There's nothing like a good grilling to set a person's mind to work, and I got one on Monday courtesy of Sam Litzinger at Washington Post Radio.
"How," he asked me, "can you take a miserable villain like Pap Finn and give us the sense that there's anything decent or human or sympathetic about him?"
It stopped me short for a second.
Not a good thing on live radio.
But then the answer arrived. It was an answer that had come in the course of imagining and writing Finn, of course, but I'd never thought about it quite this way:
"You give him somebody to love."
Love does funny things. It brings out the best in us, and it can bring out the worst. So it is with Finn, whose unexpected and unwanted discovery of something along the lines of love touches his deepest springs of humanity -- while it drives him to commit some of his most monstrous acts...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
The Week in Review(s)
A quick update of Finn's status in the review-o-sphere...
In the Austin American-Statesman, Martin Kevorkian writes, "Clinch has spoken of his determination to write Finn despite what some saw as 'the danger of working in Twain's shadow.' The book in hand vindicates his courage."
Greg Johnson, in the Atlanta Journal-Consitution, says, "Finn should appeal not only to scholars of 19th-century literature but to anyone who cares to sample a forceful debut novel inspired by a now-mythic American story."
And Colleen Quinn, writing for BookReporter.com, notes that "Finn is still a monster, a thief and a murderer, whose huge self-destructive impulses inevitably...maim everyone in his path. Yet he's capable of love, and it's here that Clinch's phenomenal talent is most convincing."
The DC-Philadelphia-Toronto leg of the tour begins Monday!
In the Austin American-Statesman, Martin Kevorkian writes, "Clinch has spoken of his determination to write Finn despite what some saw as 'the danger of working in Twain's shadow.' The book in hand vindicates his courage."
Greg Johnson, in the Atlanta Journal-Consitution, says, "Finn should appeal not only to scholars of 19th-century literature but to anyone who cares to sample a forceful debut novel inspired by a now-mythic American story."
And Colleen Quinn, writing for BookReporter.com, notes that "Finn is still a monster, a thief and a murderer, whose huge self-destructive impulses inevitably...maim everyone in his path. Yet he's capable of love, and it's here that Clinch's phenomenal talent is most convincing."
The DC-Philadelphia-Toronto leg of the tour begins Monday!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
On Tour With Finn
I hope to see you at one of these readings...
Monday, February 26 — Washington, DC
OLSSON'S BOOKS & RECORDS
Crystal City
2200 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA
7:00 PM
Tuesday, February 27 — Philadelphia
U of Penn BARNES & NOBLE
University Square | 3601 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
7:00 PM
Wednesday, February 28 — Toronto
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
235 Queens Quay
Toronto, Ontario
7:30 PM — With Jane Smiley and Kyo Maclear
Monday, March 5
GEORGIA CENTER FOR THE BOOK
DeKalb County Public Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, GA
7:15 PM
Tuesday, March 6 — Memphis
DAVIS-KIDD BOOKSELLERS
387 Perkins Road Extended
Memphis, TN
6:00 PM
Wednesday, March 7 — Jackson
LEMURIA BOOKSTORE
2202 Banner Hall 4465, I-55 N.
Jackson, MS
5:00 PM
Thursday, March 8 — Oxford
SQUARE BOOKS | THACKER MT. RADIO
Oxford, MS
5:30 PM
Friday, March 9 — Jacksonville
THE BOOKMARK
200 Atlantic Boulevard
Atlantic Beach, FL
7:00 PM
Wednesday, March 14 — Seattle
THIRD PLACE BOOKS
17171 Bothel Way, NE
Lake Forest Park, WA
7:00 PM
Thursday, March 15 — San Francisco
A GREAT GOOD PLACE
FOR BOOKS
6210 LaSalle Avenue
Oakland, CA
7:00 PM
Monday, March 19 — Milwaukee
HARRY W. SCHWARTZ BOOKSHOP
2559 North Downer Avenue
Milwaukee, WI
7:00 PM
Tuesday, March 20 — Madison
BORDERS
3416 University Avenue
Madison, WI
7:00 PM
Thursday-Saturday, March 22-24 —Ft. Lauderdale
BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY
LITERARY FEAST
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Events and Times To Come
Tuesday, March 27 — Southeastern PA
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK COMPANY
975 Paoli Pike
West Chester, PA
7:30 PM
Friday, March 30 — Vermont
NORTHSHIRE BOOKSTORE
4869 Main Street
Manchester, VT
7:00 PM
Saturday, March 31— South Hadley, MA
ODYSSEY BOOKSHOP
Village Commons
South Hadley,MA
Afternoon
Part of Odyssey's "Signed First Editions Club"
Wednesday, April 11 — Harleysville
HARLEYSVILLE BOOKSTORE
Sumneytown Pike
Harleysville, PA
7:00 PM
Saturday, April 28 — Massachusetts
NEWBURYPORT LITERARY FESTIVAL
Event and Time To Come
Monday, April 30 — Syracuse
BARNES & NOBLE
Erie Boulevard
Syracuse, NY
7:00 PM
Tuesday, May 1 — Albany
BOOK HOUSE - ALBANY
Stuuyvesant Plaza
Albany, NY
7:00 PM
Thursday, May 3 — Boston
NEWTONVILLE BOOKS
Newton, MA
7:00 PM
Friday, May 4 — Newburyport
JABBERWOCKY BOOKSHOP
Newburyport, MA
7:00 PM
Monday, May 7 — Connecticut
RJ JULIA
Post Road
Madison, CT
7:00 PM
Some times are tentative or mere guesses on my part. Call before you drive any great distance!
Monday, February 26 — Washington, DC
OLSSON'S BOOKS & RECORDS
Crystal City
2200 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA
7:00 PM
Tuesday, February 27 — Philadelphia
U of Penn BARNES & NOBLE
University Square | 3601 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
7:00 PM
Wednesday, February 28 — Toronto
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
235 Queens Quay
Toronto, Ontario
7:30 PM — With Jane Smiley and Kyo Maclear
Monday, March 5
GEORGIA CENTER FOR THE BOOK
DeKalb County Public Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, GA
7:15 PM
Tuesday, March 6 — Memphis
DAVIS-KIDD BOOKSELLERS
387 Perkins Road Extended
Memphis, TN
6:00 PM
Wednesday, March 7 — Jackson
LEMURIA BOOKSTORE
2202 Banner Hall 4465, I-55 N.
Jackson, MS
5:00 PM
Thursday, March 8 — Oxford
SQUARE BOOKS | THACKER MT. RADIO
Oxford, MS
5:30 PM
Friday, March 9 — Jacksonville
THE BOOKMARK
200 Atlantic Boulevard
Atlantic Beach, FL
7:00 PM
Wednesday, March 14 — Seattle
THIRD PLACE BOOKS
17171 Bothel Way, NE
Lake Forest Park, WA
7:00 PM
Thursday, March 15 — San Francisco
A GREAT GOOD PLACE
FOR BOOKS
6210 LaSalle Avenue
Oakland, CA
7:00 PM
Monday, March 19 — Milwaukee
HARRY W. SCHWARTZ BOOKSHOP
2559 North Downer Avenue
Milwaukee, WI
7:00 PM
Tuesday, March 20 — Madison
BORDERS
3416 University Avenue
Madison, WI
7:00 PM
Thursday-Saturday, March 22-24 —Ft. Lauderdale
BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY
LITERARY FEAST
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Events and Times To Come
Tuesday, March 27 — Southeastern PA
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK COMPANY
975 Paoli Pike
West Chester, PA
7:30 PM
Friday, March 30 — Vermont
NORTHSHIRE BOOKSTORE
4869 Main Street
Manchester, VT
7:00 PM
Saturday, March 31— South Hadley, MA
ODYSSEY BOOKSHOP
Village Commons
South Hadley,MA
Afternoon
Part of Odyssey's "Signed First Editions Club"
Wednesday, April 11 — Harleysville
HARLEYSVILLE BOOKSTORE
Sumneytown Pike
Harleysville, PA
7:00 PM
Saturday, April 28 — Massachusetts
NEWBURYPORT LITERARY FESTIVAL
Event and Time To Come
Monday, April 30 — Syracuse
BARNES & NOBLE
Erie Boulevard
Syracuse, NY
7:00 PM
Tuesday, May 1 — Albany
BOOK HOUSE - ALBANY
Stuuyvesant Plaza
Albany, NY
7:00 PM
Thursday, May 3 — Boston
NEWTONVILLE BOOKS
Newton, MA
7:00 PM
Friday, May 4 — Newburyport
JABBERWOCKY BOOKSHOP
Newburyport, MA
7:00 PM
Monday, May 7 — Connecticut
RJ JULIA
Post Road
Madison, CT
7:00 PM
Some times are tentative or mere guesses on my part. Call before you drive any great distance!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
It's Publication Day!
Finn goes on sale everywhere today, but the sense of unreality around this whole adventure has not yet dissipated for me and my family.
This morning's USA Today helped a little, though.
In his review on the front page of the LIFE section, Bob Minzesheimer calls Finn "a triumph of imagination and graceful writing." Check it out, or follow this link.
Wendy and I will be spending the day visiting Finn at various stores in the area, in between telephone interviews with one newspaper or another. Maybe when we see the book on the shelves it'll start to seem real...
This morning's USA Today helped a little, though.
In his review on the front page of the LIFE section, Bob Minzesheimer calls Finn "a triumph of imagination and graceful writing." Check it out, or follow this link.
Wendy and I will be spending the day visiting Finn at various stores in the area, in between telephone interviews with one newspaper or another. Maybe when we see the book on the shelves it'll start to seem real...
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Two Kinds of Hell
The first kind is the rebirth of Keith Cronin's infamous Hell Toupee blog. It looks as if the name of this enterprise might change at any minute, but right now it features the worst review of Finn ever. Keith is an extremely talented writer. And he's much, much, bigger and tougher-looking than I am. So keep an eye on him. Please.
The other kind is Mark Twain's famous "pen warmed up in hell," which Ron Charles invokes in his Washington Post Book World review, The Sins of the Father.
The other kind is Mark Twain's famous "pen warmed up in hell," which Ron Charles invokes in his Washington Post Book World review, The Sins of the Father.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Three Important Reviews
Although Finn won't arrive in stores until February 20, review coverage has begun in earnest.
Writing in Newsweek's February 19 issue, David Gates has nothing but good things to say. Including this: "Clinch's Pap is a convincingly nightmarish extrapolation of Twain's. He's the mad, lost and dangerous center of a world we'd hate to live in—or do we still live there?—and crave to revisit as soon as we close the book."
On the highly-regarded Bookslut blog, Mariya Strauss begins this way: "I haven’t been swallowed whole by a work of fiction in some time. Jon Clinch’s first novel has done it: sucked me under like I was a rag doll thrown into the wake of a Mississippi steamboat."
And over at the San Francisco Chronicle, Katherine Hill writes, "The Finn of Clinch's novel is certainly a racist villain but also psychologically disturbed and disconcertingly compelling."
More to come...
Writing in Newsweek's February 19 issue, David Gates has nothing but good things to say. Including this: "Clinch's Pap is a convincingly nightmarish extrapolation of Twain's. He's the mad, lost and dangerous center of a world we'd hate to live in—or do we still live there?—and crave to revisit as soon as we close the book."
On the highly-regarded Bookslut blog, Mariya Strauss begins this way: "I haven’t been swallowed whole by a work of fiction in some time. Jon Clinch’s first novel has done it: sucked me under like I was a rag doll thrown into the wake of a Mississippi steamboat."
And over at the San Francisco Chronicle, Katherine Hill writes, "The Finn of Clinch's novel is certainly a racist villain but also psychologically disturbed and disconcertingly compelling."
More to come...
Friday, February 09, 2007
"Best Debut Yet"
That's the word from the March issue of Men's Health:
"Rehashing iconic characters from American literature can sully literary reputations. But Clinch charts a clever course with this fantastic book, a riff on the adventures of Huck Finn's father. It's the best debut yet of 2007."
And GQ's February number liked Finn too...
"One is tempted to dismiss Jon Clinch's novel Finn -- the untold story of Huckleberry Finn's father and his mysterious demise -- as a one-note gimmick. But Clinch has wrought something new, an honest-to-god novel that more than earns its place on the shelf."
We're closing in on the February 20 release date...
"Rehashing iconic characters from American literature can sully literary reputations. But Clinch charts a clever course with this fantastic book, a riff on the adventures of Huck Finn's father. It's the best debut yet of 2007."
And GQ's February number liked Finn too...
"One is tempted to dismiss Jon Clinch's novel Finn -- the untold story of Huckleberry Finn's father and his mysterious demise -- as a one-note gimmick. But Clinch has wrought something new, an honest-to-god novel that more than earns its place on the shelf."
We're closing in on the February 20 release date...
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