Entries from October 2008 ↓

Happy Halloween! I’m off to walk some of the distance that Thom, Tree and Erik did in Couch this morning with a wweek.com journalist. We’ll wave when we hit S. America.

In the meantime, here’s a quick quiz:

Which one of the following characters is planning evil, evil things to do to her fellow household members?

(oops, fixed some mistakes)

Here are a bunch of Couch tidbits – of which there will probably be no small quantity of in the next few weeks. I’m trying to get a hang of how to be an author-y type person out in the world with a first book – and there are no lack of great, well-seasoned authors whom I’m leaning on for guidance. Here’s a post by Justine Larbalestier on Self Promotion, and here’s a somewhat depressing article by Stacy Sullivan on more or less the same. Oh, and I see Tobias Buckell talks about marketing and new writers today in a podcast.

OK – Couch is making its way out there!:

There’s an interview with me at Porter Square Books

I created a sort of soundtrack type thing for the very cool Large Hearted Boy’s great Book Notes series.

And there’s a very flattering review at the “Me and My Big Mouth” blog:

“It is an upholstered Odyssey unlike any other you are likely to read.  It is funny, confusing in places, wild and anarchic.  It is part Quixote, part Murakami, part Tom Robbins, part DFS showroom. …. It has cult hit written all over it.”

Read the whole review here

awesome. I’m perfectly ok with cult hit.

And finally – a fan drew this as a prospective cover for Couch before it had one. I love this piece. I think the 3 roommates in the water is visually one of my favorite parts of the book.

And yes – the ‘fan’ is my mother. Thanks, mom!

leaps buildings in a single bound.

Not that, you know, it’s a competition or anything.

Click for full view.

Hypothetical question: What happens when you put 23 couches on a shelf?

Answer: Nothing much! The shelves still held, though there was some creaking and groaning. Though that might have been my family.

At any rate, the good folks at Small Beer sent me my very own box. Which is a relief, since the windows have been lacking something to prop them up properly. 

We’re not terribly apt at organizing our shelves. Or are we…

Public service announcement via Delphinas:

Handee Books has a review of Couch in their October newsletter. From what Scott has been reading:

The first is Couch by Benjamin Parzybok, published by Small Beer Press. Small Beer is Kelly Link and Gavin Grant’s company, and they publish nothing but quality work. Take a look at their catalog. You’ll find work by John Crowley, Geoff Ryman, Ellen Kushner, Kate Wilhelm, Carol Emshwiller, John Kessel…and the list goes on. It’s a carefully considered list, and there’s not a dud on it. Parzybok’s book is the first to be plucked from the Small Beer slush pile. Link and Grant have exceptional taste, so you can proceed from the assumption that Couch is going to be good.

And it is.

It has an irresistible premise: three roommates, Thom, Erik and Tree, are forced into homelessness by a waterbed mishap above their apartment. Nearly all their meager possessions are destroyed; the only surviving items are Thom’s laptop, Tree’s wire and pliers (he’s a sculptor), a smattering of clothes and household items and the hideous orange couch that was in place when the three moved in. The trio decide to use their misfortune as the starting point of a journey, at first waffling between trips to Mexico and across the country. When they try to get rid of the couch by donating it to Goodwill, they realize the couch…doesn’t want to go. Thus begins one of the strangest road novels you’ll ever read.

It’s a funny and fun book, and it’s also a very smart book. The story turns on the myths of many cultures and the observations about human nature are substantial. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Thom is forced to use a gun. The experience is completely new to him, and he has absolutely no idea how to use the weapon beyond what he’s seen on TV or in the movies. I could have done without some of the bodily function humor, but I enjoyed spending time with the three slacker heroes and their attempts to unravel the mystery of the ugly orange couch. Fans of Tom Robbins or Christopher Moore should enjoy this.

Thanks, Scott!

Oh noes! They printed the cover on backwards!

Oooh it feels awesome. It weighs 19 pounds. It has the feel of heavy steel machinery, machined perfectly, it’s cold and smooth to the touch. 

It has 280 pages fashioned from aircraft-grade aluminum. They really went all-out on this one. A teardown done by iSuppli reveals that the base cost of components is $183, and so obviously SBP is selling this one as a loss leader.  An incredible bargain for you at only $16.

And inside? There’s a picture of the author that, if you stare deeply into his eyes, will fill you with a mad craving for chocolate chips. Fortunately, there’s a small cache of them on page 47.