EarlyWord

The movie Parker, based on Flashfire, (recently reissued by the U. of Chicago Press) one of the later titles in the Parker series by Donald Westlake (writing under the name Richard Stark) has begun shooting in New Orleans and is scheduled for release on Oct. 12, 2012, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Directed by Taylor Hackford, it stars Jason Statham as the hardboiled thief Parker, Jennifer Lopez as a real estate agent who becomes his accomplice, and Nick Nolte as his mentor.

The series began in in 1961 with The Hunter (which was made into two movies, Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin in 1987 and The Payback in 1999, starring Mel Gibson) and continued through the ’70’s. Westlake brought the character back nearly 25 years later in the appropriately named Comeback in 1997. Flashfire, published in 2000, is part of the new series.

The prolific Westlake died in 2008. For an assessment of Parker’s appeal, read Sarah Weinman’s “The Violent and Work-Filled World of Parker.”

The respected British biographer (he’s even been knighted), Michael Holroyd’s new work, A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers, (FSG, 8/2), has received enthusiastic reviews from both the Wall Street Journal (the author is “that rare biographer who is read for himself as much as for the sake of his subject”) and the daily New York Times. Neither of them holds a candle to the excitement that Toni Bentley (author of five books, including the taboo-breaking The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir, ReganBooks, 2004) expresses in her NYT Book Review cover story. It’s one of those rare reviews that’s worth reading for itself as much as for the sake of the book. Evidently, Bentley’s enthusiasm is contagious. The book is currently at #20 on Amazon’s sales rankings (from #3,815).

Peter Spiegleman, whose latest book is Thick as Thieves (Knopf, 7/26; audio, Dreamscape Media; audio and ebook, OverDrive) was interviewed on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Saturday.

According to NPR’s introduction, the author “is being acclaimed for bringing some of the hands-on expertise and literary grace that John LeCarre brought to espionage novels to stories of capers, heists and double crosses.” His hands-on experience was twenty years on Wall Street; the book’s main character is a corrupt hedge fund manager.

Jesse Eisenberg, who starred as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, will play two roles in the film adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novella, The Double, about a man whose life begins to fall apart when a fellow who looks just like him arrives at his office and seems to be living his life better than he does.

The movie will be directed by Richard Ayoade, whose first feature film, the coming-of-age British comedy Submarine was a hit with critics. The Double is very dark, but The Guardian suggests that Ayoade will play it for laughs.

The debut novel, Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (Viking, 7/26;  Books on Tape; Penguin Audio; audio on OverDrive), arrives on the 8/14 NYT Print Fiction best seller list at #16 (it’s tied with #15, so it’s on the main list rather than the extended).

Reviews have been strong. The San Francisco Chronicle captures the book’s appeal, “Even the most jaded New Yorker can see the beauty in Amor Towles’ Rules of Civility, the antiqued portrait of an unlikely jet set making the most of Manhattan.”

The fall movie schedule is shaping up. We’ve just updated the movie trailer links (listed below and also to the right of the site, under Movies Based on Books), as well as our list of Upcoming Movies — with Tie-ins. Great browsing for the end of a Friday. Remember, it’s a professional responsibility to be familiar with these titles.

Homework assignment: which major director has TWO big movies coming out on the same day?

• 9/16  —  I Don’t Know How She Does It
• 9/16  —  Straw Dogs (based on The Siege of Trencher’s Farm)
• 9/23 —  Killer Elite (Based on Feather Men, Ranulph Fiennes)
• 9/23  —  Moneyball
• 9/30  —  What’s Your Number? (Based on 20 Times A Lady, Karyn Bosnak)
• 10/21 — The Three Musketeers
• 10/28 — Anonymous (Was Shakespeare a Fraud?) — not based on a specific book, but there are enough books on the subject to warrant an entire display. Tie-in are scheduled.
• 11/18 — Breaking Dawn (Part 1)
• 11/18 — Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• 11/23 — Hugo (Based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick)
• 11/23 — The Descendants
• 12/16 — Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows
• 12/16 — We Need to Talk about Kevin (limited; wide in Jan, 2012)
• 12/21 — The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (English-language version)
• 12/23 — The Adventures of Tintin
• 12/23 — War Horse

Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct an adaptation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer (Random House, 2008), according to Variety. Plans are to begin production in the spring.

The movie of Kathyrn Stockett’s novel The Help opens this coming Wednesday and promotion is in full gear, including an Entertainment Weekly cover story and coverage in all the national newspapers. The focus of many of the stories is the childhood friendship between the author and and the movie’s director Tate Taylor, who had only directed two small films (the most successful made $7,000) when he got an early look at the book and loved it immediately.

Here at EarlyWord, we feel like we grew up with The Help. We first covered it when editor Amy Einhorn pitched it during an AAP Editors Buzz session. Shortly after it was published, we noted that libraries had ordered it cautiously, but holds were growing. Story after story followed, tracking the book’s rise and then plans for the movie. Now, over two years after it first appeared, libraries are still showing holds on it in all formats, but on many more copies.

Will we be seeing another novel from Stockett? She tells Entertainment Weekly‘s “Shelf Life” blog that she’s working on a story set in Mississippi in the 1920’s; “it’s about a group of women who were raised in a rather white privileged home and then the Depression hit and suddenly they have no support. They have absolutely no marketable skills. So they have to figure out how to work their way up into the world and figure out how to earn a living and support each other and take care of each other.”

Watch for three notable debuts next week: two of them are comic family sagas – Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang and Matthew Norman’s Domestic Violets – and the other is a modern update of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca set in Provence. Usual suspects include Lev Grossman, Julie Garwood and W.E.B. Griffin. In nonfiction, look for Geoffrey Gray’s account of notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper.

Watch List

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson (Ecco) is a debut novel about surviving the ultimate dysfunctional family: a clan of performance artists who create events in shopping malls that result in chaos, as a protest against superficiality. As we reported earlier, it’s received a strong NYT review today and a B+ from Entertainment Weekly. Featured in one of our GalleyChats in February, this one has been gathering buzz since then, and was a GalleyChat Pick of ALA.

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (HarperPerennial; Trade Pbk Original) is a debut comedic novel about a divorced novelist father who moves in with his son, and takes on everything from the corporate machine and the literary machine, to adultery, family, and dogs with anxiety disorders. PW says, “despite a heavy reliance on pop-culture references and some stock characters — the pompous writer, his tough agent, the trophy wife — this is a thoroughly entertaining, light but thoughtful read.” It was also a buzz title in our own GalleyChat in July.

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson (HarperCollins; Dreamscape Media; HarperLuxe) is a modern gothic about a younger woman married to an older man who refuses to discuss his former wife – think Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, but set in contemporary Provence. It was a Galley Chat Pick of ALA, and the GalleyChatters agree with the publisher that it will be BIG. PW says, “Lawrenson expertly manages suspense and intrigue throughout and breathes great, detailed life into her lush French countryside setting, making one wonder why this, her sixth novel, is the first to be published in the U.S.” Kirkus, however, warns that “it never captures the delicious psychological creepiness of the original.”

Spycatcher by Matthew Dunn (Morrow; HarperLuxe), is about the  CIA and the MI6 as they are today by someone who knows the territory; he was a field agent. The publisher is backing it with a 150,000 first printing.

Rising Star

Thirteen Million Dollar Pop: A Frank Behr Novel by David Levien (Doubleday) is the third thriller to feature private investigator Frank Behr and the American heartland setting which began with the author’s first hit, City of the Sun.

Usual Suspects

The Magician King by Lev Grossman (Viking; Penguin Audio) is a sequel to The Magicians, a previous novel by the book critic for Time magazine. Here, Quentin and his friends are now kings and queens of the magical land of Fillory, but a life of royal luxury goes wrong when a magical ship brings Quentin back to his parents’ house in New England. LJ says “Grossman’s flawed characters struggle for what they want and often lose their way, a refreshing twist. Fillory’s pointed resemblance to Narnia gets a bit tiresome, however. This is best for readers who like some grit and realism in their fantasy and who have read the first book.”

The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood (Dutton) is a romantic suspense novel featuring FBI agent Max Daniels, who promises to protect shooting witness Ellie Sullivan through a dangerous trial – but it isn’t long before the sparks start flying. Booklist says, it “has all the literary ingredients her readers expect: snappy writing, sharp humor, a fast-paced plot spiced with plenty of danger and suspense, and an abundance of sexy chemistry between two perfectly matched protagonists.”

Victory and Honor: An Honor Bound Novel by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Putnam; Penguin Audio) takes place weeks after Hitler’s suicide, as Cletus Fraude and his fellow OSS agents are fighting for the agency’s survival with other U.S. government departments and facing the growing threat of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. PW calls it “slow-moving,” but adds that the detailed descriptions of weapons and aircraft won’t disappoint techno-thriller fans.

Acceptable Loss: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry (Ballantine) begins when a dead man surfaces in the river Thames, returning William Monk to a heinous case that he thought he’d left behind.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension (#8) by Christie Golden (LucasBooks/RandomHouse; Books on Tape; Random House Audio) is the eighth installment in a nine-volume saga that takes palce 40 years after the Star Wars trilogy, and features Luke Skywalker, his Jedi son, Ben, and an apprentice as they travel the galley. LJ says, “Golden’s excellent storytelling captures the essence of the beloved space opera and should leave series followers eagerly anticipating the story’s conclusion.”

Young Adult

Thirst: The Shadow of Death #4 by Christopher Pike (Simon Pulse, Trade Pbk) is the conclusion to bestselling Thirst series, and follows five-thousand-year-old vampire Alisa Perne as she battles a new race of immortals: the Telar.

Nonfiction

Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray (Crown; Books On Tape; Random House Audio) is based on a New York magazine story about the search for the identity of the famed skyjacker, which immersed the author in the subculture that sprung up after his death four decades after Dan Cooper (a.k.a D. B. Cooper) parachuted out of a plane somewhere over Oregon or Washington, carrying a sack full of money.

Movie Tie-in

I Don’t Know How She Does It, by  Allison Pearson, (Anchor Books, Movie Tie-In Edition); The movie, coming in September (see trailer here), stars Sarah Jessica Parker, and sounds like Sex and The City with Kids. Will the book that was “the national anthem for working mothers” (Oprah) still resonate in its movie incarnation during a recession?

In addition to discussing dozens of forthcoming books, librarians on this week’s GalleyChat also talked about titles that are getting unexpectedly heavy holds.

State of Wonder, Ann Patchett, Harper. 6/6; Recorded Books; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio;  ebook from OverDrive

Like her blockbuster Bel Canto, this one has been a hit with most reviewers. It debuted on the NYT Print list at #3, and has slid down since, but is still at #8 as of 8/7. Holds continue to be very heavy on all formats.

 Before I Go To Sleep, S. J. Watson, (Harper, 6/14; Recorded Books; HarperLuxe; Audio and eBook from OverDrive)

Hey, people, we’ve been talking about this book ever since galleys first began arriving in December.Check those holds; time to get on the band wagon before it’s too late.

What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty, Amy Einhorn/Putnam, 6/2

It’s no surprise that people are fascinated with memory loss these days. Even so, three popular novels featuring it  in a single season may be a bit much. This book is about a 39 year-old woman who wakes up from a head injury, thinking she is still 29 and in love with her husband. Both are untrue. In Before I Got to Sleep (above), a woman tries to pieee together who she can and cannot trust after losing her memory. In Turn of Mind,  (Atlantic Monthly, 7/5; Audio, Brilliance; Large Print, Thorndike) a woman in the early stages of alzheimer’s fears she may have killed her best friend. All are showing holds. This one, the more light-hearted of the three, hasn’t received as much attention as the others, but it is on People‘s Great Summer Reads list. Warning; it could be dangerous to read all of them together.
 

Sister, Rosamund Lupton, Crown, 6/7; Recorded Books; ebook from OverDrive

Libraries say that holds began growing after the author appeared on the Diane Rehm Show in early June. One of last year’s biggest sellers in the UK, it hasn’t enjoyed quite that level of success here. It hit the NYT Extended list the second week of publication and slid down to #35 last week, but holds are still heavy in libraries.The author’s second novel, Afterwards, just published in the UK, went on the Times of London’s top ten in its first full week of sales; no word on when it will be released here.
 

This Beautiful Life, Helen Schulman, Harper, 8/2; Blackstone Audio; audio and ebook from OverDrive

Just out Tuesday and already showing heavy holds, this is another title that taps into current fears. It is about a teenager whose life becomes a nightmare after a sexting incident. Janet Maslin took a NYC-centric view of it in her NYT review, “Ms. Schulman holds a mirror up to the lives of moneyed, elite New York private-school families and invites such people to nod in recognition. In terms of a less provincial audience This Beautiful Life should please anyone who enjoys seeing the destruction of a happy family framed as a self-fulfilling prophecy.” The Washington Post was less condescending in Monday’s review, calling it a  “modern-day viral nightmare [made] all the more chilling because it is so easy. Because it can happen to anyone. The wrong moment, the impulsive message, one quick touch of a key — and even the most accomplished lives can come tumbling down.” It was also the cover of 7/31 NYT BR.

Summer Rental, Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike LT

Andrews, of course, is a perennial favorite, but librarians report holds are higher than usual on this one.

GalleyChat favorite, Family Fang by Kevin Wilson, which arrives next week, gets a good start with a strong review by Janet Maslin in todays NYT as well as a B+ from Entertainment Weekly. Wilson is respected for his short stories, gathered in the collection Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. Family Fang is his first novel, the story of performance artists who force their kids into the “family business” of protesting American superficiality by creating events in shopping malls that result in chaos. The parents call this art, their two children,  call it “making a mess.” GalleyChatters appreciated Wilson’s sly humor and flights of fantasy, employed to explore how parents’ ambitions can affect their children, making it a good candidate for book discussions. In a starred review, Booklist said, “Don’t be surprised if this becomes one of the most discussed novels of the year.” This is borne out by the number of times the book has come up on GalleyChat since it was first discussed back in February.

The Family Fang: A Novel Kevin Wilson Retail Price: $18.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Ecco – (2011-08-09) ISBN / EAN: /780061579035/ 006157903

I’m not making this up. A forthcoming movie is described by Deadline as an “action epic battle between good and evil that is inspired by the John Milton poem [Paradise Lost].” Benjamin Walker is in talks to play archangel Michael, who “will go mano a mano against Bradley Cooper’s Lucifer…the film will have cutting-edge visual effects that will make these battles resemble 300 meets Lord of the Rings– but with winged warriors.” Plans are to begin shooting in January, with the film possibly debuting at the end of 2013.

Bradley Cooper, who starred in The Hangover has been literary lately. He just finished filming as the lead in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and is about to begin shooting The Silver Linings Playbook, based on the debut novel by Matthew Quick, which was one of Nancy Pearl’s picks for summer reading, 2009).

Five years after it was first signed, the movie that was understatedly described as “not the easiest film adaptation,” will see the light of day by the end of the year. Warner Bros. is releasing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, in a limited, Oscar-qualifying run beginning Christmas day, followed by openings in more cities on Jan. 20th. It’s directed by Stephen Daldry who has tackled serious literary fare before in The Hours and The Reader.

Thirteen-year-old Jeopardy winner, Thomas Horn will play Oskar, a nine-year old whose  father died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks play his parents and John Goodman is the doorman who helps the boy  search Manhattan, looking for the  lock that matches a key his father left behind.

A tie-in is scheduled for November.

J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore.com Web site launches in October, but a tiny segment of Harry Potter fans (just one million) will be granted early access. To select winners, the site is running The Magical Quill challenge. Each day, a clue appears on the site. Those who guess it correctly will be directed to the registration page (if it is still open that day). The contest began on Sunday and runs through this Saturday, August 6.

USA Today interviews director Cameron Crowe on the set of We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, and based on the memoir by Benjamin Mee (Weinstein Books, 2008).

The movie opens Dec. 23,. USA Today notes the timing is an indicator of the studio’s belief in the movies, since it is during the holiday rush and at the height of Oscar season.

Blackstone released an audio version in June. A media tie-in edition is coming in November

We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever Benjamin Mee Retail Price: $14.99 Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Weinstein Books – (2011-11-08) ISBN / EAN: 1602861579 / 9781602861572

Audio and ebook on OverDrive.