Thursday, June 24, 2010
Books A Nut to Remember: Watch for Mr. Peanut on the Cover of Sunday's NY Times Book Review
Posted by Jim Ridley on Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 12:00 PM
This nugget comes from the lead graph of Renkl's excellent Q&A with Ross online: "Jonathan Cape, a Random House UK imprint, leaked word via Twitter that none other than Scott Turow will sing the book's praises in the Sunday New York Times Book Review, apparently calling it 'a brillant [sic] powerful memorable book.' " We'll put up a link to the review once it's available. As for the print version, we understand you'll have a hard time missing it.
In the meantime, we're serious: go check out Renkl's piece right now — even if, as a friend said at Tuesday night's book signing at Davis-Kidd, "I've already read more about this book than any other book I've ever read." It's very funny, sharply insightful, reads like a streak, and gives a better sense of Ross' spirit of play than most anything else I've read on the book.
And while you're there, take some time to explore the Chapter 16 site, a project of Humanities Tennessee, where Renkl and her staff of contributors wage war daily on behalf of Tennessee authors and the South's entire literary tradition. Fighting the million-headed hydra of viral media, Renkl and Chapter 16 stand up for the virtues of in-depth reading, considered interviews and substance over snark, showing fellowship to virtually anyone who bucks the odds to complete and bring to the public a book. Stay awhile.
UPDATE: Here's Turow's review, which gets the cover. A particularly sharp passage: "It is only because of the book’s unflinching honesty about the perils of marriage that we can celebrate and credit the hope it eventually offers. All three husbands ultimately recognize a pathway to marital happiness. 'If he could feel her want,' one reasons, 'if he could prove to her that he’d always be there to feel it, then they’d be complete.' It is no small thing that Ross has dedicated this novel to his wife."
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