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Bookreporter.com Newsletter	March 14, 2003
This Week on Bookreporter.com The Joy of...The Backlist Irish Author Roundtable Suspense/Thriller Feature: New This Week --- A Contest and Our Next Author: D.W. Buffa What's Nelson DeMille Reading? Author Talk: Matthew Pearl, author of THE DANTE CLUB THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB by Louise Erdrich This Week's Book Reviews Poll: What Do You Want From Bookreporter.com Reviews? Question of the Week Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading	On The Book Report Network Bookreporter.com Past Reviews Past Poll: Do you ever laugh out loud when you're reading a book? Which book or author has made you laugh out loud the most?
The Joy of...The Backlist Years ago I remember a teacher coming into the classroom and playing "Sounds of Silence" as part of an English class. There was a joy in discovering that song and then learning that by the time I was hearing them for the first time, Simon and Garfunkel had 5 albums out. I was able to explore their entire battery of work in chronological order. Instead of discovering a song, or an album, I found a career of songs and music. I tell that story a lot when I talk to authors and publishers about the joy of finding an author at a point where he or she has a substantial backlist. There's a great pleasure in finding an author with a character, or a voice, that you like and having a chance to really wrap yourself around his or her work. This is what happened for me with Jeffery Deaver. I had not read him before I picked up THE VANISHED MAN. I enjoyed reading his character Lincoln Rhyme and immediately was drawn to read more of the backlist. Readers have been writing to tell me which of his books were their favorites --- and why. This week I took my "study" of Deaver further as I went to his bookstore appearance in New York City. There were a number of ardent, long-time fans in the audience and their questions were just as interesting as Deaver's reading and commentary. I walked away with a much better understanding of his work, a respect for his attention to detail and plot, and an appreciation for his respect for his readers. This week we have an interview with Deaver, as well as a review of THE VANISHED MAN and a contest where you can win four Lincoln Rhyme titles. Be sure to check it out. This week we also announce our latest Suspense/Thriller author, D.W. Buffa. His next one is STAR WITNESS, which we are offering as our next advance reading selection. I have read all five of Buffa's books. For those of you who enjoy more literary titles, but want to try a thriller, this would be a great author to explore. This week has a full lineup with our annual Irish Authors Roundtable among the features. For those keeping tabs, yes, I will be making corned beef and cabbage on Monday though I am only Irish by name. Fordham, my alma mater actually invited me to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Fifth Avenue --- wearing a Fordham sash no less --- but I am steering clear of this activity while smiling at the thought. We also have some terrific reviews including a look at new titles from Ruth Ozeki and Louise Erdrich, which are getting some nice buzz. Enjoy this week's issue... --Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com) Read an interview with Jeffery Deaver here, as well as our review of THE VANISHED MAN
Irish Author Roundtable AuthorsOnTheWeb.com brought together 13 prominent authors to help readers celebrate St. Patrick's Day with style. John Dominic Crossan, Bill Cullen, Frank Gannon, Kerry Hardie, Marian Keyes, Shawn McBride, Robert Mooney, Ann Moore, Thomas Moran, Brendan O'Carroll, Joseph O'Connor, Nuala O'Faolain and Emilie Richards discuss Irish stereotypes, mysticism, and the use of politics in their writing, as well as their personal literary influences. A diverse mix of Ireland-born authors, authors of Irish-descent, and an author who writes Irish historical fiction makes this roundtable required reading for anyone interested in Irish literature or history. Read the Irish Author Roundtable here.
Suspense/Thriller Feature: New This Week --- A Contest and Our Next Author: D.W. Buffa Jeffery Deaver, author of THE VANISHED MAN (in stores now): -Interview with Jeffery Deaver -Read our review of this electrifying thriller that pits forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner, Amelia Sachs, against the Conjurer, a killer schooled in the world of illusion, who has one final, horrific trick up his sleeve. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub -A contest where you can win a copy of THE VANISHED MAN and three other Lincoln Rhyme titles William Lashner, author of FATAL FLAW (in stores May 9th) is our April Author of the Month -See a list of our FATAL FLAW advance readers -Read a third excerpt of BITTER TRUTH (coming in paperback on March 25th) Announcing our next author D.W. Buffa, whose next book STAR WITNESS will be in stores on April 29th. --If you want to submit your name to be selected to read an advance reader copy of STAR WITNESS and comment on it, send an email to SuspenseThriller@bookreporter.com by Friday, March 21st. Important: Please include your name and snail mail (street) address. -Read more about STAR WITNESS -Read about D.W. Buffa Read our suspense/thriller feature here.
What's Nelson DeMille Reading? Get Inside Today's Best Books Enjoy all the values and benefits of Book-of-the-Month Club Great Books Chosen by Great Authors Like Nelson DeMille "Scott Turow all but invented the legal thriller... The premise of REVERSIBLE ERRORS is not new: a lowlife is accused and convicted of a vicious murder that he may not have committed and is awaiting execution. But what always sets all of Scott Turow's novels apart from his contemporaries is his elegant writing style, his absolutely convincing characterizations and his perceptive insights into American society... In fact, from PRESUMED INNOCENT to REVERSIBLE ERRORS, the man who invented the genre has always transcended it."-Nelson DeMille Get up to 75% off REVERSIBLE ERRORS, plus one for FREE! Join today and get FREE shipping and handling! Click for Details
Author Talk: Matthew Pearl, author of THE DANTE CLUB Matthew Pearl graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude in English and American Literature in 1997 and from Yale Law School in 2000. In 1998, he won the prestigious Dante Prize from the Dante Society of America for his scholarly work. In this interview, Pearl discusses his debut novel, THE DANTE CLUB, a captivating thriller that combines fact with fiction. THE DANTE CLUB by Matthew Pearl (Historical Thriller) Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his respected crew decide to produce the first major American translation of Dante Alighieri's THE DIVINE COMEDY. However, their ambitious plans fall apart when they realize that a madman is recreating the gruesome deaths depicted in Dante's INFERNO. Read an interview with Matthew Pearl here, as well as our review of THE DANTE CLUB
THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB by Louise Erdrich THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB by Louise Erdrich (Fiction) Reviewed by Toni Fitzgerald Louise Erdrich has written an emotionally powerful and richly detailed novel about a German immigrant family that fuses into the New World via the fascinating and sometimes mysterious town of Argus, North Dakota. Read a review of THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB here.
This Week's Book Reviews ALL OVER CREATION by Ruth Ozeki (Fiction) Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton Yumi Fuller, a Japanese-American prodigal daughter, returns home to her Idaho potato farm, where she must face her dying father, her seriously ill mother and the best friend she left behind --- to name just a few. THE HEMINGWAY BOOK CLUB OF KOSOVO by Paula Huntley (Travel/Memoir) Reviewed by Melissa Brown Paula Huntley has written a moving recollection of her experiences as an English teacher in post-war Kosovo, where she formed a very special bond with her students. TIES THAT BIND by Phillip Margolin (Suspense) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub In Phillip Margolin's latest legal thriller, lawyer Amanda Jaffe is determined to recover from the fallout of her previous case by defending a man accused of murdering a U.S. Senator --- yet this decision will place her and those she loves in the path of a deadly juggernaut. DERAILED by James Siegel (Thriller) Reviewed by Kate Ayers One man learns the wages of sin when his life is turned upside down by a stunningly sensuous woman who flirts with him on the 9:05 train into downtown New York. If only he hadn't missed his usual train! HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster (Literary Criticism) Reviewed by Ron Kaplan In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to discover the deeper meaning of a literary text, which he says will make our reading experiences more enriching, satisfying and fun. THE NO SPIN ZONE by Bill O'Reilly (Current Events) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox News Channel's top-rated program, The O'Reilly Factor, reflects on notable interviews he has conducted with some of his most famous and powerful guests, exposing what's really on their minds while sharing a number of his own counterpoints along the way. SAVAGE GIRLS AND WILD BOYS: A History of Feral Children by Michael Newton (History/Psychology) Reviewed by Jonathan Shipley Michael Newton examines history's most famous cases of feral children (those who were brought up by animals, raised in the wilderness, locked in solitary confinement, etc.) in order to determine what we can learn about ourselves. Read this week's reviews here.
Poll: What Do You Want From Bookreporter.com Reviews? On Bookreporter.com our mission is to encourage reading. As a result, we tell our reviewers that if they do not like a book, they may skip it and, instead, write about another book that they do enjoy --- unless they would like to finish it and write a critical review. Typically our reviewers opt to select another title. We are wondering what you think: Which of the following would you like to see on Bookreporter.com? Reviews and commentary about only the books we like and would like to encourage readers to read Reviews and commentary on the books we like and those we do not Not sure what I would like to see If you read a negative review of an author you like or a book you have heard about and were planning to read, what do you typically do? Still buy the book Think twice before buying it Eliminate it from my shopping list Not sure Has a negative review of a book ever made you want to read that book even more, so that you could find out for yourself if all the criticism was justified? Yes No Not sure Which of the following print or online review sources do you trust? Amazon.com Booklist Bookreporter.com Kirkus LA Times New York Times Publisher's Weekly USA Today My local newspaper Other Answer the Poll here.
Question of the Week Here's our question of the week: What was the latest book you bought because of a review? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not? Answer the Question of the Week.
Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't. Five lucky reader will each win a copy THE JESTER by James Patterson & Andrew Gross. Need more details about Word of Mouth? Click here.
As always, here are a few housekeeping notes. If you are seeing this newsletter in a text version, and would prefer to see the graphics, you can either read it online (see the link on the upper right) or change your preferences below. Those of you who wish to send mail to the general mailbox at Bookreporter.com, please write to: Mail@bookreporter.com. If you would like to reach me, please write Carol@bookreporter.com. Writing any of the respond buttons below will not get to us. Quick observation --- we have noticed that many of you have been changing your Internet providers in the past month. If you do, please be sure to "take us along" by signing up for the newsletter in your new name! Happy reading....and don't forget to forward this newsletter to a friend. --- Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com) Back to top.