The Olive Reader

Tonight, on PBS, the American Masters film covering the life and work of Charles Schulz, airs. Check your local listings…

Here’s a great article about the marketplace for books in Germany: “German Border Threat: Cheap Books”

From our friend, Simon – here’s information on a Week-Long Fiction/Memoir Workshop Retreat in a California Redwood Forest…sounds nice, doesn’t it?

In the Hot Zone by Kevin Sites, which documents a year of world conflicts as covered by an independent journalist, went on sale this week. Kevin has created a YouTube Channel where you can find all his video correspondance (which is a lot). The first chapter of his documentary. “A World of Conflict,” offers an introduction to his project. Below Kevin talks about the purpose of his book and “what truth emerged” from his year in the field:

From today’s Shelf Awareness:

“The holiday season has started early for Mauro DiPreta, an editor at HarperCollins and author of the new children’s picture book Fartsy Claus. Penned under the pseudonym Mitch Chivus and illustrated by Mike Reed, the tome is a humorous re-telling of The Night Before Christmas.

Each year on Christmas Eve, DiPreta entertains his four children with a rendition of the classic tale. After countless readings over the years, he began to ‘ad lib,’ he said, ‘and injecting gas into the story for some reason was hilarious to the kids.’ [Editor’s note: ‘for some reason?’ Based on our parental experience, ‘gas’ is fuel enough for a giggle. See next paragraph.] The idea for Fartsy Claus ‘evolved from there,’ DiPreta added, and the result is an account of an especially memorable Christmas Eve. After sampling a plate of franks and beans at one household while delivering presents, Santa is overcome with a gastric calamity that nearly ruins Christmas.”

Go Mauro!!!

The NY Times reports:
LONDON, Oct. 16 — The Irish author Anne Enright won the Man Booker prize on Tuesday night for The Gathering, a novel in which a woman’s journey home with the body of her dead brother leads her to unearth and confront three generations’ worth of hidden family secrets….

To be honest, this is probably the best bird-dancing I have ever seen: Bird Lovers Only Rescue

Enter to Win FREE BOOKS for Your Reading Group for a Year! Write to us about your experience reading The Golden Notebook and you’ll be entered for a chance to win free reading group books from Harper Perennial for 365 glorious days! Email readinggroups@harpercollins.com with your submission and the subject line: The Golden Notebook.

CK will be sending correspondance from the Frankfurt Book Fair this week:

From The Bookseller (UK):

Beautiful US deal

UK independent Beautiful Books has made its first US deal, selling North American rights in a debut novel by a 20-year-old Cambridge University student. Publisher Simon Petherick concluded the “good five-figure sale” with Carrie Kania of Harper Perennial US. Christina Spens’ The Wrecking Ball is about “bright young things” who live for “parties and music and drugs”. Beautiful will release the novel next May, and HP in autumn 2008.

So, yes, you’ve guessed it. I have a thing for books about bright young things who live for parties, music and drugs. As evidenced by the above. Exciting news.

Loved Frankfurt – the food (bratwurst!), the weater (a tinge cold) and the books. Ran around like mad for days, met a million people, made two deals and pitched books. And Doris Lessing won!

Viva The Olive!

As you may have heard, there’s a totes awesome book all about Emo called Everybody Hurts, on stands now. In case you haven’t heard, Emo stuff is all over Myspace. The most recent development in the Emo/Everybody Hurts/Myspace lovefest is the first ever Myspace Music Tour featuring the really great bands Say Anything and Hello Goodbye. The first stop is October 16th in Seattle, and from there they take the rest of America by storm.

If you’re lucky enough to catch one of these shows, be sure to stop by the Say Anything merch table, where you can buy your very own copy of Everybody Hurts.You’ll learn all kinds of great stuff that will come in handy while you’re there. You know, like how to affix a bandanna in true Emo fashion, or how to tell the Trustafarian Emo kids in the crowd from the Frat Emo kids.

CK will be sending correspondance from the Frankfurt Book Fair this week:

Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing, Doris Lessing

It’s weird and exciting when suddenly it’s annouced that YOUR author won the Nobel. And you turn around and there are tons of press and cameras in your ‘booth’.

There are also millions of variations of Gummi Bears available. And the ‘ice-cream’ stand is mere steps away from the Harper booth. Bliss.

Frankfurt rocks.

CK will be sending correspondance from the Frankfurt Book Fair this week:

Fiction:
“John Niven’s first novel KILL YOUR FRIENDS, set in the world of A&R in the late nineties, the story of a Machiavellian executive who will stop at nothing to pursue his ambitions and to get ahead, sold to Carrie Kania of Harper Perennial, in a nice deal, by Clare Conville of Conville & Walsh.

UK rights sold previously to Heinemann, and German rights to Heyne.”
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So, needless to say, the fair started well for me. I saw the delightful and beautiful Clare Conville and bought the above — immediately.

And I met with tons of publishers and agents. The fair is much like the London Book Fair — except, well, we’re in Germany (duh)

German word of the day: Frikadellen
Translation: Meatball

In case you haven’t heard, Doris Lessing is winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature!!! Read the NY Times report. You could even read one of her many great titles that HarperCollins proudly publishes:

Walking in Shade
Under My Skin
Time Bites
The Sweetest Dream
Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog
The Real Thing
A Proper Marriage
Mara and Dann
Love Again
Landlocked
In Pursuit of the English
The Grass is Singing
The Grandmothers
Going Home
The Four-Gated City
The Cleft
Ben, In the World
African Laughter

Congratulations Doris Lessing! And, if you have a moment, browse through her latest, The Cleft:

Read all about it: The National Book Foundation.

Congratulations to Robert Hass on his nomination for Time & Materials!