Adam Robinson
http://www.publishinggenius.com
Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, where he operates Publishing Genius Press. His book of poems, Adam Robison and other poems, will be published by Narrow House Books this year.
Who Could Win a Rabbit?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTbd0Ncsyus
To win a copy of Easter Rabbit by Joseph Young, try to emulate his distinctive style (as seen at Frigg and Lamination Colony). Mail up to three mimics to adam@publishinggenius.com by Dec 15. The contest is being judged (blindly) by Ellen Parker, editor of Frigg.
Three winners will be chosen. You can win even if you already have a copy of the book or whatever. More info here.
Adam Robinson—
Anne Boyer whose book, ART IS WAR, from the awesome Mitzvah Chaps, packs a punch, and who wrote other notable books and some poems and a krazy kewl website/metaphor for poetry (?) also runs a site where she explores Books Of Poetry in an invigorating and edifying way. It’s not terribly new, but I just read it for the first time. From the sidebar: (more…)
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Thanksgiving 2009
(thanks Justin Sirois)
Too Chic for Old Cranky
I like Beckett, and I like good design, but I don’t like these Beckett book covers:
(Click here and scroll to see them bigger at the site of their designer, A2/SW/HK.) These futuristic blocks don’t seem to bear out that modern chestnut at all. Am I right or am I right?
I.E. Reader, second post: Graham Foust
This morning I was reading Wallace Stegner’s novel Crossing to Safety (in the bathtub, for those who track this kind of thing), and was struck by a chapter about a dinner party of some young English professors at the University of Wisconsin in the early middle of the last century. There is a lot in that section to grab my attention, including the academic climate just after the depression (people still cared about Chaucer and Spencer like they mattered), the drinking habits just after prohibition (capable hosts couldn’t mix a Manhattan), and the social dynamic between husbands and wives who could read Homer in Greek, and who would stand around the piano and sing hymns after dinner then listening to Beethoven A-sides in the sitting room. What fun!
One striking moment came when Sid, the party’s host, read from a volume of Housman, and everyone knew he was leading things a bit, but they indulged him as he read “Easter Hymn.” Then they discussed it in terms of what it meant for understanding the rest of Housman’s work, how it seemed too Christian for the old guy, how the two stanzas seemed out of order — and I loved reading all that. It made me 10 minutes late for work. Then I wondered if it would be possible for a contemporary poet to revisit Housman. Certainly no one today ought to go back and emulate him directly — he’s too transparent, too wrought in scansion and sentimental in thought to be compelling nowadays — but is anyone who’s any good making an update?
Well, below the fold, check out Graham Foust’s poem in the I.E. Reader, which is so primarily ahead of the surveillance that I was jolted to read it. It’s so throwback: READ MORE >
Adam Robinson—
Via The Reading Experience, here’s Alan Kaufman’s harebrained essay on the death of the physical book.
Oh man, I’m going to miss bookstores too, but this guy is just a nut. He says, “The book is fast becoming the despised Jew of our culture. Der Jude is now Der Book.”
I used to think snowboarding wasn’t going to last but it’s like 15 years later and people are still doing it and everyone is about the same amount of happiness.
eBooks are probably going to pass away within 10 years
There is no way to sustain interest in reading Catch-22 online. But does eBook also refer to handheld readers like the Nook (whick looks to kill the Kindle)? Cuz I dunno but those things might catch on.
Anyway, Jane Friedman, who used to be the head of HarperCollins but got retired, just started a company called Open Road Integrated Media with the guy who made the movies You Can Count on Me and Boys Don’t Cry (fuckin ICK) (JK). They’re like millionaires or whatever and their plan is to release 750-1000 eBooks next year. Their strategy is to use an unnamed platform to promote the titles on blogs and Twitter. Read about it at NYTimes.
Really what they are is a content marketing system. They’re “publishing” old books which are, you know, like already typed up and stuff, and maybe mostly public domain (I dunno), and don’t need to be manufactured etc — so it’s pretty smart of them to recognize the real work is in marketing the titles. Their secret marketing discovery is the real story. They call it a “multi-platform universe.”
And they’re going to offer self-publishing services. So POD is now ePOD. I think what this means is you send them your book as a PDF (designed to their specs) and they’ll plug it into their doohickey and put you out there for consumption. Which seems like a weird doublething, if you try to think of them as a publisher. Which is how I think of people who put out stories by William Styron and Pat Conroy. But then if they also publish my self-published book, either my book isn’t self-published or they aren’t publishers.
Which I guess is why they call themselves a content marketing company.
Which I guess is just another kiss farewell to doing books with editors and junk.
So maybe not in 10 years, but someday we’re all going to die. In the meantime I’m going to go reread Heidegger’s essay “The Thing,” which I’m sure I can find online somewhere.
Adam Robinson—
Mairéad Byrne has been in a bit of a blorgic frenzy over at Heaven. Get it while the getting is good. Seriously funny wowzas.
Adam Robinson—
Seven Stories Press is giving away books on Black Friday. Good deal — their new one, The Old Garden by Hwang Sok-yung is supposed to be great. Anyone read it? [via NewPages]
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Sandra Doller, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!
If you want to see a poem that excels based on its sound meaning, here’s one below the fold, from the just released IE Reader: READ MORE >