Five a year isn't bad

The New York Times recently reported that Select Editions favorite James Patterson, either alone or with one of his stable of co-authors, hit the bestseller lists with five different books in 2007. Five different books! They don't tell us whether or not this is a record, but it has to be close. The man is a veritable plot machine, and more importantly, he's a successful veritable plot machine. I'd like to say he should figure out what he's doing right and bottle it and sell it, but that seems to be exactly what he's doing.

In fact, Patterson's writing books faster than a lot of people can read them, but he does have a stable of collaborators (see the AfterWords essay on page 429 of the current volume about this), which does explain it a little bit. Best of all, he's unpredictable. Oh, sure, he has his genre series that fans love, but every now and then he writes something completely unusual. We just read the manuscript of one of those completely unusual titles called Sundays at Tiffany's. That's all we'll say about it for now, since it won't come out for a while. But I will add that I doubt if we'll lose any money if we bet on it being another bestseller.

—Jim

Dog chronicles

On December 5, Joe McGrath posted a blog item about the pack mentality (sorry) of publishers when it comes to capitalizing on a good thing, in this case, the popularity of dog books. But, really, how can you go wrong with a good dog book? There have been so many that have been so successful: Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin, and lately, Marley and Me.

Many of the best dog books, however, are less about dogs than about dogs' relationships to humans. The weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal recently included a guest column of reviews of books that explore the behavior of dogs as, simply, dogs. It was composed by Stanley Coren, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia and the author of Why Does My Dog Act That Way? (2007). His own book intrigues me, and I plan to get a copy.

My standard poodle, Ginseng—so named for the color of her coat which, as an apricot standard, has fur the color of Ginseng tea—is a beautiful creature, but as mysterious as they come. Why, for instance will she eat almost anything (she once tried to eat a light bulb) but avoid bologna and anything with garlic? What does she know about sleep that I don't? (See photo.) When I come home at night, she's so excited that I'm worried that she'll wag her rear-end off as I come in the door. Why does she do that? Dr. Coren’s book may well shed some light on Ginseng’s behaviors. Here are two of the top titles Dr. Coren recommends about the life of dogs: For the Love of Dog by Patricia B. McConnell (2006) and If Only they Could Speak by Nicholas H. Dodman (2002).

—Tom

Favorites

On October 15 and February 1, my colleagues Barbara and Joe posted items about favorite books. Lately a book of book lists has caught my eye. It’s a bibliophile’s delight: The Top Ten—Writers Pick their Favorite Books, edited by J. Peder Zane (2007). In it you learn, for instance, that popular American satirist Tom Wolfe’s favorite novels are French: L’Assommoir and Nana by Emile Zola, that romance novelist Adriana Trigiani favors Casa Guidi Windows by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, and that Scottish law professor and bestselling mystery writer Alexander McCall Smith inclines toward Russian greats, notably: Anna Karenina and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Apparently, McCall Smith is not alone. On the top, top ten list (of all the author picks in the book) Anna Karenina reigns supreme as #1.

I’ve always thought that lists are a great way to share favorites and recommendations. So if you have favorites—classics, current picks, or faves from childhood—let us know. Send us your list!

—Tom

Beyond prescriptions

Is there a doctor in the house? Publishing house, that is. Most successful writers have had other professions either simultaneously or at least at the start of their careers. Many have been journalists, like Ernest Hemingway, and quite a few have been lawyers. Kristin Hannah and Scott Turow fall into this category.

A select few, like Patrick Taylor, the author of An Irish Country Doctor, have been medical doctors. Of course it’s no surprise that the author of that whimsical tale about healing the denizens of imaginary Ballybucklebo was penned by an M.D. There’s just too much profession-specific detail to have been composed by a layman. Equally the medical thriller genre, which was pretty much invented in the 1970’s by Robin Cook, himself an ophthalmic surgeon, is crowded with doctor-authors, such as Michael Palmer and Tess Gerritsen.

But others might surprise you. Before he was a “Sir” Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes as a young GP in Portsmouth, England, waiting for his sluggish practice to grow. (It is said that he based the hyper-analytic Holmes on one of his teachers at the Edinburgh University Medical School.) W. Somerset Maugham received his medical training at St. Thomas’s hospital in London, and his first novel Liza of Lambeth was a direct result of his first year as a physician treating the poor in the Lambeth section of London. And then there’s Russian great Anton Chekhov, Scotland’s A.J. Cronin, and Jurassic Park’s Michael Crichton. It’s hard to say what the connection is between medicine and storytelling. One thing, however, is certain: a story well told certainly has the power to heal.

—Tom

James Patterson, film critic

I just noticed that on James Patterson’s (incredibly deep) Web site, there’s a page where he posts his movie picks —his opinions on current films. One day, for example, he briefly reviewed August Rush and Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, neither of which I've had the pleasure of seeing. His assessments, like his books, are no-nonsense and get right to the point.

Then I looked at his movie-picks archive—wow! This man watches a lot of movies!! I scrolled through the titles, looking for movies I had seen as well . . . and I’m embarrassed to admit that there were only a couple.

Patterson didn’t like Dreamgirls . . . “I just don’t care for the music,” he said. Sorry, Mr. Patterson: I loved Dreamgirls—the lush visuals, the excellent acting, and of course the gorgeous music. But we agree on Capote: “Philip Seymour Hoffman is stunningly good in the title role,” he says. Amen.

It makes me admire Patterson all the more for taking the time to keep up with the wealth of excellent films—some of them unheralded—that come out every month. Good for you, Mr. Patterson!

—Barbara

Mrs. Kincaid's barmbrack bread

The irrepressible Mrs. Kincaid—aka Kinky—is the invaluable housekeeper-cook-guardian angel for Ballybucklebo’s Dr. Fingal O’Reilly in An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor. She is famous for keeping her gruff, big-hearted employer in line, for her advice to young lovers, and for the hearty tea cake called barmbrack. The cake, a specialty of Dr. Taylor’s native Ulster, derives its name from Irish Gaelic, aran breac, which means “speckled bread.” Traditionally served throughout Ireland on Halloween, it is enjoyed anytime for breakfast or with afternoon tea, and it's especially good toasted and buttered. Here is Mrs. Kincaid’s own recipe–until now a jealously guarded secret.

MRS KINCAID’S BARMBRACK

The traditional Ulster version of this recipe uses yeast, but the version below is easier. Barmbrack also freezes well.

2 1/2 cups golden raisins
2 1/2 cups raisins
2 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
3 cups brewed black tea
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (optional)
2 tablespoons honey, melted (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the golden raisins, raisins, brown sugar, and tea. Stir until the sugar is dissolved; allow to soak overnight. The next day, preheat the oven to 300ºF. Fold the flour and beaten eggs into the fruit. Finally, stir in the baking powder and pumpkin pie spice, if desired. Divide mixture between two greased 8 x 4 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pans. Level the surface and bake for 1 1/2 –1 3/4 hours, or until firm. The bread is done when a cake tester inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean. Cool the loaves in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cool, brush with melted honey for a fine glaze, if desired.

Yield: 2 loaves

College book faves

A recent article in the online magazine Slate caught our eye. It was about the books that writers were influenced by in their college years and yielded a combination of the more or less expected choices, with some interesting surprises.

Hardball’s Chris Matthews chimed in with a not unexpected One Thousand Days, the famous account of the Kennedy presidency from Harvard historian and White House insider Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

But the brash owner of the NBA Dallas Maverick’s (and erstwhile Dancing With the Stars entrant) Mark Cuban mentioning Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead was a little surprising. And Bill Simmons a writer for the sports site ESPN citing hardscrabble tough-guy scribe Raymond Carver’s collection of short stories, Where I’m Calling From was interesting as well.

Finally, it wouldn’t have been my first guess that the well known iconoclast Christopher Hitchens would cite Mill on the Floss as his most influential title. But he did.

Take a look at the article here. And let us know if you have book to join in with.

—Joe