House Call #12
Plus a Book Giveaway
Who Needs a Copy of ‘The Insider’ by Gerry Howard?
Gerry Howard, my long-time, now-retired editor, wrote this, the story of the legendary editor Malcolm Cowley. From the outside, the careers of Faulkner, Kerouac and Kesey look flashy and sudden, but in truth it took one rambunctious editor a lifetime to get them into print and keep them in the canon of American lit. Cowley was relentless. As was Gerry, himself, who edited me, Bret Ellis, David Foster Wallace, Walter Kirn, Hanya Yanagihara, Irvine Welsh, William Burroughs and Donald Ray Pollock.
We’ve already looked at how a young writer can have a short-lived experience — Jack London in Alaska, Cheryl Strayed on the Pacific Crest Trail — yet draw on that experience for the rest of their career. Well, according to Gerry’s book, it seems that Cowley was among the ex-pat Americans who lived in France after WWI, and once he returned to the States looked for ways to relive that experience for the rest of his life.
If you’re curious — and you’re first — and you can accept delivery within the United States — please race to say so in the Comments below.1
On to the Latest House Call
This week Chris Hicks was daring enough to offer Still Here for feedback. It’s clear. It’s fast-paced and hauls you along moment by moment, mile by mile. But what else could it accomplish? Please give it a read, Here, and let Chris know what you think. Every story is an experiment, and your responses help the writer gauge what, if anything, needs tweaking.
My thanks to Chris for being so open to discuss his work. If you have a writing sample you’d like considered for a House Call, I’ll be posting a new drop box for samples soon.
Good news. I’ve gotten a few of the deluxe $400 gift editions of The Great Gatsby and have found a way to ship them to the U.K. for roughly fifty bucks. Brandan already has one coming, but I’ll offer up the other copies, soon. The irony?! These books are designed, printed and bound in England. They’re shipped to me. And now I’m shipping them back. That said, they’re gorgeous, the illustrations in particular.
Dibs!
Deebs.