Crescendo
by Levi Asher on Thursday, June 5, 2008 08:22 pm
1. It's an honor to review the first posthumous Kurt Vonnegut book (and, in a way, the final note in his career) at The Quarterly Conversation.
2. Another good piece in this issue: Richard Grayson on his experience publishing his own book. My own experiences with print-on-demand indie publishing have been about equally mixed. It's a hell of a way to try to make a living.
3. More in this vein: Richard Nash muses on the plight of modern publishing.
4. So does Chad Post.
5. And we all know what's the real future of publishing: it comes in a flavor called TCP-IP. I'm not in the habit of reading Vanity Fair magazine, but this is a good piece, an extensive oral history of the birth and nurturing of the public internet, featuring early players like Vint Cerf, Bob Metcalfe and Marc Andreessen, put together by Keenan Mayo and Peter Newcomb.
6. Congrats to Elizabeth Wurtzel for getting a law degree! Though I have to correct Gawker -- she's not a lawyer till she passes the bar. Ask JFK Jr (sorry).
7. Will Harry, Revised become a movie? Mark Sarvas says there's interest. Somebody's speed-dialing Matthew Broderick as we speak.
8. In exactly one month ... Caryn and I are getting married.
2. Another good piece in this issue: Richard Grayson on his experience publishing his own book. My own experiences with print-on-demand indie publishing have been about equally mixed. It's a hell of a way to try to make a living.
3. More in this vein: Richard Nash muses on the plight of modern publishing.
4. So does Chad Post.
5. And we all know what's the real future of publishing: it comes in a flavor called TCP-IP. I'm not in the habit of reading Vanity Fair magazine, but this is a good piece, an extensive oral history of the birth and nurturing of the public internet, featuring early players like Vint Cerf, Bob Metcalfe and Marc Andreessen, put together by Keenan Mayo and Peter Newcomb.
6. Congrats to Elizabeth Wurtzel for getting a law degree! Though I have to correct Gawker -- she's not a lawyer till she passes the bar. Ask JFK Jr (sorry).
7. Will Harry, Revised become a movie? Mark Sarvas says there's interest. Somebody's speed-dialing Matthew Broderick as we speak.
8. In exactly one month ... Caryn and I are getting married.
10 reponses to "Crescendo"
Awesome.
Your Vonnegut review and Grayson's Lulu POD people experience are quite a riot and touched me.
Though not as much: Levi and Caryn, to hear such great news and joy! I wish you all the best for your pending nuptials.
Question: Caryn, why do you seem to appear to becoming younger with every pic shot? Levi: You are transforming into a young (though bearded) Jack Kerouac.
Thanks to both of you for saving my life so many times for giving me a home to express myself and "privesh." Le chaim and mazel tov!
Best to you and yours,
Jay Mejia
Your deepest fan and friend for life
...and what a fetching couple you are! Gorgeous, and congrats. Warmly, LC.
cute photo! the kind of sweetness that just makes you want to say 'awwww"
All the best to both of you!
What a great picture of you two! Very happy for you. Jota, I second what you said. Hey, I dare you to run naked through the proceedings as an homage to the Ginsberg legacy. Caryn and Levi won't mind. Do it, ok?
Levi, I just read your piece on the new Vonnegut book. Well done. I stand in awe of Vonnegut, anyway, so this book is a must-read for me.
I thought about adding a comment about the POD experience, but I don't even know where to begin. I think the one gripe I have with iUniverse is, they won't let me set my own price for my books. Lulu does let writers set their own prices, but iUniverse has some connection with Barnes & Noble that makes it easier to get B&N to carry their products. I don't know. It's a hell of a thing.
By the way, if Jota shows up at your wedding, you might want to keep an eye on him.
Hi guys, what a fantastic photo. I wish you the best.
Thanks for the links. I hadn't even heard of the Kindle, but you might be interested in something about its existence which relates to the price of books.
From this article, Electronic book stirs unease at book fair from the International Herald Tribune.
This is the pertinent passage:
But excitement about the Kindle, which was introduced in November, also worries some publishing executives, who fear Amazon's still-growing power as a bookseller. Those executives note that Amazon currently sells most of its Kindle books to customers for a price well below what it pays publishers, and they anticipate that it will not be long before Amazon begins using the Kindle's popularity as a lever to demand that publishers cut prices.
This might be how the issue of the high price of books gets addressed.
Thanks for the vanity fair article link as well.
I think I might be the only one who thinks "Harry, Revisited" wasn't very good. The characters and the story line seemed cliched (seriously, the smart, alt-rock waitress and the obnoxious, hip-hop boyfriend who doesn't deserve her? Harry improbably knocking him out after learning how to fight from a friend?). The whole thing felt like a plot from a bad '80's movie.
On the other hand, I absolutely loved "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett. It's a relatively short, hilarious novel about what might happen if the Queen became an avid reader.
See you at the wedding. I have a final fitting for my bridesmaid's dress this week. I understand there will be a euchre tournament at the reception.
It's been ages since I caught the bouquet at a euchre tourney!
Congratulations upon your engagement. You are a great couple! Hey, and I may check out the new posthumous Vonnegut book.