“Shortly after Josh Kilmer-Purcell turned in his second book to Harper Perennial, he discovered that the novel was known in-house both as Candy Everybody Wants and Candy Everyone Wants. He and his editor couldn’t decide which one it should be, so Kilmer-Purcell is letting his fans decide, holding an open vote on his MySpace blog that runs through the end of September.”
“Movie director Wes Anderson, known for such offbeat films as ‘Rushmore’ and ‘The Royal Tenenbaums,’ is adding an especially unconventional touch to his latest project.
Before ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ is released in New York on Saturday, Mr. Anderson is urging audiences to see another of his films — this one a related 13-minute short called ‘Hotel Chevalier’ that will be released on the Internet this week…”
Herewith please find the third and final Scott Heim video, author of Mysterious Skin and the forthcoming novel, We Disappear. For those of you in Boston, Scott will appear with Arthur Golden, Russell Banks, and Alice Hoffman to “read short excerpts from their novels, show the corresponding scenes from the film versions, and discuss the ‘translation’ from page to screen.” The event takes place on October 11th at the Coolidge Corner Theater.
It was a little cold, and then pretty hot, and then quite cold again, but we powered through and had a bookworm Sunday in our (my) favorite borough. We gave out hundreds of copies of our new Take a Stranger Home ‘Zine, while talking up some of our favorite Perennial classics and paperback originals. Leave a comment if you’d like a copy of the free ‘Zine.
We also had a very special visit from Kyle Macdonald, the handsome Canuck who, via Craigslist, traded up from One Red Paperclip, to one (whitish?) house. The Sultan of Swap chronicled his experiences in One Red Paperclip and was kind enough to trade one signed copy of his book for a handful of our Perennial titles. His first pick was Dishwasher and I’ve already gotten an email from him giving it a thumbs up!
Here’s a picture from Sunday. Live vicariously folks.
By car, by bus, and by train we wended our way to Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook, Brooklyn—the land of urban stillness—for our Take A Stranger Home reading. Authors Bryan Charles, Shelley Jackson, and Matt Marinovich read from their respective debut novels. As you’ll see, my video recording device can handle only so many intensities of light, but the audio is clear as a bell.
That’s Matt Marinovich, author of Strange Skies. My footage belies the fact that the authors did indeed look fantastic up there. Just feast your eyes upon Matt’s chiseled visage as he intones from among the shadows.
The turnout was good. The location an oasis. And the authors made it all worthwhile. If you’re looking for some great reads, look here.
Join Harper Perennial in celebrating three debut authors as they read from and sign their books in Brooklyn.
September 10th at 8pm.
Rocky Sullivan’s
34 Van Dyke Street (Map)
From Michael Largo, the author of Final Exits, comes another irresistible compendium of death, The Portable Obituary. From the back copy: “This authoritative, one-of-a-kind reference presents the unabashed truths about a multitude of celebrity deaths, while examining the various deeds, misdeed, and lifestyle quirks that hastened the demise and determined the departed’s role in history and popular myth. The Portable Obituary has the skinny on what made our late icons—whether through overindulgence or neglect: on the john, in the sack, or in some spectacular accident—what they are today: dead!”
It’s on sale now! And…the first three readers to comment will receive a free copy! Make sure to provide a functioning e-mail address when prompted.
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From Michael Largo, the author of 
