November 28, 2005

I recently with reluctance canceled my subscription to Publishers Marketplace and replaced it with Publishers Weekly (I used to subscribe in the 90s but had let it lapse). I love the recent deal info in Publishers Marketplace but I only have a small “info services” budget and thought I’d get more for my money with PW.

I just received my first printed copy of the magazine and so far I am underwhelmed. It is thinner than I remembered — a lightweight 56 pounds. There were a couple of interesting reviews but as usual the presentation of book reviews is “flat” without hierarchical context — not much of a sense that certain subjects are much more important than others. That is, of course, consistent with PW’s mission of serving publishers and booksellers, but it grates on this book-lover’s critical sensibility.

The theme of the current issue is romance writers. The basic message is that they are the single biggest genre in the industry, accounting for 30% of fiction sales according to one chart. (Tragically, science fiction only accounted for 6.4% in the same view, and of that, you can drop out at least 50% for the Star Wars and Star Trek markets, meaning that my favorite genre, intelligent SF, surely accounts for less than 3% of all sales.)

The Flashman series with its rampant escapism, fascinating historical detail, and surprising insights is catnip for book-lovers. The release of FLASHMAN ON THE MARCH the most important news item of the day for us. If you’ve never read the series, check it out immediately.

NYT on Flashman (id required)

George MacDonald Fraser is now 80, or almost as old as his great creation Sir Harry Flashman was when Flashman - self-proclaimed cad, poltroon, card cheat and serial fornicator - began writing the multivolume autobiography that we know as “The Flashman Papers.” Mr. Fraser has just published the 12th installment, “Flashman on the March,” which, like its author, and like Flashman himself, for that matter, shows no signs of flagging.

Update: this arrived today (11/22). Very exciting!

Update Update: Not bad, but I couldn’t finish it. The subject of the book — Napier’s 1869 expedition to Abyssinia — simply not that interesting to me. Also, I found myself spending a lot of time wondering how well Fraser was walking the narrow line between bawdy fun and outright pornography. Start with other books in this series, or wait until Fraser does the long-promised Flashman novel set in the American Civil War.

Saving Your Life:

About the Book

You, the predator’s potential victim, are the one on whom he relies the most. He wants you to believe you are safe and secure. He doesn’t want you to know that, every day, you are making mistakes that create the conditions that make it easier for him to get to you, mistakes that can cost you your life.

I wrote this book with one thing in mind, to provide you with the next best thing to having me or someone in my profession looking out for your safety. Your safety, even your life, may depend on your ability to recognize the Deadly Mistakes that Open the GAPS. The exercises throughout this book are designed to aid you in that process.

The POINT of NO RETURN

It’s called “The POINT of NO RETURN.”
You’re walking through a dark parking lot to your car. Suddenly, you hear someone running up behind you.
On your way home late one night, you stop at a traffic light. Because your focus is on the conversation on your cell phone, you don’t notice when a young man jumps from the car behind you. You look up to see him standing next to your door, pointing a gun at your chest.
You stop to fill your gas tank. You go inside to pay, then return to your car. As you prepare to drive away, a man pops up from the back seat and puts a knife to your throat.
You live in an attractive, upscale neighborhood where fear of street criminals is non-existent. One night about 10 o’clock, a four-man home-invasion crew comes through your front door, led by the guy who, unknown to you, followed you home from the grocery store last week.

“How do I get out of situations like these?”

This is a question I am often asked, and always, my answer is the same: “You won’t get out of it!” By the time an encounter with a street predator goes this far, you have passed The POINT of NO RETURN. You may live through it, but you will not get out of it!

The right question, then, is not “What do I do when I’ve passed The POINT of NO RETURN?” but, “How do I avoid arriving there in the first place?”

A worthy item in the steady flow of press releases.

Mission Possible for the New Kind of Hero from China: Chinese Girl Brings Tom Cruise to a Whole New Level in Her Latest Book:

Tom Cruise made a Chinese girl’s mission possible by inviting Niki Yan, the Chinese girl who just wrote “My Love for You, Tom Cruise — A Desperate Chinese Girl’s Confession” to the Mission Impossible III set. Niki says Cruise is the metaphor of love and power, the most positive force, the light from the darkness, “he is beyond what he is (as an actor).”

And this amazing guy talks about humanity, Easter culture and civilization during their first meeting in Los Angeles. “The invincible and the beautiful,” as Niki calls Tom.

Niki’s new book is a mixture of humor, fantasy and genuine emotion. She has such titles like “Ten reasons why Tom has to love Niki Yan”, ” I fall in love with a Super Star,” “My big Fat Chinese wedding,” “How Tom and Niki met on another planet,” ” The feast of a Virgin heart,” ” My Apollo ( The Modern fairytale)”,” Happily ever after,” ” Cinderella’s daydreaming” , The odyssey with Cruise” ” From Lemon Chicken to Spaghetti”, ” Destiny with Tom Cruise”, ” How Apollo saved me”, “Like a virgin — Climbing Mount Everest,” “Mission Possible for Niki Cruise.” She is brilliant on blending the humor and genuine emotion on a deep level which will stir your soul. You laugh it, you tear it, and eventually you will have to think for your own.

Good grief.