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5/1/2006: Coffee House Press Newsletter - May 2006
Our newsletter seems to have arrived in time for those notorious May flowers that the cruelest month was supposed to have summoned. We certainly have some great books blooming on our list, with some of the best of New YorkSchool poetry from Tom Clark and Maureen Owen, with some of the best of Minnesota poetry from Greg Hewett and Sarah Fox, and another work of genius from Gilbert Sorrentino, recent winner of the Lannan Literary Lifetime Achievement Award.
But surely the surprise of the season is Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife, a truly delightful debut novel by Sam Savage, lavishly illustrated by Michael Mikolowski. One of those once-in-a-lifetime discoveries, this tale of an alienated literate rat who develops a taste for the classic literary Canon, begins in the basement of a second-hand bookstore that is about to face the urban renewal wrecking ball, and ends in the imaginary arms of the immortal Ginger Rogers. And Sam Savage unravels this unlikely adventure with a knowing literary wink in almost every sentence. I'm sure that when you finish reading Firmin, you'll join me in proudly saying, "I'm a book rat!"
But we do need help paying the printer so we can keep hungry book rats well supplied. Donations from readers like you make it possible for us to find quirky new authors, and to continue to bring new work from old masters to the hassock in front of your easy chair. We hope you enjoy the interviews and news that follows, and the books we're offering this spring. And we hope you'll help make us keep new books brewing with a donation to Coffee House Press.
Then, knowing you've done your part, get comfortable, grab a rich cup of coffee, and get ready for that magical journey that always begins with that all-important first page.
William Baldwin: You preface the novel with the Tao-master Chuang Tzu's parable: A man wakes from dreaming that he's a butterfly. But perhaps he's a butterfly dreaming that he's a man. Why not a butterfly or at least some animal with a bit more poetry in its nature? Why a rat as a protagonist?
Sam Savage: I didn't set out with that idea. I had written the first few pages of the novel, pretty much as they stand today, I had the complete feeling of the voice before I realized that it was the voice of a rat. You could say I knew who Firmin was before I knew what he was.
That said, I can see in retrospect all sort of reasons. Firmin is in every respect a human except for his outward form, his diet, and his very short life span. And oh yes, the fact that he cannot speak words, he can only think them. In the figure of this rat-man or man-rat we encounter the ultimate outsider, despised and reviled by nearly every member of the human species to which spiritually he belongs. Not a butterfly, in no way a butterfly.
A curious thing happens when we endow animals with human traits, whether dancing dogs in tutus or monkeys in little jackets. They become parodies, not ridiculous animals so much as ridiculous humans. Imagine Firmin as a man—still vain, self-centered, self-loathing, hysterical, romantic, lonely, and grandiose—and we have an all-too-human figure. But give those traits to a rat and we have a parody of that figure. Firmin can deliver the most heartbreaking statements, and because he is a rat, they become simultaneously heartbreaking and ludicrous. If the novel succeeds, it is because it works within the absurd intersection of tragedy and farce. Firmin's tragic story is farcical. His farcical story is tragic. And the truly terrible and funny thing is that he knows this to be the case.
WB: The novel doesn't back away from the big ones: Life, Love, and Death—but your main points of reference are the other Big Ones, the Canon with a big C, the literature that our generation was instructed to revere (and with good reason?). And yet there's such an aloneness to this novel. Does Firmin choose to read because he is alone or is he alone because he chooses to read?
SS: You and I belong to the last generation raised on the Canon. We knew what the great books were, and how they stood to each other. Did we have reason to revere them? I think so. Were some Big Ones left out of the Canon? Certainly. But it is the case that some books are incomparably better than others, and a few are better than almost all others. It is an interesting question as to which comes first, Firmin's aloneness or his becoming a reader. He begins to read because he is lonely, and he is lonely because he is puny and shunted from his family, a minor freak from the get-go. As he reads he becomes at once less lonely (he has the companionship of books) and more alone (he grows more human and therefore more freakish and more conscious of his solitude).
Firmin chosen for the Summer 2006 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program: "A profound study of alienation and the heartbreaking obscurity of the outsider, Firmin is also a piercing commentary on the human condition in an ever-changing society. Savage weaves an inventive and dreamlike tale, by turns hilarious and startlingly moving, completely outlandish yet utterly credible, and sure to bring a smile of deep satisfaction to its readers."
"I loved the book more and more with each page."—Hans Weyandt, Micawber's Books, St. Paul, MN
"A unique novel . . . The author, Sam Savage, is to fiction what Gary Larson is to cartooning—off the wall. You have to read Firmin!"—Fran Wilson, Colorado State University Bookstore, Fort Collins, CO
"Firmin is the greatest rat since Templeton."—Lisa Howorth, Square Books, Oxford, MS
"Hilariously self-deprecating."—Jessica Stockton, McNally Robinson, New York, NY
"Firmin is an amazing little gem, finding that rare and delicate balance between playful and wise. It's also a moving exploration of the incomparable pleasures and pains of living in this harsh world as an introspective, observant, and sensitive human being (even if you're a rat)."—Robert Gray, Fresh Eyes Now
We are proud to annouce that Kirstin Allio's debut novel, Garner, was chosen as a Winter 2005 LitBlog Co-op Read This! selection. Garner was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was short-listed for the 2006 VCU First Novelist Award.
On December 8, 2005, at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta, the GustavusMyersCenter, in observance of United Nations Human Rights Day world-wide, announced its 21st annual list of Myers Outstanding Book Awards, honoring books that advance our journey away from bigotry. Only two poetry books were cited for honorable mention for these awards, both from Coffee House Press.
Esther graduated from the University of Minnesota in May 2005 with a B.A. in English Literature. After spending the summer teaching creative writing at a children's enrichment program, she got her start at Coffee House Press as a fall-season intern. She became a permanent member of the staff in December when she was hired on as the new Office Manager and Development Assistant.
1. What's your favorite area/room in the Coffee House Press office?
Allan keeps all of his letterpress equipment in the backroom, and I love to look around back there. Just a few weeks ago he cranked up the larger press to show a couple of us how it all works. It was fascinating.
2. The elevator in CHP's building has been known to malfunction on occasion. If you were trapped in the elevator, what book would you want to have with you?
Zen and the Art of Elevator Maintenance
3. What book would your coworkers be surprised to know you own?
My coworkers probably would be surprised to see how many Coffee House Press books I already own. I started as an intern in the fall and began working full-time in January, and in that short span of time, my bookshelves have been loaded to the point of sagging. I like to think my coworkers would be proud.
4. You've studied karate for three years. How do your martial arts skills help you in managing the CHP office?
They don't. Truthfully, they've never come in handy before, and I'm starting to wonder why I ever got into karate in the first place. I also imagine that if I were ever faced with a situation that required karate skills, I would curl up in the fetal position.
5. If you had to take a hungry author to lunch in downtown Minneapolis, where would you take them and what would you eat?
Many of our authors are considered experimental, so I would want to take them to a restaurant that treats its food in the same way. I would take a hungry author to Origami, an incredible Japanese restaurant in the warehouse district. A good friend of mine is one of the managers, so every time I go, they bring out something new that isn't on the menu. It kind of brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it (I'm not getting paid to say this about Origami, I swear).
For further events, previews of upcoming books, more information about current books and authors, or to make a donation to Coffee House Press, please visit us online at www.coffeehousepress.org.
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