Month / April 2006

by Edward Champion

All Mitchell, All the Time

The last time David Mitchell came out with a novel, we were mentioning something about almost every breath. Well, let it be known that we’re going to be doing the same damn thing with Black Swan Green. To get you folks started, here is some coverage of Black Swan Green.

Also, keep your ears out for a future Bat Segundo Show (among many) with a brand new interview with David Mitchell himself. Yes, the man who inspired the podcast will be returning. And this time, we’ll be chatting with him in person. (Plus, we’ll be less nervous this time.) More news to follow.

by Edward Champion

New Odds on Mitchell

Black Swan Green passes the Laura Miller Test, which means that the going odds for the Review That Will Take a Hatchet to Mitchell’s New Direction have dramatically shifted. Here’s the going figures.

New York Press: 3 to 1. The 50 Loathsome New Yorkers article wasn’t received too well. So my guess is the Press will be the first, if only to prove that their hearts beat of anthracite and that they still read books.

New York Times Book Review: 4 to 1. It’s been a while since Tanenhaus commissioned a hatchet job. And my guess is he’s struck a deal with Leon “Assman” Wieseltier to show no pity.

New York Magazine: 7 to 1. With recent reviews comparing Edmund White’s sex life to Erica Jong’s, you can almost smell the superficial takedown in the air. Although I think that Mitchell’s more inclined to get the respect he deserves from Boris Kachka..

Slate: 10 to 1. Unless Blake Bailey writes the review, I can see Slate, now struggling for viability, greatly misunderstanding the book.

The Village Voice: 25 to 1. A long shot, but don’t underestimate the semi-snark surprise factor here.

Please place your bets in the next week. The house closes on Friday at 5:00 PM PDT.

by Edward Champion

It Might Be the Cocaine and the Casting Couch Too, But Westlake’s Too Polite

A great interview with Donald Westlake: “Westlake sees a vast gulf between writing novels and screenplays. ‘When I write a novel, I’m God. When I write a screenplay, I’m a cupbearer to the gods.’ On a movie set, ‘No one’s in charge. Moment by moment, day by day, it might be an actor, it might be the money, it might be the weather. If it rains in a novel, it’s because I want it to.'” (via Sarah Weinman)

by Edward Champion

Oh, Bus Them Into the Schools Already!

Gwenda Bond on literary fantasy: “To many, this is far from a new development. The blurring of borders signals a return to a broader idea of literature. ‘Great writers have been incorporating fantasy, science fiction and horror in their fiction for a very long time,’ says Tina Pohlman, editorial director of Harcourt’s Harvest imprint. But she concedes, ‘I realize that the contemporary literary world tends to equate literary fiction with narrative realism, so maybe there is something in the air.'”