The Frey scandal, it seems, has done very little to dent Frey’s career. This morning, Publishers Lunch reports that Frey has sold not one, but two novels:
Author of A Million Little Pieces James Frey’s first novel, a multi-voiced, multi-threaded story of contemporary Los Angeles, and a second book, again to Sean McDonald at Riverhead, for publication beginning in fall 2007, by Kassie Evashevski at Brillstein-Grey (world English).
[RELATED: Random House plans to refund readers and Jeff has been doing a hell of a job keeping on top of this story, confirming that Frey will be appearing tonight on Larry King Live.]
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (
So, that’s three novels now? Wow!
I propose a boycott.
Dan, it’s probably four, once The Smoking Gun delves into this “Leonard” character.
Adrienne, already in progress.
PM reported the deal on the paid-subscription site about a week or so ago, which means the actual deal might have been made weeks, if not months in advance. Not that this wouldn’t have happened anyway, but the timing isn’t quite as weird as you might think.
I read somewhere earlier today that he wrote introductions for British reissues of Miller’s Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. I wonder if he’s even read them.