Top 10 Books Of 2011 So Far (The Freedom To Judge!)

Published in 2011
Kate Christensen, THE ASTRAL
Tina Fey, BOSSYPANTS
Douglas Kennedy, THE MOMENT
Jim Knipfel, THE BLOW-OFF
Arthur Phillips, THE TRAGEDY OF ARTHUR

Published earlier
Brooke Berman, NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Vera Brittain, TESTAMENT OF YOUTH
Glen David Gold, CARTER BEATS THE DEVILKathrine Switzer, MARATHON WOMAN
David Foster Wallace, THE BROOM OF THE SYSTEM

Arthur Phillips

Looks like a character actor (who you recognize, but can't quite land on the name) who plays an author in a movie you really like.

I went to his book party/reading last night (I knew because there was free wine) and I don't want to give away much of what he said, for spoiler purposes, but you should see him on tour. He'll be in Cambridge on Thursday, Seattle on May 10 and Washington D.C. (at Politics and Prose!) on May 24, to name places where the 1.8 readers of this blog live.

Phillips returns!

Arthur Phillips, whose last book THE SONG IS YOU I raved about, has a new novel out Tuesday called THE TRAGEDY OF ARTHUR which I may be reading this very minute. (Anyone going to see him that night in NYC? Pop a comment if you want to.) It's a Shakespeare conspiracy, because apparently that's how we're rolling around here. 

Goodreads commissioned from him a list of books with plays in them, a sub-subgenre both deeply esoteric and extremely aligned with our interests. Spoiler alert for the list: Phillips looks really different from his paperback cover appearance. Ah, the perils of fame...

**SLOW CLAP**

Context: The Brooklyn Cyclones is a minor-league team affiliated with the Mets that plays on Coney Island (where the wooden Cyclone roller coaster is). And New York was hit by a tornado last night.

Paperback Upgrade/Downgrade: Zoe Heller and Arthur Phillips

Two books I really liked from last year just came out in paperback. I'm going to give my (non-artist, non-sales department) opinions and you tell me which you like better.

First case: Zoe Heller's THE BELIEVERS. This cover is based on the British edition and I like it just fine:


But the paperback is definitely an upgrade:

I was scanning the H-shelf at a bookstore and this jumped right out at me. It alludes cleverly to the subject matter -- a family in the '00s of which the parents were '60s radicals -- without being obvious or spoilery. And the book opens in a townhouse much like this one. Is it possible the designer actually read the book? That's... splendid! (I don't know if they always can or do -- if anyone with insider knowledge wants to chime in...)

Second case: Arthur Phillips' THE SONG IS YOU. The hardcover design is a bit vague but the black-and-white photograph with the blue are pleasant:

And here it is in paperback:

What's so bad about it? Well, I'm still not a fan of the font, but I couldn't help noticing this cover illustration is a slightly altered photo of Arthur Phillips. I recognized it right away -- see? (Don't know why I remembered it, but carry on.)

I mean, he must have signed off on it, and I doubt anyone in a bookstore would care. But is this going to be part of the writer's job now as well? Are there not models for that?

Bonus cover: While looking up the UK cover for THE BELIEVERS I spotted the across-the-pond paperback redo for Joseph O'Neill's NETHERLAND, whose derivative design I wrote about last year. Behold:


Definite upgrade. I know some people find that tilt-shift work unbearably twee, but I am not one of them yet.