Lizzie Skurnick's Blog, page 9

Refuse to keep track of your Slate blogs, however

Washington Post, why are you not content with one publication? Why must you bring forth blogs like some kind of web-based hydra? Nonetheless, thank you for your nice mention in whatever this thing is:

Skurnick even thinks to include risque fiction by Jean Auel and V.C. Andrews, which was intended for adults but nonetheless got passed around at recess. Shelf Discovery may not hold universal appeal, but for anyone who got excited about library visits as a child it should prove an enjoyable excursio

Tabled II, w/commentary

I have been keeping track of sightings of Shelf Discovery because I am, you know, a new author, and it's neat. (I love my book of poetry, but it gets shelved in a lovely bookstore called Paypal.) But I must share with you my absolute FAVORITE photo of the summer, which comes from the blogger Jackie W.:

I love this photo, but I love it especially because the poolside read is so central to my life it even makes it into the title poem of my collection, Check-In (PDF).

Jackie also wrote a wonderful re

Second Sight(ings)

More books on tables! Maybe I'll just buy a table at home, and lie on it. The first of these is from Jackie W., who made the most marvelous display I have EVER SEEN:

Display at Iowa B&N

SAD the wondrous Miss Judy is getting disembodied treatment, though I can't decide which is worse, the lower-body or this new half-face thing! It's like Phantom of the Menses.

Brooklyn's Court Street B&N

Snapped by my marvelous friend Casey.

Newark Penn Station's Hudson Books

I asked the nice lady who works here to

Fish incredulous to actually yet again receive gift of bicycle

Recently, I once again shared airspace with the lively and fun Ed Champion of the Bat Segundo show, who, amidst much chatter about redheadedness, was one of the many men who have challenged, in RANK FINGER-POINTING outrage, my alleged needless gender focus, to the tune of half a show. (Over coffee I had brewed for him, I might add.) Ed's objection to my book was along the lines that he a) once had long hair and b) was not a violent mill-worker, and had thus somehow become the object of discrimin

Bergen Record and Newark Star-Ledger will step up, I am sure

Amid the truly amazing (to me, at least) response to this book from creatures great and small has been one teeny sadness: a noticeable lack of hometown love.* (Brian Lehrer — seriously? Why don't you think women should be allowed to read????) Still, I could not have chosen two more echt-hometown organs, nor more wondrous writeups, than those with Newsday** and THE POST!!!. Excerptry:

From my interview with Newsday's Carmela Ciuraru:

What do you think about parents monitoring their teenagers' readi

The Wonderful Preface to Henry Sugar (One More)

I wrote a brief intro to my Jezebel essay on The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More about boys and Shelf Discovery that I meant to go on for three sentences and of course went on for 65. (That's what happens when you drink three coffees and get on the Acela w/computer.) It is mainly an excercise in un-peeving myself so I can turn to one of my FAVORITE BOOKS in the world without feeling like I'm handing over the Sudetenlands. I've posted all 19 paragraphs here. To get back to the far les

That might have been MY mother. And yes, 'And This is Laura," coming, coming!

When I started SHELF DISCOVERY, I immediately remembered so many small details about some of the books, silly little inconsequential details that have no effect on the plot, story, or characters, but nonetheless remained wedged in my brain (in some cases 25+ years later). Is it shameful that I can't recall the major characters and plots of most of my "required" high school and college reading, but can remember that in Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, she had been humming the song "Beautifu

'It's Beginning to Hurt' by James Lasdun

It's the ability to delude ourselves that Lasdun keeps coming back to, knowing it can lead only to a more horrible moment: when we realize that we should have noticed sooner how we were going wrong.

via latimes.com.

There's a very minor error that's grammatically wiggleable but WILL SEEM WRONG. Ignore

I reviewed It's Beginning to Hurt, by James Lasdun, for LAT:

It's the ability to delude ourselves that Lasdun keeps coming back to, knowing it can lead only to a more horrible moment: when we realize that we should have noticed sooner how we were going wrong. (That's perhaps truly clearest in "The Old Man," where a fiancé has the dreadful realization that he's about to marry a murderer.) Most moving is the moment in the title story when a man recalls with despair his mistress dismissing him: "Mar

I've made a little list

Booklist's Book Group Buzz wrote a very nice post about how you should have your book group use my book, which you should:

I have found an entire shelf of tween-favorites in this book. After I spent a weekend strolling the bookshelves of my mind (and placing reserves on all these life-shaping books that I neglected to keep), I began to think about talking about these books with other readers.

Skurnick is not only paying tribute to these great, classic novels of teengirldom, but she's also thoughtf