See the movie, read the book

Plenty of authors have websites for their fans, but Will North, author of The Long Walk Home, goes a step further. He actually has a video on his website that will make you immediately want to read the book if you haven't had a chance yet, and if you have read it, the video will show you the sights that were hitherto only in your imagination. Enjoy: "The Walking Tour"

—Jim

Birds do it, bees do it — and so do the French

We all know that Americans love a nice juicy bit of celebrity gossip. Whether it's movie stars or rock-and-rollers or politicians, if there's anything going on, we love to hear about it. Well, it turns out we're not alone in that. Apparently the French can't get enough of the adventures of their president Nicolas Sarkozy, recently married to model and singer Carla Bruni. And their fascination with Sarkozy's story is reflected in the hard numbers of their bestseller list. The Number One nonfiction book in France is a biography of Sarkozy's ex-wife Cecelia. And the Number Two nonfiction book in France is also a biography of Sarkozy's ex-wife Cecilia. For reasons that are unclear, the Number Three nonfiction book in France has nothing whatsoever to do with le monde Sarkozy, but never fear. The Number Four nonfiction book in France is—wait for it—a biography of Nicolas Sarkozy.

At the moment the only politician-related book on the American nonfiction bestseller list is a prescription for change by former conservative congressman Newt Gingrich. Somehow, it's just not the same thing.

—Jim

Thank heavens for the likes of Rosie Thomas

As readers of the AfterWords for Iris and Ruby (page 554 of the current Select Editions volume) know, the author of this exotic historical romance set mostly in Cairo, Egypt, loves to travel. Rosie Thomas, it seems, has been everywhere. From the Antarctic to the Alps. But, of course she hasn’t. And that spurs this every curious wordsmith to seek ever-new places to explore and then craft new dramas that turn on faraway locales. Thank heavens for the like of Rosie Thomas, I say! One of the chief pleasures of reading good books is the chance to experience a good armchair get-away. It doesn’t really matter if you’re inside on a rainy-day weekend afternoon or if you really are traveling in a train or bus on the way to work or slumped in the cabin of a noisy airplane for a vacation trip—a gripping read lets you escape in the imagination. It’s one of life’s simple miracles.

Oh, and you always get to learn stuff. In Iris and Ruby, I really did learn about Cairo. This cramped metropolis on the banks of the Nile is, thanks to Thomas, a much less forbidding and much less alien-seeming place to me now. In fact, I feel as if I really have walked along the ancient passageways of the famous Khan al-Khalili market (above right) and glimpsed the pyramids of Giza at dawn. And I didn’t have to use up any frequent flyer miles to get there!

—Tom

Something extra

We don't do it very often, but every now and then we like to throw a surprise into a volume. The February/March 2008 volume has one of those little surprises, a bonus story by Lee Child.

When we brainstormed here who our readers would really like to see in a short story the decision was unanimous: Jack Reacher. We weren't sure that novelist Lee Child even wrote short stories, but when I checked his website, I found that indeed he had contributed a few stories to anthologies. And one of the stories apparently featured an early mention of Jack Reacher! A quick email to Lee elicted the following response:

Laura,
The story exists in two versions--the original 11,000 word form and the edited 6,000 form as used in the anthology. Which length would work better for you? If neither, I have a few other (non-Reacher) stories, but probably couldn't write anything new, due to commitments. Let me know what you think.
Best to all, Lee

We quickly grabbed up the 6,000-word story from Lee Child, and now you're holding it in your hands. If you're a Jack Reacher fan (and even if you're not), you are in for a treat.

—Laura

Magic numbers

Why is it that some numbers are full of meaning and other numbers are just blah? Case in point: Here at Select Editions we are just about to ship to readers our volume #297. This is a pretty impressive number, and it hearkens all the way back to our very first volume, Number 1, in 1950. 297 is a lot of volumes. But, for some reason, no one here gets unusually excited about it. (By the way, if you're wondering which volume is which according to this system, the number is printed on the copyright page inside the book.)

On the other hand, we are just about to start planning for volume 300. 300! A nice big round number with two zeros! People get excited about that! Exclamation points start flying! Volume 300! It sounds incredible! In fact, it's a magic number! We'll probably have a cake and light some candles and generally celebrate for a few minutes before going back to our desks to toil away on volume 301.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure volume 300 is going to be great. But, well, I have a fondness for all the little orphan numbers nobody else ever gets excited about. 291. 267. 243. These numbers deserve recognition too.

Let's hear it for the little guy!

—Jim

Explore the scene of the crime

Publishers and authors are doing all sorts of neat things to publicize their books online these days. Every once in a while, we'll try to bring these cool promotional gimmicks to your attention.

I thought recent readers of Michael Connelly's book The Overlook might be interested in this intriguing interactive crime scene map and quiz that enhances and tests your knowledge of the story. The tagline for this feature is "The Case That Never Leaves the Page Jumps Off It" and that's a pretty fair summary of how the book has been brought to life online.

We'd love to hear whether you like these kinds of online extensions of the book, and also how you did on the quiz. Have fun!

—Laura

Love poem, of a different kind

Now and again, I like to share a poem with my friends. Recently, while researching the life and works of D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) for our World’s Best Reading series, I came upon this lyrical short poem by Lawrence that evokes childhood memories of his beloved mother, Lydia. Lawrence, author of the powerful classic of autobiographical fiction, Sons and Lovers (1913), was very attached to his hardworking mother who doted on her fourth child, whom she called “Bert,” and who encouraged his gift for learning. “She is my first, great love,” Lawrence once wrote in a letter. “She was a wonderful, rare woman . . . as strong, and steadfast, and generous as the sun.” "The Piano" (1918) is a tribute not only to that love, but also to the bittersweet power of nostalgic memory.

The Piano
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

—Tom