The Daily Rumpus
Get Overly Personal Emails
From Stephen Elliott
Annasue McCleave from Publishers Weekly suggested during an interview with Claire Messud, “I wouldn’t want to be friends” with Nora, the fiery protagonist in Messud’s new novel, The Woman Upstairs. “[Nora's] outlook is almost unbearably grim,” continues McCleave.
Messud shot back:
...moreFor heaven’s sake, what kind of question is that?
Former Publishers Weekly deputy reviews editor Jonny Segura will return to the magazine in the new position of senior editor, digital media. On April 16th, Segura will take over responsibility “for the editorial quality of PW‘s online presentation.”
(Via You Rach You Lose)
...moreExploring how and why publishers are using Tumblr to grow an online presence, Publisher’s Weekly converses with Rachel Fershleiser, who does literary strategic outreach for the microblogging company.
“Branding is an online capability; you can give readers a real sense of what sets your books apart.
...more“Her account forms a charming, intrepid trial by fire, as she emerges from the ordeal bruised but not beaten, changed, a lone survivor.”
Publishers Weekly reviews Rumpus contributor Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.
...moreBook Country, an online community created by Penguin this past spring, has announced the addition of a self-publishing component. Here’s an explanation of how it works.
“BC offers three publishing “packages” at three prices: $549 for the professionally formatted print/e-book package; $299 for the user-formatted print/e-book package; and $99 for the e-book only package.
...morePublisher’s Weekly reviews our November Book Club pick, Love and Shame and Love, by Peter Orner (whose Rumpus column you can read here).
“Two themes—sometimes comic, often rueful—intersect throughout: the secret shames, frustrations, and humiliations that each character endures, and the search for love that blossoms and then fails in each generation.
...morePublisher’s Weekly is attempting to deconstruct that fateful link between writers and tragic deaths through the anecdotal ends of some of the literary greats.
Tennessee Williams choked on a bottle cap, Sir Francis Bacon got a fatal case of pneumonia after stuffing a chicken with snow during a blizzard—there is a trove of death-themed stories to find out about.
...moreThe Rumpus talks to Patrick DeWitt about his new book, The Sisters Brothers, the story of two brothers in Gold Rush California.
...more
“Perhaps we should talk about fucking. Fucking and writing, fucking and talking, fucking and thinking, fucking and whatever else it is that fucking goes with…”
The deciders of the Publishers Weekly Best 10 list “ignored gender and genre and who had the buzz.” Which is kind of brilliant in a way. Because everyone knows if you ignore things, you can maybe make those things go away.
...more