The Obituary Writer’s Sad Story
A few days ago I wrote about my challenges writing book reviews, about how I shy away from criticizing a book in a written review. In exploring whether or not it’s wrong or inappropriate to write negative reviews, I referred to what some other writers recently had to say about this in the New York Times, and I determined, along with writer Francine Prose and others, that it’s important to be honest and ok to be critical. So I’m going to just plunge right in here: Ann Hood’s recent novel The Obituary Writer was a great disappointment. I discovered the writer Ann Hood in college, when I wrote about several of her novels in a paper about how feminist politics manifested itself in the fiction of various contemporary women novelists (there were other, stronger, entries as well in the paper: Margaret Atwood and Marge Piercy for example). I greatly enjoyed her work at that time, but then it began to feel too fluffy to me, and a bit off (an icky father/daughter relationship), so she disappeared from my radar for a while. In 2002, a truly tragic thing happened to Hood when her five year old daughter died of an antibiotic-resistant strain of strep. One can only dimly imagine the pain of such a thing. In 2008, Hood published a memoir about this experience. The book, called Comfort, was well-reviewed and chosen as a book of the year by the New York Times. I could not bring myself to read it. Since then, Hood has published several more books, and I eagerly returned to reading her work with her newest novel, The Obituary Writer. The book interweaves the stories of two women, Claire, a 1960s housewife in an unsatisfactory marriage, and the titular obituary writer, Vivien, who lives in Napa Valley in 1919 and still mourns the loss of her lover in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.Eventually the reader will discover how these two women are connected. Vivien came to her vocation by accident and has turned writing obituaries into an art form. Her home welcomes a steady stream of the grieving who long for Vivien to hear their stories of loss and memorialize their loved ones in writing. Vivien understands their grief, as she herself is still in mourning. Nonetheless, I found it odd that an obituary writer should be such a local celebrity, and that the first thought of those experiencing the loss of a loved one would be to rush off to Vivien’s home to tell their story. Claire, meanwhile, is ensconced in 1961, just as JFK is about to take office, and the descriptions of...
Sneaking a Peek at Next Season’s Bestsellers
Ah…. Just finally sitting down after a busy morning on my feet doing what I love best: talking about books! This morning I gave one of my talks where I preview forthcoming books. I include a PowerPoint presentation and discuss books that will be published by various publishers in the next 1-5 months. I review different categories of books; for today’s audience at Keneseth Israel I spoke about adult fiction and non-fiction, including memoir, business books, cookbooks, and books by local authors. I also brought along the Open Book pop up mobile bookstore, so I had books for sale right on the spot! I love my portable bookstore and being able to turn people on to new authors. Today one reader was introduced to Ann Patchett for the first time, and walked away with a copy of Bel Canto. She’s lucky—she has a great reading experience ahead of her. I introduced another reader to Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn—what a terrific novel! And best was the eight year old girl who successfully persuaded Daddy to buy her The Big Book of Girl Stuff. She was so happy! When Daddy told her that he spent the ice cream money on the book, she didn’t even care! There are a number of new and forthcoming books that I talked about today which I’m really looking forward to reading. Here are just a few: Orfeo by Richard Powers: In a review in the New York Times, critic Jim Holt asked: Is it premature to talk of the “Powers Problem”? The potential “Powers Problem” Holt describes is that Powers, who has written 11 books, is cerebral, intellectual. He writes about weighty complicated subjects such as genetics, artificial intelligence, and game theory. I like cerebral writers, but, like this critic, I want a book that also has heart, that has fully fleshed characters. The story underpinning Orfeo is: Retired 70 year old composer Peter Els has an unusual hobby, do-it-yourself genetic engineering. He is trying to implant his theories about music into DNA. When his work is accidentally discovered by government agents, he embarks on a journey that takes the reader through Els’ history and his beliefs about music. I am so far about fifty pages into the book and am finding it very compelling. Yes, it’s intellectual, but I am enjoying the author’s explorations of music, language, and the process of creating art and science. Orfeo will be the first book discussed in my upcoming “Hot Off the Press” class. Another new book I enjoyed is Margot by Jillian Cantor. The premise of this novel is that Anne Frank’s sister Margot did not perish, but managed...
The Ongoing Education of an Editor and Writer
The more I learn the less I know. I’ve had many different publishing jobs, but the common thread throughout them all is my work as an editor. My first jobs in publishing were editorial jobs; I started as an editor, and was trained as an editor. I have since run a literary agency, written my own books, planned events, and taught, but I define myself as an editor. As an editor, I must be able to delve into a variety of subject categories, particularly for non-fiction. To do this well, I must quickly acquire enough knowledge of a topic to be of use to the author in helping to shape the work. I love to learn, and I learn quickly, and being able to gain a good degree of fluidity in a range of topics makes me a valuable editor. And yet I can never hope to acquire the same depth of understanding or expertise as the author him or herself. In these situations, my knowledge always feels superficial to me. I am acutely aware of what I don’t know. As the editorial director of Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines this last year and a half, it has been my job to cover and write about a wide swath of both the book and magazine publishing industry, a challenge with limited time and page count. But I tried, as always, to be a quick study. I’ve had my eyes opened to a new world of digital publishing, and I have met many extremely smart people doing innovative work. But the more I learn about what they do and how they think, the more I realize how very much more there is for me to learn and understand. When I wrote my own book, I chose a topic that might seem frivolous to some. My book, Elements of the Table: A Simple Guide for Hosts and Guests (Clarkson Potter), contains useful information about how to properly use china, silver, crystal, and other table décor, and interesting history related to table setting. One of my favorite parts of writing this book was the research. I read every book I could find about table setting and dining history. I visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, and was given a private tour of the butler’s pantry; I went to Replacements, Ltd. near Greensboro, NC, and was given a tour of their vast warehouse of table wares. For once, I was an expert, and it felt good. But most of the time, as editor, agent, reporter, I play a supporting role. Speaking of roles, it is now my task to find my...
Hot Off the Press: Spring 2014
In this monthly book discussion class, participants will read major works of new fiction just as they are being published. Class discussions include analysis of the book as well as background information about the author and the book’s path to publication. All classes meet in Elkins Park on Monday evenings from 7pm to 8:30 pm. Sign up here! Please note that we will be meeting this session in the library at Keneseth Israel (directions to be provided), which is a wheelchair accessible space. March 10th Orfeo by Richard Powers Retired composer Peter Els has an unusual hobby, do-it-yourself genetic engineering. Is his work dangerous? Powers (a National Book Award winner for The Echo Maker, 2006) sure-handedly builds a rich metaphor in which musical composition is an analog for other kinds of human invention, with all the beauty and terror that implies. Publication date: 1/20 BUY THE BOOK: If you would like to buy the book from me, I have it available in my Open Book Bookstore at a 20% discount for class members (plus tax). Either email me that you would like the book or click here to purchase it: https://squareup.com/market/open-book/orfeo [Note: Books for the other classes will be available, also at a discount, as they are published.] March 31st The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan Set in recession-struck Ireland, this virtuoso debut novel, long-listed for the Booker prize, pieces together a fractured portrait of a community in shock. Publication Date: 2/25 April 28th Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi Named one of 2014’s most anticipated books by CNN, The Huffington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and many others, this book from the prizewinning author of Mr. Fox is the Snow White fairy tale brilliantly recast as a story of family secrets, race, beauty, and vanity. Publication date: 3/6 May 19th Every Day is For the Thief by Teju Cole Teju Cole, whose critically acclaimed debut, Open City, was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by more than twenty publications, In his new novel, a young Nigerian living in New York City goes home to Lagos for a short visit, finding a city both familiar and strange. In a city dense with story, the unnamed narrator moves through a mosaic of life, hoping to find inspiration for his own. Publication Date: 3/25 June 9th Casebook by Mona Simpson From the acclaimed and award-winning author of Anywhere But Here, a powerful new novel about a young boy’s quest to uncover the mysteries of his unraveling family. Publication date: 4/15 Cost: The cost for...
Tell Me What You Really Think
I just read a book I didn’t much like. I did finish reading it—there are many books I abandon quickly if they do not engage me—so there was enough of interest to me to keep me going until the end to find out what happened to the characters, although I did a lot of skimming. But overall, the book was disappointing. Now what do I do? In this blog, in my classes, and, really, everywhere I go, I talk about books I’ve read and share my thoughts about them, and I have a number of people who take my book recommendations seriously. Yet while I freely share my feelings in conversation, I find it difficult to be critical in print. It’s that old adage pounded into me by my mother: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.” I’ve struggled with this issue before when I got my first (and only!) freelance assignment as a book reviewer for the Philadelphia Inquirer for a book by which, as it turned out, I was not impressed. I danced around this in the review. When I turned it in, the editor called me up. “Did you like the book?” he asked. “Ah,” I replied with a smile, “I was wondering if you were going to notice that.” He had to coach me through figuring out how to incorporate my negative opinion into the piece. After all, people read reviews to find out if the reviewer liked the book or not, right? For the last few days, I’ve been struggling with how to write about this book I just read. I have committed to writing about what I read in this blog, but I wasn’t sure how to write about this particular book and still be nice. I questioned why I felt the need to be nice. I don’t know this author. And yet I so admire the work authors do; even finishing and publishing a book is a great accomplishment. And I meet so many authors in my work; perhaps I would someday encounter her. I feel it’s my job to be supportive of authors. Interestingly, as I was having this dilemma, The New York Times read my mind. This week’s “Bookends” column in the Sunday Book Review is entitled “Do We Really Need Negative Book Reviews?” In the column, two writers, Francine Prose (I can honestly and comfortably say I like her work!) and Zoe Heller (haven’t read her) each weigh in on the topic. Prose says she used to write negative reviews when she was younger, and she describes how much easier it is to write a...