Tuesday housekeeping.

Yes, yes, I know, eventually I should talk about some nonfiction books. I have some all read that are sitting here staring me in the face, but I am just not motivated. So I will take care of some reading housekeeping instead.

In today's news, a new issue of the Reader's Advisor News, published by Libraries Unlimited and sponsored by the Reader's Advisor Online, is available, and it's a particularly good one this time around. There's a great article for librarians about the value of floating collections, and a very practical article on creating a mobile web site for your library. Do consider checking it out; it's an email newsletter that you can also subscribe to (should you so choose).

In other news, Stacy Horn's latest book Unbelievable: Investigations Into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena from the Duke Parapsychology Lab, is now out in paperback. Stacy Horn, you'll remember, is the author who so generously shared a lot of insight about the nonfiction book writing process with us (and whose book The Restless Sleep we read for the last Menage). Even if a book about the history of parapsychological research and the search for proof of life after death isn't your cuppa, do consider suggesting that your local library purchase a copy so others can enjoy it. Horn is everything a nonfiction author should be: independent, able to perform stringent research, the writer of thoughtful prose and complete endnotes, and whose books are often indexed. Unlike some nonfiction writers, like, say, Thomas Friedman (who I can't imagine has any use for his ill-gotten buckets of money other than stuffing hundreds into the mattresses in the many bedrooms of his 11,000-square foot home), Horn could actually use a few sales so she can keep writing new books.

I was also going to link to a hilarious interview between Jacquelyn Mitchard and Lorrie Moore, two of my least favorite women writers*, in this month's edition of the UW-Madison alumni magazine On Wisconsin, but the good old alumni association doesn't have their new issue online yet, so I can't. Sorry about that; I'll link someday when it's available. What's particularly funny is that most of Mitchard's questions are longer than Moore's answers. Gotta love an interviewer in love with the sound of her own voice. This is my favorite exchange:

 "Q: Which brings me to another question. If we write in the Common Era, as it were, are fiction writers obliged to give a nod to 9/11, as Bugs Bunny constantly referred back to World War II? (I regret the unfortunate example, but Warner Brothers cartoons were significant in my cultural anthropology.)"

A: Hmmm..."

Scintillating, ladies. And, Jacquelyn Mitchard? Stop using phrases like "cultural anthropology."

*Well, I didn't really mind Moore until I read A Gate at the Stairs, which I'm going to go out on a limb and call the most overrated novel of 2009.

Comments

[Brandon]

Re: Lorrie Moore--I'm actually going to skip that book. I was interested in for all of ten seconds when it came out. Then the unanimous "this book is so great" reviews started trickling in. Then it became a fucking deluge. I never trust public opinion. If everyone likes it, there's something wrong.

And Jacquelyn Mitchard? Is she still publishing? I thought she wrote one bestseller fifteen years ago, then died. Literarily speaking.

[Citizen Reader]

Hey Brandon,
I can't imagine you'd enjoy any part of "A Gate at the Stairs." It's got millions of book club-discussable themes, yet not a really likeable character or interesting thought to be found. If you must read Moore, read her earlier stuff, which was a lot more interesting.

Mitchard is the author of the Oprah book "The Deep End of the Ocean," which I think may have been the FIRST Oprah book. I think after that she ran into some kind of financial trouble, and hasn't had as big a seller since. Do check out her Q&A page; my favorite part is when she says she wants to be author Ruth Rendell (but spells her name wrong):
http://jackiemitchard.com/mitchard-qa.htm

[katharine]

I saw Mitchard making out with her boyfriend at the time in the hallway to the staff area in Barnes and Noble and have never been able to take her seriously since. As for Moore, when I saw her at the Book Festival this year I was not compelled to go out and buy her book, she seemed like a typical self inflated creative writing teacher who got published because she knew how to get her books in the right hands. There's my 2 cents on these ladies.

[Citizen Reader]

Oh Katharine,
If only all American readers had as astute a bullshit radar as you do, we'd all be a lot better off. I couldn't agree more with your assessments, and my first thought on reading about the make-out session in B&N is "ewww...." Thanks for the 2 cents! (And everyone? Today is Katharine's wedding anniversary. Congratulations!!)

[Citizen Reader]

Hey Katharine--
Slightly off topic but important nonetheless: have you seen that Chelsea Handler has a new book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, out?

[Jessica]

I thought A Gate at the Stairs was a bummer. Wish I'd read something else instead.

[Venta]

I really wanted to laugh at Mitchard's question, but it was just so sad. I think my cynicism has developed into despair.

To make it worse, Mitchard has been written a couple of books for young adults. It's a trend now for adult authors to move into the lucrative children's and YA world. We laugh: if it's a picture book, someone has become a grandmother/father; if it's a young adult book, the author has taken adult characters and made them 17 years old. Ah. My cynicism is back.

[laura]

While I find, upon rereading your review of it, that I agree with your criticisms of A Gate at the Stairs, I actually did enjoy the book, although not nearly so much as her previous work.

[Citizen Reader]

Jessica,
I couldn't agree more, and not a GOOD bummer. There are such books. This one is just a bummer, full stop.

Venta my dear, my beloved cynical soulmate,
If you think the question is funny (although Mitchard referencing my beloved Bugs Bunny as part of her "cultural anthropology" makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit), the Q and A of hers I reference above is even funnier. I'm still chuckling, hours later, about her loving "Ruth Rendall" (or "Ruth Rendell," if you want to get the famous author's name right). RE: her move to start writing YA novels: yack. I can't imagine they're any good, although I'll admit Joyce Maynard (an interesting writer of adult fic and nonfic) did a nice job with her YA novel "The Cloud Chamber." Did you ever read that? I thought it was interesting, at least.

Laura,
Yeah, I can see that (still liking it). If anything, I think it was a problem of trying too hard. And one of my touchy buttons is authors who clearly set out to write books that will appeal to women's book clubs, which is the new hot arena for sales, and at which AGATS was clearly aimed.

[katharine]

Thanks for reminding me to get on the list for Chelsea's latest, now that woman has a bullshit detector.

[Venta]

I'm looking forward to reading the article on floating collections. When we created the recreational reading area in our small academic library, we looked at companies that loaned popular and best sellers to libraries. At the time we were told it was too expensive and since then we have relied on donations. I would love to revisit this issue, and I hope this article provides ways to help my argument. I was one of the dorky college students who used my public library because I read books not available in an academic library. I don't think students always have that luxury especially when other responsibilities and interests have priority. So thanks for the tip. Fortunately, the new issue is in my inbox!

I did overgeneralize about adult authors going into ya books. There are some authors who have made a nice transition. (I will check out "The Cloud Chamber.") In my experience it's the adult authors who try to do picture books that have more problems. I look at picture books as a kind of poetry. There are only so many words that can be included in the book while trying to tell young kids a story. It would seem that kind of audience switching would be difficult. Berkeley Breathed wrote a fun picture book. Now he has a chapter book for kids that sounds pretty good. It can be done!

[Rachael]

Katharine, happy anniversary!

Venta, your assessment of adult authors publishing for the young actually made me cackle at my desk. Good thing my coworkers put up with me.

My personal take on it is if the author writes well for adults, they are likely to write well for teens. Not guaranteed to, but it's not outside the realms of all that is possible. (I am a huge fan of Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, which was one of the best books published that year, period. And definitely one of the truest.)

Like Brandon I totally tend to avoid books that get too many "best book ever" reviews. They tend to be horrible little nuggets of ugh. One exception? Edgar Sawtelle. I resisted like hell, and finally was forced to read it. It's one of my favorites now, but you have to completely ignore all the reviews and just let it be a book. It will not change your life. Wroblewski did not spring fully formed from the brow of Zeus. It's just a good, engrossing, poetic novel about a very insular and odd family.

[Becky]

No, the most overrated book of 2009 was Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin. And I would encourage you to hunt down an even worse interview with Lorrie Moore in the Summer 2009 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas, the magazine of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts & Letters. The interviewer was so inept that no only did she let Moore get away with not answering any questions, she actually let Moore take over and interview the interviewer! Vast portions of this article are about what the interviewer thinks about writing! I could not even believe the magazine printed such an amateurish effort. I would love to link to this article but back issues are not available on line. I'm sure MPL has it though.

[Citizen Reader]

Venta,
I totally agree with you that broader reading selections should be available in all libraries--even academic ones--and I'm a fan of anything that works toward that goal, including floating collections.

A public library was just a few blocks (but they were long ones) down the road from my college library, but I never went there--too far away. But I was lucky enough to attend a school in which one of the libraries had a "recreational reading" collection, which was a lifesaver.

You know, if you can't overgeneralize here at CR, where can you? :) I knew totally what you meant and I think Rachael (see next comment) did too. I think the difference is you can tell when an author writes a YA book because they want to tell a different story or tell something in a different way, and when they simply want to cash in on the YA phenomenon. I'm guessing Ms. Mitchard is looking to cash in, as she's never been shy about admitting she needs the cash. That's understandable but still kind of ick.

[Citizen Reader]

Rachael,
I must admit I'm drawn to the "best book ever" reviewed books, because a. it's kind of my business to try and understand what people are reading; b. if the book sucks it's a lot of fun to buck the trend and say so; and c. sometimes that plan bites me in the ass and I actually LOVE the book I was looking to hate (Vicki Myron's memoir Dewey, about the library cat, comes to mind). For me it's a win-win-win situation.

But we will have to agree to disagree on Edgar Sawtelle. It was just too long! And, I am not a dog person (AT ALL), so I can't imagine that helped.

[Citizen Reader]

Becky,
I was going to say something about only a total idiot not liking Brooklyn, but I decided against it...(private joke; couldn't help myself). Frankly, I've never understood any of the hoopla surrounding Colm Toibin, full stop, so I'll admit you might have a case on "Brooklyn" being the most overrated novel of 2009.

And thanks for the Lorrie Moore interview tidbit! I may have to rest up after this last interview before I go hunt it down, though. :)

[eric]

I am a Wisconsin alumnus and had the unfortunate experience of reading the Mitchard "interview" as well. What a train wreck! Thanks to the previous commenter who elegantly encapsulated my feelings of creepiness by noting that Mitchard seems to be in love with the sound of her own voice.

[nan]

I just read A Gate at the Stairs and didn't like it much -- which was a huge disappointment because I thought Birds of America was great and had heretofore considered Lorrie Moore on of my favorite writers. I'm just going to keep thinking that and consider this one for the most part a misfire. Really, if you haven't checked out Birds of America give it a try. The quippy tone, which I found grating in Gate, works wonderfully in those stories. And she's also not trying to take on way too many huge subjects in your basic coming-of-age novel, either.

[Citizen Reader]

Eric,
Thank you--"train wreck" is the perfect descriptor for that interview! I wish I'd been smart enough to use that in the original post!

Actually, the few things I've read by Mitchard (including her fiction) have always made me think she's in love with the sound of her own voice. But maybe novelists have to be?

Nan,
I'm so sorry about "A Gate at the Stairs." I know just how you feel--I never loved Moore, but I thought she was a quality practitioner. I just couldn't shake the feeling that this novel was a big book club-ready sellout, and I never really enjoy those. But maybe it sold more than her previous books, and really, I can't blame her for chasing a bit more business. Authors have to eat too.