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| Hearsay: |
Okay my shadowy minions, it’s time for me to break what I’ve come to refer to as “The Great Thunder Bay Barrier”. That is, I’ve travelled every inch of the US and most of Meh-hee-ko and large swathes of Europe, but have somehow yet to travel west of Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada. So, here we go. I am headed to Winnipeg on business, but will squeeze in a reading at Aqua books and drinks after with like-minded poets tonight. Be there or be mid-western. Or be both, you know, if you like.
- OJ book gets second printing… if you ordered this, you can expect your genitals to swell and explode in shards of razor sharp fungus shortly — once I figure out the last few ingredients for this spell… Anyone know where I can get a good helping of pond scum?
- We’re pretty hard on Rowling around here, but I expect the wall of money she’s erected around her compound can probably stand the barrage… that said, she does do good, by donating to charity… oh, wait! She’s also contributing to the English language purge of world culture…
- Macfarlane leaves Toronto Life, Fulford steps in — Sarah… The books, Sarah. Remember the books. And bring the lit back to its former glory…
- Essay on “the literary life“
- A trio of book links found at BoingBoing… Cory must be on a tear: altered books (awesome!), pop up book lamp (sweet!), Lethem on PKD (cool!)
- Universities vs the unversity press: “As the gatekeepers of the peer review process in the humanities and many of the social sciences, university presses (along with equivalent journals in the biological and physical sciences) are supposed to ensure that only high-quality scholarship is published — or at least that flawed research never sees the light of day. They are the foundation of the entire scholarly edifice. Yet, over the last three decades, American universities have frequently undermined their presses, displacing their dedication to scholarly values in favor of an incoherent amalgam of free-market ideas about competition and profit. Scholarly publishing in 2007 is a hollow shell of its former self. We now seem to be witnessing a merciful reversal of this trend at the 11th hour; but unless the reversal is made permanent, our system of scholarly communication will remain in terrible peril.” Yes, yes, very important stuffzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
- Lit agent czarina arrives in power to find most of her star agents leaving… and taking their authors with them… Ouch. I’ll stick with my agent until the very end, because, as a poet, my agent is the source of my livelihood and the protection I receive from the hostile forces of the publishi–bwaahahahahahahah! Sorry, I couldn’t do that with a straight face.
- Nutjob won’t return sex manual to library because she fears the content is immoral (from Ed)
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September 19th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Lit agent czarina arrives in power
Interesting story which gives a window on the role of agents in British publshing.
But Canada is very different, and if Bookninja–as a poet, not a blogger–has an agent, more power to him, because there sure aren’t very many poets who do here. I just heard of a prize-winning Canadian novelist who has been told by his agent that she can’t afford to keep him in her stable because he doesn’t sell very well.
Maybe it was ever thus, that agents (who only make money when their clients make money) have always had a commercial eye more than a literary one. Seems that we small market writers might as well face up to the fact that nobody cares as much about our writing as we do, and give up on the dream of big bucks and big recognition stage-managed by a benevolent agent.
Of course, if you found yourself in a situation where an agent was actually able to do that or you, it’s completely understandable why you’d follow him or her to the ends of the earth.
Mary
September 19th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
I think he was kidding about having an agent, Mary.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Is there life west of the Hoito and the finnish saunas of Thunder Bay? Hard to believe.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
“Among the departing agents are Pat Kavanagh, who is married to the writer Julian Barnes, Anthony Jones and Maureen Vincent.”
Is polygamy legal in the UK? Or is Julian Barnes actually some sort of hydra-headed trinomial monster?
September 21st, 2007 at 9:31 am
Never been west of Ontario before.
Hmm.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:03 pm
The book autopsies are stunning–made my day. Thanks, George.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:18 am
That Epstein guy has a chip on his shoulder. Why don’t we all go back to the way things were 50 years ago? Still, these wide survey articles are good to get a little debate going. But this is more interesting for what the guy hasn’t read.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Seriously, dude. You’ve never been west of Ontario before?