After the Workshop by John McNally – Book Review

Oct 112010

After the Workshop by John McNally
Published by CounterPoint

Have you ever wondered how authors get from the airport, to the hotel, to the bookstore in an unknown town when their publisher sends them on tour? In some cases, at least, they are sent with a media escort like Jack Hercules Sheahan. Sheahan is himself an aspiring author, having graduated from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop some twenty years ago. Back then, Jack’s life was very promising, he even had a story published in the New Yorker. After graduating, he took a job as a media escort and subsequently failed to finish his novel or do really anything in publishing besides drive authors around Iowa. Suddenly, though, the failures in Sheahan’s life seem to be coming back to haunt him. He is trying to escort two authors in the same weekend when one of them disappears with her baby, causing her slightly crazy publicist to all but stalk Jack, while the other reminds Jack of all he despises yet somewhat wants to be as well. Just as he is confronting his professional failures, Sheahan’s personal failures – largely through the person of his ex-fiancee – reappear as well.

“After the Workshop” is a highly entertaining account of a side of publishing about which I had never before thought. Media escorts! It makes so much sense, but it really never occurred to me. It sounds like a really fun job, actually, until you start reading “After the Workshop.” Authors sending you on embarrassing errands, crazy people, authors who lord their success over you…makes me feel very lucky about the personalities of all of the authors I have met!

McNally’s book is very entertaining, I really enjoyed his wry humor. I wouldn’t hand this to every reader, though. There is a very ‘inside baseball‘ feel to the book, so that I would really recommend it more to people who are interested in the ins and outs of publishing and book marketing. If you are happy to just have books show up at your door or on the shelves of your local store, this book might not really interest you. If, however, you like hearing about the politics of publishing, the little details of getting books published and making book tours work, you might very well really enjoy this book.

Buy this book from:
Powells.*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.*
Amazon.*

4866515992 41b02a5de1 m picture John McNally’s website

Other Books by John McNally:
Fiction:
“Ghosts of Chicago”
“America’s Report Card”
“The Book of Ralph”
“Troublemakers”
Other
“The Creative Writer’s Survival Guide”
“Who Can Save us Now?” (coedited)
“When I Was a Loser”
“Bottom of the Ninth”
“Humor Me”
“The Student Body”
“High Infidelity”

This review was done with a book I purchased.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan – Audiobook Review

Jun 242010

4727530327 8bc4302882 m picture Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan, narrated by Erik Davies

If you posted an audiobook review today, Thursday June 24th, please leave your link in the Mr. Linky before midnight Central time (US) and you will be eligible to win a prize.

Synopsis:

The mysterious David Loogan comes to Ann Arbor, Michigan to lead a quiet life and recover from his past. Unfortunately, he gets drawn into a working relationship with Tom Kristoll, publisher of the literary magazine Grey Street, which is devoted entirely to mysteries, who makes him an editor of the magazine. Oh, and he also gets drawn into a more intimate sort of relationship with Tom’s wife.

In pretty much every Grey Street story the same formula appears: ‘plans go wrong, bad things happen, people die.’ When this same formula begins appearing in Loogan’s own life, things get messy.

Thoughts on the story:

Here’s where I admit that I listened to this back in JANUARY of 2010 and am just not writing the review in June. Oops. Clearly I can’t tell you anything really detailed about the plot, since it has been six months. But here’s what I can tell you: if this book hadn’t been spectacular, I wouldn’t be bothering to write ANYTHING about it 6 months later. I love, love, loved this. It was this fun sort of gritty crime drama that had the potential to be a little cheesy but totally wasn’t.

Thoughts on the audio production:

As much as I enjoyed the story, probably the thing I loved most about this audio was the narrator. Erik Davies has this sexy sort of gritty hardboiled voice that just kept me absolutely enthralled. He was absolutely perfect for the story.

Overall:

I highly recommend this, especially in audio!

Note: Mr. Linky doesn’t seem to be working properly today, please leave links in the comments

Buy this book from:
Powells: Audio/Print*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound: Audio/Print*
Amazon: Audio/Print*

This review was done with a book borrowed from the library.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

BEA Plans?

May 042010

Okay people, I’ve started looking at the BEA website but:

a) It is not the world’s most user-friendly website

b) Seems silly for each of us to duplicate one another’s work

So here’s what I want to know: what events are you most looking forward to at BEA? When and where are they? I’ll compile all the answers everyone gives and post them next week so we can ALL benefit.

Also! Let me know if you want to meet up while we’re at BEA! I’m coming in really late on Tuesday night and leaving around noon on Saturday, so I’m available to meet up Wednesday and Thursday and, of course, at Blogger Con on Friday.