As The Millions noted in its 2010 book preview, the theme for the upcoming year (and beyond) seems to be posthumous publication: Roberto Bolaño, Ralph Ellison, Stieg Larsson, and David Foster Wallace — the dead gang’s all here! (OK, so technically DFW’s The Pale King isn’t meant to come out until 2011, but we couldn’t leave him out.) That said, there’s plenty of good stuff to look forward to from the living as well. After the jump, we reveal the books that we’re most excited about reading in the coming months — and tell you about a few that we’ve already devoured.
Be sure to leave your own suggestions in the comments.
1. Monsieur Pain
According to The Millions, Mr. Bolaño has up to four books coming out this year, but we decided to go with this one because it’s about a Peruvian poet with a chronic case of the hiccups. Which makes it a rather fitting lead in to the following…
2. The Unnamed
If you loved his National Book Award-nominated debut, Then We Came to the End, be warned: his sophomore effort is much darker, though equally satisfying. The plot centers on a man who suffers from an unnamed disorder that makes him walk uncontrollably — which obviously begins to take a toll on his personal and professional life. Of note: The book has already been optioned by Miramax.
3. Reality Hunger
In his blurb for David Shields’ “manifesto,” Charles Baxter compares his style to that of Wilde, Flaubert, and Baudelaire. Jonathan Lethem had this to say: “I’ve just finished reading Reality Hunger and I’m lit up by it — astonished, intoxicated, ecstatic, overwhelmed.” While we haven’t read the galley that’s sitting on our desk yet, any work that explores “the bending of form and genre, the lure and blur of the real” sounds aces to us.
4. The Ask
If you haven’t read his work before, then we’ll fill you in: Sam Lipsyte’s writing is smart, dark, and hilarious. His fourth book tells the story of Milo Burke, a development officer at a third-rate New York university who gets fired for telling off a spoiled undergrad. There’s only one way he can get his job back: He must oversee an old college buddy’s large donation. If this one doesn’t make you laugh out loud, then you have no soul.
5. Noir
We often find postmodernists’ work hard to describe, so here’s the synopsis from Amazon: “You are Philip M. Noir, Private Investigator. A mysterious young widow hires you to find her husband’s killer–if he was killed. Then your client is killed and her body disappears–if she was your client. Your search for clues takes you through all levels of the city, from classy lounges to lowlife dives, from jazz bars to a rich sex kitten’s bedroom, from yachts to the morgue.” More confused? Read an excerpt on Vice.
6. Solar
If you love this Booker Prize-winning novelist’s output as much as we do, then you’ve probably already got his latest on your radar. Like 2005′s Saturday, Solar‘s storyline is decidedly hot topical; it focuses on a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose work is concerned with climate change. You can read an early excerpt here, courtesy of The New Yorker.
7. Beatrice and Virgil
The follow-up novel from the Canadian author who wrote Life of Pi, which won the Man Booker Prize back in 2002. While as far as we know, there’s no tiger in this one (which deals with the Holocaust), there is a howler monkey named Virgil and a donkey named Beatrice.
8. The Pregnant Widow
According to the Guardian, Amis’ latest “will explore his belief that the apparent freedom of the sexual revolution actually placed huge pressure on women, with his late sister Sally one of its victims.” The story is set in 1970, and follows a group six men and women summering in an Italian castle.He’s worried that it’s going to get him in trouble with feminists. We can’t wait to weigh in.
9. The Invisible Bridge
We were big fans of Orringer’s 2003 short-story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, and her debut novel promises to be just as rich and layered. Here’s what Michael Chabon had to say: “To bring an entire lost world… to vivid life between the covers of a novel is an accomplishment; to invest that world, and everyone who inhabits it, with a soul, as Julie Orringer does in The Invisible Bridge, takes something more like genius.”
10. Imperial Bedrooms
This is the sequel to Less Than Zero and begins like so: “They had made a movie about us.” What’s not to love?
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29 Responses
Apparently only one out of ten (talented) authors is a woman.
“Drunk” should be on this list too. Go get it now at:
http://www.vegasdrunk.com
@sbs A little bit about how I put together this list: I looked at The Millions very thorough coverage of what’s coming out in 2010. I limited myself to the first six months of the year, and ten titles max. And then I picked what was interesting to me, IE, the things that will make me freak out when they arrive on my desk in galley form. (Ironically, I tend to read more lady authors in general.) Are there any female-penned books on the horizon you’d like to suggest?
what sbs said. how you pick is your problem.
@sbs this is billed as a list of books coming out that the author is excited about. it’s not a list of who’s talented and who’s not. your comment adds the word talented, which doesn’t appear in the article. it’s fair to criticize the author for what she’s excited about, but pretending this article is something else entirely just to make a point is simply weak sauce. how about suggesting books _you_ are excited about?
what qed said.
the bolano was seriously disappointing.
Not a single work of illustrated fiction? Come now…
your taste is pedestrian and sophomoric, to say the least. try broadening your horizons (and your readers’).
@kourtney lurve Here’s what I don’t get: Why use this space to insult my taste level (which can’t be that interesting for anyone else) when you could recommend a few books that you’re excited about?
I can’t wait to dig into the entire list. Thanks!
I think it’s appalling that just one of the authors you picked is a woman and pretty much all of the people you picked are white. The fact that you borrowed from Amazon to write one of your blurbs pretty much says it all. I love Sam Lipsyte as much as the next person, but my God. Flavorpill should hire someone who is actually invested in, loves, and read a shit-ton of contemporary literature. I would imagine the music reviewers are at least expected to know more than just your average pop sensations. Flavorpill, feed me more Amazon ideas!
And to say this is an article about ‘what the author is excited about’ is a load of crap. She didn’t even read one of the books she’s ‘excited about.’
True Confections by Katharine Weber
@smd I’ve read The Unnamed and The Ask. I’m also confused by why I can’t be excited about reading a book I haven’t read yet. As I said above, this post wasn’t intended to be a definitive list of books coming out in early 2010; it’s just a roundup of the ones that I’m going to make sure to get my hands on, and two that I’ve already read and really liked. I can’t understand why casual suggested reading is being met with such vitriolic criticism; I had hoped it would start a conversation. I do find it interesting that anyone with a gripe has yet to leave a suggestion.
Welcome to the internet, where a-holes are sure they can do your job better than you no matter what the subject. Did you know that if internet commentors ran the world, there would be no war, crime or bad taste? It’s true!
Caroline, you can be excited about whatever you want to be excited about. But I do find it naive for you to forget that you also function as a marketing tool, and that there’s responsibility in that. If you don’t want criticism on what you’ve written, then don’t publish. And splitting hairs about how your readers aren’t following your instructions about making their own suggestions in the comments also strikes me naive. I don’t receive galleys like you, but I do look to indie presses for what they’ve got coming up — I’d suggest Graywolf Press, Essay Press, Other Press, among others.
If you find the list too pedestrian for your own taste, fine. Disregard and move on. I doubt the author had you specifically in mind when she compiled it anyway. As for me, who hardly has time to pick up a book much less deign to ignore the pedestrian ones, I’m just happy someone has taken the time to suggest books I might be interested in.
Ms. Stanley’s list is full of titles I’m eager to check out; but the nine to one male/female ratio narrows the sense of whats out there.
2010 brings new work from Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth Kostova, Maggie Estep, Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Nunez, Rebecca Goldstein, Louise Erdrich, Ann Beattie, Cristina Garcia – and many others worth checking out.
mfm and sbs,
A book that happens to be written by a woman doesn’t guarantee that it will be written well, or entertaining. The story alone could dictate appeal, not necessarily the sex of the author.
I’m right with everyone who noted the male/female ratio. Want another terrific female author? Amy Bloom. Her new short story collection came out this week
Add J P Jones, A WITNESS IN TUNIS
great list. do I give a poo that there aren’t more women rep’d? or more obscure selections? not at all. it’s amazing that people are upset about what excites you.
“naive” is an interesting choice of words. and sort of ironic here.
I’m excited about the Vietnamese I ordered for lunch today. I guess that means I’m biased against other cuisines and can’t possibly be excited about it since I haven’t eaten it yet… also I ordered brown rice. ouch!
@Judith AH! Where the God of Love Hangs Out should have been on here. I love Bloom. @mfm I was going to include the Egan, but I’ve never been able to get through Look at Me. For anyone who is interested A Visit From the Goon Squad comes out in June 2010 from Knopf.
Caroline, don’t be concerned at the vitriol — this comes from people who don’t inter-relate well, who have shed basic civility (online, anyway) as well as those who just plain don’t know any better. If you really want t see some hate, try the commentary sections on the online sports pages–wow. All heat, hate, and hype.
As for your selections, it’s as decent as place as any to start–and as you said, you were *starting* a conversation, not presenting a definitive list. I’m intrigued enough to check out a few of them, so…good job!~ Cheers
Dear Caroline Stanley,
Thank you for posting your list and for providing the release dates. I’m not sure why all the animosity brewed in response. It’s just a list. I just wrote down the titles I’d like to check out. By the way, I read three or four books a month. If the writing is strong and the book has a good story, I couldn’t care less who penned it. :)
It’s irritating when people gripe that a list doesn’t have the “right” ratio of women to men, blacks, native Americans, etc. With that said, this list off-balance bc every book on it is a buzz book that has been already, and will be, written about in a thousand other outlets. I’m just tired of reading reviews of the same books in every magazine, paper, and now email list. If you want to help your readers please turn us on to a book I haven’t already read about. By mentioning the same “buzz” books with their obligatory famous person blurbs, you’re just feeding the marketing machine of the publisher and joining the gang mentality of every book reviewer.
What seems to be all the fuss? Too many of the respondents seem to have their undies in a knot over nothing. Get a life people!