Syntax of Things

Cash Cow

In the most recent edition of his occasional column in which he "reconsiders notable and/or neglected books," Jonathan Yardley finds himself not only somewhat disappointed by Steinbeck's Cannery Row but he also questions why Steinbeck continues to be popular today:

But why do adults continue to read Steinbeck in such numbers? Four decades after his death, his books are cash cows for his publisher; he is to Viking Penguin what Khalil Gibran is to Knopf, an endless source of revenue, some of which presumably underwrites riskier books of a more literary nature. From "Cup of Gold" (1929) to "America and Americans" (1967), Steinbeck's books remain in print, along with various posthumous volumes of letters, collected miscellany and so forth. My copy of "Cannery Row" is part of a "Steinbeck Centennial Edition" issued by Penguin in 2002, a handsome paperback complete with jacket flaps, looking for all the world like a European publication. This centennial edition clearly is aimed at adult readers, and clearly it is reaching them; at this writing, its Amazon.com sales rating is far higher than that enjoyed by most recent, well-received books.

Probably the explanation for this will forever be a mystery. It cannot have much to do with the Nobel Prize in Literature that Steinbeck won in 1962; if Nobel Prizes sent American readers into bookstores, they'd still be reading Pearl Buck and Sinclair Lewis. Nor can it have much to do with relevance to the country today, since his books mostly are period pieces. Grace of literary style would send no one to his books, as they have precious little of it.

Why do people still read Steinbeck today while his contemporary William Saroyan ("The Human Comedy," "My Name Is Aram," Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Time of Your Life") is almost completely forgotten? The two writers were remarkably similar in their affection for ordinary people, their belief in the United States and their persistent sentimentality, and in their day both were hugely popular, yet now probably no more than one reader in 25 would be likely to recognize Saroyan's name. The only reason I can come up with for the high esteem in which Steinbeck is still held is his transparent sincerity. It has long been my pet theory that in the popular marketplace, readers instinctively distinguish between writers whose work draws on genuine feeling and those who rely on art or artifice, and that they reward the former while repudiating the latter. From Jacqueline Susann to Danielle Steel, from James Michener to James Patterson, readers have recognized the sincerity of feeling beneath the utter lack of literary merit, and have rewarded it accordingly.

Head's Is Gonna Role

Woops!  Excuse me while I make sure I've never done any freelance proofreading for PUP:

Princeton University Press has recalled all copies of one of its spring titles after discovering more than 90 spelling and grammar errors in the 245-page work. The book, Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District, by Peter Moskos, was published on Thursday in an initial press run of 4,000 copies.

In what appears to be a first, the press plans to reprint the book and have it back in stores later this month, after the errors have been corrected.

Mr. Moskos is an assistant professor of law, police science, and criminal-justice administration at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. From 1999 to 2001, as part of his graduate work in sociology at Harvard University, he worked as a police officer in Baltimore.

No one alleges any wrongdoing by Mr. Moskos, nor has the book’s factual substance been impugned. The errors came to light when the author’s friends and family members began sending him lists of the numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes they had noticed.

“I was flabbergasted and embarrassed,” said Peter Dougherty, the press’s director. “This is a terribly embarrassing matter for Princeton University Press.”

Rich Soil

This link goes out to my wife who I hope realizes that despite the fact that new stacks seem to be randomly sprouting and growing faster than Alabama kudzu, things could always be worse:

The books and documents took over the house. The family - two wives, three daughters of the first marriage - knew their place: second best to the books and to boxes, some of which stood for several years waiting to be unpacked. They were pressed into service, unpacking, sorting, and stacking shelves. The walls of the once-fine house were stained and peeling; there was never money to pay for repairs. Regular visitors - for Sir Thomas, for all his faults, was unfailingly generous to serious scholars - noted mournfully as they escaped down the almost impassable track towards Broadway that the state of Middle Hill House was even more grievous now than the last time they'd seen it, with every room filled with heaps of paper, manuscripts, books, charters, lying on the floor or piled up against walls, on tables, chairs and beds.

His daughters took the earliest chances they could to get married and move away. That led to one of the bitterest of the baronet's many feuds. A bright young scholar called Halliwell had come to the house and been generously counselled and entertained. In time, he asked Sir Thomas for the hand of his eldest daughter, Henrietta. Sir Thomas refused his assent. Halliwell and Henrietta disappeared one morning to Broadway and came back husband and wife.

Sir Thomas was an accomplished hater. Most of all, he hated the Catholic church: the access he readily granted to most who wanted to see his collections was firmly denied to Catholics. But from now on, he hated the Halliwells with equivalent fervour. The terms under which he'd inherited Middle Hill meant that on his death the place would pass to the Halliwells. When all other attempts to prevent this failed, he simply abandoned Middle Hill and moved to a large house in Cheltenham. It took the whole of the summer of 1864 to transport his books and manuscripts. He left Middle Hill to the elements. Rain poured in through the roof. Marauders made off with whatever they fancied. Handrails, banisters, even in time the staircase, were gone. Not a pane of glass, it was said, remained in the windows.

Hard Times at Twain House

The Hartford Advocate's Adam Bulger writes about the challenges to keep The Mark Twain House open to the public:

There's a lot of loose gossip about the dire state of the Mark Twain House. But although it continues to face a difficult financial situation, its death may be greatly — well, I think you can guess where I'm going with this.

In 2006, things looked dark for the Mark Twain House. The Hartford cultural institution opened an $18 million, state-of-the-art visitor's center in 2003, but its financing was not completely in place. By 2006, paying down the money loaned by Webster Bank seemed increasingly difficult. Then director Debra Petke fretted to the Hartford Courant that the museum was running out of cash, and had been "paralyzed as an institution."

The state stepped in, providing $3.5 million in bond money to help pay down the $11 million remaining on the debt from the construction. The Mark Twain House trimmed staff, leaving a marketing position vacant, and scaled back on revolving exhibitions.

The following year, Petke left the museum for a job at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Old Lyme. Former deputy director Jeffrey Nichols became the third person to act as executive director of the museum in five years — John Boyers, who helmed the institution for 16 years, left in 2003.

The organization sold its former administrative offices at 66 Flower St. and currently have a second building on the market. The Mark Twain House has continued to trim staff, while maintaining an impressive program of events, including a lecture series with an upcoming appearance by political satirist Andy Borowitz.

In recent conversation, Nichols said the museum was facing challenges, but he emphasized that the challenges are the same ones all arts and cultural non-profits are facing in the current economic climate.

"Like many other non-profits, it's been a challenging period for us. With the new buildings project in particular, it increased our expenses, and has been a challenge for the museum to manage," Nichols said. "With any new project, those are the kind of things that one would expect to have happen."

Cassady

A new biopic, Neal Cassady, premiered last week on IFC.  Unfortunately I forgot to set the DVR and now can only hope that they run it again in the near future.  Or I guess I can wait for the DVD.  Here's the trailer:

And here's more on the film from IFC:

IFC Festival Direct presents a film that poses the question: What happens to someone's life when they become famous through a fictionalized account? Noah Buschel's intelligent and unusual new biopic focuses on the life of Neal Cassady, one of the central figures of the Beat Generation. Chronicled by greats like Allen Ginsberg and Hunter S. Thompson, Cassady became an antihero for a new age. But, it was as Dean Moriarity, the lead character in Jack Keroucac's historic On the Road, that he was immortalized. Later in life Cassady hopes to settle into an ordinary family life, but the pressure from Beat fans to act like Moriarty haunts him. Shot gorgeously with a searing dreamy tone that mirrors the writing of the generation, "Neal Cassady" is the story of a man trying to live down his own legend. Before it kills him.

Glitter and Doom

Just this weekend, I was explaining to a friend that unlike the good old days when I would drive hours to see favorite bands, I can only think of one artist whom I would leave the state of my residence to go see perform.  And wouldn't you know it, that artist held a press conference this weekend to announce tour dates:

The last time Mr. Waits came within driving distance from me happened to be two days after the birth of Marlie.  I often joke that if that happened to be my last best chance to see him that I would be reminding her when she gets older and starts giving me grief over how I don't do this and won't do that.  "Ah, you'll never know the sacrifices I made, kid," I'll tell her.

Anyway, looks like I need to start figuring out a way to get to Alabama in July.  Here are the announced dates for the Glitter and Doom Tour:

June 17- Phoenix, Orpheum
June 18 - Phoenix, Orpheum
June 20 - El Paso, Plaza Theatre
June 22 - Houston, Jones Hall
June 23 - Dallas, Palladium
June 25 - Tulsa, Brady Theatre
June 26 - Saint Louis, Fox Theatre
June 28 - Columbus, Ohio Theatre
June 29 - Knoxville, Civic Theatre
July 1 - Jacksonville, Moran Theatre
July 2 - Mobile, Saenger Theatre
July 3 - Birmingham, Alabama Theatre
July 5 - Atlanta, Fox Theatre

Marlie Photo Friday: Gardening Pals*

*Sorry I keep getting included in these photos.  And you just missed getting a view of my gardener's crack in this one.

Faux News

This was a graphic that ran during a report on Fox & Friends the other day.  They were discussing Hillary Clinton challenging Obama to a "Lincoln-Douglas" debate.  It has to be one of Fox News's finest moments.

Yep, the one on the left is Frederick Douglass. Not the man Lincoln debated in 1858.

{via}

Good Folk

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal profiles writers (and married couple) Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly, who also happen to be old friends of yours truly.  Friends of mine or not, I highly recommend their books:

Their corner backyard is spacious, stippled with sun and shade. A patio holds a round wood table and chairs, a bottle tree shining with green and blue glass, and a swing suspended from a frame. Next to the patio is a studio and guest-house built after Franklin lost his office to the children. This is where Franklin writes; Fennelly has a desk and computer in the bedroom.

"Writing is a daily routine," said Fennelly. "Every day I try to find time to be alone, usually in the morning. I have to sit down at my desk and be in the moment, do some reading and try not to get down on myself."

Fennelly often relates her poems to what she sees and hears around her.

"Sometimes it's a curious image," she said, "or something that I read or that I overhear. Moments of tension and complexity. Sometimes I'm not even aware of it. I just know that it's something I want to get down."

Writing the poem is an act of sorting things out, finding the form, the vehicle for words.

"We think that our emotions are always really clear and transparent," said Fennelly, "but they're not. Only when we speak and write clearly can we change the world."

Even dedicated writers need help being clear and transparent, however, and when writers live together, they tend to read each other's work.

"We love books, we love words," said Fennelly. "Tommy reads all my poems."

"I'm not nearly as much help to Beth Ann as she is to me," said Franklin. "I've had a lot of editors, but she's the best. She doesn't just think line by line. She'll say 'You don't need this character' or 'This scene needs to be compressed,' and she's always right."

Son of a...

There's nothing more dangerous than a mother scorned.  Ask Michel Houellebecq:

But not even his fiercest detractor to date has threatened to knock his teeth   out with a walking stick. That is exactly what his mother, Lucie Ceccaldi   says she will do if he ever mentions her again in his work.

In a book of her own out next week, Mrs Ceccaldi lambasts the cult author as a   dishonest petit con (little git), an untalented social climber with   an unjustifiably vast ego.

“This individual, who alas! came out of my tummy, is a liar, an impostor, a   parasite and especially, especially, a little upstart ready to do anything   for fortune and fame,” she writes in L’Innocente, an autobiography.

“What are these novels where nothing ever happens?” she says.

She penned her novel from a beach hut on La Reunion island, where she lives,   as revenge for being in turn scorned and vilified by her son in his works.

Atomised, for example, includes an ageing, wayward hippy who gave up her   children to live a life of free sex in a sect-like community on the French   Riviera.

Pie to Peck: All My Sweetness to Waste

Like Franzen a few nights ago, Rick Moody gets his revenge on his BFF.  In Moody's case it's Dale Peck who ripped him a new one a few years ago over that teeth-achingly bad memoir Moody tossed out to the world, but unlike Franzen, Moody gets his payback with some pie:

All for charity, by the way.  Read all about it at Paper Cuts.

The Basement Is Crowded

Remember all of the gnashing of teeth last year over litblogs?  I know, hard to forget.  Well, imagine if n+1 had a television show on HBO.  Check out this footage from last night's Bob Costas show in which he tackled, among other things, the scourge of sports blogging.  And watch as a guy name Buzz gets apoplectic over the decline of civilization caused by blogging in general and takes it out on Will Leitch's Deadspin.  {via}

Your Reading Assignment

storySouth has posted the Notable Stories of 2007 for its Million Writers Awards.  It's a long but damn fine list and one that will sure keep all of us busy leading up to the the top ten selection and public voting in late May.

Franzen Passing Out Brownies?

Good buddies James Wood and Jonathan Franzen had a sit down in front of an audience last night at Harvard.  From the sounds of it, Franzen had a few things to get off of his chest about book reviews:

“The reviews tend to be repetitive and tend to be so filled with error that they’re kind of unbearable to read, even the nice ones,” Franzen said. “The most upsetting thing nowadays is the feeling that there’s no one out there responding intelligently to the text,” he said. “So few people are actually doing serious criticism. It’s so snarky, it’s so ad hominum, it’s so black and white.”

“The stupidest person in New York City is currently the lead reviewer of fiction for the New York Times,” he added, referring to controversial, Pulitzer-Prize winning reviewer Michiko Kakutani.

Speaking to the success of “The Corrections”—a National Book Award winner that examines how children want to correct the mistakes of their parents’ lives, and how parents live vicariously through their children—Franzen identified two types of readers: one who reads because it is the “right thing to do” and one of a more intellectual nature.

Franzen placed himself in the second category of what he termed the “resistant” or “isolated” reader.

“Some wrong turn was taken at some point between the age of eight and usually age 20, but often in junior high, where if things aren’t working out so well socially for you, for whatever reason, you spend a lot of time with books,” Franzen said. “Not surprisingly that pool of readers tends to give us most of our writers.”

1983's Murmur Becomes a Shout

What else happened in 1983?  Well, a little band from Athens, GA, released their first album, arguably one of the best debut albums ever.  Now thanks to YouTube, you can listen and watch live versions of R.E.M.'s Murmur and understand why a few years later a little guy from south Alabama would fall in love with them, a love that continues to this day.  (Warning: Quality of the following links is hit-and-miss, but all are worth watching if for no other reason than to see Michael Stipe's ever-evolving hairstyles):

Radio Free Europe (1983, David Letterman)
Pilgrimage (02/07/83 The Chase, IN, USA)
Laughing (Live 02/07/83 The Chase, Indianapolis)
Talk about the Passion (1985, Raleigh)
Moral Kiosk (Live 10/10/82 The Pier, Raleigh)
Perfect Circle (MTV Unplugged, 1991)
Catapult (Live 10/10/82 The Pier, Raleigh)
Sitting Still (Live 19/06/84 Rock of The 80's)
9-9 (6-9-84 Passaic)
Shaking Through (02/07/83 The Chase, IN, USA)
We Walk (Live 10/10/82 The Pier, Raleigh)
West of the Fields (1984, Manchester, UK)

And to wrap up today's posts, here's a clip of R.E.M. performing "King of Birds," my favorite R.E.M. song and on any given day I would tell you it's my favorite song of all-time.