September Notes

The September issue of Notes is out and features an interview with The War to End All Wars author, Russell Freedman, as well as a look at some of his previous nonfiction books. Also included are reviews of the best new picture books, chapter books, and YA fiction.

Does anyone still wear a hat?

I'm sure Miles won't be so easy to amuse as time goes by but I'll try to enjoy this while I can. We spent the weekend in Chicago for a surprise birthday party for Ethan, who apparently spotted us before he was supposed to ("How weird. I could swear I just saw Dad and Roger walk by") and got to spend an afternoon with this newest Asch boy. Also got to have lunch with Hymie and Hazel Rochman, who showed us the apartment in their building where Barack and Michelle lived before they got so famous and all, and perusing the shelves of the most excellent Unabridged Bookstore I met librarian and YA writer James Klise, who was demonstrating excellent taste by way of the Sarah Waters books he was holding. I was supposed to be reading Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply (well, I was really supposed to be reading the books I'm assigned to review for the November issue and I'm paying for that now) but Frank, our host for the weekend, had a copy of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth hanging around and I became hooked and was foraging for a copy of my own. Why do I even bring books on vacation? I always find something waiting.

The September-October 2010 Horn Book Magazine

is now out. Online excerpts include "What Makes a Good Book for All Ages?," Ashley Waring writing about reading with her autistic son, Jerry Griswold on the new Natalie Merchant record, and me interviewing Patty Campbell. The print edition also includes two essays from the forthcoming A Family of Readers, Barbara Bader on folktale publishing, Leonard Marcus writing about big and little picture books and four writers (Chris Myers, Ron Koertge, Monica Edinger and Sharyn November) on growing up with books.

And we are in the midst of editing the November issue, which will feature M.T. Anderson and Chris Heppermann about teaching and studying writing for children, Anita Lobel's Sutherland Lecture, Dean Schneider on "What Makes a Good Sports Book?" Leonard on picture books from other countries, and five writers (Mary Downing Hahn, Steve Jenkins, Jack Gantos, Holly Black, and Cheryl Klein) on snow-day reading. Anita Lobel has created a glorious Christmas painting for the cover.

Here's another thing I don't get to do in my day job

While I am used to growing impatient with plays, movies, and operas halfway through, I think I only left a movie twice: Madness of King George and Shakespeare in Love. (Hmm, is there a pattern?) But I was shocked when Richard, who feels a moral obligation to finish every book he opens, eagerly agreed to go home last night at the intermission of ART's production of Cabaret.

We might have soldiered on had it not been a school night, but, man, it was grueling. The performances were fine (headlined by Amanda Palmer as Emcee) but the production heavily underlined anything it could to evoke . . . something but I'm not sure what. The decadence (black underwear, Palmer in an uncovered breast-binder and a cock in her pants) made me think of what Cliff, the Christopher Isherwood character, says to Sally Bowles: "Are you trying to shock me?" And the Kit Kat dancers as soulless zombies walking through the audience toward a glaring light reminded me of a production I once saw of Weill's Mahagonny[no, it was Parsifal] where the director had all the characters line up to drink poisoned Kool-Aid. In Auschwitz.

But still--to miss the second act. I fear I have offended the critical gods and will somehow be punished for this.

Reading versus watching

Richard and I saw Salt the other night. It was great--Angelina Jolie as the central player (or so we think) of a vast conspiracy. Is she good, is she evil, predator, prey? It's baroquely over the top yet obeys the laws of our known contemporary physical and secular universe (if you accept that, say, Die Hard does the same). Although she looks spectacular in every scene, Jolie's beauty is not a plot point or character trait and goes unremarked. I also came away thinking that while she is obviously too old, I could see her as Katniss.

The plot is twisty but emotionally involving (unlike, say, Duplicity) and the tone is coherent--no winks or comic asides. Afterward, we were going over the plot, trying to figure out the spot where Salt first shows her true colors, and arguing whether or not the story held up under post-mortem examination. Richard maintained that while the movie might have contradicted itself in a place or two, it didn't matter--what counts is how you feel while the movie is going on.

I wonder if it is different with books.  While I  love my audiobooks, they do miss an essential quality of print-culture literature. What's unique about text is that it encourages you to move around, skip back, reread, skim, go ahead, go away, come back later, etc. You are the thing that moves, not the book. It's a little easier to hold up to the light that way. But then, maybe the distinction is really about expectations: we watch an Angelina Jolie thriller differently from, oh, that languid Patricia Clarkson in Cairo film, just the way we read The 39 Clues differently from The Westing Game.

Or maybe what I like best about going to the movies is that I feel no professional pressure to have an opinion beyond SUCKS or LOVED IT.

She'll be swell, she'll be great . . .

 . . . and she's got SLJ on her plate! Today Chelsey Philpot becomes the former editorial assistant at the Horn Book Guide as she begins her reign as assistant editor for School Library Journal's book review section and managing editor for the Second Helpings newsletter. We sent Chelsey off to New York with all our best wishes, a membership to MOMA and a dvd set of the first season of That Girl. Brian, Trev, Luann--be NICE. You are very lucky to have her.

What did Liz Taylor say to the microwave?

(Anybody besides me and Elizabeth remember that joke?) But, yes, if you are thinking about signing up for the Horn Book at Simmons, hurry because we are going to run out of spaces soon.

Free spoilers here!

for Mockingjay. See comments for my continued thought from Twitter. Add anything you want. [I changed the name of this post. I meant to say that there would be no spoilers on this main page but plenty in the comments. Which there are.]