Intellectual Curiosities and Provocations

August 2007

Reviewing the Review: August 5 2007

Politics
The problem with me reviewing the New York Times Book Review each week is that I start (start?) to repeat myself. It's pretty much a sure thing that I'll enjoy a book review written by either Liesl Schillinger or Walter Kirn, because Liesl approaches each book with the joy of fresh discovery, and Walter will not consider his job done until he has unearthed at least a couple of surprising insights or connections. So, yeah. They both show up in this week's issue, and they both do a fine job yet again.

This article is part of the Reviewing the New York Times Book Review series. The next post in the series is Reviewing the Review: August 12 2007. The previous post in the series is Reviewing the Review: July 29 2007.

Let Them Eat Cake (or, Great Moments in Book Pricing)

Economics,
Fiction,
News,
Publishing,
Bookselling
I've gotten a lot of reaction to my posts about the clueless way literary novels are priced. I've tried to establish that our industry's practice of selling only expensive premium editions for a novel's first year is dysfunctional and self-defeating beyond any reasonable explanation, and at least half of the people who've responded to my posts have told me my argument is flawed. As far as I can see, though, my conclusions remain intact.

But why argue theories and generalizations? Let's take a stroll through our neighborhood bookstore and see what our industry's book pricing practice looks and feels like to "the boots on the ground".

The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon: $26.95

This is a quirky novel by a writer who appeals notably to a hip young audience. Assuming these hip young potential book buyers are accustomed to downloading songs for a dollar each, they'd have to expect this book to be worth twenty-seven good songs in order to take a risk on it. Way to grab those impulse buyers, HarperCollins!



New England White by Stephen L. Carter: $26.95

This is a smart literary novel that explores issues of class and African-American identity in a campus setting. The book got moderately good reviews in many newspapers, but the author is not a household name and the book will be a marginal buy for most potential readers. At $26.95, this ought to fly off the shelves!

Reviewing the Review: August 12 2007

Fiction,
Kid Lit
Though Ed Champion mines it for expert parody and Sarah Weinman isn't buying a word, Christopher Hitchens' New York Times Book Review cover article on J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a fine piece of work.

This article is part of the Reviewing the New York Times Book Review series. The next post in the series is Reviewing the Review: August 19 2007. The previous post in the series is Reviewing the Review: August 5 2007.

The Thrilling Conclusion of My Arabic Language Studies

Arabic,
Personal
Occasionally this summer I've posted some observations inspired by my experience in an intensive Arabic language program (here and here, to be specific.) Well, I am happy to report that after a final exam (complete with a somewhat nerve-wracking oral exam wherein my professor asked questions about what I wanted to do with my future, and, lacking the vocabulary to say "I want to be a diva superstar" I had to settle for saying some stuff about teaching English as a second language) I finished the program on F

Reviewing the Review: August 19 2007

Beat Generation
Let the cliches explode in the sky, like roman candles that burn, burn, burn and everybody says "awww". The New York Times Book Review is a Jack Kerouac theme issue today, and I wish they'd just kill me instead.

This article is part of the Reviewing the New York Times Book Review series. The next post in the series is Reviewing the Review: August 26 2007. The previous post in the series is Reviewing the Review: August 12 2007.

The Seagull Is Back

Summer Of Love
The Seagull is back. And I'm not talking about Anton Chekhov.

A friend of mine literally screamed -- a spontaneous burst of horror -- when she spotted the new edition of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a once-popular book from the 1970's, on a bookstore shelf. Richard Bach's slightly corny fable about a bird who wants to fly faster and better was the "Da Vinci Code" of its age, and people usually either like it or violently hate it. I read it when I was a kid and thought it was pretty good. Whether it deserves a comeback or not, I'm really not sure.

Jamelah Reads The Classics: Agnes Grey

British,
Classics
I bet you were wondering when I was going to get around to part two of my official Brontepalooza, weren't you? Well, I assure you that I did not forget about the work of Anne Bronte, but I was kinda distracted with this language thing, you understand. Anyway, I am back with the reading things by people who have been dead awhile, so down to business we go. Jamelah Reads The Classics: Brontepalooza Part 2: Agnes Grey.

This article is part of the Jamelah Reads The Classics series. The next post in the series is Jamelah Reads the Classics: 20th Century Edition. The previous post in the series is Jamelah Reads The Classics: Wuthering Heights.

Reviewing the Review: August 26 2007

Francine Prose likes Bearing the Body by Ehud Havazelet very much:

Havazelet is a writer who takes huge risks, who challenges us -- and himself -- to love those who are the most unlovable, the most deeply and humanly flawed.

Her impassioned review of a morally challenging novel is one of the better things in today's New York Times Book Review. Lynn Harris's entertaining consideration of Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave is also a pleasure to read:

This article is part of the Reviewing the New York Times Book Review series. The next post in the series is Reviewing the Review: September 2 2007. The previous post in the series is Reviewing the Review: August 19 2007.

DOES LITERARY FICTION SUFFER FROM DYSFUNCTIONAL PRICING? A Conversation

Economics,
Publishing


LitKicks has asked a variety of book industry professionals (including publishers, authors, agents, editors, distributors, sales representatives, booksellers, librarians, critics and bloggers) a question: "Does literary fiction suffer from dysfunctional pricing?" Below is the record of a conversation that took place in September and October 2007.

Introduction and Project Goals

• Levi Asher

This article is part of the Does Literary Fiction Suffer From Dysfunctional Pricing? series. The next post in the series is Does Literary Fiction Suffer From Dysfunctional Pricing (Introduction).

Does Literary Fiction Suffer From Dysfunctional Pricing (Introduction)

News,
Publishing
A year and a half ago I wrote my first post about book pricing for literary fiction, complaining that our publishing economy is mired in a creaky business model -- hardcover-only first releases -- that doesn't seem to work well for any parties concerned. The fact that most fiction readers intensely dislike the tradition of hardcover-only releases seems like an obvious big flaw in the sales model to me, and at the time I wrote this first post I felt the case against hardcover-first publishing for literary fiction was simple and clear.

This article is part of the Does Literary Fiction Suffer From Dysfunctional Pricing? series. The next post in the series is Richard Nash, Mark Sarvas, Scott Hoffman on Book Pricing for Literary Fiction. The previous post in the series is DOES LITERARY FICTION SUFFER FROM DYSFUNCTIONAL PRICING? A Conversation.