voice."

Ruffin wrote a few pages about the surgery, then gave up.

"I realized it was depressing as all hell," he says. "It was difficult to tell my story without sounding like I was complaining."

The full article is definitely worth a read. You can learn more about Gary by checking out the previous coverage here on the Winged Elephant, and coming back for updates. Have a fantastic week!

A Twist on #FridayReads: Subway Reading Experiences

The Paris Review is a must-read for Overlook staffers, and their blog is a fixture in all of our blogrolls, Google readers, and RSS feeds. It's no surprise that when this edition of "Ask the Paris Review" came through, we immediately responded.

Can you recommend any books that will make interesting people approach me if I read them on the subway? During A Moveable Feast, people came up and quoted entire passages verbatim, and it really enhanced the reading experience. —Alexandra Petri

Well, well, well. While we loved TPR's answer, we also knew we had a few of our own up our sleeves.

First, and this is true of pretty much anyone in publishing (including our cousin-publishers, magazine publishers): we are always thrilled to see people reading books we publish. Maybe it's like seeing your child accepting an award or your company's IPO make a boatload--we worked hard on making these books what they are, and seeing someone else independently enjoying them is an absolute rush. While we are all courteous MTA riders and have perfected the unique NYC ability to tune out everything and everyone around us, seeing the little winged elephant on your book spine could make our day, week or (depending on the print run) season all seem worth it.

Here's what the Paris Review said:

The trick is to choose books that have cult followings, and so create a sense of secret fellowship—but that large numbers of your fellow-riders have actually read. That's why it depends somewhat on your subway line. As Philip Roth is to the Seventh Avenue trains, so Jonathan Lethem is to the F. For the Q I might carry either story collection of Edward P. Jones (impress your new friend by pointing out that the two collections are linked, story by story) or anything by Lipsyte or Shteyngart. (Each of whom is also beloved on the L.) On the Lexington Avenue line, The Transit of Venus. For the G train: War and Peace, A Dance to the Music of Time, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 2666, Gravity's Rainbow, the complete works of James Michener, etc., etc., etc.

Of course, certain writers are good bets anywhere. Thanks to my bike, I have no particular subway, but I will instantly take a friendly interest in anyone I see reading Ta-Nehisi Coates's memoir The Beautiful Struggle, Norman Rush's Mortals, IJ, anything by Adam Phillips, or the essays of Charles Lamb. Possession of these books is sufficient cause for me to ask which part you're at. Maybe for others too. All of which is to say: be careful what you wish for.

And here are a few responses from Overlook. We'd love to hear your experiences: feel free to tweet them @OverlookPress, leave them on Facebook or put them in the comments! If anything makes public transit pleasant, it's a good book.

“Mostly everyone who has read him falls in love with David Foster Wallace and I’m certainly no exception. I’ve tried on no less than three separate occasions to complete Infinite Jest and failed miserably with each. Maybe I just don’t have the stamina (I blame the footnotes). Nowadays whenever I see someone reading the 2.6 lb behemoth (weight via Amazon), I spy to see if they’ve passed my personal best – page 95.” --Intern Michael

“Years and years ago my brother handed me a graphic novel he said I absolutely had to read. As a die-hard literary fiction fan I thanked him and put it at the bottom of my bedside table pile. Almost a year ago I noticed on the L (the subway to Williamsburg, Brooklyn on which there seems to be a rule that no one over 30 is allowed to board) at least 3 people with this book in their hands. The next time I took the L, I noticed five people reading it. Each week, more and more people had copies of this damn book. Finally, I dug it out from the bottom of the pile and ended up thanking the public-transport friendly hipsters who convinced me to enjoy The Watchmen–and I finished just in time for the movie.” --M, Sales & Marketing

“People on subways (and especially on planes) have approached me about my e-Reader numerous times. A lot of them are curious about its usefulness, battery life, what e-ink looks like—not what I’m reading on it. When the iPad first came out, I wanted to approach strangers on the street who had one, too! Luckily, there are plenty of demo copies at the Apple store near our office.” --Anon

“One summer, my goal was to get through Atlas Shrugged so I could understand what all the fuss was about. Never have so many nearly-anarchist libertarians approached me in public. I eventually just listened to the audiobook.” --Kate, publicity

Happy On-Sale Date for THE HORSES OF ST. MARK'S and THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD!

Today two brand-new books were born--or, perhaps more accurately, officially put on shelves at bookstores nationwide, with their Amazon pre-order buttons changed to allow customers to "buy it now." Hooray! In case you haven't been following our pre-publication coverage of these two great but extremely different titles, let me introduce you to them.

The Horses of St. Mark's: A Story of Triumph in Byzantium, Paris, and Venice
by Charles Freeman

A must-see for any tourist in Venice, the history of these four beautiful statues is even more interesting than one might think. They witnessed some of Western history's most significant events--the founding and sacking of Constantinople, the height of the Venetian republic and its fall, and Paris under Napoleon through the revolution in 1848. Making their way back to Venice, the rich backstory of these storied statues is a must-read for those interested in history, art, travel--or just interested in a fascinating tale that Charles Freeman, author of A.D. 381, brings vividly to life.


The Caretaker of Lorne Field
by Dave Zeltserman

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called The Caretaker of Lorne Field a "superb mix of humor and horror." The dark humor and noirish horror combine in this unique take on the genre--the tale of Jack Durkin, the ninth generation of the Durkin family, who has weeded Lorne Field for hundreds of years. He's stuck there until his son comes of age because he knows a monster will grow--one capable of destroying a country in weeks--if the field is left untended. Or will it? In the words of Locus Magazine, Zeltserman's "black comedy of errors ... invites comparison to stories by Kafka, David Prill, James Hynes, William Browning Spencer, and other authors who have mused on the dark side of daily breadwinning."

Book reviewing bloggers--interested in reviewing? Email Kate at kgales@overlookny.com for a review copy.

Happy reading, everyone!

Calling All Baseball Fans & Readers of THE MAN WITH TWO ARMS!

Have you ever had the feeling of disappointment when you finish a book and realize that you have absolutely no one with whom to discuss it? All you want to do is dissect and discuss the plot, characters, and ending--but to do so with any of your friends would spoil the book for them.

When you work in publishing, this happens more frequently than you might think--we read a lot of advance copies or manuscripts of books, and have to wait for the book to hit shelves (and then for your friends to get around to reading it!) we can sit down and properly analyze with others. We can imagine it happens to book reviewers--the first wave of readers of most books--as well.

And Spitball Magazine's Mark Schraf is having this problem with our wonderful baseball book The Man With Two Arms. The book came out in the spring, but as baseball season heats up, now is the perfect time to find yourself engrossed, as Mark was, in the funny and poignant novel about an ambidextrous pitcher. Read his full review here, and check out below for excerpts. If you're a baseball fan and haven't picked this book up yet, it makes a perfect read as teams claw their way into the playoffs come August and September. Enjoy!

Perhaps the greatest compliment a writer can be paid is to have his reader still thinking about his book months after the first reading. That is definitely the case with me and Billy Lombardo's novel, The Man With Two Arms, a sophisticated book with a deceptively simple title. In no other sport would true ambidexterity be so extraordinary (the only one I can think of that might come close is tennis, but the advantage isn’t nearly as pronounced), and it thus identifies Lombardo’s sparkling debut novel as unquestionably a baseball book. But it also establishes a primary theme as well: What is the true worth of athletic prowess, and just how unhealthy is hero worship for both the fan and the hero? After all, a ballplayer, no matter how great, is still just a man, isn’t he?

...

Lombardo’s writing style isn’t as flashy as, say Brendan Boyd’s in Blue Ruin, but it doesn’t have to be. He captures the inner dialog of a father who wants desperately to give his only son the very best possible chance to succeed in the game he so passionately loves. The game descriptions and conversation are both spot on. Characterization is strong, with no cardboard characters to be found, save for Danny’s first professional manager in the minors. (Although, to be fair, a worn out baseball lifer would most likely be gruff and profane.) The author deftly allows Danny’s thoughts, speech, actions, and reactions to grow in sophistication throughout the 20 year span of the story, so that the character and his dilemma are fully realized.

...

Much of this novel’s thematic richness can’t be discussed in a book review, simply because this would give all the special secrets away that are so rewarding to discover and contemplate as you turn the last pages. So I have a plan: Read The Man with Two Arms, and let me know what you think. I’m dying to talk to somebody about this book!

Internet Housekeeping: Events on OverlookPress.com

Did you know that Peter Quinn is reading tonight in Tribeca? Or that Frank Deford is speaking Thursday in White Plains? If not, that means you're not keeping up with the Calendar section of Overlook's website. And you're missing out!

While our website has a ton of information about Overlook, our books and our authors (have you checked out the reader's guides?), it also constantly updates our author events with detailed information about the type of event as well as the time and location.

If you're a fan of our wonderful authors, check it out! And make sure to come back periodically--we try to publicize our events on Facebook, Twitter and right here on the Winged Elephant, but don't miss out!

80 Years Ago Today ... Judge Crater Never Returned

Last night, New York City raised a glass to Peter Quinn, author of the new book The Man Who Never Returned, a historical thriller based on the real-life story of Judge Joseph F. Crater.

If you're interested in the Judge Crater story (and, of course, the book!) check out this New York Times piece, where Quinn traces Judge Crater's last known steps with NYT reporter Alan Feuer.

The city is, itself, a sort of vanishing act — all those Broadway haunts replaced by condominiums — and Judge Crater can, perhaps, be thought of as its human embodiment: influential one day, annihilated the next. His memory lives on, but no more than his memory. Where did he go? Change the “he” to “it” and the question holds true for the Hotel Astor, the old Pennsylvania Station, the Automat.

Throw in some timeless specifics — sex, politics, the suggestion of corruption — and the Crater case could, without much effort, be discerned in the headlines of yesterday’s newspaper. Even its milieu — the anxious post-crash days when the severity of the Great Depression had not yet settled in — has relevance today. “When that guy disappeared, a lot went with him,” Mr. Quinn said. “It was the end of the whole 1920s era in New York.”

Today--on the anniversary of the judge's disappearance--the New York Daily News ran this op-ed by Quinn, reliving the story and the effect the Crater case had on the New York City culture.

The Crater case is one of eternal intrigue. It speaks to what New York will always be: seductive, exciting, filled with endless possibilities for getting rich and getting killed, a dynamic creator and consummate destroyer of celebrity.

Barnes and Noble is also featuring The Man Who Never Returned on their site. Click here for the full review.

Quinn's jaded cops quote Ecclesiastes and Poe, Dante and Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas's aesthetic of clarity is especially salubrious in Dunne's line of work—and true to the hardboiled genre, it arrives almost too late. But in the end it's not Aquinas but an older saint, Ambrose, who holds the key to the Crater mystery—and that's as close to a spoiler as this review will come. The presence of such ancient shades in The Man Who Never Returned seems fanciful, but they're a reminder that the diversions and demons Quinn's characters pursue are ancient ones, not limited to one era or generation. In the end, the mystery is unraveled—but history claims its prerogative, swallowing up the answers. Joseph Force Crater—his name like the open hole in which Fintan Dunne and his generation first saw death—remains missing to this day.

And you can check out the video from Quinn's previously-mentioned New York 1 interview. Unfortunately, we can't embed the video, but it really brings the story to life.

Enjoy a few pictures from Quinn's party last night. More to come!

Jim Nisbet at his "Wildest and Weirdest!"

Jim Nisbet's Windward Passage continues to received extraordinary review attention from all over the globe. Here's a new one, written by book critic Woody Haut for Crime Time, a terrific website from the International Association of Crime Writers:

"Jim Nisbet, author of The Damned Don't Die, Lethal Injection, Prelude to a Scream, Death Puppet and Price of the Ticket has long been one of my favorite noirists. In Windward Passage, his tenth book, he pulls out all the stops, combining his long-standing noir sensibilities with an off-the-wall post-modern disposition and cultural critique. Pacey, but filled with enough tropes to keep the most hardcore Jim Thompsonite happy- at least those partial to the final section of The Getaway or the surrealism of Savage Night- Windward Passage centres on a ship that sinks in the Caribbean, its captain chained to the mast. A logbook, a partially written novel, a brick of cocaine and the DNA of a President are all that remain. The appropriately named dead sailor's sister, Tipsy lives in San Francisco, where she hangs out at bars with her gay friend Quentin. That is until she runs into Red, Tipsy's brother's old employer.

Scrambling genres and voices, Windward Passage flits around geographically as well as linguistically, high-tailing it from San Francisco to the Caribbean and back again, dove-tailing from fast-talking, never-less-than-witty dialogue to tangential asides, reportage, paradoxical quips and a novel within a novel. With his ear to the ground, Nesbit not only updates the traditional noir narrative, combining it with a sea adventure story, conundrums, a dash of cyberpunk, and a sprinkling of literary concerns (including the likes of Tom Raworth, Paustovsky and Leonard Clark's The Rivers Ran East). From a prologue that will leave you scratching your head for at least a hundred pages, Windward Passage sometimes reads like a hardboiled Saragossa Manuscript, and bound to appeal to anyone looking beyond the confines of the genre. Still, I remember thinking while reading the novel that this is the sort of book we're told doesn't get published these days. So hat's off not only to Nisbet, but to Overlook Press. Because this is Nisbet at his wildest and weirdest. I'm still not sure what it all adds up to, other than an entertaining, insightful and highly recommended adventure."

A Glance Inside a P.G. Wodehouse Fan's Bookshelf

Scott sent us this wonderful picture of his bookshelves--he has a full collection of Overlook's P.G. Wodehouse. Any other Wodehouse fans up there? We'd love to add pictures of your collections, too!

If you're unfamiliar with Wodehouse, learn more on our website. Two new titles--Service with a Smile and The Pothunters--will be in stores this week!

Happy Wodehouse reading!

Gary Ruffin's HOT SHOT: A Tale of Murder and Mayhem on the Florida Beaches

Arriving in stores this week is Hot Shot, a humorous and fast-paced new mystery from a promising new voice in crime fiction.

Musician and debut novelist Gary Ruffin brings both the evocative small-town atmosphere of James Lee Burke’s best mysteries and side-splitting humor of Carl Hiassen’s brilliant stories of his beloved Floridians. Along with the memorable Coop, the lone detective on the Gulf Front, Florida police force, Hot Shot offers an unforgettable cast of quirky characters, including Mafia men Joey Carrabba and Don Carmine, Louisiana Senator Harry James Quitman, and the beautiful Special Agent Shelley Brooke – Coop’s love interest. From the Florida beaches, to the shores of Gulf Coast Alabama, and all the way to the city of New Orleans, Hot Shot is a rollicking thrill-ride.

Author Gary Ruffin was born and raised outside of Atlanta, GA. His early career as singer, songwriter and guitar player with the progressive rock band Smoke Rise culminated with the first American Rock Opera, Survival of St. Joan (1970), to be staged on Broadway. He was contracted to write 8 songs for James Brown but they were never produced before his death. Gary also wrote and helped direct some of the first country videos (12 Pack and Two Steppin’ Out On Me). After battling a series of illnesses, and “technically dying,” Gary had an operation to remove a brain tumor and had a tracheotomy and has been on a feeding tube for eight years. Continuing to overcome all his challenges and obstacles in order to find some creative outlet, Gary began writing novels. Hot Shot is his debut.

Teresa Weaver of Atlanta magazine notes: "Longtime Atlantan Gary Ruffin, a guitarist and songwriter for the 1970s rock band Smoke Rise, riffs on comic mystery in this debut novel set in a small town in Florida. Ruffin’s music career ended after a 2001 operation to remove a brain tumor left him disabled. Now a published novelist, he says he is “happy to be working, and completely inspired.”

Gary Ruffin will be at Barnes & Noble in Snellville, Georgia on Sunday, August 15, at 3pm.