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“How to Win Her Love” offers amusing advice for seducing women. (Katie Turner) |
Shelf Life
From reviews to publishing
With a nod to the venerable New York Review of Books, the three-year-old New Haven Review is now publishing books. The goal is to publish “good stuff that hasn’t found a home elsewhere,’’ said Mark Oppenheimer, a cofounder of the Connecticut-based book review.
The inaugural offerings are diverse, each written by a contributor to the review. “How to Win Her Love’’ is a tongue-in-cheek guide to seducing women by Rudolph Delson, author of the comic novel “Maynard & Jennica.’’ “Blue for Oceans’’ is Charles Douthat’s collection of poems centered on the concerns of an American family man at midlife. “Kentauros’’ is Gregory Feeley’s hybrid exploration — calling on fiction, nonfiction, and poetry — of the story of the origins of centaurs. (Details at www.newhavenreview.com.)
In drawing on the work of contributors, the New Haven Review’s publishing division follows the model of The New York Review of Books, which has produced a series of volumes that are collections of essays by frequent contributors to that publication.
The move into publishing books occurred at the behest of contributors to the twice-a-year review, Oppenheimer said. “These manuscripts were all given to us by people who admired the journal and had something sitting in a drawer,’’ he added.
The new press offers no advances but authors will receive half of the proceeds once the production costs have been paid. E-books are part of Oppenheimer’s plan but he’s partial to print. The new paperbacks are handsomely produced, with beveled edges and French flaps.
Next month Oppenheimer and Brian Slattery, his co-editor in the books division, will launch another endeavor, “Paper Trails,’’ a one-hour weekly book discussion show on public radio in Hartford and online at www.wnpr.org. Oppenheimer promises an honest discussion — “warts and all’’ — of the week’s book. First up on Feb. 13 will be the story collection, “Nobody Ever Gets Lost’’ by Jess Row.
A poet’s readings
Terrance Hayes, who won the National Book Award for Poetry in November, weaves wordplay, pop culture references, an acute awareness of what it means to be black in America today, and some strong language into his work. Some of his lines are funny, like when he riffs on folks who don’t know whether Toni Morrison is a man or a woman.Hayes, who is writer-in-residence at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, will read from his work at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as part of a series of readings today through Friday in the Founder’s Room, 400 Heath St. (Details at www.pmc.edu/mfa-reading-series.)
Coming out
■ “Why I Left the Amish: A Memoir’’ by Saloma Miller Furlong (Michigan State University)■ “The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do’’ by Eduardo Porter (Penguin)
■ “365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life’’ by John Kralik (Hyperion)
Pick of the week
Ellen Burns of Books on the Common in Ridgefield, Conn., recommends “The Year of the Hare’’ by Arto Paasilinna (Penguin): “A modern-day fable from one of Finland’s most popular authors, this books tells the story of a journalist and a hare. While on an assignment, Kaarlo Vatanen hits a hare and breaks its leg. Rather than drive on, Vatanen rescues the creature and abandons his job, his wife, and all his possessions. Thus begins an adventure told in a funny, sweet, and loving parable of animal companions, rural life, and the rejection of modern consumer society.’’Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com. 
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