Love Lost and Found

Soho books and authors have received quite a bit of attention lately.

Marriage counselor and love expert Sharyn Wolf gave an interview with Kirkus Books today to promote her new book, Love Shrinks.  Kirkus’ Michelle Daugherty drew out some excellent responses from Wolf regarding the inspiration for the book and how Wolf was taking the negative press attention following her guest blog on the Huffington Post where she admitted to a failed marriage.  

“I’m very surprised,” Wolf told Daugherty regarding the media’s response, “because they haven’t read the book. And they don’t know the complexities of this marriage, and I think of so many marriages that are really floundering. I’ve been saying lately that you can be a heart surgeon and have a heart attack; I can be a marriage counselor and have a divorce—they’re not mutually exclusive.”

The video below shows Wolf’s interview with Fox News and highlights some of the controversy mentioned above, specifically the ramifications this book may have on Wolf’s relationship to Oprah Winfrey on whose show the marriage counselor was featured as an expert eight times.

Meanwhile, Katharine Beutner won the Edmund White Award for Debut Lesbian Fiction for Alcestis, her version of the mythological tale of a woman who sacrifices her life to the underworld so that her husband may live instead.  Young Alcestis finds the world of the dead to be not much worse than her own and in time discovers that there is passion even among the unloving when she is drawn to the embrace of Hades’ stolen wife, Persephone.  There is certainly something alluring about this gothic-sounding tale of womanly love and the abyss, which explains why Alcestis has also been nominated for the Lambda Awards later this month as well.

Finally, the paperback of Sara Gran’s horror novel, Come Closer, will be appearing on bookshelves by the end of the month.  The book is tightly written and has been praised by both Bret Easton Ellis and Sam Lipsyte.

Noir Down Under

Soho Press will be bringing Australian author Gary Disher’s latest entry in the Wyatt series to American shores this August.  Named simply Wyatt, the book follows its unscrupulous main character of the same name as he attempts follows stolen goods, grabbing as much as he can for himself while staying alive. 

Disher’s novel has been compared favorably to the work of noir master Richard Stark in at least two places this month, while grabbing additional respect for tight writing and a main character who is as thoughtful and methodical as he is callous and without mercy.  Wyatt gets his hands dirty often enough to satisfy fans of action, but it is the way he approaches situations, and the other people he meets in Melbourne’s shadows, which drives the narrative forward.

In the end, Wyatt faces a challenge unlike all the inept thugs and the femme fatales he has maneuvered through in the series.  Wyatt comes face-to-face with another of his kind, a man without morals or pity, who is only interested in the next big score.  If you like your crime dark and your heroes anti, Wyatt is sure to satisfy.

Two New Titles from the Trenches

Soho Crime’s Potsdam Station, by David Downing, appears in yet another favorable review, this time by Marilyn Stasio of the New York Times.  

Stasio seems impressed by Downing’s main character, John Russell, the travelling American Journalist who spends much of Potsdam Station fighting to get back into Berlin to save his lover.  “Downing provides no platform for debate in this unsentimental novel,” Stasio says, “leaving his hero to ponder the ethics of his pragmatic choices while surveying the ground-level horrors to be seen in Berlin. The assaults on the ear are no less shocking, from the screams of women in the night to the appalling silence at the end of it all.”

Frank Weimann of Literary Group International has been busy as well, landing a deal for Gary O’Neal’s American Warrior.  The book provides a look into the Vietnam War through the eyes of a soldier, and the story of a man who is as cold and brutal as an endless blizzard to enemies at war, yet calm as the fallen snow in the quiet between battles.  The tale of this army tracker was sold to Tom Dunne of Thomas Dunne Books.

If you are a fan of war stories and determined men of character don’t miss either of these titles.

Rock Paper Tiger Nominated for Best First Novel

Soho Press’s Rock Paper Tiger by Lisa Brackmann has been nominated for Best First Novel this year.  Brackmann contends with other top titles including Blacklands by Belinda Bauer, The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron, The Sherlockian by Graham Moore and Snow Angels by James Thompson in the 2010 Strand Magazine Critics Awards.  The awards will be presented in the categories of Best Novel and Best First Novel at an invitation-only cocktail party, hosted by The Strand on July 6, 2011, in New York City.

We have had quite a bit of praise for Rock Paper Tiger, the story of pill-popping Iraq War vet Ellie Cooper and her search for her missing artist lover.  Meshing flashbacks of Iraq with images of rural China and real-life intrigue with mysterious informants from an online game, Brackmann has created an electic, dangerous landscape for the action of her first novel.  Strand Magazine has taken notice and we wish Brackmann the best as their judges make their decisions.

Welcome Rubicon Seven!

Benay is proud to announce our newest client, Rubicon Seven LLC, a visionary provider of land-use solutions.  Rubicon’s vision is not only found in its designs, but also in the lasting effect those projects have on communities both local and global.  Rubicon Seven uses green technology and holistic methods to pursue its mission of improving lives as well as improving the environment, all while building meaningful places that enrich both consumers and the community as a whole.

The company is led by its founder, Tedrowe Bonner, an interdisciplinary scholar with degrees in political economics and statistics from the Universities of Massachusetts and Boston, respectively, and who has   an avid interest in global sociology, environmental sociology, urban sociology, and methodology.  Alongside his endeavors to make Rubicon Seven’s projects aesthetic and functional successes, Mr. Bonner completes work on his PhD in sociology.

Mr. Bonner and Rubicon Seven are currently engaged in several projects to revitalize community involvement and stand as an example of the power of communal effort and green building methods.  Anyone inspired by the cause can visit Rubicon Seven’s home page, where there is more detailed information about Mr. Bonner’s vision and the company’s current projects, as well as opportunities for you to get involved through sponsorship, advising, or investment.

We look forward to working with Rubicon Seven in the years ahead and are very proud to be a part of this noble effort.

Mike Sacks at Powell's

Fans of Mike Sacks, author of Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason by Tin House Books, around Portland should make their way over to Powell’s City of Books next Thusday to hear what is certain to be a hilarious reading of the book by its author. Sacks has proven his wit in publications like Esquire, GQ, McSweeney’s, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair and retained enough ammunition to pack this collection with fifty-four short humor pieces which are often absurd, yet hilariously plausible.

Stefan Sirucek at the Huffington Post seemed most impressed by “a piece titled ‘The Rejection of Anne Frank’ the oblivious publishers who have just rejected Frank's diary manuscript helpfully tell her to consider writing something more ‘book-club friendly’ and to focus on her ‘tween demographic.’” Steve Heisler at AV Club appeared to favor ‘Rules for My Cuddle Party’ which, “explains the ironclad restrictions of a makeshift orgy while delving into the filthy mistakes of previous ‘parties.’”

Filled with fifty-two other lists, stories and emails just as bizarre, Your Wildest Dreams is sure to leave readers in stitches. Don’t miss this opportunity to see Sacks in person and laugh at some of the best, weirdest comedy writing to come out in recent memory.

Sacks will be at Powell’s Thursday, April 28, 7:30 pm at 1005 W Burnside, Portland, Oregon.

Jesse Ventura at Disinformation

Our client, Gary Baddeley of Disinformation had the good fortune of sitting down with Jesse Ventura, former WWF performer and commentator, Minnesota governor, and co-star of popular co-star of hit film Predator.  Promoting his new book 63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read, Jesse discusses topics ranging from the possibility of joining Ron Paul in a future presidential election, to legalization, to the privatization of prisons and the price of bottled water vs. gasoline.

Jesse talks about that the recent drama surrounding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.  Questioning why the UK would hold Assange for acts not considered illegal in the that country, Jesse suggests that the nature of certain documents held by Assange may well be of an explosive and damaging nature to the current American administration.  

True to his larger-than-life nature, Jesse covers more topics than can be done justice in a few blocks of text.  He entertains as only a man with his diverse background can, and dissects questions and issues posed by Disinformation’s fans with thoughtful responses and a decisive, self-aware point of view.

Watch the interview for yourself at Disinformation’s home site.