Our New Editors Work For Mankind
Currently we are grooming a new fiction and poetry editor, which certainly makes for exciting times here at DSM headquarters. Both players bring unique skills and solid gameplans to our team. Stay tuned for a formal introduction later this week. Speaking of players, authors and their books have long been part of an elaborate full-court press that corners potential readers with effective marketing and design. Dwight Garner, a book critic (playa!) with the New York Times, has assembled a collage of noteworthy jacket covers from years gone by. Elsewhere, we know politics is a game, albeit one that’s played on an international field. To make sense of it all, Mitch Dickstein documents Communism and American politics in the 1930s. Check out a review of his new book in SF Gate. A stay-at-home writer huffs and puffs in the Huffington Post, Princeton University releases a tome of Islamic study, and Dublin’s IMPAC literary award announces its long list. Last but not least, we have two influential French men, now both dead, who changed the way we read poetry and view primitive cultures. Arthur and Claude, welcome to DSM. You’re in good company. And rest assured, two more newbies are on their way. — Kevin Murphy
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Literature in the Media,
Wednesday's Writerly Happenings
Didn't I Tell You?
Rascals. All of us. Especially this Monday, what with Halloween behind us. Granted, we subscribed to our hermetic philosophy and did absolutely nothing for October’s ghoulish holiday. But still, we imagine many of you are struggling this morning — with makeup, memories and tummy aches. Nonetheless, the DSM furnace burns on. Here’s the skinny: Raymond Carver did not like sappy publicists trumping his words. Still, he’d be happy with the second life of his most famous book. William T. Vollman is a mental estuary. Drink up what you can. Who here, right now, wants to talk about women’s rights? Nobody? Us neither. Read Splice Today’s take on why it still matters. Google remains the thorn that for-the-love-of-Christ will not come out of the publishing industry’s skin. An academic from south Florida wins a literary prize, Dorothea Lange looks back at the real Great Depression, and the detective story is dead. In closing, Ayn Rand’s putrid prose is re-evaluated. All we learn is what we already know: she’s kinky, she’s bold. Freshen up, kids. A new, costume-free week dawns. — Kevin Murphy
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Monday's Body of Work
Pamuk's Latest Chapter
Newsflash: The pumpkin we picked up at the market a couple of weeks ago is on its way out. Our urge to smash it is strong. Routinely we imagine dropping it from an urban peak and watching it plummet until it strikes the pavement and then a tidal burst of sloppy orange flesh stops the city in its tracks. Elsewhere, this thing called writing is really catching on. Just look at all these authors: Orhan Pamuk releases a new novel, which is good news for readers and bad news for pumpkins. Jonathan Lethem didn’t describe New York as a tasty pumpkin pie. But he should have. New Delhi once loved its pumpkins. Then Noir showed up and killed them dead. Read more in Rain Taxi. Abe Books gets in the spirit and announces the best ghostwritten books of all time; add to that list The Great Pumpkin Divorce, which shall be our first bestseller. Tennessee Williams was a notorious pumpkin thief. Can a writing contest in his name restore his reputation? Some say CA Conrad looks like a pumpkin. His words, though, are sharper than your grandma’s carving knife. Lastly, John Galsworthy should have had more staying power than James Joyce, at least in the minds of early 20th century readers. That’s interesting, especially since Joyce is the grandest pumpkin crusher the world has ever seen. — Kevin Murphy
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Tagged as:
Literature Contests,
Literature in the Media,
Wednesday's Writerly Happenings
