Two Fantastic Essays by Dan Menaker, author of A GOOD TALK
Over at the WSJ's Speakeasy blog, A Good Talk author Dan Menaker deploys his characteristic humor with a dash of pathos in a post you can read here. He begins:
In April of 2008, an X-ray revealed that I had a tumor in the upper lobe of my left lung. It was almost surely cancer, but it was small enough to be classified Stage 1A — the “best” stage. This peristalsis-stimulating diagnosis led not only to fear in me and my family and friends but to some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had, of which I will give you a small sampling here. They are not the aimless conversations that I focus on in my book, “A Good Talk: The Story and Skill of Conversation,” just about to be published, but they did have their wacky and off-target moments and their considerable non-medical rewards.
The subsequent conversations are tender, hilarious, and moving. We can't recommend it enough.
In other Menaker news, Dan has a great essay in this month's O magazine, titled "How to Break The Ice." One wonderful snippet:
Now, in terms of ending a conversation, I had an aunt who was a Quaker, and she and my uncle used to have people over for dinner, and sometimes when the guests got up to leave, they would trail on and on and on and just keep talking—until my aunt, who was a terrifically nice, cherubic person, would finally say, "Thee may go, or thee may stay, but don't ooze."
Per our mission statement, we're always seeking out new ways to "establish communities of conversation surrounding our books." Twitter seemed like a natural way to do this. If you'd like, please follow us! http://twitter.com/twelvebooks
Twelve's own Christopher Hitchens is -- as always -- making the rounds. This week finds him musing on the "crepuscular prose" of Kazuo Ishiguro's latest, Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, out from Knopf.
You can read his review here.. though you may want to read an excerpt before you let the world's "foremost rhetorical pugilist" (here working with great subtlety) influence your opinions!
The following is a message from Cary Goldstein, Twelve's Director of Publicity.
We are gratified by the intense interest in and enthusiastic reaction to True Compass by Senator Edward M. Kennedy. We also regret we are unable to make the book available to you immediately. We are eager to share this extraordinary autobiography with you. This is not yet possible because the book has not reached most booksellers, including major national accounts and independent stores. We know how frustrated readers can get when they can't find a book, and we also know how frustrated booksellers can get when they cannot meet demand (or when certain accounts have an unfair advantage by selling early). That's why we set a uniform national on-sale date of September 14, which is the earliest we can guarantee all readers and booksellers access to True Compass.
While we recognize the news value of the book, one of our objectives as a publisher is to facilitate a national conversation among readers. That conversation will be better and more informed when everyone has access to True Compass on September 14th, and we eagerly await that day. At that time, we will also post the first chapter at www.twelvebooks.com. In the interim, we appreciate your patience, your understanding, and the strict adherence among booksellers to our embargo.
The following is a message from Jon Karp, Twelve's Editor-in-Chief.
The greatest experience of my twenty years in the publishing business has been working with Edward M. Kennedy on his long-awaited autobiography, True Compass, which Twelve will publish on September 14. Over the past two years, I've had the incredible opportunity of asking Senator Kennedy every question I could think of – and receiving answers that deepened my understanding of national politics and took me inside one of the most heralded families in America. His book will be a revelation, an international event, and a lasting contribution to American history.
Senator Kennedy kept a personal journal through nearly 50 years of his public life, beginning with John F. Kennedy’s campaign for president in 1960. Five years ago, he began an oral history project at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, where he began to address all aspects of his life – his family, his career in the Senate, and his view of the historic events of our time. In writing his memoirs, he worked with collaborator Ron Powers, co-author of the #1 bestseller Flags of Our Fathers and author of Mark Twain: A Life, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
The manuscript is 650 pages and I’ve read every word of it multiple times; it is dazzling – a candid, heartfelt, and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life. I can’t wait to share it with you.
Sincerely, Jonathan Karp Publisher and Editor-in-Chief TWELVE
For your Friday Afternoon: TWELVE Steps to Better Book Publishing
In case you missed it" Twelve's Editor-In-Chief penned an article for Publishers Weekly recently, describing what publishers can do to succeed in an increasingly difficult industry. Most of the advice boils down to simply being realistic.
We are acquiring and publishing too many books. We buy them opportunistically, and at times thoughtlessly. We edit and launch them too quickly. We market them carelessly and ephemerally. Too often, we abdicate our responsibility to be filters, guides, guardians and gatekeepers. And now, as in many other industries, we are suffering the effects.
There's some humor, luckily, to take the edge off of this bleak assessment. Karp supports his claims by taking the reader on a tour of his local bookstore-- pointing out some dazzlingly superfluous works:
Who could resist a history of the potato, titled, of course, Potato. Amazingly, this wasn't the only work available on the subject. There's also The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World. Wasn't it intellectually responsible of the publisher to limit the scope of the subtitle to the Western world?
To read the rest, including twelve specific steps to a more sustainable publishing model, and more books that lack reasons to exist, click here.
Today on The Daily Beast: Christ Matthews-- host of Hardball, bestselling author, survivor of malaria-- asks whether Losing Mum and Pup satisfies JFK's criterion for biographical success (i.e., Does it compelling convey what its subject was like?). Its an interesting question, and a complicated one. Here are some key excerpts:
"If [Buckley] left some things out as he takes us through his parents’ last months, it’s like one of those plays by Harold Pinter. What he doesn’t say says a lot."
"As you read Buckley’s story of the year in which he lost both parents, there’s a “life goes on” quality to it all. He seems to be saying in numerous ways that, given it all—the spats, the toughness—the palpable love between his parents won in the end."
