I was talking about "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" just yesterday, and today comes the news that publisher Quirk Books is coming out with "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" in September (trailer above).
If you're on the fence about whether to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," you can download a ten-page preview from Quirk Books.
Basically, Seth Grahame-Smith (which is a name so English it sounds fake) has overlaid the original Jane Austen story of marriage and love with a zombie plague. Resulting in sentences like this: "Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters were fine women, with an air of decided fashion, but little in the way of combat training."
It's pretty funny, though it's tough to tell from this short excerpt if the book can carry the gimmick through to the end or if it gets old before then. But I have to say I'm intrigued.
Oh, and it has illustrations.
Daniel Radcliffe and Michael Gambon in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
For an interview with Draco Malfoy actor Tom Felton, go here.
David Yates, the director of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” has a lot of sympathy for one of the film’s stars.
Rupert Grint, who portrays the flame-haired Potter pal Ron Weasley, spent hours on his broom while filming tricky scenes of Quidditch, the wizard sport.
“Poor Rupert Grint had to sit on this broom with a bicycle seat that seriously damaged his chances of having children in later life,” Yates laughed. “And he did it so patiently and so gracefully.”
By Emily Hulme • ehulme@am-ny.com
A photo from "Courting Equality." Keith Maynard and Chip McLaughlin were one of the first couples to file for a same-sex marriage license in Cambridge, May 2004. (Photo courtesy Marilyn Humphries)
The gay marriage debate has been raging in this country for years, but in recent months the movement to leagalize it has gained real traction.
The following books aim to foster discussion, encourage activism or just celebrate gains made for LGBT rights. Read with pride.
The New Essential Guide to Gay & Lesbian Weddings
by Tess Ayers and Paul Brown, September
Ayers, married to her partner of 15 years, and Brown, an event planner, walk prospective brides and grooms through the minefield that is wedding planning. They offer tips on everything from picking out the rings to financial advice to how to enjoy the big day itself.
The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America
by Margot Canaday, available now
The book is a comprehensive overview of how federal legislation relating to the treatment of gays and lesbians in America has affected the perception of the LGBT community. It addresses marriage in the larger context of how regulation shapes society’s view of homosexuality.
When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
by M.V. Lee Badgett, August
Badgett took a field trip to the Netherlands, where gay marriage has been legal since 2001. Her book is a look at how the move affected homosexual relationships specifically, as well as on society in general. Her findings are surprising.
Via Neil Gaiman's journal, his marvelously excellent children's (but for grownups too) book "The Graveyard Book" won the Audiobook of the Year at the recent Audie Awards (a big deal in publishing circles).
Here's a preview of the first chapter:
Gaiman also has video of himself reading the whole book here. Do yourself a favor and read/watch/listen to this book, in whatever form. BTW, that banjo you hear on the recording above, that's Bela Fleck.
Still so many galleys. (Photo by RJ Mickelson)
This past weekend was BookExpo America, a massive convention held at the Javits Center where tons of book publishers from across the globe come together to meet, show off their new titles and sell their titles to book stores.
I was there for amNewYork, and picked up many, many bags worth of books and galleys of upcoming releases. While there is no conceivable way to read these fast enough for reviews, I can judge them by their covers. Here is part one of a run down of what I found that interested me and I think will interest amNY readers. Here is part two of the roundup. Part one is here.
Continue reading "BookExpo America Roundup Part 2: Fiction, Graphic Novels, Thrillers, YA Books" »
So many galleys. (Photo by RJ Mickelson)
This past weekend was BookExpo America, a massive convention held at the Javits Center where tons of book publishers from across the globe come together to meet, show off their new titles and sell their titles to book stores.
I was there for amNewYork, and picked up many, many bags worth of books and galleys of upcoming releases. While there is no conceivable way to read these fast enough for reviews, I can judge them by their covers. Here is part one of a run down of what I found that interested me and I think will interest amNY readers. Come back tomorrow for part 2, which will include fiction, thrillers and more if I have time.
Continue reading "BookExpo America Roundup Part 1: Nonfiction and Science Fiction" »
Who is Mark Twain? from Flash Rosenberg on Vimeo.
HarperStudio is coming out with a book of previously unpublished essays by Mark Twain called "Who is Mark Twain?" Above is an excerpt, narrated by John Lithgow and illustrated by Flash Rosenberg. It's neat!
This is a companion story to this one; the bios of the illustrators we spoke to are here.
Krommes, who was drawn to book illustration when she started reading to her own children, finds her kids a helpful first audience. Though sometimes they are more willing than other times to give mom’s work a look.
“They’ve seen so much of it over the years that they’re not that interested. I have to sometimes give them a quarter to look at it and give me an opinion,” she said. “But they love when they’re in the pictures”
But not everyone is so interested in hearing what the kids have to say. Notoriously, many people who work in the children’s book industry do not have little ones themselves, nor do they want them.
Smith cites Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, in addition to himself, as not having much to do with children. “I guess maybe because they’re grown up kids themselves, [it’s] too much competition.”
Jeff Kinney, author of the Wimpy Kid series, does have a young child, a kindergartener, but doesn’t yet include him in the process.
“When my wife reads the book to him, she does a lot of censoring… I think you need to be in at least third grade to understand the humor in the book,” he said. “When I created 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid,' I was writing for adults, but my publisher thought that the series would be a hit with kids. I continue to write for adults and cross my fingers that the jokes don’t go over kids’ heads.”
Lane Smith has been working in the business for more than 20 years. He’s had a long-time collaboration with Jon Scieszka, but works with other authors as well. He also illustrates his own work.
Beth Krommes is an illustrator for hire, coming to children’s books after many careers associated with art. She is this year’s recipient of the Caldecott Medal for her work on “The House in the Night,” by Susan Marie Swanson.
Jeff Kinney is the author/illustrator of the “Wimpy Kid” series. “Wimpy Kid” was originally conceived as a comic for adults, but publishers saw the inherent appeal for children. Book four will hit stores in October.
We spoke with Lane Smith, Beth Krommes and Jeff Kinney for this story. Read their bios here.
First come the words, then comes the pictures, then comes the book tour. That’s basically the way children’s book illustrators work.
Of course in practice, it’s far more complicated than that, and each illustrator’s process is as different as the books they create.
1a. Finding a Manuscript
If the author and illustrator of a given book are separate people, they usually get matched up by their agent or the publishing company.
“The author doesn’t really get to choose. If they really didn’t like the samples, they might be able to say so,” said Krommes.
Like in any industry, veteran artists and those who have won awards have more clout, and have more freedom to pick and choose their projects.
Smith said that he probably works on only 1 out of every 20 manuscripts he receives.
“If it’s something that clicks with me I can’t help myself from doodling in the margins of the manuscript as I read it,” he said. “Usually by the time I finish it I have like 10 or 15 little drawings around the manuscript, and that’s always a good sign.”
Continue reading "Children's Book Illustrators -- the process" »
The cover to Peter V. Brett's novel, "The Warded Man."
Most people riding the subway are reading, listing to music or people-watching. For Peter V. Brett, the author of the new fantasy novel “The Warded Man,” the subway was his writing studio.
Using his HP iPAQ smart phone, Brett, 36, turned out 300-400 words each way on his 45-minute commute to work from Kensington in Brooklyn to Times Square on the F train.
Continue reading "'Warded Man' author Peter V. Brett writes novel on the F(antasy) train" »
Mothers can have a special way of talking to their adult children that is equal parts poignantly caring and hilariously clueless. And sometimes we receive missives that are too good not to share.
It was with that in mind that Doree Shafrir and Jessica Grose started the blog PostcardsFromYoMomma.com. They recently collected the best reader submissions into a book, “Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home.” We spoke to the pair about the project.
What did your own mothers think when you started the web site? And
then the book?
Doree: I was super nervous about telling my mom--I wasn't sure how she'd react, especially since we'd posted a few of her gems right away. I waited about a week and then called her at work. She immediately went to the URL and started laughing hysterically. It turned out she was really excited to be on the site!
The funniest part was there were a couple emails that she was absolutely positive she'd written, but they weren't actually from her--thereby reinforcing our thesis that at heart, most moms are, essentially, the same.
Jess: My mom didn't even save the URL at first; she thought it was a passing fancy. But then we started getting written up in major newspapers and magazines about a week after we started the blog, and she realized it might be something that was sticking around. She was thrilled about the book, and pretty tickled that she was the inspiration.
Are they more careful in their communication to you now that they know
there’s a chance it could be broadcast to the world?
Doree: My mom's emails have gotten shorter, I've noticed. And every so often she'll send me an email and write at the end, "That was a Yo Momma email, wasn't it?" One habit I haven't been able to break her of, sadly, is sending forwards. She's cut back, but now when she sends them it's always with the qualifier: "This is REALLY good."
Continue reading "Doree Shafrir and Jessica Grose on moms" »
By Danielle Sonnenberg
Special to amNewYork
Bookshelves are groaning with business books trying to explain the financial meltdown. With 401(k) plans evaporating quickly, people are looking for advice about how to navigate the treacherous economy. Here are a few must-reads:
2009 Action Plan
By Suze Orman
Suze Orman’s “2009 Action Plan” is a practical guide to getting a handle on one’s finances. She offers sensible advice that is worth following during a boom or a bust. Orman, a best-selling author and TV personality, leaves readers with a plethora of ways to increase savings and reduce debt.
(BTW: This is a fake trailer, thought there is a movie adaptation in the works.)
I just finished Max Brooks' "World War Z," an oral history of the zombie war that nearly eradicated the human race at the turn of the millennium. It is a scary, scary book, but not quite for the reasons you might think. Yes, the undead are frightening, but the human reaction is terrifying. From the unapologetic pharmaceutical baron who gets rich from his snake oil cure to the crypto-fascists who use the cover of the chaos to seize dictatorial control over Russia, the worst of our nature is unleashed by the crisis.
Of course, people rise to the challenge with unbelievable strength and generosity of spirit as well. The war is won by humans, obviously, because it's humans telling the tale after the fact. The premise is that all of these stories were collected for a United Nations Post War Commission Report, but excised from the report for being too emotional, too close to the situation, too human. The author published them as a sociological history so that people would remember what happened when the zombies attacked.
I have to say, I had a lot of weird dreams while I was reading this book. Not necessarily about zombies, but general anxiety. Because this isn't a story of the supernatural, but of how humanity reacts to the challenges it is presented with. The book is filled with military personnel, government officials, mothers, children, vigilantes, heroes, cowards ... In short, it's as realistic as a book about the zombie apocalypse could be.
I really liked it. But now I'm off to read "Sisterhood of the Traveling Prada Devil," or something...
Neil Gaiman was already on my list of my top-five Favorite People I Don't Know, and this interview just solidifies that positioning. He is just awesome going toe to toe with Stephen Colbert, who manages to give a coherent interview despite himself. They both are laugh out loud funny here.
Things to note:
Colbert prominently displays the Newbery Award bedecked cover as he reads the opening line.
Moral: "Dead people are nice."
Colbert calls up some Tolkien from freaking memory!
Also, read "The Graveyard Book." It's really good.
(via) In a survey for World Book Day 2009, a U.K. group compiled a list of books that people most often lie about reading. Here's what they found:
1. 1984 by George Orwell (42%)
2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (31%)
3. Ulysses by James Joyce (25%)
4. The Bible (24%)
5. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (16%)
6. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (15%)
7. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (14%)
8. In Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust (9%)
9. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (6%)
10. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (6%)
I actually have read 1, 3, parts of 4, 5 and 7. I lie about having read number 6; although I have passed my eyes over every word in that book, given what I took away from it I don't think that really counts as reading.
Both tell stories using the same cast week after week. Both have to move long-established characters forward while keeping the fan base excited and interested.
While fans of comic books and soap operas might be loath to admit it, the two genres are a lot alike.
“Both are serialized fiction at their finest,” says Jim McCann, author of Marvel Comics’ new miniseries, “New Avengers: Reunion,” in stores Wednesday.
Continue reading "Jim McCann: From soap operas to superheroes with 'New Avengers: Reunion'" »
I don't know why it is that the best books I've read recently are children's books, but the fact stands. Last night I finished "Nation," by Terry Pratchett. Of all the dorky interests I've copped to on this website, this might be the absolute dorkiest: I am a huge fan of Pratchett's Discworld fantasy series.
For a guy who only entered the comics field a few years ago, Matthew Sturges is incredibly busy.
Just a few years ago, Matthew Sturges joined up with Bill Willingham, author of DC Comics/Vertigo title “Fables,” for a new spinoff, “Jack of Fables,” starring the ubiquitous Jack of countless fairytales. Since then, Sturges has branched off to a slew of other comics for DC, like “Shadowpack” and “Salvation Run.” He’s about to start “Justice Society of America” with Willingham, and he recently revived another property, “House of Mystery,” beautiful drawn by Luca Rossi, which just had a collection of the first five issues published.
The book centers on the mythic House of Mystery from DC Comics lore, and stars a group of people who are trapped in the house. While there, they are often hanging out in the bar, where strange travelers stop by for a drink, paid for with a story. These stories – some written by Sturges, some by Willingham” – are given a guest artist and fit in well with the creepy nature of the book.
amNewYork spoke with Sturges about the comic.
Continue reading "Matthew Sturges talks "House of Mystery"" »
By Scott A. Rosenberg
• ‘Mortified’ is at Comix Wednesday. 8 p.m., $20.
GetMortified.com
• Valentine’s Day Personal Media Mixer is at Housing Works Bookstore on Saturday. 8 p.m., $15; $50 for VIP tickets
So that holiday is coming up.
Yeah, the one where if you’re single, you’ll be sitting around miserable and lonely, and if you’re in a relationship, you’re crushed by unreal expectations. You just can’t win. Valentine’s Day is a cruel, cruel mistress.
But, you can commiserate.
For this week's book page, in honor of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday (Feb. 12) I emailed with professor Mark Pallen, the author of "The Rough Guide to Evolution." Unfortunately, due to space restrictions, only the answer to my last question ("How do you read "Origin of the Species?" you'll see it below) made it in the paper.
But the internet is limitless! So below is a full Q&A between Pallen and me.
I really enjoyed the mix of hard science and casual language and pop culture references. What led you to tackle the project in this manner?
For the last five years, I have run a Darwin Day symposium in Birmingham, England, which has exposed me to the wide range of Darwin’s impact on academic life and popular culture. ... One year, we even had a celebration of Darwin’s Origin of Species as a reggae album (something I threw together with a Jamaican colleague, Dominic White). So, when it came to writing "The Rough Guide to Evolution," it seemed perfectly natural for me to explore the impact of Darwin and evolution outside biology — on other sciences, on religion and in popular culture.
Continue reading "On Evolution: An interview with Mark Pallen" »
By Margeaux Baulch Klein
Special to amNewYork
Get a life-size cut out of Fabio here.
Despite dwindling sales and massive layoffs, one segment of the publishing industry may prove to be recession-proof: the romance novel. In 2007, romantic fiction accounted for the largest share of the consumer book market in the U.S. with more than 1.3 billion in revenue. And with more people staying home and searching for cheaper sources of entertainment, insiders are betting on romance novels to weather the economic storm.
“With the economy crumbling, we’re all looking for the lighter side to life,” says Amy Pierpont, a senior editor at Grand Central Publishing. “And romance novels are about women and men overcoming obstacles - not just with their relationship, but in life - and coming together.”
And while much of the success of the genre can be attributed to their trademark happy endings, the affordability of the books, as well as their availability at mass merchandise chains, doesn’t seem to hurt either.
In what might be the best all-Neil event ever (except for the mythical Neil Young/Neil Diamond concert I dream about every night. Neil Halstead opens for them. It's a great show, check it out if you can), Neil Jordan has signed on to write and direct the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Graveyard Book." Read more about it here.
This is on the heels of Gaiman winning the Newberry Medal for "Graveyard Book." It is a good week to be Neil Gaiman.
February is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of the Species." The landmark text is the foundation of modern biology, and a notoriously dense and difficult read, so I am reading "The Rough Guide to Evolution" by Mark Pallen instead (which, look for my interview with Pallen sometime next month).
But this brave soul is attacking the original text and blogging about it. Blogger John Whitfield has got a PhD in evolutionary biology and a real writer's grasp of language, and he uses both to examine Darwin's writings on many levels. It's really interesting and I highly recommend it. It may even inspire you to pick up Darwin's book yourself. Or at least a book about Darwin's book.
(via)
This seems about right.
I got a copy of a new book coming out on Thursday called "11,002 Things to be Miserable About" by Lia and Nick Romeo in today which is in a way a response to the book, "14,000 Things to Be Happy About."
The book is really thick, probably about an inch and a half thick, and it's got a black cover and the edges of the book are also darkened, with a frowning face on the long side edge of the pages. It really is a dour looking tome.
Continue reading "'11,002 Things to be Miserable About': A new book or a lifestyle choice?" »
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is getting a new crime-fighting partner – President-elect Barack Obama.
In issue No. 583 of “Amazing Spider-Man,” coming out on Wednesday – inauguration day - Obama and Spidey team up to battle long-time villain The Chameleon in a story by writer Zeb Wells and artist Todd Nauck and a special variant cover by Phil Jimenez.
Here are some extra questions and answers with Henry Alford, author of "How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still On Earth)." For the full story, click here.
Did your mom read the book?
My mom read it. She likes it. She very modestly wonders what the hell she’s doing in a book about wise people. But, maybe that’s like Socrates, who’s the most famous example of wisdom studies and he ran around Athens talking to supposedly wise people and determined that most people think they’re wise and they’re not. But Socrates didn’t think he was wise and therefore paradoxically, was. So maybe my mother was the mini Socrates of North Carolina.
(Photo by RJ Mickelson)
For more with Henry Alford, click here.
Henry Alford is at Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Wisdom is a nebulous term.
“There are nine million cajillion definitions,” says Henry Alford, author of “How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth).” ”I think William James nailed it when he said, ‘Wisdom is knowing what to overlook.’ That gets as close to it. It’s such a big squishy topic that it’s really hard to nail it down into a succinct definition. It’s like saying, ‘What is beauty? What is truth?’”
But that didn’t stop Alford, 47, from his search. For his book, he spoke with more than 200 seniors in an attempt to discern wisdom, including the famous - Edward Albee, Doris "Granny D." Haddock – and regular people, including his mother and stepfather, who become major players in the book.
Continue reading "Henry Alford: Nailing down an old age idea" »
Westsider Books is your classic over-stuffed used bookshop (Ryan Thatcher)
From 1890 through to the 1960s, the area along and surrounding Fourth Avenue between Union Square and Astor Place was known as Book Row and was littered with countless used bookstores, large and small, filled with millions of secondhand tomes.
Much like any other classic treasure of New York City, Book Row fell to the wayside, with big box bookstores reigning supreme, though The Strand, opened in 1927, is still standing as a last vestige of a bygone time in it’s Broadway and 12th St. location it’s inhabited since the late 1950s.
Even though Book Row can only be found in the history books, New York City still has its share of used bookstores. Here’s a look at a few of the second-hand shops around Manhattan.
(Check out some of the used book store treasures we found here.)
(Read our profile of Manhattan's used bookstores here.)
There are a lot of great deals to be found at used bookstores. Here’s a look at what I found spending less than $10 at each establishment. And I didn’t buy all of these, so keep an eye out.
• Book Off: “Wrigleyville” by Peter Golenbock ($8.50, SC) and “The Ruins” by Scott Smith ($1, SC): A nice look a the lovable losers from Chicago’s North side just in time for the upcoming baseball season, along with a great thriller from the author of “A Simple Plan.”
• Westsider: “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth ($4, SC), “The Right to an Answer” by Anthony Burgess ($3, SC) and “Mickey Mouse: The First 50 Years” ($3, booklet): Roth’s classic is a must read and I’d never heard of that Burgess novel, so that was a nice fine. The Mickey Mouse booklet was filled with some interesting old images and is certainly the kind of think you’d never find at a Barnes & Noble.
• Housing Works: “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales” By Oliver Sacks ($6, HC), “Just So Stories” by Rudyard Kipling ($2, SC), “Trinity” by Leon Uris ($1, HC) and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald ($1, SC): Finding Sacks’ book, in hard cover, for that price is a steal, as are the rest of these. The Uris book is a huge, thick vintage edition that will make you look smarter just by having in on your bookshelf.
• East Village: “A Complete Lowlife” By Ed Brubaker ($9, SC): Before becoming the writer who would killed Captain America, Brubaker was the writer/artist of this now out-of-print graphic novel of semi-autobiographical tales, which was a great deal at this price.
Don't worry, guys. According to Gawker, we can expect memoirs this year from American Gladiator Nitro and First Lady Laura Bush. And they say the publishing industry is dying.
A "Sesame Street" look at the Subway
Michael Davis is at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle Monday. 7:30 p.m., FREE.
Ask a 2-year-old who the president is and he might know. But if you ask the same child who his favorite celebrity is, he’ll likely have a red, furry answer.
“Elmo is the biggest rock star in the world for 2-year-olds,” says Michael Davis, author of the new book, “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.” “They come out of the womb these days saying, ‘Elmo’ somehow. I don’t know how ‘Sesame’ does that.”
Continue reading "Sesame Street: Michael Davis writes the definitive history" »
Nintendo is going to start publishing e-books for the DS handheld. They will be available initially only in Britain. More here.
Here’s a novel idea -- instead of wasting money on some new electronic gift to give you your loved ones, why not present them with some old-school recreation: reading. Here are some tomes that will delight your friends and family.
For the bibliophile:
Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America
by Jay Parini
You’ve know the books, and likely read some of them as well. Now Parini puts in perspective, showing how books as diverse as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe to “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care” by Dr. Spock changed the American landscape.
For the explorer:
Atlantic Ocean: The Illustrated History of the Ocean That Changed the World
by Martin W. Sandler
Sandler’s “Atlantic Ocean” is a beautiful tome that features a history-spanning look at the puddle dividing the Eastern and Western worlds. As much a history book as it is a coffee table book, “Atlantic Ocean” has some wonderful maps and images alongside the text for a nice, complete package.
For the gearhead:
The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Archive Collection
by Darwin Holmstrom and Randy Leffingwell
Holmstrom and Leffingwell take a dip into the archives of the most famous motorcycle maker ever which is sure to make the hog lover in your life squeal with glee.
More after the jump.
By Scott A. Rosenberg
• An original manuscript of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is on display at the New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street through Jan. 4. FREE. Hours: Mon. and Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tues. and Wed. 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m.
Bookstores can expect a huge boost today as a new book in J.K. Rowling’s juggernaut “Harry Potter” universe is released.
“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” first existed as an invention of Rowling’s in the seventh and final volume of the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” The author then produced a real-life, ultra-limited seven-edition run, each hand-written and illustrated by Rowling herself, distributed to six friends. The seventh copy was given to her charity, Children’s High Level Group, which sold the book in auction to Amazon.com for nearly $4 million.
By Ted Geoghegan
Special to amNewYork
The literary market, like all others, is stumbling in the midst of a financial crisis, but that doesn’t mean that legions of publishers aren’t still hungry to pick up the “next big thing.” Hoping to score the next Twilight or Harry Potter, publishers are all seeking success in a variety of genres, although given recent hits, nothing is currently quite as hot as horror and fantasy.
These five fresh authors are rising through the ranks on several must-read lists. Some have already appeared on the scene, while others are taking their first wary steps toward literary renown. Readers are ready for the next big thing, and all of these show potential to be just that. Will 2009 be their year to shine?
List after the jump.
Continue reading "Potential stars of the bookshop in 2009" »
Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite authors of all time. It's a big statement, but true. From "Snow Crash" on, he's orbited just outside the cyberpunk movement, combining mathematical/compsci concepts with compelling, literary stories. And I just eat it up. (NB: He hadn't quite found his voice with earlier novels including "Zodiac" and "The Big U"; if you're a Stephenson neophyte, don't start with these.)
His latest book, "Anathem," takes on The Long Now and the philosophy of technological longevity -- don't let the heavy subject matter keep you away, Stephenson is a master storyteller, and really good at breaking down high concepts for low people. At 960 pages, I've had to hold off on reading it -- it's National Novel Writing Month, not National Novel Reading Month -- but I am super psyched.
The A.V. Club has an interview with Stephenson, which is both tiding me over and making me want to read it even more.
Also, there's some music inspired by/written for(?) the book over on Stephenson's site. It's weird.
When Jon Resh considers his favorite book covers of all time, the one he brings up might be the most plain — the burgundy-brown cover of J. D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.”
“[It] was in circulation for years and years and years,” Resh, 38, says. “It had sort of a tombstone look, but it had the opposite effect. If you carried that book around as a teenager — 25 years ago when I read it when I was 13 — it made a statement.”
Book cover basics
That 13-year-old Resh would grow up to be a book designer, and that book foretold the lessons he himself would preach when describing what makes for a good book cover.
“A bit of drama, a bit of intrigue,” he says. “Not telling the beholder everything they need to know by the cover. Holding a little back or making it a little mysterious sometimes helps. Strong imagery, good composition. Colors that are appropriate to the content. It all has to come back to the content of the book.”
More after the jump.
It's the 20th anniversary of "The Sandman," Neil Gaiman's legendary comic book series, and Vertigo comics has a lot of things planned.
First off, there is a dramatic reading of stories from "The Sandman" at the Helen Mills Theater on Saturday. Voice actor Tom Wayland and others will be reading from "The Sandman" and Gaiman will be hosting. There are only 100 tickets available for this special event, so get your tickets ASAP. This reading is to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, so while the tickets aren't cheap, it's for a good cause.
• Helen Mills Theater, 7:30pm, $50.
More after the jump.
Continue reading "Enter Sandman - A Neil Gaiman extravaganza" »
Author Michael Crichton died last night after a prolonged battle with cancer. More at NY Times.
Bookslut Interview with Neil Gaiman from Jessa Crispin on Vimeo
• Jessica Crispin of Bookslut interviews Neil Gaiman, ostensibly about "The Graveyard Book," but really about everything. You can listen to Gaiman reading from the book here.
• The A.V. Club interviewed Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu and Jim Mallon of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" fame. Bad news for those hoping for a reunion:
AVC: You all shared the stage [at ComicCon]. The 20th anniversary seems like a great time to announce that everyone's coming back to do a big reunion of some kind, but it didn't happen. Is there any chance of that happening?
Jim Mallon: The math is a little weird. If you saw onstage, you basically have two people for every position. Even Patrick [Brantseng] ran Gypsy the last three years. So part of it is, "Well, is it Mike, is it Joel? Is it Bill, is it Trace?" So we really couldn't have a big reunion of everybody. As Trace said, "The streams must never cross." We might be messing with quantum physics or something if we tried to do that.
• Comedy Central rounds up the best "Daily Show" moments for Obama and McCain. They also have gathered together the most recent interviews with all four of the candidates -- well, three of the candidates and Tina Fey.
By Scott A. Rosenberg
scott.rosenberg@am-ny.com
We here at The Tangent central are participating in National Novel Writing Month, where would-be novelists write at fast as they can to finish a 50,000+ word novel. amNewYork editors Emily Hulme and Scott A. Rosenberg (me), will be putting ourselves to the test as we attempt to write our novels while still coming to work.
I wrote my first NaNoWriMo novel in 2006 - completing a mess of a thriller novel that had nuggets of good story in the midsts of some confounding prose. This year, I'm writing a young adults science fiction story, which some might see as dorky, but having written one of these novels before, I see that genre as a safe one for the task.
Continued after the jump.
By Scott A. Rosenberg
scott.rosenberg@am-ny.com
If history has anything to say about it, whoever lands in the vice presidential spot, be it Sarah Palin or Joe Biden, each has a really good chance of being insignificant.
At least that’s what the comedic new history book, “Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance” by Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger has surmised. From first Vice President John Adams to whoever takes over in January, the office has been a collection of politicians who have not done a whole lot while in office. In fact, the office has been so poorly regarded that it has been left vacant for a total of 37 years for the first 176 years of its existence.
Continued after the jump.
Continue reading "Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance - A lighthearted look at vice Presidents" »
