Catching Up

The past few weeks have easily been, without exaggeration, among the busiest of my entire life, so I apologize if I neglected this space.

You may have heard we have launched a new series of classics, called The Calder Collection (read the Bookseller article here), and are working hard with the English National Opera on a new series of opera guides, to be published under the Overture Publishing imprint (read the announcement here).

My novel, Bestseller, is with the printers, and advance copies should be here soon. Elisabetta has lined up a number of interviews, reading-group visits and other promotional activities which have kept me busy even outside of office hours. At night, when I am not in a state of drunken stupor, I carry on with my translation of WH Auden's poems or do a bit of editing (Turgenev, Zoshchenko, what else?).

Great news yesterday, as Rosie Alison's book, The Very Thought of You, has been longlisted for the Orange Prize. As it was to be expected, we have been literally inundated with requests. Encouraging news from a commercial point of view too: the first printrun of our mass-market edition (13,000 copies), due to be released next week, is all but gone already, before publication.

A new book by Yasutaka Tsutsui – The Maid, one of his most popular books in Japan – has just come back from the printers. We are very excited.

A great review of Bykov's Living Souls in The Times by Elaine Fenstein, who aptly describes the novel as "a Catch-22 of modern Russia". Very good start. I look forward to celebrating with a triple vodka in April when he comes over for the London Book Fair.

On the classics front, we received finished copies of Dante's Inferno and Cavalcanti's Poems, among other books, and we are about to sign off our new edition of Céline's Journey to the End of the Night.

In our spare time, lots of dinners with friends, as well as a full diary of work and social commitments (tomorrow off to the IPG Conference in Windsor, for example). The kids are getting more and more demanding as they learn to read and write, but remain the greatest joy even on the direst day.

All this may sounds great, but I can't wait to get away from it to be honest – we've booked a family trip through Holland and Flanders in early April – which will be followed by a week in Rome in May (I hope! – I haven't been for some time and I miss it).

I promise you won't have to wait another month for a new post.

AG

DEAR EVERYBODY: UK Blog Tour Wrap Up

I had a great time on my UK blog tour for the paperback of DEAR EVERYBODY that Alma Books just put out (US paperback coming in September). Here’s the wrap up with links to everything:

Me & My Big Mouth: DEAR EVERYBODY is “a wonderful, clever, imaginative and moving book. It really is quite something ... a fucking marvelous book." There’s also a nice interview.

Dogmatika: A fantastic interview that is assembled in the spirit of DEAR EVERYBODY, many different pieces.

The View From Here: An article about the writing of DEAR EVERYBODY that’s called "349 Pieces" because that's how many pieces make up the novel.

3:AM Magazine: Top 5 (novels that you may not have heard of).

Lizzy’s Literary Life: DEAR EVERYBODY is "unputdownable ... the most searingly honest and authentic sentiments I have ever read ... I had to pick myself up off the floor at the end ... easily the best read of 2009 thus far." Plus, there's a smart interview.

Digital Fiction Show: DEAR EVERYBODY "lives in the head of the reader after we have read it ... The letters combine to create a wonderful resonance that feels immensely vivid and real ... a lot of writers will read DEAR EVERYBODY wishing they had thought of something like this themselves." Plus, there's an excerpt and the trailer.

Planting Words: Michael Kimball "made me cry by creating a character called Jonathon, and making me care about him as if he were a member of my own family." Plus, there is a nice conversation.

Elizabeth Baines: DEAR EVERYBODY is "striking, witty, and above all moving … And here’s the most impressive thing to me – what Michael Kimball has done is to portray formally the fragmentation of a life (yet in a holistic and wholly satisfying way) – something which the form of a traditional novel would belie." Plus, Elizabeth calls out the publishing industry for its culturally disgraceful ways.

Writing Neuroses: A smart interview about the antithesis of the great American novel and ghastly characters.

Just William's Luck: DEAR EVERYBODY is "... the perfect way to tell the story of a man who has fallen through the net ... remembering that he has taken his own life gives a forensic importance to the documents. As you go through the evidence you may find yourself caring more with each page not only about his sad, short life but the continuing narrative of those other voices around him." Plus, there’s a thoughtful interview about unreliable narrators.

In Spring It Is Dawn: DEAR EVERYBODY is "a touching story of human relationships and how they can go wrong, and a story which made me stop to ponder the long-lasting effects our actions can have on others."

Thank you, Daniel, Scott, Susan, Mike, Marcia, Adrian, Fiona, Elizabeth, Kay, William, and Tanabata.

DEAR EVERYBODY in Paperback

I have loved my UK publishers ever since 4th Estate took on my first novel, The Way the Family Got Away, after 119 other publishers had rejected it. Now Alma Books has just put out the UK paperback of Dear Everybody (US paperback coming in September) and I’m excited to be doing a two-week tour of the vibrant UK blogosphere starting next week.

April 13th *Me & My Big Mouth*
April 15th *Dogmatika*
April 17th *The View From Here*
April 18th *3am Magazine*
April 19th *Lizzy’s Literary Life*
April 20th *Digital Fiction Show*
April 21st *Planting Words*
April 23rd *Elizabeth Baines*
April 25th *Writing Neuroses*
April 26th *Just William's Luck*

If any other UK bloggers or reviewers would like a review copy, please leave a comment here and I’ll ask the good Daniel Seton of Alma Books to post one to you.

The Very First Parts of DEAR EVERYBODY that Made It into Print

The very first parts of DEAR EVERYBODY that made it into print were Excerpts from the Suicide Letters of Jonathon Bender. That was the piece that was shortlisted by Stephen King and Dave Eggers. Those letters are early versions of the 200+ letters that make up the novel--along with diary entries, psychological evaluations, yearbook quotes, weather reports, an obituary, a last will and testament, and lots of other documents.