Mark Sarvas's Blog, page 45

911: PLEASE HELP MISSING POET

As many sites have noted, the poet Craig Arnold is missing in Japan, and your help is needed to make sure the search continues.

“Craig Arnold, whom some of you know, has gone missing on a small volcanic island in Japan while on a creative exchange fellowship. Craig, an experienced explorer of volcanoes, never returned to his inn after leaving alone to research the island’s active volcano for the afternoon. The authorities are on the third day of searching for Craig, and are scouring the small isl

HARRY, RIVISTO

Is it me, or do the international covers for Harry, Revised just keep getting better and better?

 

I went into a real swoon when I saw this gorgeous cover from Adelphi, the venerable Italian publishing firm.  I know I seem to say this with each new cover, but I think this one could be my favorite yet.

By the way, the paperback of Harry, Revised came out yesterday, so be sure to pop back here tomorrow when I will give away some signed copies ...

HOW ABOUT A BLURB?

Fans of James Bond know that it was the inclusion of From Russia With Love on a list of JFK's recent favorite books that propelled Ian Fleming to literary celebrity.  One hopes the same will happen to Netherland, which the Times reports the president has begun reading:

At the end of our conversation, when I asked him if he was reading anything good, he said he had become sick enough of briefing books to begin reading a novel in the evenings — “Netherland,” by Joseph O’Neill.

(Thanks to Reese Kwo

EVENTS: BEN GREENMAN (LA), BLACK WRITING IN THE AGE OF OBAMA (NY)

Two hot event alerts if you're looking for literary nourishment on either coast tonight.

In LA, New Yorker editor Ben Greenman will be reading from Please Step Back, his '60s flavored comic novel about mixed race rock star Rock Foxx.  You can read more about this Book Soup event here.

In NY, Ringshout and A Public Space present a panel on what the election of President Obama means for black writing and for the publishing of books by African Americans. Host Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl fr

WEDNESDAY MARGINALIA

* Defending James Wood from his legion of web-based kneebiters, Wyatt Mason notes - as we have previously - that "as he has written more the argument that his kingdom is that narrow becomes much harder to credit at all" and goes on to laud a critic who "has the regular, consistent capacity to remind me not why I read but how one can: with– among many virtues– care."  (The latest exhibit for the defense, as though any more were needed: Wood's excellent examination of Ian McEwan's use of manipulat

NEW READINGS

If you are an LA area reader who follows TEV via RSS, you'll want to click through and check out the newly updated Worthy Readings sidebar: Phillip Lopate!  Joe Meno!  David Francis!  Kate Christensen! Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie! Colson Whitehead!  And more! It's all there waiting for you ...

GARDAM OBE

Jane Gardam is slated to receive an OBE according to her publishers, Europa Editions:

Jane Gardam, author of Old Filth and recipient of numerous literary awards and prizes, will receive the Order of the British Empire. Her OBE will be presented by Queen Elizabeth II at the June ceremonies at Buckingham Palace.

Jane Gardam’s new novel The Man in the Wooden Hat will be published by Europa Editions in November. It is the companion novel to Old Filth as it tells the story of Edward and Betty Feathers

LATFOB - THE SHORT VERSION

We hope to share more detailed impressions of the weekend's Los Angeles Times Festival of Books presently, but some highlights:

* Listening to Michael Silverblatt, Pico Iyer, Katherine Dunn, Bernard Cooper and Geoff Dyer talk about ... well, nearly everything, in one of the most capacious and thoughtful panels of its kind we've ever seen. We suspect this one will enter the pantheon of greats, a panel that those who were there will always look back on reverently.  (The nominal topic was intersecti

3MI (PLUS GIVEAWAY): DANIYAL MUEENUDDIN

We've been quite keen on Daniyal Mueenuddin's debut collection, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, so we're delighted to have him sit for a Three Minute Interview (3MI), combined with a special Friday giveaway at the end.  Remember the 3MI rules - the first three questions are custom, the remaining seven are the same for all comers.

Mueenuddin was brought up in Lahore, Pakistan and Elroy, Wisconsin.  A graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, his stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Gr

THURSDAY MARGINALIA

* Juan Marse has won the Cervantes Prize.  And the Orange Prize shortlist has been announced.

* The Christian Science Monitor proposes reinventing the Pulitzers.

Today, if the Pulitzers recognized excellence across a wider range of print and electronic content, they could help lift journalism once more.

* More forward thinking is displayed by the reliably thoughtful gang at The Millions, where Garth Risk Hallberg kicks off a series of posts on the future of book coverage.

* Tributes to JG Ballard