This Sunday: Van Vechten's Renaissance, Watergate, Szymborska and more

He was a critic, a novelist, a photographer and he counted among his confidants some of the most accomplished black literary figures of his day including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and James Weldon Johnson. But Carl Van Vechten’s most notable role may have been the one he played as patron to the Harlem Renaissance. “Van Vechten,” writes Lynell George in her review of “Carl Van Vechten & the Harlem Renaissance/A Portrait of Black & White” by Emily Bernard, “dedicated his life’s work to, as Hughes once put it, ‘all things Negro’ -- literature, theater, ragtime, jazz and blues -- nurturing art and alliances, but not without acrimony.” Bernard explores the question of whether his presence in this cultural movement was a gift or a curse: “[W]as he an insider or an intruder?” George’s review of this fascinating figure leads our Sunday book coverage.

Scott Martelle reviews Thomas Mallon’s new novel “Watergate,” (yes, that Watergate), and he frames the discussion by noting that to write history “the story needs only to be true” but to write a novel, “the story must be plausible -- an often more difficult thing to accomplish.” While many of us were alive and witnessed the broad outlines of the third-rate burglary that brought down a U.S. president, the novelist’s task here is to make it plausible. Does it work as fiction? 

The notion of truth and fiction are at the heart of David Ulin’s fascinating critic’s notebook on “The Lifespan of a Fact,” John D’Agata and Jim Fingal’s book -- a discussion between writer and fact-checker  -- on the issue of invention in the world of literary nonfiction. Central to the discussion is an essay that D’Agata wrote about the suicide of 16-year-old Levi Presley, who jumped from the tower observation deck of Las Vegas’ Stratosphere hotel in 2002. The piece was commissioned by Harper’s, then rejected and picked up by the Believer after details in the piece could not be verified. And that’s the jumping-off point for the discussion.

David Foster Wallace considered, at Pomona College Saturday

The work and legacy of David Foster Wallace will be the subject of a panel discussion Saturday at Pomona College in Claremont. It's quite a lineup: biographer D.T. Max and critic Laura Miller have flown in to participate, and they'll be joined by writer Jonathan Lethem, who succeeded Wallace as Pomona's Roy E. Disney professor of creative writing and English.

Wallace, of course, wrote the novel "Infinite Jest," the footnote-heavy behemoth published in 1996 that has become a landmark work of contemporary fiction. He was a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow who also wrote nonfiction, with essays collected in the popular anthology "Consider the Lobster." Wallace was the first writer to be appointed as the Roy E. Disney professor at Pomona College, where he began teaching in 2002. He committed suicide in 2008 at age 46. In 2011, his novel "The Pale King" was published posthumously.

Max wrote about Wallace's struggle with depression and his literary legacy in a powerful New Yorker article; he's now writing a biography of Wallace for Viking Press. "The reason I wanted to go longer on him is that most writers live and die in a room writing, and Wallace definitely did that, but he also lived and died out on the street," Max said when the biography was announced. "He was in the world in a way that most writers are not. Because of his peculiar openness to the world and his peculiar kind of sensitivity, everything that happened in this country affected him and entered his fiction in a way that I don't think is true of other writers."

Lethem, another MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, carefully considered Wallace's legacy before coming to Pomona College. "It was very tender, because Wallace loomed so large here," he told me in 2011. "His footprint as a colleague, the extraordinary impression he left on the whole series of English majors who've now floated out into the world. ... The idea that I might be part of the moving-on seemed very like an honor."

Miller, who interviewed Wallace in 1996 after the publication of "Infinite Jest," later wrote, "I knew him as a reader knows a writer." Which is how most of us know him too.

The panel discussion of David Foster Wallace is open to the public; it is scheduled to take place in Pomona College's Edmunds Ballroom beginning at 5 p.m.

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Book review: "The Pale King" by David Foster Wallace

Hollywood celebrates David Foster Wallace's "The Pale King"

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Image credit: Pomona College

Seen it? The Elements of Style rap [video]

The classic grammar manual the Elements of Style gets the rap treatment in the video above. It may be the only time you see authors Strunk and White posing with a 40-ounce bottle of Old English 500.

The book was first written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918; he used it with Cornell students. Years later, New Yorker writer E.B. White (the same E.B. White who wrote "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web") came across it and wrote about it in the magazine. The piece caught publisher McMillan's interest and they contracted with White to revise it for a new edition, published in 1959.

That's because Strunk had died in 1946. So he and White never wandered the library stacks, sharing malt liquor.

The rap's lyrics, after the jump.

Amanda Knox gets $4-million book deal

Amanda Knox, the American student who was cleared of murder charges in October 2011 after spending four years in an Italian jail, will tell her story in an upcoming memoir. HarperCollins paid $4 million for the book, it was announced Thursday.

"Knox will give a full and unflinching account of the events that led to her arrest in Perugia and her struggles with the complexities of the Italian judicial system," HarperCollins said in a statement. "Aided by journals she kept during her imprisonment, Knox will talk about her harrowing experience at the hands of the Italian police and later prison guards and inmates. She will reveal never before-told details surrounding her case, and describe how she used her inner strength and strong family ties to cope with the most challenging time of her young life."

In the publishing world, $4 million is a lot of money. It's twice what Dick Cheney is thought to have gotten for his memoir, "In My Time." Cheney spent decades as one of the most powerful men in the Republican party and was vice president for eight years.

As for the men who've called the Oval Office their own? President Bill Clinton was paid a whopping $15 million for his memoir "My Life" -- which clocked in at a whopping 992 pages. President George W. Bush's book "Decision Points" was smaller, and sold for a $7-million deal. Bush was a two-term president, and his book covered the Sept. 11 attacks. Can Knox's memoir really be worth more than half as much?

Knox was an American college student studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, when her roommate Meredith Kercher's throat was slashed in 2007. The sensational case, which attracted international media attention, involved Knox's then boyfriend and, the Italian courts had contended, a sex game gone wrong. In 2009, Knox was found guilty of the brutal murder; in 2011, she was cleared of murder charges after spending four years in an Italian jail.

When we asked readers in October if Knox should get a book deal, almost 900 said she should. Would they still say so, knowing that the deal would be worth about 80 times a years' salary earned by the average American family?

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Amanda Knox, by the book

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Amanda Knox: Should she get a book deal?

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Amanda Knox in an Italian courtroom in June. Credit: Peitro Crocchioni / European Pressphoto Agency

 

 

Not from the Onion: Martin Amis' 1982 video game guide

Martin Amis, the brilliant British novelist, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award for best first novel and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography, who has been longlisted and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, long ago wrote a how-to video game handbook.

"Invasion of the Space Invaders" was published in the U.S. in 1982. With an introduction by Steven Speilberg -- that Steven Spielberg.

For reals.

The Millions writes about the book, quoting its premise: “What we are dealing with is a global addiction. I mean, this might all turn out to be a bit of a problem. Let me adduce my own symptoms, withdrawals, dryouts, crack-ups, benders ... " Language worthy of the son of writer Kingsley Amis, certainly -- but are his talents misapplied?

Not that there's anything wrong with writing about playing video games. 2010 saw Tom Bissell's "Extra Lives" make a highbrow literary play to take video games seriously. But after more than 20 years, the games had gotten considerably more complex.

Those familiar with the arcade games of the early '80s are likely to be amused by the way Amis approaches Space Invaders and Pac-Man. To him they present serious challenges, deserving of careful, carefully articulated strategies. The Millions quotes from the book:

Amis on Space Invaders: The phalanx of enemy invaders moves laterally across a grid not much wider than itself. When it reaches the edge of the grid, the whole army lowers a notch. Rule one: narrow that phalanx.

Amis on Pac-Man: Do I take risks in order to gobble up the fruit symbol in the middle of the screen? I do not, and neither should you. Like the fat and harmless saucer in Missile Command (q.v.), the fruit symbol is there simply to tempt you into hubristic sorties. Bag it.

More Amis on Pac-Man: PacMan player, be not proud, nor too macho, and you will prosper on the dotted screen.

Copies of "Invasion of the Space Invaders" can be secured for $70 to $150 -- a signed edition goes for even more, $250 -- if you can find one at all. It's hardly Amis' favorite work; it often goes without being mentioned, and didn't appear in Richard Bradford's new biography of the writer.

At the Millions, writer Mark O'Connell concludes, "for all its contextual aberrance, this strange and disreputable book actually makes a certain kind of warped sense. And if for some reason you happen to be looking for a guide to arcade games of the early 1980s, you could probably do a lot worse."

RELATED:

Christopher Hitchens with Martin Amis [video]

Review: "The Pregnant Widow" by Martin Amis

On the unusual career arc of writer Tom Bissell

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: A signed edition of Martin Amis' "Invasion of the Space Invaders." Credit: Jeff Hirsch Books

Garage Magazine includes art condoms in its second issue

In its second issue, dedicated to sex and relationships, Garage Magazine has included an appropriate, unique gift: artist-designed condoms. The designs are from artists Keith Haring, Sue Webster, Tim Noble and Mat Collishaw.

The magazine is part art, part fashion, a high-end blend of the two. As ArtInfo writes, it had to work hard to top issue No. 1. When it debuted in 2011, it had three separate covers; one was adorned with a Damien Hirst-designed peel-off butterfly sticker, underneath which there was a not-safe-for-work Damien Hirst-designed tattoo.

Garage was founded by Dasha Zhukova and named after an art center she opened in Russia in 2007. On the magazine's website she writes, "out of an increasing abundance of ideas, Garage the magazine was born."

The second issue promises to include stories about Internet dating, the legalization of gay marriage, and the advent of fertilization technology. But don't expect it to be too straightforward: Issue No. 1 was creative, artistic, and sometimes baffling. “It is so very, very different from other magazines,” Garage’s art director Mike Meiré told the N.Y. Times. “It’s like a box of Pandora.... You don’t know what is happening on the next page.”

The condoms can be found in every issue of the magazine, and in Andre Saraiva’s Le Baron nightclubs in Paris, London, and New York during Fashion Week.

RELATED:

What book inspired Carlos Campos' Fall 2012 collection?

Thing Magazine: The Dave Eggers shower curtain

Art meets books: very cool and far away

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Keith Haring condom wrapper. Credit: Garage Magazine

Wednesday book news: Readers Digest, e-books on sale and more

The first thing you might think meeting Jim Ruland, a former Navy man with full-sleeve tattoos and a fondness for punk rock, would probably not be "Readers Digest," but the two do belong together. Ruland's story "Homeward Bound" won a Readers Digest 150-words-or less true life story contest, taking the $25,000 top prize. Ruland, who now lives in San Diego with his wife, Nuvia, is an author, critic and host of the long-running L.A. reading series Vermin on the Mount.

The Rumpus anonymous advice columnist Dear Sugar is anonymous no more. Sugar's identity was revealed at the magazine's Valentine's event in San Francisco Tuesday night: it's writer Cheryl Strayed. Strayed's memoir "Wild: Lost and Found on the Pacific Coast Trail," is coming from Knopf in March.

Algonquin Books is having an e-books sale. The publisher asked seven of its authors to each pick a favorite Algonquin book, and those e-books are on sale this week for $1.99. The pickers include Tayari Jones, Jonathan Evison, and Heidi Durrow; the on-sale e-books include "Winter Birds" by Jim Grimsley, "Dirty Work" by Larry Brown and Joseph Skibell's "A Blessing on the Moon."

Major ebook publisher Open Road Media has announced Tina Pohlman will be joining the company as publisher. Pohlman is a former vice president and publisher at Crown. Open Road has digitally published the backlist of Jimmy Breslin, Michael Chabon and many others; it also publishes e-originals, such as the upcoming memoir "Man in the Empty Boat" from Mark Salzman.

The Very Short List, a daily cultural email now owned by the Observer, is getting a makeover. Its recommendations will now be focused by topic -- technology on Monday, culture on Tuesday, style on Wednesday, design on Thursday and food on Friday. I hope books, which have always had a good share of VSL attention, don't get lost in the mix.

RELATED:

Michael Chabon, royalty rates and an e-book backlist

An e-book conundrum around "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Vermin on the Mount: Gary Amdahl, David Francis, Chiwan Choi

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Jim Ruland with his wife, Nuvia Crisol Ruland, outside the Vermin on the Mount reading series. Credit: Carolyn Kellogg

Which classic work of literature is the most romantic? [poll]

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Its Valentine's Day, a day of celebrating romance. If it's a bit artificially brewed, goosed a little by a culture that likes our holidays polished and popular, that doesn't make the sentiment any less worthy. Who doesn't like a little romance? And what book lover doesn't love a great book about lovers?

Below, we've picked four classic love stories. Which is the most romantic? If you don't love any of them, let us know what classic romance you truly adore.

Happy Valentine's Day.

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Forget the romance: "The Science of Kissing" is a bit dry

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-- Carolyn Kellogg

Whitney Houston's death spurs deluge of new Kindle e-book titles

As news of pop star Whitney Houston's death began to circulate, a number of enterprising authors sat down and got busy at their keyboards. The fastest workers managed to publish their Kindle e-books the very day Houston died: six new titles about her in Amazon's Kindle store bear Feb. 11 as their publication date. By the time the weekend was over, another eight had been added to the list.

The 14 newly-published Whitney Houston Kindle e-books range in price from 99 cents to $9.99. There is a book comprised of fan tributes, a 10-page handwriting analysis, a German edition of a gossipy book about Houston and ex-husband Bobby Brown, and a book of new poems about her. Of course, there are a couple of unauthorized biographies, hastily stitched together. In fact, one is made up entirely of Wikipedia pages about Houston, her films, and her music; author Ira Krakow ("The Lady Gaga Story," "The Amy Winehouse Story") charges $3.99 for it.

So, does the gimmick work? None of the 14 newly minted Houston books have cracked Amazon's Top 100 paid Kindle e-books list. But they do seem to be finding a place.

The most popular -- "Whitney Houston We Love You Forever" by Jean-Pierre Hombach -- reached No. 16 in the subcategory of music biographies, behind memoirs by Steven Tyler, Keith Richards and Sammy Hagar. Hombach is a high-volume author of unauthorized, unofficial e-book biographies, primarily about musicians, including Bob Marley, Justin Beiber and Beyonce. Monday afternoon it had slipped to No. 18.

It must be pretty difficult to write a book -- even if you're just reformatting some Wikipedia pages -- in a few hours. But the fact that those books have not yet risen to the top of the e-book charts may signal that readers want something more. When it comes to a book about the ill-fated pop singer, they may be ready to wait for one that can tell the whole story.

RELATED:

The gift of Gaga

Sammy Hagar's wacky and brutal memoir

John Lennon's books on the anniversary of his death

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Whitney Houston performs in 2000. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Authors in L.A.: Katherine Boo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, too

Feeling bookish this week but not quite in a mood to read? Well, there are plenty of events around town to pique your interest if your interest involves listening. Here is a sampling. And, as always, we recommend checking with the venue for time changes, late additions or cancellations.

Mon. Feb. 13: 7 p.m. Paula Huston discusses and signs “Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit” at Vroman’s.

Tue. Feb. 14, 7 p.m. Robert Scheer in conversation with Mr. Fish, author of “Go Fish, How to Win Contempt and Influence People,” at Vroman’s .

Tue. Feb. 14, 7 p.m. Ali Wentworth discusses and signs her memoir, “Ali in Wonderland: And Other Tales” at Book Soup.

Wed. Feb. 15, 8 p.m. Katherine Boo discusses her book “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Zocolo Public Square at the Skirball Cultural Center

Wed. Feb. 15, 7 p.m. Actress and author Carrie Fisher discusses and signs her latest memoir, “Shockaholic,” at Book Soup.

Thur. Feb. 16, 7 p.m. PG Sturges presents and signs “Tribulations of the Shortcut Man,” his follow-up novel to “Shortcut Man,” at Book Soup.

Thur. Feb. 16, 7 p.m. Percival Everett and Steve Erickson explore the themes of memory, identity and place in conversation with Brighde Mullins, director, USC Masters in Professional Writing Program. ALOUD at the Los Angeles Central Library