So our friends at Ecco have seen fit to give Anthony Bourdain his own line of books. Good for him and good for us. Bourdain, for all his antisocial commentary, has always been able to put his finger on what people like. It’s not difficult to imagine that he’ll successfully find books that people want to read. It also wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say that Bourdain might be the nicest author ever to come to BookPeople. Author’s don’t have to be kind, gracious, comfortable, and interested (some aren’t) but Bourdain is all of these things. That being said, I’m by nature jealous and petty, so when I see something good happen to someone, my immediate reaction is, Why not me? Why doesn’t someone call me and tell me to curate a line of book? These questions have obvious answers, and are therefore rhetorical, but what if the impossible became possible. What if someone gave me the opportunity to start my own line of books? What would that look like?
First thing I’d do is set up a simple criterion for what type of authors I’d want to work with. Authors would have to be smart. Smart like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Eudora Welty. They’d have to have something interesting to say. Similar to Slavenka Drakulic or Dorothy Day. They’d have to be fun to work with. Fun like Joan Didion or Zadie Smith. And they’d have to have a unique perspective and point of view, something about them would have to be different from everybody else. Different in the same ways Jeanette Winterson or Lydia Davis are different. Lastly, the authors I’d work with would have to be authors I’d want to work with.
Now that I’ve got my author prototype, what types of books would I print? I’d want the books to be important, but important for the reasons that I like. 1984 might be the most important novel of the 20th century, but its importance is social, not literary. The type of literary importance I’m looking for would be in the form of Amelia Gray. Gray’s prose certainly pays homage to the past, but it’s particularly interested in being itself. This interest in being a member of her own generation is what gives Gray a highly literary lightness that Calvino would envy. I’d also want the books to be challenging to both the reader and the author. The Great Gatsby is perfect, or as close as we can get to perfection, but it’s not for my line. Give me the raw material of Marguerite Duras or the overwritten Virginia Woolf any day. I’ll take the big risk, big reward type books over the air-tight, concrete solid books.
Now that we’ve got the authors and the books, does anyone here know anything about publishing? We better get some publishers on board. Judith Gurewich from Other Press might be the most energetic publisher I’ve ever met. She has a unique way, and an unyielding passion for books. Plus, she knows what she’s doing. Other Press is exactly what I think a publisher should look like, and if I had a line of books, Judith would lead the way. After Judith’s direction, I’d be most interested in design. Judging books by their cover is important, so we need some great covers. Kelly Blair works for Melville House and she wins a lot of design awards. She wins because she’s incredible. I want her to design all the books for my line.
I think that’s it. I’ve got my line ready to go. All I need is to lure Kelly and Judith away from their incredible jobs, find a handful of smart, interesting, fun writers who are unique and write highly literary, challenging books. That wasn’t all that hard. Hey Ecco, if Anthony flakes on you, you can find me in Austin.
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