Gawker's "Status Galley" Book Club: Joshua Ferris' The Unnamed
Publishers release "advance reader copies" or "galleys" of books for the New York Literary Elite to have before the masses and Oprah ruin them for you. Being spotted with some merits certain kinds of "status"...that we're about to ruin. Yes, it's that time again: former Gawker Weekend editor and New York Observer reporter Leon Neyfakh has named his 2009 summer "status galleys," wherein he calls around the publishing industry to see what the hot new galleys to be seen with are. If you already know what a status galley is, skip the next three paragraphs down to the good stuff. And if you don't, Leon explains it best: Basically the term refers to an advance reader's copy of a highly anticipated book that hasn't been published yet. If you have one it means you're special: either a proud member of the exclusive club known as the publishing industry, a distinguished literary critic, a friend of the author's, or in some cases even an intern at a cultural magazine. He got a good example of when this can come in handy from media closure victim Tom Meaney, former New York Sun literary editor: if you're seen on the subway with a status galley by a pretty, literary lady who wants to read it, or who is reading it, romance could be in the air, as the exclusive club that is having a status galley makes a great conversational jumpoff-point. And if not romance, at least some highminded conversation! Same with parties in the New York Literati scene, except you're far less likely to impress so much as simply get nods of approval or awesome scowls of LitNerd jealousy. Among the books Neyfakh names as this summer's status galleys: Michael Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs, Jonathan Lethem's Chronic City, Philip Roth's The Humbling (which This Recording blogger, n+1ian, and occasional Observer book critic Molly Young actually held a copy of), Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs, Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice (which, sadly, comes out in three weeks), Richard Powers' Generosity: An Enhancement, Mary Karr's memoir Lit, and mystery editor Otto Penzler's anthology of vampire stories. One of them is also The Unnamed, by Joshua Ferris, which is the leadoff book for our Status Galley Book Club. It's scheduled for release on January 18, 2010. Industry Hype: Ferris' debut novel, 2007's Then We Came To The End was a critical hit, a National Book Award finalist, and a topic of much discussion on this site! It was translated into 24 languages, which I guess, also, means something. Will his sophomore effort be ATLiens-good or Forever-good? The "people" want to know, but are somewhat reluctant, as this is his second novel, after all. His New Yorker stories between books have been solid, though. Industry Hype: B+. Movie Potential: Very real! Again: lots of people in lots of different languages are reading the book, and they don't just live in New York. Also, it's already been optioned. Scott Rudin and Miramax picked up the rights to the unfinished manuscript of the book back in... MORE >>
Hate Speech Against Malia Obama On Conservative Blogs Reported By Hate Speech Planting Journalist
We should've seen this coming: conservative blog Free Republic fired hate speech off at Malia Obama after this photo of her appeared, letting their commenters go to town. But the journalist who reported this as news isn't innocent, either. Chris Parry of The Vancouver Sun highlighted some of the comments on the mainstream, hard right-wing blog/news aggregator Free Republic. Among them, a picture of Michelle talking to Malia Obama with the caption: "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds." Classy. These mouthbreathing, borderline morons then kept piled on: "A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion. "Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter. "They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another. Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate. FreeRepublic claims to be a site that "does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government." Yet, the thread went down, and back up with the original comments in tact, and then some, notes Chris Parry, the story's writer. Parry was careful and kind enough to - maybe unnecessarily - note the few reasonable voices in the crowd who were conservative, on Free Republic, and not racist. But there're always going to be a few exceptions to the rule, which, as far as you should be concerned, are absolute swamp creatures. Pardon any political incorrectness, but I think you'll agree if you happen to go over and dip your toe in what's mostly a bog of contagiously slimy invective and general retardation. It gets worse, though. Chris Parry, it appears, has advocated on his Daily Kos blog any number of egregious offenses, among them: posting hate speech on sites like Free Republic and blaming it on conservatives. Parry posted under the name "hollywoodoz" on Daily Kos, where his signature was "Fool me once, I'll punch you in the fucking head." Parry outed himself as hollywoodoz here, where he discloses the company he helped start. In essence: Parry, the journalist, found his story right where he'd been circling it for a very long time, and reported it as news. Sigh. Bottom line: Parry's noble intentions are paving him a road to hell, by taking the same one the slimeball majority at Free Republic employs. They're probably going to cheer a "mainstream," centrist blog pointing out the offenses of a liberal reporter trying to expose hate speech, but they shouldn't get it mixed up. A quick glance at Free... MORE >>
The Secret Cultlike Rituals Behind NYT's Sunday "Weddings and Celebrations": Revealed!
Something incredible happened. The New York Times' ombudsman opened the lid on the Illuminati-esque processes behind a personal passion, the Sunday Styles' Weddings and Celebrations. Tell us: is there only upper-crust elitism at their core? And did he mention us?! Clark Hoyt, the New York Times Public Editor, basically wrote the tell-all on Weddings and Celebrations, and for that, we have to thank him. But first: a few weeks ago on our weekly analysis of the Weddings and Celebrations, Altarcations, we featured a couple that was very, very outside the realm of what the Times typically highlighted. He, a former homeless heroin junkie who'd been in and out of the pen his entire life. She, a sexually-abused meth addict turned teenage mother. They met outside of a narcotics anonymous meeting, and the story ends with him falling in love with her daughter and the daughter telling him to marry her mommy. If my summary of it didn't just make you cry, reading it actually will. Here's where it gets good: A few readers did not like the change of pace. "Are we telling young adults it is alright to waste half their lives in a drug stupor and somehow it will magically work out?" wrote Richard S. Emrich of Plymouth, Mich. I heard from other readers who said they regarded the weddings pages as a place for upstanding people with good educations who come from good families. Sousa and Keen, they said, did not belong. And now you know why there's so much to hate about the Times: the assholes who read it like this. But Hoyt stands by the couple - who both have careers on the up-and-up, now - and against his dickhead readers. He found it inspiring. So do we. But he's also pretty clear on what the Times wedding announcements really are to people like us: manna from blogging heaven. They are parodied online and in a new book, "Weddings of The Times." They are featured in New Yorker cartoons (bridesmaid to downcast bride: "So what if he's not the man of your dreams. The Times is going to be there.") and dismissed as "wedding porn" by people who find them an irresistible guilty pleasure. There's also a gem in there about Slate writer Timothy Noah calling the NYT wedding announcements "anachronisms serving 'a very small aristocracy'" and then confessing that he pulled strings in the 90s to get his nuptials up in the 'pages. Nice! But do you know the numbers? They get 200 submissions a week for inclusion in their pages! You KNOW strings are pulled like mad. Also, to avoid any controversy, the Weddings and Celebrations section is (ironically) one of the most heavily scrutinized and fact-checked sections of the Times! They must comply with three pages of rules and submit to rigorous fact-checking. Everyone involved in a wedding, including the person performing the ceremony, is interviewed, and some are asked for documentary proof of things like degrees and honors. Robert Woletz, the editor in charge, said it is amazing how little some people know about their family... MORE >>
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