After a thrilling tour of France and Belgium as part of Les Belles Étrangères, I am finally back on U.S. soil. For those readers who missed it, you can check out the highlights on twitter from Andrew Sean Greer, Colson Whitehead, Matt Madden, John Haskell and myself here. And if you speak French, you can read some fun reviews and interviews at fluctuat.net, courierinternational, Rue89, and L’Express. In the meantime, enjoy my Goth cover boy for the French edition. Not enough? You can order your very own copy, beautifully translated into French by Mona de Pracontal, here.
Archive: Author: Hannah
An American in Paris
For the next 10 days I’ll be taking part in Les Belles Étrangères, a festival hosted by the Centre National du Livre in France. This year they are hosting 12 American writers whose work has recently been translated into French and putting us on tour across the country: Charles D’Ambrosio, Percival Everett, Forrest Gander, Andrew Sean Greer, John Haskell, Matt Madden, Jack O’Connell, Eleni Sikelianos, Yuri Slezkine, Richard White, Colson Whitehead and me. Go here to see the list of events, and follow @agreer/belles-etrangeres on twitter to hear what happens over the festival. I’ll be posting daily, along with Colson Whitehead, Matt Madden, Andrew Sean Greer and John Haskell. In the meantime, I wanted to share this shot of the fountain at Place de la Concorde, which I walked past this morning, after landing in Paris around 6 am, the whole trip already seeming like some kind of dream. For you fellow musical-lovers, this is the spot where Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dance in American in Paris. I was having flashbacks all day–quite a beautiful moment in Vincente Minnelli history. See below for the full effect.
IMPAC longlist!
The Good Thief has made the longlist for the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind. It involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open to books written in any language. The Award, an initiative of Dublin City Council, is a partnership between Dublin City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and IMPAC, a productivity improvement company which operates in over 50 countries. The Award is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries. 156 titles have been nominated for the €100,000 Award. It is the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The nominations come from 163 libraries in 123 cities and 43 countries worldwide. The Shortlist for the award will be announced on April 14, 2010, and the winner will be announced in June 17, 2010
The Good Thief was nominated for the award by two libraries: Bibliotheek Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Houston Public Library, Texas, USA.
Many, many thanks to Rotterdam and Houston! It’s an honor to be included on this list with so many authors I’ve read and admired over the years. It also has a special meaning to be recognized by the city of Dublin. I’m half Irish, and spent several summers there growing up. My grandmother, Hester O’Sullivan Lewis, was born in Clonakilty and came to the United States at age sixteen. She had a challenging life, but she faced it with great humor, and loved to tell stories. If I make it to Dublin, I know it will be because of her, pulling some strings up in heaven.
I *Heart* Portland
A few weeks back I gave a reading at Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, OR (one of my favorite book-buying spots). There I met June Reznikoff, who told me her bookclub (who have been meeting for 18 years, and have read over 200 books!)was about to do The Good Thief. A few nights ago they finally met, and I joined them by phone. We had a lot of fun, and once again I got the feeling that if I ever left the East Coast, Portland is one of the spots I’d like to live.
Gun Lesson #1
People often ask me what I do for research. Well, here’s one example. I have never shot a gun in my life, except for a BB gun at camp when I was a little girl. The idea of them frightens me to death, actually. But I recently started work on a new novel whose main character is an expert markswoman, and I realized that if I was going to convincingly talk about shooting, I needed to try it, at least once or twice. So below are a few pictures that follow my first gun lesson, step by step. I went with my friend, the wonderful writer Sarah Manguso (if you have not read her memoir, The Two Kinds of Decay–you must put it on your wish list–it’s one of the best books I’ve read in years). In the end, here’s how things ranked up:
Gun: .22 Caliber Rifle
Bullet Type: Lead Round Nose
Bullet Weight: 40 grains
Dangerous: within 1 1/2 miles (that’s how far it would go in open air)
Shots: 50
Distance: 50 feet
Bullseyes: 20
Win Hannah’s Target: The first person to comment below with the correct page number of The Good Thief where a gun first appears will receive a signed paper target (with bullseye) from this lesson.
A Nice Review in Kansas
It’s great to still be receiving reviews of The Good Thief. I salute you, Emporia Librarians!
2 October Events at the Center for Fiction
On Wed., Oct. 21st, I’ll be giving a talk at the Center for Fiction in NYC with Susan Kamil, my amazing editor (also editor-in-chief of Little Random and editorial director of The Dial Press), about how we created and published The Good Thief. Then, I’ll be returning on Tuesday, Oct. 27th to teach a lecture on the craft of writing. Both should be interesting–to find out more, see below, or visit the Center for Fiction at the Mercantile Library.
More bookclubs!
Two more bookclubs just sent me photos–the Osceola, FL group who sent me a copy of Pinchpenny Mouse, and another group from Richmond, VA I spoke with last week. I had a great time chatting with these smart and witty women about The Good Thief. Go here to find out how to arrange a phone call or visit with your bookclub.
Behind the Book
A great organization, Behind the Book, is hosting a fundraiser on Oct. 28th in NYC. I’ll be there hosting, along with Colum McCann and Martha Southgate. Won’t you join us?
Behind the Book’s mission is to excite children and young adults about reading. Working with low-income students in New York City’s K-12 public schools, Behind the Book brings authors and their books into individual classrooms to build literacy skills and nurture a new generation of readers. Behind the Book is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. To find out more, check out their website. And go here to find out more about the event on Oct. 28th.
Mothers & Sons Bookclub
Over the weekend I spoke with a bookclub of mothers and sons about The Good Thief. These moms read books with their sons and then have a fun night of talk and food inspired by the stories. I think this is a fantastic idea, and am going to spread the word to other families I know. This bookclub had great questions for me, and also put together a fun meal, that included bottles of “Mother Jones’s Elixir for Misbehaving Children” (which appears in chapter 11) and even a graveyard cake (inspired by chapter 15). To see other bookclubs I’ve spoken with, go to the “Meet the Bookclubs” page. I’m always happy to chat with bookclubs, so if yours is reading The Good Thief, please visit the bookclub section of this website to arrange a call or visit.
