The Cheap Seats

Discussed this week are The Fourth Hand by John Irving, Paulo Coehlo's new book The Zahir and The Hill Road by Patrick O'Keefe

An often-coined cliché says everyone has one book in them – conventional wisdom might also suggest there is little cause to see these books published. As Steve Martin said in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 'Not every story is an anecdote'. Still, any long career has to start with a debut book and getting that published always proves harder than getting the damned thing written. Now it seems this may be not just difficult but also financially risky for debutant authors. MacMillan publishers have launched a New Writers Fiction List within which new writers they sign receive no advance and have to pay for their own book's editing. It's surprising they don't give them yellow jackets and send them onto the streets to sell the books at lunch hour. Described by Hari Kunzru, author of The Impressionist as 'the Ryanair of publishing', this innovation allows the publishers to have their literary cake and feast on the proceeds. Successful books will reap larger profits while the duds will lose less than before due to the lighter investment. The cream will inevitably rise to the top but now MacMillan will pay less on the bottom line. Maybe the future holds costly litigation for them, like when George Michael and Michael Jackson sued their record companies for release from punitive contracts? One thinks that might cause publishers to question the wisdom of throwing their weight around.

Finding Fathers

Readers of John Irving know what to expect when they get his latest book; an epic tale peopled with a loveable hero from New England, an idiosyncratic supporting cast, some wrestling, wild animals, schooldays with tragedy and an absent father thrown into the mix. The main plots may have changed from The 158lb Marriage to The Fourth Hand but eleven books in there is a recurring backdrop as reliable and satisfactory as a Woody Allen movie in each new Irving instalment. His last novel, The Fourth Hand carried none of the weight, literal or actual, of his previous works. A return to form is expected now that details of his new novel were released last week. Famed for not participating in book signings, Irving nevertheless gave a public reading in New York of the opening chapters from Until I Found You in advance of its July publication. Ostensibly about Jake Burns and his absent father, it takes in episodes in Glasgow, Hamburg and LA and was reported by Reuters as being his longest book to date – over 800 pages despite losing over 30,000 words in the editing process. Fatherless heroes have been successful for Irving in the past, from Garp to Owen Meaney and Homer Wells in The Cider House Rules. Irving himself was abandoned by his father at a young age and has never made contact, adding a note of poignancy to the story.

Harry Potter, Prince of Books

Imagine if you had a hugely anticipated new book about to be released, on whose popularity the fortunes of countless executives and families rested. How happy would you be if your book was to be reviewed only by dedicated fans who had won national competitions to get the job? What if these fans were to have the (un)critical faculties of excited 10 year olds on a holiday you paid for? What if they were then to be kept up all night and were only given twelve hours to read this 600 page book? It would be like expecting Charlie Bucket to find fault with the latest Wonka Bar. We all know that there is zero chance of derailing the juggernaut that is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, but admire Scholastic executives for covering all the bases. Everyone loves Harry needless to say, something that doesn't seem to apply to Paulo Coehlo's new book The Zahir, discussed here a few weeks ago. The Zahir could have done with similarly smart marketing techniques in Iran where it was banned last week. One thousand copies were confiscated by Iranian intelligence agents from publishers Caravan without explanation. CEO of Caravan in Iran says he now fears for his safety in a state that apparently fears the growing popularity of Coelho with the general election pending.

An Uphill Search.

Getting information on Patrick O'Keefe wasn't easy – born in Limerick, moved to the US in his twenties, teaches in Michigan University – beyond the usual press release filler he is a quiet guy. His first book is due to be published by Bloomsbury this month and it may worry him to know that the only mention I found of him on the internet was that the book has been ordered by Cornwall County Council for their library. Rightly so, because The Hill Road is a beautifully written collection of four novellas, linked by their evocation of a recent but fading life in Co. Limerick. Told through both child and adult voices it documents so clearly places and people of a type which may already be gone forever. Whether retelling war stories, local colour or family relations it has an unerring ring of nostalgic truth.