It seems that in the online book community, we’re always talking about new books. What’s hot NOW. What just came out. What’s coming out next month. Next quarter. Even next year. (I’ve had a few Spring 2011 galleys on my shelves since spring 2010, no lie.) I’m just as guilty of this as anybody else, and as I mentioned in last week’s post about my backlist reading binge, I’m usually pretty comfortable with it.
Despite the fact that the new books get all the attention, the truth of publishing is that success is built on having a strong backlist. I know from my days as a bookseller that the “New Releases” table (displaying frontlist titles) might look the flashiest, but the serious business happens on the backlist, the shelves labeled “Fiction and Literature” where Fitzgerald and Hawthorne and Hemingway hang out and which require you to wander, head tilted to the side, and search out what you want rather than having it handed to you by a shiny new display.
New releases are hot for a few weeks, or, if they’re lucky, a few months, maybe a year. But think about the classics, the perennial favorites, the books you can’t make it out of school without reading. Those are the big sellers, really. And that’s where bookstores and publishers make the most money in the long run. So backlist is not to be ignored, and in an effort to pay more attention to it (and to read previous work by authors whose new books I’m anticipating this year), I took several backlist titles on vacation this fall and spent the month of December reading nothing but. Here’s the rest of what I found.
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch
When I told a friend I was reading Curtains, Tom Jokinen’s memoir about his time as an undertaker-in-training, she insisted that I pick up The Undertaking, and I’ve been thanking her for the recommendation ever since. Thomas Lynch entered the funeral industry the way most of its members do, through the family business, and he spent decades accumulating the kind of insight and wisdom that can only come from devoting one’s life to dealing with and thinking about the facts that most of us work hard to avoid.
In this collection of essays, Lynch reflects on his career in a changing and often controversial industry, separates myth from fact, and reminds us that what we do with the dead is really all about the living.
The undertaking that my father did had less to do with what was done to the dead and more to do with what the living did about the fact of life that people died.
Lynch benefits from being an undertaker in a town where everyone knows everyone else (and their business), and he illustrates his points with stories from his practice, ranging from the quaint and touching to the dark and horrifying. This book is about philosophy just as much as it is a memoir, and Lynch never misses an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of his job and the emotional, psychological, and social needs that are served by funerals and shared mourning.
Undertakings are the things we do to vest the lives we lead against the cold, the meaningless, the void, the noisy blather, and the blinding dark. It is the voice we give to wonderment, to pain, to love and desire, anger and outrage; the words that we shape into song and prayer.
Lynch also discusses religious and social customs surrounding death and explores the ways in which our approaches to dealing with death have changed over time and are connected to politics, technology, and social theater. While it might not sound very uplifting, much of The Undertaking is life-affirming and encouraging of reflection, and honestly, it is just downright interesting.
All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison
I’ve been looking forward to Jonathan Evison’s West of Here (out in February from Algonquin Books) since I first heard about it last May. Whenever I can, I like to read an author’s work in the order it was published so I can appreciate the development and evolution of writing and ideas, and such a big deal is being made about West of Here that I knew I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to follow Evison’s journey. I took All About Lulu on vacation this October, and I knew absolutely nothing about it except that it was Evison’s debut novel. It’s rare that I go into a book so completely blind, and I relished the experience.
And it doesn’t hurt that the book is fantastic.
All About Lulu is about a young boy, William Miller, whose mother dies, leaving his father to care for him and his two meatheaded brothers. When Will’s father remarries the family’s grief counselor, Will gains a stepsister named Lulu who becomes his first real friend and the object of all his desire. At the basest level, this is a book about a boy who falls in love with his stepsister and is mystified—and very nearly destroyed—when she does not return his affection. But it is really an examination of family, loneliness, and the hard work of growing up different. Evison’s characters are quirky, well-drawn, and fully realized in all their dysfunction, and his language is a dream to read. I passed up copious margaritas in favor of time with All About Lulu, and I won’t soon forget it.
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
You don’t really say you enjoyed reading a book like Bastard Out of Carolina. It’s more like the book grabbed you by the collar, shook you until you couldn’t see straight, and left you in a sobbing heap on bathroom floor, and you felt like a better person for it. Yep, it’s one of those books—gritty, dark, and difficult to read but ultimately SO FREAKING WORTH IT.
Ruth Anne Boatwright, known as Bone is growing up poor in South Carolina (which is saying something), and her Mama’s new husband Daddy Glen has it in for her. Bone’s young life is fraught with abuse and its attendant terror, and her story is riveting. And I just don’t know what I could say about it—you have to experience it—so I’ll take Don Linn’s sage advice and leave it at “It’s a fantastic book. Everyone should read it.”
What was the last book that left you speechless?
Related posts:
The Great Backlist Binge of 2010 Filed Under Book Reviews6 Comments -->Comments6 Responses to “”Tweets that mention | The Book Lady's Blog -- Topsy.com onJanuary 3rd, 2011 5:47 am[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rebecca Schinsky. Rebecca Schinsky said: http://goo.gl/fb/JAmEZ [...]
Rebecca Rasmussen onJanuary 3rd, 2011 9:50 am I’m glad you felt that way about Bastard…I question the people that don’t end up in a heap on the bathroom floor after reading it. Yay for the backlist!
Jeane onJanuary 3rd, 2011 12:31 pm I never heard of any of these books, and now I want to read them all thanks to you!
Lauren onJanuary 3rd, 2011 2:15 pm Truth be told, most of my reading *is* a backlist. I graduated college 3 and a half years ago, and I’m still working through my shoulda-coulda-woulda’s from the 8 years spent in high school and college, where I could only read what classes needed me to read. *Especially* in college. I read my good, fair share of newer titles, but my backlist is so large that I expect those titles, too, will soon become coulda-shoulda-woulda’s…
Lauren´s last blog ..The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011
Jamie onJanuary 3rd, 2011 3:15 pm Thank you for sharing! A good portion of my reading tends to be backlisted books. The majority of my owned books are older titles. I think the allure of shiny new releases was something I couldn’t resist as I started my blog this June but I think in 2011 I’d like to focus on these backlist titles that I already own.
I’ll be taking a look at the titles you’ve mentioned. They look really great!
–Jamie (@brokeandbookish)
Jamie´s last blog ..Amy & Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
[...] many years before that. While I nibbled at the back list, Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog went all out and has really been my [...]
Got something to say?Name (required)
Email Address(required)
Website
-->Speak your mind
Notify me of followup comments via e-mailCopyright © 2010 The Book Lady's Blog • Designed by:Simply Amusing Designs
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail
No comments:
Post a Comment