Category Archives: Rachel

August 27, 2010   DG&B   fun, Rachel, reading  
9

Bookshelf spies

by Rachel

While reading the New Yorker this week, I came across this article by Susan Orlean—author, blogger, and now self-confessed book snoop. While renting a house on Cape Cod, Orlean tries to get a sense of who the home owners are by analyzing their collection of books (and spices!), which made me wonder—how much can you tell from someone’s bookshelves (seriously, her article was simply charming, but I’d never publicly own up to snooping in a stranger’s home!).

If strangers were to come across my current book collection, I’m not sure how they’d analyze me. Most of the books in my apartment right now are gifts from friends or family (who all have very different taste; there’s a lot of self-help and chick-lit—go figure), with a few of my can’t-live-without favorites.

So, if strangers were to rent your home for the holidays, what conclusions do you think they’d draw from your own book collection?

August 20, 2010   DG&B   favorites, fun, Rachel  
8

Used toothpicks and toilets for sale!

by Rachel

Ever wanted to own your favorite author’s toilet? Well, I haven’t, but if you’re into acquiring the weird and wonderful, it looks like you’re in luck: J.D. Salinger’s old toilet is up for auction on EBay for a cool one million dollars. The toilet comes un-cleaned (because you’d have it no other way, right?) and with a letter from the owners who bought Salinger’s house (to verify authenticity? After all, noone wants to pay big bucks for a phony toilet).

Other literary memorabilia has gone on auction before, as Huffington Post noted a few weeks ago – from an unpublished manuscript by Mark Twain (interesting) to a toothpick belonging to Charles Dickens (ick!), but the toilet of an author? A used toothpick up for auction makes me cringe, but a used toilet? I’m not sure what to think about this, but the word “absurd” does come to mind.

If you could choose any one item from your favorite author to acquire, what would it be? Quirky, interesting or just plain weird, I’d love to know!

August 13, 2010   DG&B   advice, fun, Rachel, writing  
12

The bad writing virus

by Rachel

While reading a manuscript over the weekend, I was trying to pinpoint why the story didn’t work for me. I couldn’t find the words to describe what the author was doing, but, thanks to Nathan Bransford and his article on Huffington Post, I was able to identify exactly what “writerly germ” had infected the manuscript! The story had a bad case of the overstuffed sentences and description overload. I felt like my eyes needed a short rest after each sentence—this is something I’ve always disliked in writing. But I also can’t stand an entire novel written in shorter Hemingway clipped sentences; very tedious.

I’d love to hear what you think you’re guilty of as a writer!

August 10, 2010   DG&B   about us, changes at DGLM, Chasya, great books, interns, Jane, Miriam, Rachel, Stephanie, what we're looking for, What's New at DGLM  
5

Welcome to DGLM, Stephanie DeVita!

by Stephanie

Hi blog readers! Now that both Jane and Chasya have so kindly introduced me, it’s my turn to chime in. I guess the best way to begin is to give you a little information on my background here. I may be new to the website, but I’m not entirely new to the blog. In fact, I have actually been puttering around this office for longer than you think.

I began at Dystel & Goderich over a year ago as an intern. I was determined to find myself an internship in publishing, particularly during the latter half of my college career. I hadn’t had much luck early on, so by my third year at NYU, nothing was going to stop me. I applied and interviewed for the internship with DGLM all while living in London, where I was spending the spring semester of my junior year. Fully aware that my geographical gap could create a handicap, I knew I had to be persistent. And luckily for me, according to Lauren, I was persistent enough that it exhibited my determination, but not too persistent that it made her want to burn my application and any remaining evidence of my existence. So with that, I was offered the chance to join DGLM that summer as an intern. The semesters passed, I continued to stay with the agency, and before I knew it about a year and a half had gone by and I had graduated from NYU. Then I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity by Jane and Miriam to take over for Chasya as she looks to begin a new chapter in her life. I knew that the timing was right; I felt comfortable here, and I had spent enough time working on the less essential tasks that I had developed the desire to explore the business further and carve out my own place in it. And as clichés go, the rest is history.

In giving this blog post some thought, I remembered something Rachel had said in her welcome post: “I think the one thing I truly love about working in a literary agency is that I get to see the entire process of publishing, from a rough manuscript to a finished book on the shelves.” I might make fun of Rachel for her love of Vegemite, but her words are very true. I’m very excited to finally get the chance to dive in and take on my own work. My time at DGLM has allowed me to expose myself to an industry I have always wanted to be a part of, and now it’s allowing me to embark on a new journey in my life—one that will allow me to build the career I’ve always wanted.

The bottom line is, I’m excited to take on this new responsibility within Dystel & Goderich, because now I get to hear from you. Yes, you. I look forward to hearing your ideas, your thoughts, your opinions. You all have stories to tell. Trust me, I’ve read a lot of them. But now I’m ready to do something with them. Turn them into the books they deserve to be. There are certain subjects I’m particularly interested in reading, which you can find in my bio on our website. So let me hear from you. I can only rearrange the pens on my desk for so long….

August 06, 2010   DG&B   favorites, fun, Rachel, reading  
4

Literary fashionistas

by Rachel

I’m no fashionista, yet I find it fascinating reading descriptions of characters and their garb in books. I remember reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory as a kid and being blown away by Roald Dahl’s descriptions, and then watching the movie—wow! So, this article by Judy Berman piqued my interest and made me think about some of the best-dressed book figures out there. I’m going to be cliché here and vote for Ian Fleming’s James Bond as my best-dressed literary hero. I also agree with a lot of the names on Berman’s list—Dorian Gray, Scarlett O’Hara, Emma Bovary—what great examples of fashion-conscious characters.

I’d love to hear who you think is one of the best-dressed literary figures out there! Or perhaps the worst (if I recall anything from my college reading, Dorothea Brooke from George Eliot’s Middlemarch wasn’t such a sharp dresser).

July 30, 2010   DG&B   fun, opinion, Rachel, reading  
4

Fantasy and self-help and shanking

by Rachel

With Lindsay Lohan tucked away in jail, and a renewed interest in life behind bars, I think it’s time to come clean about my fascination with prison (and prisoners). From long drives while living in California to see a teeny glimpse of San Quentin, to thinking Prison Break was one of the greatest TV shows ever made, to spending days watching those Lockup documentaries while visiting family over the holidays—I’m kind of obsessed with what goes on in the pen.

So, I was rather intrigued to read Kenneth Hartman’s article on Huffington Post . Drawing from his 30 continuous years in a California slammer, Hartman gives his readers an exclusive rundown on prison reading—what genre would you expect to be the most popular? The answer might surprise you. What also might surprise you is that Hartman no longer has time to read books; he’s become an avid magazine reader due to the “oddly busy nature” of his life. Fair enough.

Something also rather interesting was this article in The Guardian that pointed out an alternative to prison terms; being sentenced to read! This saves the government money as well as steers people in a different (/better) direction.

What books do you think would be effective for rehabilitation programs like these?

July 23, 2010   DG&B   fun, libraries, Rachel  
4

The Next Big Trend: Libraries

by Rachel

I’ve always been a fan of libraries. As a child, school holidays in the summer time meant keeping occupied, and keeping occupied meant either going to the beach, or visiting the library. As I’ve grown older, my love of visiting the library is still there, and one of the first things I did after moving to New York (and after exhausting myself by visiting every possible tourist trap) was to sign up at the library.

Linda Holmes’ NPR article gives us a few more reasons to love libraries and why she thinks they’re the next big pop-culture wave. But, with libraries starting to go bookless these days, do you agree they could still make a big come back? And if so, can you add to Linda Holmes’ list of reasons why?

PS: The Librarians Do Gaga video is mentioned in this article – if you haven’t seen it, check it out!

July 16, 2010   DG&B   author events, fun, Rachel  
1

Anxiety of the literary kind

by Rachel

A few weeks ago I went to see Peter Carey at a reading for his new book, Parrot and Olivier in America. Just a little over 200 people crammed into a small theatre to hear—in my opinion—a storyteller like no other. With his thick Aussie accent and dry sense of humor, the audience was captivated and on the edge of their seats (at least I was—I was sitting in the back and wouldn’t see otherwise) as passages were read from the book. Following an amusing discussion and question/answer session, I thought, Peter Carey is as cool as a cucumber; he’s an amazing writer and speaker.

If you read Melanie Benjamin’s article on Huffington Post, you’ll realize that not every author is as cool and calm as we think they are. This is truly an hysterical take on what it’s like to be an anxious author at a book club meeting. I’m sure Melanie appears cool and calm in person, but reading of her dread at the thought of skyping with readers made me laugh, especially after reading this line: “I’d have to arrange good lighting, so that my older face would match my younger voice. I would have to experiment with camera angles, so that my nostrils wouldn’t frighten whatever small children might be in the room.”

I haven’t been to any disastrous book club meetings or bookstore readings (yet), but I love a good hot literary mess, and would love to hear about your experiences!

July 13, 2010   DG&B   children's books, future of publishing, opinion, Rachel, reading  
6

Avoiding the summer slide

by Rachel

A couple of years ago, before moving to New York, I worked as a Kindergarten teacher in San Francisco. I can remember quite well the day before summer vacation began—almost every teacher was complaining that the time spent away from school during the summer would have students forgetting everything they had learned that year. That’s not to say teachers wanted to stay in class and teach all summer, but the “summer slide” was definitely apparent on the first day back at school, and so something to cause a lot of worry. So, come the last day of school, I sent my students home with their backpacks full of books—they thought Christmas had arrived (and how happy I was to see 5- and 6-year-olds excited about reading!).

David Brooks’ article in the NY Times last week was an interesting read, as he touched on the effects of books on a child’s learning, especially in regards to the power of books over the summer period. According to results, students who took home 12 books over their summer vacation had significantly higher reading scores than other students (to be expected, I would imagine), but that having books in the home also produces other significant educational gains.

Another study brought to our attention in the article illustrates the effects of the internet and the declining math and reading scores of students. Though the internet helps one become knowledgeable about current events and trends (and what our friends are up to every second of the day), it is the literary world, says David Brooks, that produces better students right now.

I’m going to agree with Mr. Brooks on his opinion. As I saw with my young students, the class computer was fun (and incredibly popular during free time), but reading books gave my Kindergarteners something more, and there was such pride on my students’ faces when they had finished reading a book that I never saw when they had finished a game on the computer. Seeing my students beaming from taking home a backpack of books on the last day of school—and having a love of books themselves—was definitely worth all the headaches of being a Kindergarten teacher.

While reading the comments following the Times article, it seems there are many people who feel as though the internet has affected our attention span, and so made it more difficult to sit down and enjoy a good book with all the distractions out there—breaking news, twitter updates, constant email notifiers etc.

So, my question is: do you think books and the internet are two different worlds and able to complement each other? Or, do you think the internet really is the downfall of our students and their love of books?

July 09, 2010   DG&B   fun, opinion, Rachel, reading, writing  
4

It was a dark and stormy night….

by Rachel

If you’re anything like me, you’re a little neurotic when it comes to words and you have an entire list of the ones you really hate. Of course this list is never written down, for fear of family or friends finding it and actually using those words in emails or casual conversation for laughs. But what’s worse than a hated single word is an entire sentence that makes my skin crawl!

There have been many times while reading books where I’ve come across sentences and have scrunched up my nose because of how dreadful a sentence was written. I’m sure every reader has been in the same position (especially if you’ve read John Updike). So, I’m happy to know that there’s a contest dedicated to the worst opening sentences. The competition may only be for imaginary fiction, but I’m pretty sure disturbing opening sentences like these exist everywhere.

Have you got a doozy of an opening sentence that made your skin crawl?

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