Four days ago, The New York Times exposed the practice of purchasing five-star reviews on Amazon. So far, few have offered solutions. A Reddit user explains how to properly read Amazon review graphs through the cloud of purchased hype. Erin Keane calls for independent writers to hold themselves to higher standards.
Self-Published, Self-Promoted
“I noticed a few stains”
“This is minor, but I noticed a few typos. For instance, at various points on pages 144 through 148 and also on page 202, you wrote, ‘All wokr and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ And on page 308, it’s ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull Jack.’ If that one’s intentional, it provides a nice break from the preceding 307 pages, and the levity is a nice contrast to the monotony.” Notes on a Jack Torrance manuscript.
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Tuesday New Release Day: Obreht, Edgarian, Brooks, Gordon, McEwan, Skloot
New this week is The Tiger’s Wife, the hotly anticipated debut of Téa Obreht, the youngest of the New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 from last year. Also new in the fiction aisle is Carol Edgarian’s Three Stages of Amazement. David Brooks’s latest pop sociology effort The Social Animal is now out — this one, excerpted in the New Yorker — sets itself apart from similar tomes by illustrating its findings through a pair of fictional characters. Now out in paperback are National Book Award winner Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon, Ian McEwan’s Solar, and Rebecca Skloot’s non-fiction blockbuster The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
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World of Redundant Forms
Recommended Reading: Over at Electric Literature, Lori Huth writes about Jeanette Winterson and contemporary war metaphor: “I wanted to feel powerful emotions commensurate with the horror of the story behind the images. I wanted to feel bewildered, and to lament, but instead I felt numb.”
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Prime Viewing
For any Amazon Prime members out there, Amazon has rolled out a selection of streaming movies and TV shows available for free with your Prime membership.
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Holy the First Pitch!
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg once threw out a surprisingly decent first pitch at a San Francisco Giants game while wearing a pocket protector. Seriously. Here’s our own Bill Morris with a little more on Ginsberg, Beats, and film.
Masochism and Drama
“Ghosts are just the fucked-up dead.” This interview with David Mitchell on the release of his spooky new novel Slade House is a perfect Halloween read. We interviewed Mitchell this same time last year in conjunction with the publication of The Bone Clocks.
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In Which Samuel Beckett Didn’t Intend To Be A Writer
“He was a great exploiter.” From This Recording, Samuel Beckett’s recollections of James Joyce, in his own words.
Child of Franco
Warning: There’s another James Franco film coming your way. His latest literary adaptation is of Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. The first trailer features banjo, an ominous voiceover, an edgy Scott Haze, and surprisingly little Franco.
I have to say it is tempting to hire people to give your book a positive review, or for that matter, any review. So far I have resisted the temptation. I have tried the honor system and find readers myself, or authors that want to do a review in exchange for one on their book without the promise that it will be positive, but with the assurance that it will be an honest reflection of their thoughts. Unfortunately, I did more reviews than I got back from other authors, but we are only talking about very low numbers. There just are too many books out and a lot of slush…it is hard to break into the world of books as a new independent author.
Johanna van Zanten