the Book Brothel

by Lisa Yanaky

At the beginning of March, a revolution in the world of books was launched - Titlepage, a literary show made just for the internet. Its engaging host and editorial producer, Daniel Menaker, is obviously quite comfortable around books and authors - he was a long-time editor for The New Yorker, worked as the Executive Editor at Harper Collins, and recently finished a stint as Editor-in-Chief at Random House…not to mention writing several books of his own while still managing to fit in some teaching.

Titlepage, which is halfway through its debut season, features groups of writers discussing their latest books, their ideas and inspirations, and their writing methods in a roundtable format. Recently, the host that keeps them all chatting about the world of books (not to mention the world that inspires the books), Daniel Menaker, was kind enough to take time away from the show and his own writing to answer some questions about the show, some favourite authors, and how the seemingly permanent world of books is changing and evolving.
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by Lisa Yanaky

Joshilyn Jackson is the author of gods in Alabama (reviewed here), a work of fiction about a girl, Arlene, who tries to strike a bargain with God so that a body will never be found in the Alabama town she left behind, but Arlene finds her life unraveling years later when God no longer feels obliged to keep her dark secret. I’ve been brooding on this one for months (hello, Top Ten Fiction list for 2005!) and could no longer resist asking for an interview, and Joshilyn ever-so-fantastically agreed to answer some questions from Book Brothel about her writing process, overcoming the stereotypes of the Southern U.S., and - oh yes - what her book has to do with hot monkey love.  (more…)

by Lisa Yanaky

Kate Pepper is the author of Seven Minutes to Noon (reviewed here), a suspense novel about a woman that is 8½ months pregnant who goes missing and her friend’s struggle to find out what happened to her - and if she’s at risk herself. Kate Pepper was marvelous enough to put her novel-writing on pause to answer some questions from Book Brothel about throwing her readers for a loop, creating complex characters in suspense novels, and her personal terror-barometer.

What gave you the idea for Seven Minutes to Noon?

I’ve always wanted to write about the neighborhood in Brooklyn where I’ve lived for over twenty years; it’s an inspiring area of nineteenth century brownstones, full of history and the sense of hidden stories. More specifically, the idea to make Seven Minutes to Noon about the dark underside of local real estate came from a personal experience, when we were unceremoniously ordered by a new landlord to be out of our rented home in two weeks. In the months that followed, my husband and I learned a lot about real estate laws, greed - and human nature.
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by Lisa Yanaky

Stephanie Lessing is the author of She’s Got Issues (reviewed here), a book about Chloe, a shoe-crazy, happy-go-lucky girl trying to make it in the magazine business. Recently, Stephanie Lessing was fantastic enough to answer some questions from Book Brothel about her novel, the publishing world, and the personalities of shoes.

Was writing about a hilarious character like Chloe as much fun as it was reading about her?
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I cracked up while writing this book. I was in my office for so many hours, day in and day out and every now and then I’d hear one of my kids saying, ‘Oh no, she’s in there laughing her ass off again.’

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by Lisa Yanaky

Lisa Selin Davis is the author of Belly (reviewed here), a work of fiction that follows the life of a man fresh out of jail and trying to adapt to a changing world. Davis was lovely enough to sit down and answer some questions from Book Brothel about her novel, the nature of nostalgia, and why you should be weary about letting her crash on your couch.

What inspired you to tell the story of Belly, a
despicable ex-con who still manages to induce a
lot of compassion in the reader?

Like Belly, I have plenty of moral outrage,
though it presents quite differently from his.
Instead, I wonder how people justify their lives, how
they make sense of driving SUVs, for instance, or
being unkind to people. I undertook a kind of
psychological investigation into someone I couldn’t,
or wouldn’t, understand in real life. Mostly I
wondered what it would be like to go through that
painful process of becoming humble, of having to
be a nobody. I didn’t decide on Belly as my
subject, it just sort of overtook me.

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src="http://www.charlottegordonhome.com/images/cg-003.jpg" alt="Charlotte Gordon, author of Mistress Bradstreet" />

by Lisa Yanaky

Charlotte Gordon is the author of Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America’s First Poet (reviewed here), a biography of Anne Bradstreet, a seventeenth-century woman that wrote about her new country, her old home in England, and the family that she adored. Recently, Charlotte Gordon was wonderful enough to take a break from her busy writing schedule to sit down and answer some questions from Book Brothel about poetry, history, and a few shockers about Anne’s Puritan lifestyle.

What was it about Anne Bradstreet and her
poetry
that spurred you to write a biography about
her?
I was looking for a female mentor, a woman poet
who had not killed
herself like Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. And
Anne was such a brave
woman! She was a pioneer who helped found three
towns in
America — Cambridge, Ipswich, and Andover,
Massachusetts. She had eight
children and yet still produced the first book of
poems from the New
World. Her work is more significant than modern
audiences can
understand. For example, she wrote more lines of
poetry than any other
English poet for the next one hundred years, with
one exception — John
Milton.
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