Synopses & Reviews
The way we absorb information has changed dramatically. Edisons phonograph has been reincarnated as the iPod. Celluloid went digital. But books, for the most part, have remained the sameuntil now. And while music and movies have undergone an almost Darwinian evolution, the literary world now faces a revolution, a sudden change in the way we buy, produce, and read books.
Scholars, journalists, and publishers have turned their brains inside out in the effort to predict what lies ahead, but who better to comment on the future of the book than those who are driven to write them?
In The Late American Novel, Jeff Martin and C. Max Magee gather some of todays finest writers to consider the sea change that is upon them. Lauren Groff imagines an array of fantastical futures for writers, from poets with groupies to novelists as vending machines. Rivka Galchen writes about the figurative and literal death of paper. Joe Meno expounds upon the idea of a book as a place set permanently aside for the imagination, regardless of format. These and other original essays by Reif Larsen, Benjamin Kunkel, Victoria Patterson, and many more provide a timely and much-needed commentary on this compelling cultural crossroad.
Review
Praise for
The Late American Novel"Funny, poignant, relentlessly thought-provoking." The Atlantic
This book is lively, smart, funny, wildly creative, and gives me great hope for the future of writing.” A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically
What a fun and timely book this is. I sat down to read it expecting a coroner's report and found a manifesto instead. Maybe it's not time to go back to work at Applebee's yet, after all.” John Wray, author of Lowboy
Praise for The Customer Is Always Wrong, edited by Jeff Martin
The mundane tasks and indignant exchanges with impossible customers are hilariously captured in this collection . . . Some . . . are spun with a catty flair and flirt with a mild contempt for frivolous consumers; others . . . are outrageously funny and incorporate life lessons in the litany of humiliations. Breezy and occasionally creepy musings on everything from guilt over serving fattening Swedish pancakes to seniors to the horrors of working at Sears may provide some nostalgic chuckles and perhaps even some unpleasant flashbacks as this collection elevates retail selling to a rite of passage.” Publishers Weekly
Praise for My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize
Jeff Martin is a first class liar. Even better than me.” James Frey
Synopsis
Scholars, journalists, and publishers have turned their brains inside out in the effort to predict what lies ahead, but who better to comment on the future of the book than those who are driven to write them? The way we absorb information has changed dramatically. Edison's phonograph has been reincarnated as the iPod. Celluloid went digital. But books, for the most part, have remained the same--until now. And while music and movies have undergone an almost Darwinian evolution, the literary world now faces a revolution, a sudden change in the way we buy, produce, and read books.
In The Late American Novel, Jeff Martin and C. Max Magee gather some of today's finest writers to consider the sea change that is upon them. Lauren Groff imagines an array of fantastical futures for writers, from poets with groupies to novelists as vending machines. Rivka Galchen writes about the figurative and literal death of paper. Joe Meno expounds upon the idea of a book as a place set permanently aside for the imagination, regardless of format. These and other original essays by Reif Larsen, Benjamin Kunkel, Victoria Patterson, and many more provide a timely and much-needed commentary on this compelling cultural crossroad.
About the Author
Praise for
The Late American NovelThis book is lively, smart, funny, wildly creative, and gives me great hope for the future of writing.” A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically
What a fun and timely book this is. I sat down to read it expecting a coroner's report and found a manifesto instead. Maybe it's not time to go back to work at Applebee's yet, after all.” John Wray, author of Lowboy
Praise for The Customer Is Always Wrong, edited by Jeff Martin
The mundane tasks and indignant exchanges with impossible customers are hilariously captured in this collection . . . Some . . . are spun with a catty flair and flirt with a mild contempt for frivolous consumers; others . . . are outrageously funny and incorporate life lessons in the litany of humiliations. Breezy and occasionally creepy musings on everything from guilt over serving fattening Swedish pancakes to seniors to the horrors of working at Sears may provide some nostalgic chuckles and perhaps even some unpleasant flashbacks as this collection elevates retail selling to a rite of passage.” Publishers Weekly
One more thing to give thanks for.” The Very Short List
There must be a retail work experience so horrifying that theres nothing funny about it. If so . . . Martin must have decided to excise it from The Customer Is Always Wrong . . . Customers best stories supersede its jokey title and become true slices of life . . . it never trivializes the value of suffering a little for a paycheck.” The Onion
The results are uniformly sardonic, touching, hilarious, uplifting and bizarre; in short: terrific!” Shelf Awareness
Once I got past the shock and horror of not being asked to contribute to this book, I started to enjoy it . . . a lot. Cathartic and entertaining, these essays will rivet and delight, regardless of which side of the counter you stand on.” Simon Doonan, Creative Director Barneys New York (since 1986)
Praise for My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize
Jeff Martin is a first class liar. Even better than me.” James Frey
A garden of lush lies.” The Onion
Frankly, I had my doubts about Jeff Martins book. But while I was reading it, my tumor started to shrink. By the time I reached the end, it was gone!! The doctors have their fingers crossed. So thanks, Jeff, I guess.” Chip Kidd, author of The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners
Remember when Jeff Martin took over lead-singer duties for Velvet Revolver, and rechristened the band Fleece Musket? No? Then this is the book to set you straighta wild-eyed almost-alternate history of not-so-long-ago, in which so much depends upon the Zelig-like Mr. Martin.” Ed Park, author of Personal Days
This book never quits being hilarious.” Patricia Marx of The New Yorker and author of Him Her Him Again the End of Him
Andy Warhol said that in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. He probably meant to put quotation marks around famous, but in any case its now the future, and Jeff Martin has producedchoose the analogy you like best!A) The Diary of a Nobody for the 21st century, or B) the perfect Twitter Age pseudo-memoir.” Kurt Andersen, author of Heyday, host of Studio 360, co-founder of Spy Magazine
An enjoyable trip through the last 29 years of popular culture.” Popdose