Turning the page past Big Tobacco

Apologies that I have not been posting too regularly of late. As it happens, the problem is mostly that there has been too much going on in the news for me to stay on top of pointing out relevant information. I'm going to try to dig myself out, bit by little bit, starting now:

The world is a busy place these days, and so it is perhaps easy to lose sight of how radical a change it is that Congress has passed, and the President signed, a law giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products. You may recall that about 10 years ago, Dr. David Kessler (now a bestselling author, but at the time the FDA Commisioner) proposed that the FDA already had the necessary authority to do so -- and his claim was regarded as a profound threat to the tobacco industry. His account of how and why he made the argument is to be found in a backlist item from PublicAffairs, A Question of Intent: A Great American Battle with a Deadly Industry (9781586481216, 2002). The New York Times titled its review "U.S. vs. Joe Camel" (3/25/01), identifying the paramount symbol both of the cigarette industry's marketing practices, and of Dr. Kessler's rather cleverly pitched battle. "Suspecting he would be stymied by higher-ups at the Department of Health and Human Services," David Kusnet wrote in his review, "Kessler established his own channels to the White House, and as Clinton prepared for his 1996 re-election campaign, Kessler shrewdly framed an approach that focused on the companies' efforts to market cigarettes to teenagers. At a news conference with Clinton, Kessler announced new regulations designed to discourage teenage smoking, including bans on the tobacco companies' running advertisements with cartoon figures like Joe Camel, sponsoring sports events like the Nascar races or selling cigarettes in vending machines."

I always thought that some of this strategy was unfair. Leaving aside for the moment (but only for the moment) the question of whether or not tobacco companies purposely manipulated nicotine levels in order to ensure that customers developed addictions, it always seemed to me that in campaigns like those involving the now infamous Joe Camel, the tobacco industry was simply following long established American business practices in trying to develop and maintain new markets. The storm of outrage that eventually developed seemed to me to be making a scapegoat of the tobacco industry for the standard methods of American capitalism. But then, as any reader of Rene Girard will tell you, the scapegoat is a necessary element of any social order.

In any case, Dr. Kessler failed -- ultimately, the Supreme Court decided, in a 5-4 decision, that the FDA did not in fact have the regulatory authority Dr. Kessler had claimed. But Congress and President Obama have given Dr. Kessler the final word, passing legislation only weeks ago that assigns such power to the agency the doctor once headed. So it is worth acknowledging his work, I think -- as that original Times review said:

If anything approaching this proposal ever comes to pass, historians will give a great deal of the credit to the indefatigable David Kessler, who took on an influential but irresponsible industry. One of his offhand observations should be memorized by careerists both inside and outside the Beltway: 'The challenge in Washington, I began to realize, was not getting a job, but figuring out what to do with it.'

Still, though, the best way to appreciate his fight, and our long, twisted, multifaceted relationship with the tobacco industry, is to be found in Allan M. Brandt's Bancroft Prize-winning history, The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America (Basic, 9780465070480). In its pages we return, in detail, to the nicotine question. It is true that the story has progressed since publication in 2007; still, this is the best way to understand how deeply woven tobacco has been in American culture, history, and politics -- and to appreciate how significant a change it is that our government has now claimed strict regulatory power. It's a big book to be sure, but a wise and fantastically written one. It is most definitely worth another look.

Lance Armstrong, defying the odds...again

As the Tour de France returns to the mountains, with Lance Armstrong still well-positioned at third, only 8 seconds behind the leader, John Wilcockson's biography is doing some climbing of its own:

#9 on the MPBA bestseller list

#15 on the SCIBA bestseller list

#35 on the New York Times bestseller list

Keep in mind: Mr. Armstong is returning to racing at the advanced age of 37 years, and after 3 years away from the sport (and from a broken clavicle!). Winning the Tour for seven consecutive years (after recovering from cancer) already qualified him as "the world's greatest champion," but, my oh my, wouldn't a title this year be a phenomenal capstone?

Lance: The Making of the World's Greatest Champion

by John Wilcockson

Da Capo, 9780306815874

cloth, $26.00

I couldn't have said it better myself

It's been a little tougher than I'd hoped getting this book noticed, so I was pleased to see this morning's Shelf Awareness:

Book Review: That Mad Ache

That Mad Ache by Françoise Sagan, translated by Douglas Hofstadter (Basic Books, $14.94 trade paper, 9780465010981/0465010989, May 2009)

Why is that man reading his book upside down?

Because one side of That Mad Ache, the handsome, newly-released paperback original from Basic Books, is a fresh translation of Françoise Sagan's 1965 French novel, La Chamade, but flip the book over and you'll find another book altogether. Upside down on the other side is a brilliantly-written 100-page essay on the art of translation by the translator himself, Douglas Hofstadter, the Pulitzer Prize-winning genius who created Godel, Escher, Bach. Sagan leaped to fame in 1954 at the age of 18 when her novel Bonjour, Tristesse became an international sensation. That Mad Ache, written 11 years later, contains the same witty, ironic dissection of upper-class French lovers and disenfranchised young people, gracefully baring the souls of her characters and watching them misunderstand each other. Lucille is the aimless, 30-year-old lover of Charles, 20 years her senior. She sits next to a gloomy young man she doesn't much like at a high society dinner, someone else's lover, and together the two cause a scandal by a tactless burst of laughter. From there it's a labyrinthine journey into the human heart, as lively and invigorating in Hofstadter's fresh, airy translation as any novel written today.

Hofstadter lays bare the zillion-and-one decisions that confront any translator. He compares his choices with those of the earlier translator, Robert Westhoff, who was Françoise Sagan's husband and the father of her only child. Translation is a subtle, suggestive art, and Hofstadter reveals, among other things, his clever solution to the vous/tu dilemma and when to have English idioms come out of French mouths. His boldest assertion is blatantly favoring the meaning and idea over the literal translation, and he shows you his daring insertions, alterations and omissions to prove it. Hofstadter is a delightfully endearing smartie who adores the text he's translating, knows how to doubt himself and unabashedly admits his pleasures in this frequently laugh-out-loud funny personal essay.

Not only that, but it's a beautifully made book, a physical pleasure in weight and flexibility, super-readable type face, lovely cover--a book-lover's joy to hold and read in which every aspect of publishing (including the contents, both fiction and non-fiction!) are superbly executed for maximum reading enjoyment. Kindle, eat your heart out.--Nick DiMartino

Shelf Talker: A new translation of Françoise Sagan's La Chamade--subtle and daring--combined with an essay on translation by the translator himself, Douglas Hofstadter.

The Hot Seven from Perseus -- new math edition!

In this incarnation there are really only six titles on the “hot” portion – but the first one pleases me so much that I count it twice:

Eduardo Galeano’s Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone (Nation Books, 9781568584232) is getting the attention it deserves, and creating evangelists. For example, Lucia Silva of Portrait of a Bookstore in Studio City pitched it most articulately on NPR’s “Morning Edition” yesterday – you can check out her segment at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105172756. She is one of many who helped Mirrors make the SCIBA bestseller list in its very first week of publication. I’m extremely glad to see, though, that their neighbors to the north have followed: this week it is on both the NCIBA and PNBA bestseller lists as well. Thanks to you all! We’re doing what we can to keep it in people’s minds: Mr. Galeano is touring, and we have reviews and features upcoming in Harper’s, The Nation, Lapham’s Quarterly, The New York Times Book Review, the LA Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Portland Oregonian. This is a real gem, and we feel lucky to have it on our list. We are currently out of stock, however, so please don’t be shy in ordering what you need from wholesalers.

Richard Wrangham’s Catching Fire: How Cooking Made s Human (Basic, 9780465013623) has certainly captured the imagination of radio producers. Having already been featured on 7 public radio programs, including “Weekend All Things Considered,” “Chef’s Table,” and “To the Best of Our Knowledge” (taped, but still to air), Dr. Wrangham has added a high profile eighth: yesterday he taped an interview with PRI’s “The World.” And looking down the summer, we have him confirmed for an appearance on “Talk of the Nation’s Science Friday” on August 28. Famed minimalist Mark Bittman also featured the book in his “Bitten” blog on the New York Times website, and will feature a Q&A with Dr. Wrangham in an upcoming blog post. All of which follows on glowing reviews in the Times (“Catching Fire is a plain-spoken and thoroughly gripping scientific essay that presents nothing less than a new theory of human evolution...one that Darwin (among others) simply missed.”), the San Francisco Chronicle (“Wrangham has a curious mind, in all the best senses…. This is colorful stuff, and Wrangham obviously has an eye on a general readership, but he never talks down, and he's a trustworthy guide through some daunting intellectual terrain.”), and just about everywhere in the science press you could think to look.

Going into last season I thought that Peter Carlson’s K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America’s Most Unlikely Tourist (PublicAffairs, 9781586484972) had the potential to be a sleeper. Reviews and features are certainly helping – whether you’re a Vanity Fair or Parade person, you’ll have seen it pushed as a great summer read. Earlier this week, the Washington Post had a rave review: “Carlson seems to have sought and discovered every piece of arcana associated with the Soviet leader's American sojourn. A deft and amusing writer, Carlson does a marvelous job of recounting it.” Earlier in the Daily Beast, Christopher Buckley called it “simply hilarious, while being about the guy whose finger was on the nuclear triggers during the hottest time in the Cold War” – and yesterday the Beast elevated it to their “recommends” page. A feature is upcoming in Newsweek, and Mr. Carlson will be on “Weekend Edition Saturday” on June 20, by which time I’m hoping word of mouth will have spread even further.

The Skinny Bitch empire continues to expand, with the recent publication of Skinny Bastard (Running Press, 9780762435401). Authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin will have their first major national media interview on the Lifetime Network’s new morning show, “Balancing Act with Dr. David Friedman,” the first week in July (exact air date to come). You’ll know from past experience that this is just the beginning of a prolonged onslaught.

Now that the film Food, Inc. is getting broad release, its advocates – and the contributors to our companion book from PublicAffairs (9781586486945) – are burning up the airwaves. Last week Eric Schlosser was on Colbert, Michael Pollan was on Bill Maher, and director Robert Kenner appeared on PBS’s “Now.” This very morning, Mr. Kenner appeared on “Morning Edition,” and ABC’s “Nightline” will run a segment on the film next Monday. There should be no paucity of attention, and we think it’s a great opportunity for the book. I’d like to remind you, and hope you’ll remind your customers, that the book is much, much more than a simple recap of the documentary – it’s almost entirely original material, and should appeal widely. And it’s a paper original! Magic words these days….

And finally (or almost finally), Sunday’s New York Times Book Review will feature a magnificent review of Geoffrey Wheatcroft’s Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europe (Basic, 9780465013746). As they remark, this deep history should help nudge us out of this “clash of civilizations” mindset that has so widely taken hold over the past several years: “As Andrew Wheatcroft brilliantly shows in The Enemy at the Gate, the skirmishes and the pitched battles that raged for centuries between Habsburgs and Ottomans, and their numerous vassals on both sides, represented not so much a ‘clash of civilizations’ as a collision of empires…. [H]is narrative is thrilling as well as thoughtful, a rare combination.” (It’s a combination, I can’t help mentioning, that is not without precedent among our publishers: consider Da Capo’s The Great Arab Conquests, PublicAffairs’s Destiny Disrupted, and Basic’s forthcoming The Arabs, all of which are both engaging and enlightening. It’s a real pleasure to present these books.)

I can’t help but mention, too, that Mr. Wheatcroft’s review is but a step in Basic’s continuing string of New York Times Book Review coverage – I’ve attached a lovely little sheet showing the reviews they’d received through April; upcoming issues will review The Secret Lives of Boys and Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love. PublicAffairs is also shoehorning in, with several reviews scheduled in the next couple weeks: World War One, The Sages, and (best title ever) The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday. And while we’re in the Book Review’s pages, I must also mention that the eternal bestseller Skinny Bitch has had recent company on the bestseller lists – Thomas Sowell’s The Housing Boom and Bust (thank you, Mr. Glenn Beck) and Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, by John Medina. This one is particularly pleasing – a small, indie press (Pear Press, 9780979777745), succeeding largely through the evangelical efforts of booksellers like you. Many thanks from all of us at team Perseus.

The Hot Five from Perseus - un-BEA edition!

Some quick items of interest as Perseus titles make waves in the marketplace:

Glenn Beck has found someone to help him through his great fears for our nation, and that man is Thomas Sowell. Last night, he had Mr. Sowell on his program to discuss the economy and President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. The good television host was moved almost to tears by Mr. Sowell’s wisdom and reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye8rld8tLEs. But that is only the beginning. Next week, Mr. Beck will conduct a week-long, 5-part seminar on the wisdom to be found in Mr. Sowell’s current book, The Housing Boom and Bust (Basic, 9780465018802). Much more national media is scheduled, including a review and Q&A in the Investor’s Business Daily, and an appearance on the nationally syndicated “G. Gordon Liddy Show.” The trick is not to mind it…and to sell the book.

If you like, you can set up a point-counterpoint on your display shelves, between Mr. Sowell on the right, and Robert Frank on the left. On Monday, June 1, Mr. Frank will be a guest on NPR’s “The Talk of the Nation” in the 3 o’clock hour, discussing his current release, The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide (Basic, 9780465015115). The first reviews for this unabashedly liberal look at political economy have been stellar. Library Journal wrote, “Frank’s writing sparkles, and the topics, which include health care and the subprime-mortgage crisis, are timely.” And on Monday Booklist will have a starred review: “Witty, compelling, and sensible, these essays should resonate in this era of economic turmoil.” There is also a Q&A with Mr. Frank in the current issue of Money magazine, which you can find here: http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/18/pf/Robert_frank.moneymag/index.htm.

We were very pleased with the starred PW review of Neil MacFarquhar’s The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (PublicAffairs, 9781586486358); how much more so you may imagine with last Sunday’s Washington Post Outlook piece: “Neil MacFarquhar is that rare and wonderful thing, a Middle East correspondent who not only speaks Arabic but also grew up in the region. This experience infuses his book -- the product of 20 years of reporting -- with the wit, insight and eye-rolling exasperation of a near-native…. The result is an intelligent and fascinating romp full of anecdotes, acid asides and conversations with everyone from dissidents to diplomats and liberal religious sheikhs, and even a Kuwaiti woman with a sex-advice column…. It's a testament to MacFarquhar's deep background knowledge and the lightness of his touch that complex issues … are distilled into clear exposition without ever being oversimplified or dumbed down. But MacFarquhar has written much more than just a very good primer to the region. His real achievement is to give the reader a window into the private debates among the intelligentsia and political classes of the Middle East…. MacFarquhar, now the United Nations bureau chief at the New York Times, is a fun guide.” Upcoming national media includes Charlie Rose (probably on June 4) and, just confirmed, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on June 10.

A big thanks to Southern California booksellers, for starting Eduardo Galeano’s Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone (Nation Books, 9781568584232) with a bang – in its week of publication it hit #12 on the SCIBA bestseller list. And that’s before any of the big media hits! This afternoon Mr. Galeano appeared on CNN International’s “CNN Today” and on Amy Goodman’s “Democracy NOW.” This weekend he’ll be conversing with booksellers at BEA. Next week, he’ll appear on public radio programs from Seattle (KUOW’s “Weekday,” KEXP’s “Mind over Matters”) to Los Angeles (KPFK’s “Free Forum” and “Uprising”), with pieces also scheduled on NPR’s “Latino USA” and KCRW’s “Bookworm.” He has taped an interview with Washington Post book editor Maria Arana, and a version of it will run alongside his piece on “The Writing Life” in the June 12 Outlook section. On June 11, he will be interviewed by the LA Times, with a feature to run shortly thereafter. And reviews are expected far and wide, with the San Francisco Chronicle confirmed. Yes, the word will be out – please help us get the book into people’s hands. Judging by PW’s starred review, they won’t be disappointed: “Across disparate civilizations and centuries—but always with an unflinching eye (and irony) trained on the present—Galeano's stories register the imaginations of our mythmaking species, the elaborate gestures of (gendered) forms of power and the spirit of rebellion and resilience that fires the underdog masses.”

And finally, a bit of a sleeper: Peter Carlson’s K Blows Top (PublicAffairs, 9781586484972) continues to capture imaginations. Most recently, it was America’s Finest News Source, The Onion, with a glowing review: “Carlson delivers his bizarre travelogue in the most deadpan manner possible, as if to counteract the largely hysterical news reports at the time, which tracked K’s every move with the ardor of paparazzi chasing a bare-headed Britney.” The book will be among Parade Magazine’s picks next weekend, and by the end of the month Mr. Carlson should make appearances on NPR’s “On the Media” and “Morning Edition Saturday.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this book is just a total hoot.

That’s all for now – go do your good works.

Vegan Soul Kitchen. Just do it.

A recent e-mail from Paul Takushi. head book buyer at UC Davis Bookstore:

If you are hosting an event for Bryant Terry's new book, Vegan Soul Kitchen (Da Capo, 9780738212289), be sure to get at least as many copies as the number of attendees you are expecting at your event. Also be sure to stock his 2005 book, GRUB (9781585424597). http://www.bryant-terry.com/blog.html. Bryant is a very good speaker: entertaining, humorous, informative, polite (and we all know how much this counts at author events). About half of the attendees at the event I just worked bought more than one copy of each book. He usually travels with copies of his own so you might want to make arrangements with him for consignment sales just in case you run out (but don't under-stock the books with this mind).

If you have not already booked this guy for an event, do it
now.

(I'll admit, I added the emphasis for that last sentence - but wouldn't you have done?)

For more info on Mr. Terry, check out Da Capo's excellent new cooking site.

BOOK: The Sequel - a collaborative venture from Perseus

A note from World Headquarters in New York, USA:

As you may know, we are spearheading a unique project at BEA - a collaborative crashed title called BOOK: The Sequel.

This project asks the world to imagine the sequel to any book, and then write its first sentence.

For example: ever wonder what happens to Harry Potter after twenty years of marriage and a steady government gig? Or what Karl Marx would say about today's financial crisis? If the Bible had a sequel, what its first sentence would be? Write that sentence and you could be published! It's easy!

Pick a Book.
Imagine its Sequel.
Write the first sentence.
Add a great title, and then submit it to http://www.blogger.com/www.bookthesequel.com, and it might just get published by Perseus.

At 5pm on Thursday, May 28th, at the start of BEA, we will "open the submissions box." Over the next 48 hours, in our booth at BEA, we will Select, Edit, Organize, Design, Layout, Print, Convert to Digital, Create the Audio and Large Print versions, Publicize, Market and Sell this book.

Submissions have been rolling into our website since its launch April 28th - all are encouraged to participate. In addition to the website, we've got a Facebook page (become a friend!), and you can follow the project on Twitter.

Some inspiration to get you started:

"See, I was right." -From Das Kapital 2, by Karl Marx (sequel to Das Kapital)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man who has lost his fortune in a Ponzi scheme, his job in structured finance and his retirement savings in toxic assets, must be in want of a wife." -From Busted and Bailed Out by Jane Austen (sequel to Sense and Sensibility)

"Call Me, Ishmael!" -From Moby Dick's Guide to Dating at Sea

Write your own at http://www.bookthesequel.com/, and find out on May 30 if you've become a published author!

(As for the actual book itself: it will be a paper original , priced at $9.95, on sale as soon after June 2 as standard shipping allows -- ISBN: 978-0-78674-781-8. Orders accepted now!)