Lev Raphael's Blog, page 59

Jennifer Weiner's Latest Literary Feud

In my long publishing career, I've occasionally been taken aback by an interview question or comment, so I sympathize with novelist Claire Messud when an interviewer said she wouldn't want to be friends with the lead character in Messud's new novel.



Messud gave an eloquent rebuttal:

For heaven's sake, what kind of question is that? Would you want to be friends with Humbert Humbert? Would you want to be friends with Mickey Sabbath? Saleem Sinai? Hamlet? Krapp? Oedipus? Oscar Wao? Antigone? Rasko...

Kudos to Jennifer Weiner!

In my long publishing career, I've occasionally been taken aback by an interview question or comment, so I sympathize with novelist Claire Messud when an interviewer said she wouldn't want to be friends with the lead character in Messud's new novel.



Messud gave an eloquent rebuttal:

For heaven's sake, what kind of question is that? Would you want to be friends with Humbert Humbert? Would you want to be friends with Mickey Sabbath? Saleem Sinai? Hamlet? Krapp? Oedipus? Oscar Wao? Antigone? Rasko...

Responding to Fans Isn't Always Easy

A funny Tumblr blog talks about book people you can't have a conversation with, including book clubbers and "the YA freak." It ends with authors who don't respond when you praise their books.



Despite what you might think, it's not the easiest thing being an author getting praise,



I've published 25 books in many genres since 1990 and had all kinds of comments in all sorts of venues, from airports to bookstores to bathrooms at conferences. Even now, it's a surprise and sometimes awkward, despite...

Bruges is Beyond Beautiful

I'm not a rushed traveler. I don't need to check things off a list to say that I've "done" them or "done" a city.



I'm more what the French call a flâneur, someone who likes to wander and stroll and enjoy himself at leisure. I like museums in moderation, scenic views, churches with intriguing art, sidewalk cafes, good long meals with local wines.



Bruges this past month was perfect for the kind of trip I wanted and needed, and even if I hadn't been researching a book there, I would have spent my...

Authors Can Be Trapped by TMI

Frank Bruni recently wrote a fascinating New York Times column about politicians desperate for attention. One of them was former Congressman Anthony Weiner, now infamous for tweeting pictures of his privates to someone other than his wife, and then denying it.



Weiner explained his reckless behavior by saying he craved adulation, friends, and attention; he relentlessly sought them all via Facebook and Twitter. It was a sobering story and I think it has some lessons for us as authors.



When I publ...

Peggy Noonan Slams Obama?

Peggy Noonan has just attacked President Obama in the Wall Street Journal .



Among other things, she complained about "that imperturbable drone... the sense that he is trying to teach us, like an Ivy League instructor taken aback by the backwardness of his students. And there's the unconscious superiority."



This characterization struck me as scary and hilarious. Why? Because it fits Noonan herself perfectly, and she clearly doesn't realize it.



I spoke at a writing conference in Michigan where sh...

Mistaken Identity Abroad

Something funny has been happening to me when I travel in Western Europe: I get taken for Norwegian.



It's odd because as far as I know, there's never been anyone but Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Czech or Russian Jews in my family tree. Maybe some Scandinavian DNA got in there somehow, but if that's the case, those genes must be pretty dominant.



What makes it even weirder is that the first time someone wondered if I was Norwegian, it was on a beach in Israel, and he was Jewish. A new Dutch fri...

What Should Young Writers Read?

Dan Chaon was recently taken to task in Salon for suggesting that young writers read literary fiction. Why? Because it's "terrible." I've already had my say about that blanket condemnation here.



But Chaon wasn't recommending that young writers read only literary fiction. His advice was actually more specific than that. What he said was pretty sensible:

The writing community is full of lame-o people who want to be published in journals even though they don't read the magazines that they want to...

Is Most Contemporary Literary Fiction Really Terrible?

I hear this complaint a lot, and it's just been repeated on Salon.com.



Is it true?



I guess it depends on what you're reading. I just finished Laura Kasischke's poetic, engrossing novel The Raising, set on an elite college campus. Her characters are vivid, her style poetic, her plotting skills extraordinary. I didn't want the book to end, and it's over 450 pages long.



Roxane Gay's debut collection Ayiti is a stunning short book of powerful, carefully balanced stories that take readers into a geo...

Don't Back Off When People Quote the Bible Against Marriage Equality

An African-American friend just shared that a church-going Facebook friend of hers was critical of her public stance in favor of marriage equality. My friend argued back in terms of the history of discrimination against their people, and that's a powerful comparison.



I did something similar at a talk I gave in a Michigan synagogue some years ago, raising homophobia and anti-Semitism, but I went further when one man quoted Leviticus 18:22. I asked him why this particular prohibition was so impo...