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The Wednesday Web Browser

by Erika Dreifus on
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Welcome to our Wednesday online gleanings.

  • The film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go opens today. The novel was amazing (though it couldn’t top The Remains of the Day). I’m never sure about seeing adaptations of admired novels. The Remains of the Day-the-movie certainly didn’t disappoint, but that doesn’t mean this movie won’t. Plus, you have to admit that Never Let Me Go has a pretty creepy premise. I don’t know. Are you planning to see the film? Have you already read the book?
  • A new NPR column will track paperback releases. (via @book_tour)
  • Reported widely: The Wall Street Journal is launching a book-review section.
  • It is Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW)! Thank you, book bloggers!
  • David Abrams is on to something (see his comment on this post). The Writer’s Almanac reliably presents accessible and strong stuff. Case in point: Monday’s “A Difference of Fifty-Three Years,” by Noel Peattie.
  • Looking for an academic job? Here are some helpful hints for creating and maintaining your cv.
  • Sometimes, that connection with a single reader really is what matters. During my senior year in college, I wrote an honors thesis that didn’t earn the best grades or win the top prizes. But somewhere along the way, it was read by David Riesman (then an emeritus professor), who found it interesting enough to write me a complimentary note (which I still have–this was before e-mail) and invite me to his home to discuss the issues I’d written about. So when I saw this appreciation of Riesman’s own magnum opus in The Chronicle Review this week, lots of fond memories resurfaced.
  • And while we’re combining writing and academics…here’s an intriguing “report from the borderland between history and journalism.”

Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: First Review Copies Out!

by Erika Dreifus on
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The big news this week is that there are tangible copies of Quiet Americans out there in the world.

There had to be.

You see, in order to be considered for pre-publication reviews in trade pubs like Publishers Weekly, you have to get copies in as early as four months ahead of publication. In the case of Publishers Weekly, for instance: “”Submissions must be sent (3) months–preferably (4)–prior to the 1st day of the month of publication.” For Quiet Americans, “preferably (4)–prior to the 1st day of the month of publication” was yesterday.

Galleys could have been made, but fortunately, finished copies are also acceptable. I say “fortunately” because galleys would have added another layer of expense that would have posed a significant strain given the newness and size of the press with which I’m working. And there’s no guarantee that any of the trade pubs we’ve contacted will review Quiet Americans, anyway.

In any case, there is now a (small) inventory of copies, most of which will be distributed to other review outlets in the near future. (Alas, everyone else will still have to wait until January!)
It’s a bit surreal to imagine my book showing up at Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus. Surreal—and a little scary.

Friday Find: Free Guides to Paying Markets

by Erika Dreifus on
13

As some of you may remember, in my former (freelancing) life, I offered a slew of writing-related e-books for sale. As the years passed–and as I transitioned into a full-time staff job–I didn’t have sufficient time to update each e-book as frequently as I wanted. Other reasons prompted me to bid farewell to those guides: The guides to paying fiction and poetry markets, for instance, seemed less relevant once Duotrope became such an established and vital (and free) site. So, over time, I retired several of the guides, making each of them available at no charge for a period of time before sending them to the great virtual beyond.

Ultimately, I was maintaining (and updating, twice each year) two guides. One provides a directory of paying markets for book reviewers, and the other one lists dozens of paying markets for essayists. The most recent updates for both guides were completed last December.

The time is coming to say good-bye to updating–and selling–these two guides, too. But before they disappear from view (which will happen on August 1, 2010), I want to give you all the opportunity to access them (free of charge). They’re still available on the site that has handled the sales from the start: I warn you that you may need to jump through some hoops to access them (you may need a free account on that site, for instance). If you have any trouble, please contact the help staff at the site. I simply have no ability to fix any technical problems you may encounter there.

But let’s be optimistic! Let’s hope that you can access whichever book you want (or both, if that’s the case), and that the markets I’ve researched and updated over the years bring you–and your writing practice–much success!

A Review of Carol Sklenicka’s "Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life"

by Erika Dreifus on
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WHAT WE WRITE ABOUT WHEN WE WRITE ABOUT RAYMOND CARVER

Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life by Carol Sklenicka. Scribner, 592 pages. Hardcover or digital, $35.00 (paperback to be released in November).

By Erika Dreifus

For me (and, I suspect, for many of you), delving into a biography of a famous author must resemble what non-writers experience when they sit down with a celebrity profile. What an incredible opportunity to know the person behind the reputation. What a way to gain an intimate and comprehensive view into a life we may have perceived mainly through the individual’s professional output and public persona (perhaps mixed with some apocryphal stories and gossipy hearsay). And for writers—especially short story writers who came of artistic age in the last quarter of the 20th century, few contemporary authors have proved more influential than Raymond Carver.

Carol Sklenicka’s recent biography, Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life, possesses an exceedingly apt subtitle. The book provides an absorbing and meticulously documented account of how Carver, born in 1938 in Clatskanie, Ore., to a millworker and his wife, developed into a world-famous author.

As Sklenicka notes in the Introduction, by the time of Carver’s early death (from lung cancer, in 1988), “Where I’m Calling From, a selection of his short stories that the New York Times named a favorite book of the late twentieth century, had just been published; he had just completed his third collection of poetry in five years. His work appeared in twenty-two languages and the Times of London called him ‘the American Chekhov.’ He was a full-time writer, acclaimed by the press and supported by royalties from his books and a generous five-year grant from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.”

But this road to literary success was far from smooth. Sklenicka not only demonstrates the struggles, sacrifices and sufferings that Carver’s achievements demanded —particularly from his first wife, Maryann Burk Carver—but she also reveals the extent of Carver’s own single-minded dedication to his writing and the incremental steps, decisions, encounters and experiences that combined to shape the history of his career.

The biography thus recounts well-known staples of Carver’s life story, such as his undergraduate creative writing studies with a then-unknown John Gardner at Chico State College (now California State University, Chico); the dynamics of his relationship with editor Gordon Lish; the alcohol-soaked times he shared with John Cheever when both were visiting professors at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop; the reputation he earned (and disliked) for literary “minimalism”; and the second marriage, to poet Tess Gallagher. But readers are guaranteed to glean new insights and discoveries in this book, too.

For example, there’s the correspondence course that introduced to the 15-year-old Carver the “Essential Elements of a Short Story and How To Develop Them.” The first short story publications, in the spring of 1961: “Furious Seasons,” which appeared in Selection, a Chico State literary magazine for which Carver served as an editor, and “The Father,” which was published in the Humboldt State College (now University) student magazine, Toyon. The first book publication: Near Klamath, a poetry collection published by the English Club of Sacramento State College in 1967. The promises and efforts to produce a novel that was never completed. The reactions of his two children when they saw their lives rendered on the page. The genuine friendships with a staggering array of writers familiar to us all. The messiness and disputes surrounding his estate and the rights to his work after his death.

If you are put off initially by the sheer size of this book—the quintessential “doorstop” tome—I have two words of advice: Don’t be. I guarantee that you will find Sklenicka a talented writer in her own right, and, again, there is something simply captivating about reading such a detailed account of an admired author’s life and literary career.

Beyond that, you will discover that nearly 90 of the book’s pages are devoted to extra-narrative material: acknowledgments and sources, an inventory of Carver’s works, endnotes and an index. You will leave this book with an infinitely expanded understanding of Carver as a gifted author – and, just like the rest of us, an imperfect human being.

(A version of this interview appeared in The Writer magazine.)

Short Story Month 2010: The Collection Giveaway Project

by Erika Dreifus on
27

UPDATE, 5/31: Congratulations to commenters #24 (John Vanderslice) and #2 (Cara Holman), who, with some help from Random.org, have triumphed and emerged as winners of our short story collection giveaway project offerings. John and Cara, please e-mail me and let me know which book you prefer (first e-mailer gets first choice). Please include your mailing address–I will order the books and have them shipped to you asap. And thanks to everyone for participating!

Remember last month, when I stumbled on the National Poetry Month Poetry Book Giveaway? Well, all of the wonderful energy and ideas behind that project made me think that a similar enterprise should be undertaken for May, which has lately become something of an unofficial Short Story Month (as Poets & Writers recently noted, crediting organizations such as the Emerging Writers Network for the development).

Because I have such huge respect for the work of Anne Stameshkin and the entire team over at Fiction Writers Review (FWR), I contacted Anne to see if FWR might want to take on the considerable work involved with hosting a multi-blog “Short Story Collection Giveaway” this month. Fortunately, Anne agreed, and FWR is the hub for the project, and that’s where you’ll be able to check the full list of participating bloggers (improve your chances for winning by entering multiple giveaways, and get to know some bloggers who love short story collections in the process!).

Now, following the rules that FWR has come up with, I am happy to recommend to you two story collections. On May 31, I’ll announce the names of two winners selected at random from the comments section for this post. And then I’ll purchase two books and mail one to each lucky winner.

To participate in Practicing Writing’s portion of Short Story Month 2010: The Giveaway Project, I’m asking you to add a comment here, telling us about (or at least the name of) a collection you love or one you’re looking forward to reading. Comments that don’t mention a specific collection will not be eligible for the giveaway. Comments should be submitted no later than noon (U.S. Eastern) on Monday, May 31 (Memorial Day here in the U.S.), and I’ll have the winners’ names posted before midnight.

And now (drum roll, please)…I am delighted to announce the two story collections that this practicing writer will be purchasing and sending to two lucky winners:

First, we have Who I Was Supposed to Be (published in 1999 by Simon & Schuster), written by Susan Perabo. One of the bright lights that sustained me through my MFA program was my friendship with Susan Perabo, a gifted teacher (her “large group” workshops and craft seminars were among my very favorites) and equally gifted writer. I read Susan’s debut collection, Who I Was Supposed to Be, very soon after meeting the author at my first residency in May 2001. And then I reread it, bought it for friends’ birthdays, etc. I even mentioned it right here on the blog three years ago. And now I’ll buy a copy for one of you.

Meantime, in preparing this post, I discovered a terrific interview with Susan that I hope you’ll all take a few moments to listen to. If you’re very time-pressed, skip ahead and read through some of the praise that the book received from The Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun. Who I Was Supposed to Be was named a “Book of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, and The St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Moving on to the second book I’ll be delighted to purchase and send to a lucky winner, allow me to present The Pale of Settlement (published in 2007 by the University of Georgia Press), written by Margot Singer. This is another book I have mentioned here before. (I’ve also written about it for Kenyon Review Online.) Winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction, and the Shenandoah/Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers, The Pale of Settlement is also another book that I’ve been unable to stop recommending to others.

But don’t just take my word for it. Read excerpts from one of the stories on the National Endowment for the Arts website. Check out interviews with Margot Singer in The Southeast Review Online, Reform Judaism magazine, and the old Nextbook (now Tablet) site. And listen to Alan Cheuse discuss the collection for NPR.

Want to win one of these books? Remember, to be eligible, you need to submit a comment to this post, telling us about (or at least the name of) a short story collection you love or one you’re looking forward to reading. Comments that don’t mention a specific collection will not be eligible for the giveaway. If your comment doesn’t link to your personal site, please leave your e-mail address for me to use if I need to contact you about your prize. I look forward to reading all of your recommendations, and I thank you for participating in any way you are able: commenting, joining the giveaway project as a participating blogger, or even simply spreading the word.