Is Sergio de la Pava‘s A Naked Singularity the first great self-published novel of the new century? Aren’t you at least a little bit curious?
Triumph of the Vanity Press?
A writer by any other name…
Using pen names has been a common practice for, well, a very long time. George Eliot is a nom de plume, as are George Orwell and George Sand. Though not a George, journalist Sarah Hall chose to publish her fiction under a different name. She writes for The Guardian about this decision, the history of the pen name, and the reasons authors continue to use them.
For Jane, Forever Ago
“It’s part of Jane Austen’s genius that she can bring the maximum of drama and momentousness to the most minimal of occasions.” Here is David Denby from The New Yorker on reading (and listening to) Austen’s Emma, which is celebrating its two-hundredth year in print. We’ve brought you a bunch of bits on Austen in the past.
EU Literature Prizewinners Announced
Winners of the EU Prize for Literature were announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
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Poet Laureate (Again)
“Her exchanges with Americans in small towns and rural communities are inspiring an appreciation of poetry and history – and remind us that poetry has value for all of our lives.” The Library of Congress appointed Tracy K. Smith to a second term as the 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2018-2019. For her second term, Smith edited an anthology called American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time, which will be published by Graywolf Press in association with the Library of Congress. Pair with: our review of Smith’s memoir, Ordinary Light.
Wisconsin Envy
Chad Harbach and Bon Iver make this a big year for Wisconsin. It seems New York is slowly catching up.
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My comment seems to have been deleted, I guess because I included a link to a page with my thoughts on the book? Anyway, I liked it very much, although my praise is not quite so unqualified as Scott’s was. My more detailed opinion is not hard to find.
In short, Yes, I’m interested! The moment I read that post on Monday I ordered the book from the publisher. All it really takes is for someone to compare a book to Evan Dara’s books and it ends up making its way to the front of my “to read” queue.
However, I don’t think that Scott said it’s the first great self-published novel of this century. He specifically mentions that Evan Dara’s “The Easy-Chain” is self-published.
Anyway, I can’t wait to read this book. I am so thankful to book blogs who constantly help me spend a more than healthy chunk of my paychecks on books!
I’m 200 pages into A Naked Singularity right now, and it is absolutely great–to me, it’s not quite on the level of Dara’s The Lost Scrapbook, but what is? Regardless, De La Pava’s book is excellent, and definitely worth reading for anyone who likes Wallace, Gaddis, Pynchon, Dellilo, etc. etc.