Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Curioddity
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 12/6/1965
WEBSITE:
CITY: Atlanta
STATE: GA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: British
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jenkins_(writer) * http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1286111/ * http://us.macmillan.com/curioddity/pauljenkins/9781250026163/ * http://www.npr.org/2016/08/31/490101769/curioddity-needs-more-curiosity-more-oddity * https://robertmcgrath.wordpress.com/2016/12/25/book-review-curioddity-by-paul-jenkins/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2004021007
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2004021007
HEADING: Jenkins, Paul, 1965-
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100 1_ |a Jenkins, Paul, |d 1965-
374 __ |a Comic book author
667 __ |a Formerly on undifferentiated name record: n 82037223
670 __ |a Underwhere, c1995: |b t.p. (Paul Jenkins)
670 __ |a U.S. copyright file, Jan. 5, 2004 |b (Jenkins, Paul, 1965- )
670 __ |a DC Universe presents, c2012: |b ECIP t.p. (Paul Jenkins)
670 __ |a Wikipedia, Aug. 15, 2012: |b Paul Jenkins (born 6 December 1965) is a British comic book writer.
670 __ |a Curioddity, 2016: |b ECIP t.p. (Paul Jenkins) data view (Has been creating, writing and building franchises for over 20 years in the graphic novel, film, animation and video game industries. Over the last two decades Paul has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of literally hundreds of world-renowned, recognizable entertainment icons. He lives near Atlanta with his wife and two boys)
670 __ |a Amazon.com, viewed on 04-11-2016: |b (Paul Jenkins; Is a British born comic writer who lives in Atlanta, GA. He began his career at Mirage Studios working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Jenkins has written some of the biggest characters for Marvel and DC Comics, including Spider-Man, Batman, Incredible Hulk, and Hellblazer. He is best known for reviving The Inhumans as part of Marvel Knights and creating The Sentry for Marvel Comics. Jenkins also writes for video games on hits like The Darkness, Incredible Hulk, and God of War. Curioddity is his debut novel)
953 __ |a ta30 |b rg14
PERSONAL
Born December 6, 1965, in London, England; married; children: two sons.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer of comic books, graphic novels, films, animation, video games, and novels. Worked for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Mirage Studios.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Batman: Jekyll & Hyde
Born December 6, 1965, in London, England, Paul Jenkins is a comic book and video game writer who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. During his twenty-year career, he has worked on popular comic book, graphic novel, film, animation, and video game franchises. He has written some of the most popular characters for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Mirage Studios, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Spider-Man, Batman, Incredible Hulk, and John Constantine. He also revived the Silver Age comic The Inhumans as part of Marvel Knights series, and he created The Sentry for Marvel Comics. Jenkins also writes for video games on such hits as The Darkness, Incredible Hulk, and God of War. Recently he published his debut novel, Curioddity.
Jenkins wrote the 2008 Batman: Jekyll & Hyde with art by Jae Lee and Sean Phillips. The six-issue miniseries delves into the psychology behind Gotham district attorney Harvey Dent’s split personality. Known as the supervillain Two-Face, Dent has two opposing personalities that are bent on each other’s demise, while he also fights his nemesis, the Batman.
"THE NEW 52" Series
Jenkins published DC Universe Presents: Volume 1, Deadman/Challengers of the Unknown in 2012. “The New 52” series spotlights some of DC’s most popular superheroes. Boston Brand died but came back as the nomadic hero ghost known as Deadman. He serves the goddess Rama Kushna, inhabiting bodies to complete missions she organizes. Unfortunately, he realizes that the souls he thought he was helping are going straight to Hell. For the “Challengers of the Unknown” story, eight survivors of a plane crash are bound by destiny to uncover the mysteries of the Unknown before the powers that saved their lives return to claim them.
In 2013 Jenkins wrote Batman, The Dark Knight: Volume 1, Knight Terrors, part of “The New 52” series. In Arkham Asylum, home to Gotham’s notorious villains, someone is amping up both the prisoners’ strength and their psychoses with a mysterious serum. After the villains escape, Batman battles their onslaught of maniacal attacks, vows to protect the citizens of Gotham, and searches for the culprit behind the serum. In the book, Batman confronts Scarecrow, Bane, Two-Face, and the Court of Owls.
Unfortunately, according to a writer in Publishers Weekly, “While the fear element laces through all the stories, it’s not enough of a driving force.” The writer complained that the book is overwritten and fussily drawn, with colors that are too dark, a narrative that is difficult to follow, and inconsistent out-of-costume characters like Bruce Wayne and butler Alfred. According to this reviewer, even Batman lumbers around aimlessly from villain to villain.
"HELLBLAZER" Series
Jenkins also writes the immensely popular Hellblazer series, featuring British occult detective John Constantine. In the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Jenkins described the character of Constantine: “He won’t suffer fools gladly, he won’t be shat on. He likes to pretend he’s a mean, heartless bastard, but the way I saw it was that nobody’s just one color, there has to be another side to him.”
Jenkins’ 2016 John Constantine, Hellblazer collects Hellblazer comics. In the “Warped Notions” storyline, Constantine confronts the ghost of Sir Francis Dashwood, the founder of the Hellfire Club. Dashwood needs Constantine’s help to avert a disaster. In other stories, Constantine helps his dimwitted neighbor, an epileptic giant who has ghosts haunting his home. Constantine also confronts the darker side of his nature and the terrible events of his past. In “Last Man Standing,” Constantine is scouting for blackmail victims at an orgy, when he inadvertently summons sinister beings known as the Mendw.
Curioddity
In 2016 Jenkins published his debut novel, Curioddity. Milquetoast Wil Morgan is a low-budget private detective whose life is devoid of interest. That changes when he accepts a job from the mysterious Mr. Dinsdale, the curator of the Curioddity Museum, who asks him to find his missing box of levity (the opposite of gravity). The search brings Wil into contact with supervillain Marcus James, who is bent on world domination; the sentient smartphone, SARA; and the eccentric Lucy. As Dinsdale teaches Wil to “un-look” at the world, he begins to see a magical new world beside our own.
Megan Szwarek commented in Booklist: “Fast pacing, clever writing, and total commitment to absurdity make for an entertaining read.” On the other hand, a Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that Jenkins seems lost in the novel and that “pretty much every beat of Jenkins’s novel is predictable, from slapstick injuries to the twee ending.” In Kirkus Reviews, a contributor wrote: “Jenkins makes sure that his most colorful characters … get plenty of exposure. Morgan’s unexpectedly touching reconciliation with his accountant father provides a bright spot in the silliness.” The contributor added that Curioddity lacks the charm of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere or Douglas Adams’s works. According to Jason Heller on the National Public Radio Web site: “Jenkins winks broadly at his readers, but all that winking ends up blinding the story. It’s a tale of regaining innocence and imagination, but he smothers it in snickering self-consciousness, even as he hits you over the head with sentimentality.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 1, 2016, Megan Szwarek, review of Curioddity, p. 64.
Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2016, review of Curioddity.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July, 2005, Charles De Lint, review of John Constantine/Hellblazer: All His Engines, p. 36.
Publishers Weekly, October 15, 2012, review of Batman, the Dark Knight: Volume 1, Knight Terrors, p. 50; July 18, 2016, review of Curioddity, p. 191.
ONLINE
BiblioSanctum, https://bibliosanctum.com/ (August 29, 2016), review of Curioddity.
Criminal Element, http://www.criminalelement.com/ (September 2, 2016), Angie Barry, review of Curioddity.
National Public Radio Web site (NPR), http://www.npr.org/ (August 31, 2016), Jason Heller, review of Curioddity.
Robert McGrath’s Blog, https://robertmcgrath.wordpress.com/ (December 25, 2016), Robert McGrath, review of Curioddity.
Shelf Awareness, http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ (July 28, 2016), review of Curioddity.
Curioddity
Megan Szwarek
Booklist.
113.1 (Sept. 1, 2016): p64.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Curioddity. By Paul Jenkins. Sept. 2016.320p. St. Martin's, $26.99 (9781250026156).
In his debut novel, graphic-novelist and game-designer Jenkins (Fairy Quest, 2013) delivers the oudandish story of sad-sack Wil Morgan, a lowrent
private investigator who spends his days reinforcing the self-fulfilling prophesy that his life is an unending series of hardships. After a chance
(or is it?) encounter with the enigmatic Mr. Dinsdale, proprietor of the Curioddity Museum, Wil embarks on a madcap adventure in his pursuit of
a stolen artifact, the box of levity (the opposite of gravity)--which, once found, leads to the real mystery. The tongue-in-cheek silliness that
follows ticks all boxes, including beautiful and deeply quirky love-interest Lucy, and supervillain Marcus James, a corporate megalomaniac bent
on world domination. Wil is encouraged in the art of "un-looking" at his surroundings and is guided by a sentient smartphone called SARA. Fast
pacing, clever writing, and total commitment to absurdity make for an entertaining read. Fans of Douglas Adams and John Connolly will
appreciate this charming, if somewhat formulaic, romp.--Magan Szwarek
Szwarek, Megan
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Szwarek, Megan. "Curioddity." Booklist, 1 Sept. 2016, p. 64. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA463755191&it=r&asid=d7dc6344de51ace42ec5d275f4577c46. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A463755191
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Curioddity
Publishers Weekly.
263.29 (July 18, 2016): p191.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Curioddity
Paul Jenkins. St. Martin's, $26.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-02615-6
Comics writer Jenkins seems a little lost in his debut novel, a contemporary story of hidden magic that too often trips itself up in a chaotic whirl
of whimsy. Wil Morgan was a dreamer who loved science and believed in magic until he was 10, when his mother--who shared those traits--died
in a horrific accident. As an adult, he's a sad-sack private detective who spends his day in the same routine, going to and from work and barely
getting by. When a mysteriously wacky client named Mr. Dinsdale stops by and offers him a job tracking down levity (the opposite of gravity), he
discovers streets he'd never heard of, items that defy physics, and an odd thrift shop managed by a gorgeous woman named Lucy who (naturally)
falls for Wil in spite of his shyness and lack of social skills. Like that relationship, pretty much every beat of Jenkins's novel is predictable, from
slapstick injuries to the twee ending. The book's not bad, but Jenkins offers nothing new. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Curioddity." Publishers Weekly, 18 July 2016, p. 191+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA459287532&it=r&asid=17fab744a379e413a3a883c6366e9a3b. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A459287532
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Batman: The Dark Knight, Vol. 1: Knight Terrors
Publishers Weekly.
259.42 (Oct. 15, 2012): p50.
COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Batman: The Dark Knight, Vol. 1: Knight Terrors
David Finch, Paul Jenkins, Judd Winick, Joe Hards, and Ed Benes. DC, $24.99 (208p) ISBN 978-1-4012-3543-7
This Barman tale is supposedly all about the danger of both fear and the absence of fear. After a massive prison break from Arkham Asylum,
Batman finds himself fighting many of his old foes, all amped up with additional powers. Barman fights to save Gotham, and himself, from these
new threats, while trying to uncover the mystery of what is controlling them. While the fear element laces through all the stories, it's not enough
of a driving force for the book, and Batman lumbers around from villain to villain and conflict to conflict rather aimlessly. There are some
traditionally exciting superhero cliffhangers that would be effective, except in all cases but one the cliffhanger is disassembled moments later as
nothing more than a ruse. In fact, the only cliffhanger of merit in the entire book goes nowhere as the character in question disappears and is
never seen again. The book is overwritten and fussily drawn, with colors that are far too dark and storytelling that is frequently difficult to follow.
While characters in costume are generally well-done, out-of-costume characters like Bruce Wayne and Alfred are inconsistent and ill-defined.
(Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Batman: The Dark Knight, Vol. 1: Knight Terrors." Publishers Weekly, 15 Oct. 2012, p. 50. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA305745569&it=r&asid=eb311a97cf1b400d88fafea0c4e0ea82. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A305745569
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3/15/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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John Constantine/Hellblazer: All His Engines
Charles De Lint
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
109.1 (July 2005): p36.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Spilogale, Inc.
http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/
Full Text:
John Constantine/Hellblazer: All His Engines, by Mike Carey & Leonardo Manco, Vertigo Comics, 2005, $24.95.
I feel sorry for all those people whose first (and probably only) introduction to the long-running character of John Constantine will be the recent
Hollywood extravaganza Constantine. Let me tell you right now that Keanu Reeves, with his good-boy looks and impassive performances, isn't,
and could never be, the dark and complex character that long-time DC and Vertigo readers know. The original Constantine is also decidedly
British, with his roots in the punk scene of the late seventies, unlike Reeves's character.
First introduced in the pages of Swamp Thingin 1985, jumping onto the page from the fertile mind of Alan Moore, Constantine has gone on to
become a mainstay of the DC Universe, usually at the edge of the main stage. He works in the shadows, this "con man, joker, thief ... Magus," as
he's described in the afterword of the book in hand.
Created by Moore, Constantine was defined by Jamie Delano when the character was given his own title with Hellblazer in the late eighties. The
reason for his appeal to readers isn't much different from why various authors over the years have so enjoyed telling his stories.
Jamie Delano: "John is a man constantly driven to live up to his own expectations, at the same time undermined by the knowledge that failure is
inevitable and laughing himself s**tless at the ridiculous spectacle of his struggle."
Garth Ennis: "I liked the 'ordinary bloke' aspect of Constantine. With Hellblazer, I could write a monthly comic featuring a normal, nonsuperpowered
or costumed character who moved in a recognizable world, with realistic motivation and moral behavior. His reactions would be
those of a mortal, vulnerable man-- and the fact that he was a bit of a bastard helped."
Paul Jenkins: "He won't suffer fools gladly, he won't be shat on. He likes to pretend he's a mean, heartless bastard, but the way I saw it was that
nobody's just one color, there has to be another side to him."
Brian Azzarello: "John's a spiritual grifter, a con man working with a psychological shell game. You may be certain where that pea is, but the only
certainty is you know where it is if he lets you. It's this control -or illusion of control--that lies at the heart of the character. He may not be one
step ahead of the game, but he makes you think he is."
Neil Gaiman: "Flawed, smart, funny and cool. He's also a dick-headed, stubborn idiot, who causes nothing but doom and misery for his loved
ones and friends."
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Like the movie, All the Engines is set in L.A., or at least mostly, but there the similarities end. In the graphic novel, Constantine is asked by his
oldest friend Chas to look into the cause of a strange malady that has put his niece into a coma. As usually happens in a Constantine story, that
small drama expands into one that plays out across a much broader canvas, encompassing pantheons of forgotten gods and demons, with
Constantine in the middle, playing all sides of the equation.
Leonardo Manco provides graphic (at times, some might feel, too graphic) depictions as the story unwinds, but he proves to be equally capable at
rendering the quiet, tender moments and times when the action and horrors escalate. And Mike Carey writes Constantine with the brash vigor of
his predecessors, creating a complicated and inventive story worthy of the canon as it exists so far.
If you're a fan of dark fantasy and characters with a punkish attitude who find themselves in impossible situations, do yourself a favor and check
out this graphic novel before, or instead of, the film. And if you want more, or would like to see how Constantine developed over the years,
Vertigo has fourteen collections taken from the regular comic series available in trade paperback format.
De Lint, Charles
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
De Lint, Charles. "John Constantine/Hellblazer: All His Engines." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 2005, p. 36+. General
OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA133050490&it=r&asid=3bb9492f066e90af64f32858facdb6fb. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A133050490
CURIODDITY. Kirkus Reviews, 19487428, 7/1/2016, Vol. 84, Issue 13
Graphic novel and video game writer Jenkins (Fairy Quest, 2013, etc.) makes his novel debut with a story of an ordinary man whose life is upended by a theft from a magical museum.
Graphic novel and video game writer Jenkins (Fairy Quest, 2013, etc.) makes his novel debut with a story of an ordinary man whose life is upended by a theft from a magical museum.
Graphic novel and video game writer Jenkins (Fairy Quest, 2013, etc.) makes his novel debut with a story of an ordinary man whose life is upended by a theft from a magical museum.Wil Morgan is a private investigator, and he hates his life. The former detail is revealed on page 16; the latter is clear from page 1, and how. Given that Morgan's problems include things like existential martyrdom over coffee-size naming conventions and how bored he is at work, it's tough to summon sympathy for even his legitimate woes, like his mother's death. But never fear, the plot will wrench Morgan from his doldrums, à la Alice in Wonderland; instead of a White Rabbit we have Mr. Dinsdale, a cartoonish eccentric who bullies Morgan into finding and recovering a box of levity (the opposite of gravity) stolen from Dinsdale's Curioddity Museum. From here, logic leaves the story--literally, as Morgan's arc requires him to embrace "un-looking" to see the absurd and perform intentionally pointless acts in the name of whimsy. Morgan meets a suitably wacky-but-beautiful woman, Lucy, to further transform his life with the power of love and conspiracy theories. Lucy, content to play self-described "groovy assistant" to Morgan's unlikely hero, primarily contributes interjections of "epic" and "major fail." There's also SARA, a smartphone operating system with attitude and ex machina powers. Thanks to lamp-shaded serendipity, Morgan need do little actual investigating but is carried by coincidence to a showdown with villainous Marcus James, a product pitchman selling mediocrity. Throughout, Jenkins makes sure that his most colorful characters--similes and metaphors--get plenty of exposure. Morgan's unexpectedly touching reconciliation with his accountant father provides a bright spot in the silliness. Jenkins aims for Neverwhere by way of Douglas Adams, but the charm isn't there.
Publishers Weekly. 10/15/2012, Vol. 259 Issue 42, p50-50. 1/5p.
Batman: The Dark Knight, Vol. 1: Knight Terrors David Finch, Paul Jenkins, Judd Winick, Joe Harris, and Ed Benes. DC, $24.99 (208p) ISBN 978-1-4012-3543-7
This Batman tale is supposedly all about the danger of both fear and the absence of fear. After a massive prison break from Arkham Asylum, Batman finds himself fighting many of his old foes, all amped up with additional powers. Batman fights to save Gotham, and himself, from these new threats, while trying to uncover the mystery of what is controlling them. While the fear element laces through all the stories, it's not enough of a driving force for the book, and Batman lumbers around from villain to villain and conflict to conflict rather aimlessly. There are some traditionally exciting superhero cliffhangers that would be effective, except in all cases but one the cliffhanger is disassembled moments later as nothing more than a ruse. In fact, the only cliffhanger of merit in the entire book goes nowhere as the character in question disappears and is never seen again. The book is overwritten and fussily drawn, with colors that are far too dark and storytelling that is frequently difficult to follow. While characters in costume are generally well-done, out-of-costume characters like Bruce Wayne and Alfred are inconsistent and ill-defined. (Oct.)
BOOK REVIEWS
'Curioddity' Needs More Curiosity, More Oddity
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August 31, 20167:00 AM ET
JASON HELLER
Curioddity
Curioddity
by Paul Jenkins
Hardcover, 320 pages purchase
On the second page of Curioddity — the debut novel by Eisner-winning comic-book writer Paul Jenkins — the book's protagonist Wil Morgan wakes up and looks in the mirror. Thankfully he doesn't do the expected thing, which is describe his appearance for the benefit of the reader. Instead, Jenkins writes, "Not a good time to make eye contact with his reflection, he decided, and he hastily backed away." It's a tiny scene, but it's telling. By and large, Curioddity tries to subvert — or at least smirk at — a whole host of fictional clichés and tropes. It does so in a framework that's strictly conventional: a science-and-magic-infused urban fantasy. But its self-deprecating humor and quirky charm quickly wear thin.
Wil Morgan — the missing "l" in his name seems to hint at something missing from his life — is a private investigator specializing in divorce and insurance cases. Accordingly, his life is a dull one. Jenkins makes sure you know how dull it is, over and over, throughout the book. Wil is withdrawn and socially awkward. His imagination, which his rocket-scientist mother did everything to cultivate in him, has withered. He shuffles through life like the underdog he is, breaking into tears and spending most of his time gauging his own ineffectuality as a person. But he goes about all that in a funny kind of way — with sad-sack asides and dry, deadpan laughs — and that helps keep Curioddity moving long enough to get to something juicier: the introduction of a strange man named Mr. Dinsdale, who enters Wil's office one day and begins to show him the magical things that lurk behind the veil of his humdrum reality.
Before long, Wil is searching for a maguffin called the Levity box, a scientifically fantastical device that Dinsdale desperately needs to retrieve. Dinsdale is the curator of the Museum of Curioddity, which exists only if you know how to "un-look" for it. He, of course, teaches Wil how to un-look, and an adventure ensues, one in which ninja-bots, an evil mastermind, and a century-old electric bill (really) must be overcome. Along the way, Wil meets the lady of his dreams, the "groovy"-spouting Lucy, even if she is the epitome of the dreaded Manic Pixie Dream Girl — a vibrant and exciting young woman who seems only to exist in order to give our glum, dull hero a reason to snap out of his self-obsessed moping.
Jenkins winks broadly at his readers, but all that winking ends up blinding the story.
Jason Heller
Once it finally picks up steam, Curioddity is a serviceable urban-fantasy romp. What holds it back is Jenkins' constant need to undermine his own framework. It's one thing to nimbly avoid the rote, describe-yourself-in-the-mirror scene early on; it's another to incessantly bring up every trope imaginable just to deflate it. At one point, the characters discuss how the villains in movies always spring back to life just when you think they're dead — even as they anticipate the same thing happening to them. And in a scene thinks it's much cleverer than it actually is, Wil observes that another character "had a voice like two breadfruits falling off the back of a rhinoceros." He then proceeds to tediously examine his overuse of horrible simile — which is Jenkins' way of poking fun at his own overuse of horrible similes. But it doesn't excuse it.
Jenkins winks broadly at his readers, but all that winking ends up blinding the story. It's a tale of regaining innocence and imagination, but he smothers it in snickering self-consciousness, even as he hits you over the head with sentimentality. The glib platitude "Your eyes only see what your mind lets you believe" is repeated far too often. Hollow, facile parodies of everything from Starbucks to Siri abound. And while it's clear Curioddity wishes it were a Douglas Adams book — complete with a Zaphod Beeblebrox homage in the form of a conjoined-twin character from another dimension — it's neither as curious nor as odd as its title would imply.
FRESH MEAT
Review: Curioddity by Paul Jenkins
ANGIE BARRY
Curioddity by Paul Jenkins is a quirky, fast-paced debut novel that is as peculiar as it is fun to read (Available August 30, 2016).
Wil felt so desperately, desperately tired. ...He had been metaphorically shot at, spat on, shut in, and spat out since the moment he'd left for work, and the thought of enduring any more of this particular Monday was more than any man had any obligation to bear. He'd been hired by a man dressed like a cartoon to find a box full of a substance that seemed as likely to exist as a good Canadian table wine; he had visited a museum full of space junk on a street that didn't exist, been yelled at in body language, and, worst of all, he'd ordered a large cup of coffee by describing it as “oversized.”
...At this point in his day, Wil formally and officially surrendered.
Wil Morgan is a private eye.
Wait—I know what you're thinking. You're probably picturing a fedora, a weathered trench goat, a gun holster under the arm, and a smoky, chiaroscuro office where empty whisky bottles litter the desk.
Wil, however, is pretty much the complete inverse of the stereotypical gumshoe. He's never touched a gun. Femme fatales aren't coming to him half-clothed and in tears. No one is exchanging bullets or quips with him down dark, dangerous alleys.
The hero of Curioddity—comic writer Paul Jenkins's first novel—is pretty much the definition of an Average Joe. He trudges to work because stepping lightly takes too much effort. His apartment building is overpopulated with cats and features an ancient landlady who babbles inanities. He has no friends, no lovers, and no dreams for the future. The highlight of his day consists of arguing with the teenaged barista at the corner coffee shop.
Wil wasn't always this blah, grey lump of a person, though.
Being a private investigator, especially one specializing in divorce and insurance fraud, was a far cry from the splendiferous blueprint Wil had originally drawn up for his life. As a child, Wil had planned to follow a unique and spectacular career path, narrowing down his options to one of few possibilities: 1) a hedgehog doctor, 2) developer of the world's first fruit-flavored wallpaper, 3) designer of the personal matter transmitter, or 4) quite possibly all of the above. He'd later settled upon just plain “inventor of stuff.” That was, of course, until he reached the 207th day of his tenth year of existence.
After Mom died, the house was a very quiet place for a very long time. Then one day without warning his father told Wil the shocking truth about Santa, explained the economics of safety, and drilled into Wil that magic was always a trick. Always.
Wil's mother, Melinda, was a scientist who had whole-heartedly believed in magic—right up until the moment an ill-advised experiment with electricity dissolved her at a molecular level. Her son never fully recovered from the loss and is now stuck in an inverse of the life Melinda had always wanted for him.
Until Mr. Dinsdale appears, that is.
One miserable Monday, quite without warning, a peculiar old man comes to our hero with a case. Seems the Box of Levity has gone missing from his Museum of Curiosities, and the strange old man—one Mr. Dinsdale—is convinced that there's no one else for the job but Wilbur Aloysius Morgan.
At first, Wil is skeptical. Mr. Dinsdale seems crazy, his expectations too high. Perspective, however, is a great motivator.
Certainly, he wasn't about to turn down a paying gig given the increasingly unhealthy state of his bank account; his current finances could be likened to a dehydrated hyena crawling through the Kalahari Desert in search of an oasis.
Just like that, Wil finds his life veering onto a completely new, thrilling, dangerous path—rife with ninja robots, impossible inventions, manic pixie dream girls, evil telemarketers, several men named Robert, voicemails from the future, aliens, Sequiturs, Smartphones with axes to grind, and honest-to-goodness magic.
After spending his entire adult life denying the existence of magic, Wil sees his city and the people around him in a new—far better—light. He realizes just how much he was missing and how sad and pathetic his life has been up to this point.
Wil imagined himself about to be accosted by a band of Romanian brigands armed with torture devices possessing such exotic names as Tongue Twister or Wrench Grinder, or something equally despicable; these imaginary bandits would probably rip off his kneecaps and sell them to a local hospital for profit. But as he rounded the first flight of steps under the withering gaze of the gargoyle, he was immediately struck by the complete absence of pirate-themed accordion music coming from the bottom of the stone stairs. Gone were his imagined rivers of molten lava and Hieronymus Bosh-like scenes of human torture.
...If there were demons here, they looked remarkably like a Chinese fishmonger, a cheerful-looking man who sold all kinds of fresh-cut flowers, and a large and beautiful African lady with perfect skin who sold local honey and facial cream made from imported shea butter.
Jenkins's debut novel is charmingly wacky, featuring characters who would fit in marvelously well with the Baudelaire children of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events—Wil and Co. would absolutely understand and appreciate the genius/madness of Willy Wonka and his eponymous chocolate factory.
Mr. Dinsdale, beyond sharing a name with an infamous Monty Python sketch, could be Mr. Magorium's cousin (or even half-brother), and his impossible Museum of Curiosities shares spiritual real estate with both Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and Night at the Museum.
Curioddity is magical realism at its zaniest; you can never predict where the plot will zig next (and even if you try, it'll zag instead). It's a world where nixies make sinks clatter, Leonardo da Vinci created a Perpetual Emotion Machine, TV hucksters brainwash audiences to buy useless gadgets (“For just three low, low payments of $19.99!”) before donning mechanized suits of death and destruction, and hot chocolate can quite literally save the day.
It's also a story about loss, coping mechanisms, the perpetual fight for individualism and honest invention in the face of mass consumerism and greed, and a love letter to the idea of finding wonder in everything around you.
Amidst the nihilism and anger of the every day—you only have to turn on the TV to see hatred and vitriol spewed in all directions—it's a reassuring and hopeful message. A comforting little oasis to escape to when the real world threatens to beat the whimsy out of you.
Jenkins's prose is as off-kilter and amusing as the plot and wild characters—his turns of phrase can be punny, laugh-out-loud hysterical, and wryly poetic all at once. Once the action kicks in the pace is relentlessly breathless:
He was unprepared to believe a thirty-year-old Ford Pinto could exceed speeds of eighty miles per hour through one-way Friday evening traffic without disintegrating like a broken test aircraft on reentry—certainly not a rusted Ford Pinto driven by a beautiful-yet-deranged young woman he'd just fallen in love with.
Surely, such a feat could only be accomplished by a New York City cab driver aided by a seventy-mile-per-hour wind and numerous illicit substances.
Curioddity is a fun, fantastical romp that builds up to a vastly enjoyable climax, which unspools like the best slapstick routine. Jenkins's comic pedigree is obvious in several sequences: he writes in such a cinematic way, it's hard not to see the action play out panel-by-panel in your imagination.
I read the entire thing in only a couple sittings during grey, rainy afternoons—the ideal setting, it turns out, because this madcap story of magic, mayhem, museums, and (evil) marketing transported me so thoroughly, I hardly noticed how colorless the world actually was beyond the window.
Truly, a sign of a winning fairy tale. Here's hoping Curioddity won't be Wil Morgan, Lucy Price, Mary Gold, and Mr. Dinsdale's only adventure.
Book Review: Curioddity by Paul Jenkins
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Any quotes contained in the following review are from the advance copy and are subject to change.
CurioddityCurioddity by Paul Jenkins
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (August 30, 2016)
Length: 320 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
As its title implies, this novel is a bit of an oddball. Even the style of it reminds me a little of a children’s storybook, complete with its own whimsical fairy tale message: Your eyes only see what your mind wants to see, so sometimes all it takes is a change of perspective. Or, if you’d like: Magic is real, if you just look for it.
The book starts with an introduction to the saddest protagonist ever. Wil Morgan is literally the kind of guy who has dreams about coming in second in a World’s Biggest Failure competition. He’s crotchety, cynical and unimaginative—but that didn’t used to be the case. His childhood was filled with hopes and dreams, and his mother the brilliant jet propulsion scientist Melinda Morgan always encouraged him to reach for the stars and believe in the possibility of magic. But the year he turned ten, Melinda died in a laboratory accident, leaving young Wil in the sole care of his father who is as different from his mother as can be. Barry Morgan, who was never an outside-of-the-box kind of man to begin with, became even more paranoid and set in his ways after the death of his beloved wife, fearing that he would lose his only son too. He essentially forbade Wil to have an imagination, setting the boy on a path to a safe and unadventurous life. And so this was the story of how Wil came to be in his boring, miserable, and uninspired existence.
But a part of Wil has never given up hope. He still wants to believe in the possibility of magic. Maybe that’s why he became a private investigator in defiance of his father who wanted him to be an accountant, even though being a PI pays poorly and he is stuck working out of an office building whose elevators smell like rat vomit. One day though, Wil gets a new assignment from a strange man called Mr. Dinsdale, who claims to be the curator of the Curioddity Museum. Even though Wil secretly thinks the man has lost his marbles, he reluctantly accepts the task of finding Mr. Dinsdale’s missing museum exhibit, something called a “box of levity” (as opposed to gravity).
Paul Jenkin’s debut prose novel is a bit of a surprise, to be sure. I’ve been following his work as a comic book writer since his Hellblazer days and Curioddity is quite different from what I had expected when I first heard that he wrote a book. It’s a little hard to describe, since it has some elements from everywhere, including urban fantasy and even a little bit of magical realism. It’s also somewhat off-the-wall and weird. The reader’s mileage will therefore vary, as it’s so often the case with books like this. If you enjoy unusual stories or eccentric humor in the style of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, then you might want to pick this one up.
On the other hand, if you’re not so sure this will be for you, it might be worth checking out a sample of Jenkin’s writing style if you can, which, speaking of, is very distinctive. You can probably get a good sense of what you’re in for within the first chapter. There are certain quirks like random breaks in the middle of scenes, and not a page goes by without a droll one-liner or some kind of cheeky metaphor. Here’s just one example from a random page:
“Wil felt like a nun at a fashion show: he was clearly out of his comfort zone, and would probably be better off sticking to his usual habits.”
Okay, that one got a chuckle from me. But a constant barrage of that can also get a little distracting, I’ll admit. I also don’t typically do so well with wacky plots and characters, and getting into this novel took time. Like I said, parts of this story reminded me of a children’s tale, and at times the book read like one too. There were flashes of cleverness, but also moments where the juvenile scenarios or Wil’s groan-worthy similes made me roll my eyes.
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy Curioddity though, because I did. Jenkins is clearly a talented writer and he can spin a good yarn. However, I’m also pretty sure I’m not the ideal target reader for this book. And you know what? Considering how well I did with it in spite of that, I would say that’s a win. Though its style sometimes ran counter to my tastes, the book’s whimsical message is something that will stay with me for a long time, as will its heartwarming conclusion. Bottom line, if you think his style will be a good fit for you, then I think you’ll love this one to bits.
BOOK REVIEW, FICTION
BOOK REVIEW: “CURIODDITY” BY PAUL JENKINS
DECEMBER 25, 2016 ROBERTMCGRATH 1 COMMENT
Curioddity by Paul Jenkins
Paul Jenkins is a fairly prolific writer of comics and video games, so this novel is a bit of a different medium for his story telling.
“Curioddity” refers to the Curioddity Museum, which a weird assemblage of junky looking artifacts with dubious provenances, enlivened by magic. The whole city is imbued with similar situations: boring, mundane reality which is imbued with amazing magic, if you are willing to let go and see it.
The story involves the reawakening of the lively imagination of Wil, who has been living a very, very dreary life. Through a series of events, he rediscovers what his late mother taught him, “your eyes only see what you mind lets you believe”. Wil learns to “un-look” at the world, and begins to see the astonishing things happening all around.
In a few remarkable days, Wil invigorates his lackluster career as an investigator, reconciles with his father, and gets a girlfriend. His new smart phone has a very shirty AI, who puts the “smartass” in “smart” phone. Oh, and he fights a bunch of aliens, killer ninjabots, blows stuff up, and saves the day.
A pretty exciting week, overall.
If this sounds like s comic book or video game, it is. The plot and characters are shallow and not especially logical. The entire point of magic and “un-looking” is to let random and illogical stuff happen. That may be magical, but it makes for a rather, well, random plot. Honestly, a string of completely arbitrary events isn’t actually all that interested to read about.
The characters and their problems are cartoonish, and the setting is also 2D, though highly detailed visually. There are lots of wonderful things in this city, but they are all just ‘drawings’ of things. In other words, it’s a comic-book like.
The plot is pretty video game-y, as well. There is a boss enemy to overcome, lots of ‘quests’ throughout, plenty of lightning bolts and explosions, and even an improbably outsized bag of “gear” that has to be dragged along on the quest. Much of the action involves racing about, nattering with what amount to NPCs, and solving (trivial) puzzles—just like a video game.
I have observed that conventional imaginative fiction (e.g., appearing as a novel without pictures) is certainly being influenced by these visual media (e.g., The Path, The Regional Office is Under Attack, Made To Kill, or Empire State).
Now, I enjoy comic books and video games (in moderation), but it isn’t clear to me that this sort of story telling is really a good use of a novel as a form.
Bottom line: this is a light weight little story, pleasant enough but not terribly satisfying. It’ll make a great comic book series.
Tarcherperigee: Knights in Training: Ten Principles for Raising Honorable, Courageous, and Compassionate Boys by Heather Haupt
https://hachettebookgroup.formstack.com/forms/drawityourselfadventures
Houghton Mifflin: But Then I Came Back by Estelle Laure
HarperCollins: Flashback Four: The Titanic Mission (Flashback Four #2) by Dan Gutman
Harper: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Park Row Books: Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig
News
Main Point Books Opens New Location in Wayne, Pa.
Main Point Books, which announced in May that it would be moving from Bryn Mawr to Wayne, Pa., is opening today in its new location at 116 North Wayne Avenue, "just in time for Harry Potter," said owner Cathy Fiebach. The new store is about 25% larger than the previous location, allowing for an expanded children's book section, the Main Line Suburban reported.
"This is a great community for a bookstore," said Fiebach. "Wayne has that feeling of a town center.... People come to bookstores when they have leisure time. We're the perfect spot to hang out a little while, to spend a half hour down time between dinner and a movie.... Being here is as good as being in the mall and the rents are a lot cheaper."
Growing up in New York City, Fiebach "loved" the Corner Book Store on the Upper East Side, Main Line Suburban wrote. Fiebach has an MBA from Wharton and worked in marketing, brand management and at Friends' Central School before opening Main Point Books in 2013, which she called "my midlife crisis."
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Disney-Hyperion: Wildman by J.C. Geiger
Nora Flaherty New Head of Macmillan Distribution
Nora Flaherty
Nora Flaherty has been promoted to v-p, client publisher sales and distribution, at Macmillan. She has been part of the company's distribution group for the past 14 years, most recently as v-p, client publisher services. In her expanded role, she will oversee the entire third-party distribution area including sales, operations, business development and distribution.
As Alison Lazarus, president of sales at Macmillan, put it, Flaherty was the "right hand in our distribution business" to Patti Hughes, the former v-p, distribution sales and special markets, who died on June 12.
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Delacorte Press: The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares
Take Note: The Moleskine Café Opens in Milan
Moleskin has launched its first Moleskine Café, on Corso Garibaldi 65, at the heart of the Brera Design District in Milan, Italy. The goal is to offer "a brand new format... that mixes elements of the café, art gallery, store and library," according to the company, which added: "A contemporary reinterpretation of the idea of the café littéraire, it is a new space that supplies energy to boost creativity as well as moments of deep thinking and relaxation, according to the company, which has its corporate headquarters in the city." Moleskin also noted that the new format "is ready to be replicated in global cities worldwide."
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Red Whee/Weiserl: Distribution Announcement for Cleis Press and Viva Editions
Obituary Note: James Alan McPherson
James Alan McPherson, the essayist and first black writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for Elbow Room, a 1978 story collection, died yesterday. He was 72.
McPherson grew up in the segregated South and was, as the New York Times wrote, "an avid comic book reader until he discovered what he called the colored branch of the Carnegie Public Library in Savannah." In Going Up to Atlanta, a memoir, McPherson commented: "At first the words, without pictures, were a mystery. But then, suddenly, they all began to march across the page. They gave up their secret meanings, spoke of other worlds, made me know that pain was a part of other peoples' lives. After a while, I could read faster and faster and faster. After a while, I no longer believed in the world in which I lived."
McPherson graduated from Morris Brown College, a traditionally black school in Atlanta, Harvard Law School and then the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, where he became a professor. While in law school, he won an Atlantic magazine contest with his short story "Gold Coast," which was included in his first collection, Hue and Cry.
The New York Times wrote that author Suketu Mehta, who was mentored by McPherson, said that his essays "belong to the humanist tradition of American letters: an anger at the economic and racial injustices of the country, coupled with a constant appreciation for the way community forms out of unlikely alliances, such as between poor Southern blacks and Southern whites."
McPherson won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972 and a MacArthur "genius award" in 1981.
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Shelf Awareness Sign-up Giveaway: The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown by Catherine Burns
Higher Minimum Wages: Booksellers Prepare, Part 4
Shelf Awareness continues a multi-part series on how booksellers are reacting to a range of laws boosting the minimum wage that have been enacted in various states and municipalities around the country. Last week and this week, we examined how booksellers in California, Washington, D.C., and New York are dealing with new state and local wage requirements. Today, in our last installment of this series, we talk with booksellers in Seattle, Wash.
In Seattle, the current minimum wage for employees who are not receiving benefits at companies with fewer than 500 employees is $12 per hour. For employees at companies with fewer than 500 employees who are receiving benefits, the wage is $10.50 per hour. For the former group, the wage will reach $15 per hour by January 1, 2019, while the latter will arrive at that level by January 1, 2021. Once employers reach $15 per hour, the wage will increase each year by a percentage pegged to the Consumer Price Index.
At University Book Store, which has three locations within Seattle proper and four in surrounding municipalities, payroll costs have increased by nearly 6% in the last fiscal year. According to Pam Cady, manager of the general book department, and Lara Konick, chief of retail operations, this is the result not only of raising wages at the bottom of the pay scale but also of raising wages for those who were already "ahead of the curve." Employees at UBS locations outside the city are being paid commensurate to those in the Seattle.
"The cities surrounding us are looking at Seattle and will probably be heading in that direction soon," said Cady. Tracking pay location by location would be more complicated than it's worth, she added, and asking employees outside of Seattle to be paid less for the same amount of work simply wouldn't be fair.
Konick, meanwhile, said she was very concerned about the effects that wage compression might have on staff. Wages are being forced up from the bottom by minimum wage increases, she explained, but given books' extremely thin margins, there is effectively a ceiling. As a result, wages are being compressed toward the middle. For example, by next January, she noted, a starting cashier will make $13 per hour, which is what some people who have been working at UBS for five or six years are currently earning. Said Konick: "There becomes less and less incentive for anyone to stay for a long period of time."
Cady and Konick hope to avoid layoffs, and are looking for ways to work more efficiently and effectively, as well as to leverage things the store is already doing without significantly increasing payroll. For example, UBS already does a small amount of business-to-business sales. Although growing that area would take time and effort, it could have a potentially high sales impact with a low payroll consequences. A new inventory management system is also in the works.
Konick also noted that removing prices from books might work to the disadvantage of bookstores. She explained: "If there were no prices on books, the perceived value would be whatever the lowest price [customers] could find is."
"On a day-to-day basis, we're figuring it out so far," said Cady. "People are not leaving. There have been challenges for years."
In the first six months of 2016, sales at Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company have risen more than 10%. Peter Aaron, the owner of the store, cautioned that there is no way to know if there's a causative relationship between the sales increase and the minimum wage increase or if it's simply a coincidence, but he emphasized that so far, he has seen no negative financial consequences of the higher minimum wage.
In order to maintain "fairness and proportionality" between those who have been at the store for a long time and those who are just walking in the door, Elliott Bay has raised employee pay "up and down the line," Aaron said. The costs associated with these increases are not insignificant, but the store is taking it one year at a time.
One possible negative consequence that the store has seen--though Aaron also stressed that a causative relationship with the wage increase can't be shown--is that it has lately been difficult to hire new staff. Aaron suggested that this may be a result of Seattle's strong economy.
"It's a cyclical thing," Aaron said. "There are times when the overall economy is not doing that well and all kinds of people are looking to work for the kinds of wages that a bookstore can afford to pay. And there are times when things are booming and it's hard to hire people."
While Aaron said he hoped that publishers might unveil programs that help bookstore profitability, he was strongly against the idea of removing prices from books. With book pricing, he said, there is only pressure from the bottom. Publisher-set prices maintain some order. Without them, he said, it's "just chaos."
On the whole, Aaron was extremely supportive of raising the minimum wage. "Based on my experience it looks like a win-win. I think it's a great thing." --Alex Mutter
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Notes
Image of the Day: Bacon4Bacon
photo: Erin Barker
Celebrated actor Kevin Bacon made an appearance at Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, Va., last weekend to read aloud from the comical picture book Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio (FSG). Here he stands beside the title's illustrator, Eric Wight, who drew along as Bacon read to the crowd.
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Bluebird Books, Hutchinson, Kan., Small Business of the Month
Congratulations to Bluebird Books, Hutchinson, Kan., which the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce named Small Business of the Month for July.
The Hutchinson News noted that since Melanie Green opened it in 2012, Bluebird Books has doubled in size, its employment has tripled, and the business, which now includes a small cafe, "has drawn regional and national accolades."
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GBO Picks The Trap
The German Book Office in New York City has chosen The Trap by Melanie Raabe, translated by Imogen Taylor (Grand Central, $26, 9781455592920), as its July Pick of the Month.
The GBO described the book this way: "Successful novelist Linda Conrads has not left her house for more than a decade. She is haunted by the past: twelve years ago, she found her younger sister stabbed to death, lying in a pool of blood. The murder case was never solved. Traumatized, Linda seals herself off from society; the only means left to communicate to the outside world is her writing. When she recognizes her sister's murderer on TV--it is a renowned journalist--she sets an irresistible 'literary' trap: she writes a novel about her sister's death and invites him home for an exclusive interview."
Melanie Raabe, born in 1981, studied media and literature before becoming a magazine editor, freelance journalist, writer and stage actor. The Trap is her debut novel.
Imogen Taylor works in Berlin as a freelance translator and academic. Her translation of Momente der Klarheit by Jackie Thomae received the 2016 Goethe-Institut Award for New Translations.
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IPG Adds Five Publishers
Independent Publishers Group and its subsidiaries have added five publishers.
Distributed by IPG:
Bucket Fillers, a Michigan publisher founded in 2006 that specializes in books about "bucket filling," a sort of extended self-help and happiness metaphor for young children, schools and communities. Effective June 1, 2016.
Mosaic Press, a Canadian publisher that has released more than 500 books in literature, the arts, social studies and international studies since 1975. Effective January 1, 2017.
Distributed by IPG's Trafalgar Square subsidiary:
Amberley Publishing, a U.K. publisher founded in 2008 that specializes in books about local history, general history, military history, transportation, industry and sports. Effective January 1, 2017.
Distributed by IPG's Academic and Professional Publishing:
Little Island Press, a U.K. publisher with three hardcover collectible poetry series--Budding New Poets, Memento and Transits. Effective October 1, 2016.
Distributed by IPG's Art Stock Books:
Pucci Publishing, a Costa Rican publisher of wildlife and landscape photography books. Effective January 1, 2017.
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Personnel Changes at HMH Books for Young Readers
Tara Shanahan has joined HMH Books for Young Readers as senior publicity manager. She was previously senior publicist at Penguin Young Readers.
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Book Trailer of the Day: How to Be a Bawse
How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life (Ballantine) by Lilly Singh (aka ||Superwoman||), about the book that the comedian and YouTube sensation is writing.
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Are you ready to make a move? The best publishers and
bookstores tell us whom they want to hire. It could be you!
Here are 10 of 17 active listings.
Senior Trade Acquisitions Editor , University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA
Marketing and Publicity Manager, Pomegranate Communications, Portland, OR
Sales Assistant/Sales Coordinator – Adult Field, Penguin Random House, New York, NY
National Account Rep - Amazon, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY
Assistant Publicist, Columbia University Press, New York, NY
Author Happiness Advocate, Macmillan, New York, NY
Book Specialist , Smithsonian Enterprises, Washington, DC
General Manager, Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab, Brooklyn, NY
Manager of Events & Marketing, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA
Marketing and Publicity Assistant, Soho Press, New York, NY
Click here to view our job board.
Media and Movies
Media Heat: Penn Jillette on Real Time with Bill Maher
Tomorrow:
Fox Radio's Kilmeade & Friends: Jonah Berger, author of Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior (Simon & Schuster, $26.99, 9781476759692).
Tavis Smiley: Sam Polk, author of For the Love of Money: A Memoir (Scribner, $25, 9781476785981).
Real Time with Bill Maher: Penn Jillette, author of Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales (Simon & Schuster, $26, 9781501140181).
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TV: Sherlock; The Handmaid's Tale
A first look trailer for Season 4 of the BBC/PBS Masterpiece hit series Sherlock was unveiled during Comic-Con last week that "promises that 'everything they know will be tested' and teases an intense, surprisingly action-heavy fourth season that seems closer to John le Carré than Arthur Conan Doyle," Deadline reported.
At a panel featuring actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Amanda Abbington--as well as co-creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue--Benedict, Abbington and Gatiss agreed "that this season will be the darkest thing the showrunners have ever written for the show--'a real emotional roller coaster,' said Cumberbatch, but, Gatiss added, 'with jokes.' "
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Samira Wiley (Orange Is the New Black) has joined the cast of The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The 10-episode drama stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men). Bruce Miller (The 100) wrote the script and will executive produce with Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Warren Littlefield and Ilene Chaiken. Atwood is a consulting producer on the project, which was previously adapted as a feature film in 1990 starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall. The Handmaid's Tale will premiere in 2017.
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This Weekend on Book TV: The Harlem Book Fair
Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.
Saturday, July 30
12 p.m. Coverage from the 18th annual Harlem Book Fair in New York City, which took place on July 16. (Re-airs Sunday at 12 a.m.)
4:20 p.m. Stephen Budiansky, author of Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union (Knopf, $30, 9780385352666), at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Monday at 2 a.m.)
7:15 p.m. Governor John Hickenlooper, co-author of The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics (Penguin Press, $30, 9781101981672). (Re-airs Sunday at 11 p.m.)
8:45 p.m. Mychal Smith, author of Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education (Nation Books, $24, 9781568585284). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 a.m.)
10 p.m. Eric Fair, author of Consequence: A Memoir (Holt, $26, 9781627795135). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.)
Sunday, July 31
4:15 p.m. Shawn Otto, author of The War on Science: Who's Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It (Milkweed Editions, $20, 9781571313539). (Re-airs Monday at 6 a.m.)
6:15 p.m. Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald and other staff members from the Intercept read from The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781501144134). (Re-airs Monday at 4 a.m.)
10 p.m. Nigel Hamilton, author of Commander in Chief: FDR's Battle with Churchill, 1943 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30, 9780544279117), at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass.
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Books & Authors
IndieBound: Other Indie Favorites
From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:
Hardcover
Miss Jane: A Novel by Brad Watson (Norton, $25.95, 9780393241730). "At first, I was uncomfortable reading about the life Jane Chisolm has to lead due to a genital birth defect and assumed that I would be sad for her throughout the book, but this is so beautifully written and unsentimental in its depiction of Jane's quiet strength and courageous acceptance of her life that I fell in love with her quite quickly. While all the supporting characters have their own peculiarities, they are tender and endearing to Jane and that helped me to understand how she endured and was loved so fully. Everyone should read this extraordinary book and feel, as I did, the joy of this remarkable woman." --Nancy Banks, City Stacks Books and Coffee, Denver, Colo.
If I Forget You: A Novel by Thomas Christopher Greene (Thomas Dunne, $24.99, 9781250072788). "Twenty years ago, Margo and Henry fell in love, lost each other to a fierce misunderstanding, and went their separate ways--to marriages, children, and a second-best kind of happiness. Now, a chance encounter holds out hope for reconciliation and the joy of true love. Greene tells this story by jumping back and forth in time and between narrators, while readers wonder 'will they or won't they?' Read this one for the story and the superb style. One of the best books I have read this year." --Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, Wash.
Paperback
Look: Poems by Solmaz Sharif (Graywolf Press, $16, 9781555977443). "Sharif's first poetry collection tells the story of the punishing legacy that enduring warfare can have on a family. She expertly utilizes language lifted from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms to demonstrate how we have sanitized the language of warfare into something more benign and seemingly less deadly. The essential task of poetry is to engender empathy and to speak truth to power; to that end, Look succeeds in spades." --Matt Keliher, SubText: A Bookstore, St. Paul, Minn.
For Ages 4 to 8
Tell Me a Tattoo Story by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler (Chronicle, $16.99, 9781452119373). "Finally, a kids' book that is tailor-made for the millennial parent--an age demographic that is not only accepting of body art but also celebrates the stories of the body as canvas and fosters appreciation for the art form. There is often a deeply personal story behind each tattoo and that legacy is highlighted with McGhee's gentle words and Wheeler's tender illustrations. As the hip father in the book recounts his tattoos' meanings to his curious young son, a well-rounded life full of love is told through ink." --Julie Oliver, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Mass.
For Ages 9 to 12
When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin (Dial, $16.99, 9780803738164). "When outsider Ben Coffin discovers Flip, an abandoned dog, and finds a friend in Halley, the librarian's daughter, he finally begins to feel like he belongs in his own life. When tragedy strikes and Ben's life threatens to fall apart, Flip proves that friendship--and love--can take many forms. This book can only be described as tail-thumping, dog-kisses-all-over-your-face good!" --Clara Martin, Lemuria Bookstore, Jackson, Miss.
For Teen Readers
Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan (Knopf, $17.99, 9780553524840). "Julia lives in Spira City, where magic and even folklore are punishable by death, and she loves her edgy life as a thief and a spy. Her mother was a witch, drowned in the river as part of the frequent Cleansing ceremonies, so Julia stays away from magic. Except that she does have a special skill that comes in handy while thieving: Julia can make herself almost unseen. This is the first book in a new trilogy and I look forward to more of Julia's adventures as this epic story continues." --Clare Doornbos, DIESEL: A Bookstore, Larkspur, Calif.
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
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Attainment: New Titles Out Next Week
Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, August 2:
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One & Two by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany (Arthur A. Levine, $29.99, 9781338099133) is the script of a play that takes place 19 years after the last Harry Potter book. (July 31.)
Bullseye by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Little, Brown, $28, 9780316407083) is the ninth thriller featuring Detective Michael Bennett. (August 1.)
The Making of Donald Trump by David Cay Johnston (Melville House, $24.99, 9781612196329) is an in-depth look at the Republican presidential nominee from a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter.
To the Bright Edge of the World: A Novel by Eowyn Ivey (Little, Brown, $26, 9780316242851) follows an 1885 expedition into interior Alaska.
The Beauty of Darkness: The Remnant Chronicles: Book Three by Mary E. Pearson (Holt, $17.99, 9780805099256) concludes the Remnant Chronicles series.
Avalanche: A Love Story by Julia Leigh (Norton, $23.95, 9780393292763) is a woman's account of her journey through fertility treatments.
Please Enjoy Your Happiness: A Memoir by Paul Brinkley-Rogers (Touchstone, $25, 9781501151255) chronicles a love affair between the author, then a U.S. Navy sailor, and an older Japanese woman in 1959.
Liars: How Progressives Exploit Our Fears for Power and Control by Glenn Beck (Threshold Editions, $27, 9781476798851) is the latest from the right-wing radio host.
Paperback:
It Ends with Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover (Atria, $16, 9781501110368).
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Book Review
Review: Curioddity
Curioddity by Paul Jenkins (St. Martin's Press, $26.99 hardcover, 320p., 9781250026156, August 30, 2016)
In Wil Morgan's life, ordinary events in a dull environment are the norm. His job as a private investigator specializing in divorce and insurance fraud gives him little joy or money to pay his bills. The people he interacts with on a daily basis do nothing to make his life more memorable. And for years, he's lied to his father about his work, telling him he's an accountant, which only adds to the gloom in Wil's life. On his daily trudge to work, past the giant billboard of Marcus James, "national TV personality of no apparent talent who nevertheless possessed the ability to persuade millions of people to part with something useful in exchange for something useless, usually in three or four easy payments," Wil's only moments of pleasure are when he allows himself to reminisce about his childhood and his mother, who was able to show him the magic in everything. But Melinda Morgan died when Wil was 10, and with her died Wil's ability to see the world in a different light. That is, until Mr. Dinsdale, curator of the Curioddity Museum, appears in his office to hire him to search for a box of levity (the opposite of gravity) that has gone missing from its exhibit in the museum. Wil accidentally discovers the box in a junk shop, landing a first date with the eccentric proprietress at the same time, before quickly moving on to solve another case at the museum. Over the course of just a week's time, Wil discovers far more than he ever imagined as he sleuths his way through a new and intriguing existence.
Known for his graphic novels and video game storylines, Paul Jenkins has written a droll debut mystery full of odds and ends, moving crates, perpetual motion machines and a host of other items that look like junk only to those who don't know how to un-look at the world. And as a delightful poke at modern technology, Jenkins includes a Lemon brand cell phone, which responds to voice recognition through an erratic and problematic operating system named SARA. Rather like a pinball machine--where the game starts out slowly at first, as the ball arcs to the top of the playing field, before dropping into any number of potential avenues for play--Jenkin's story quickly amps up into a pell-mell scramble to save the Curioddity Museum from going under, courtesy of the twisted business practices of the conniving Marcus James. Quirky to the core and full of wordplay, Curioddity examines the mysteriousness and magic inherent in life that many may have forgotten exists in a world full of technical gadgets, regulations and network shopping channels. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer
Shelf Talker: Curioddity is an offbeat, magical detective story that blends elements of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere with Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.