Howard Rodman’s book The Great Eastern is here! (you remember Howard; the wonderfully eloquent and soulful keynote speaker at the Walter Becker Way dedication? His keynote address is reprinted here)
Advance praise for this thing is so good it’s almost scary. Just two among dozens of blurbs:
“A historical phantasmagoria and ripping adventure.
Like twelve of your favorite movies at once,
in full Sensurround." —Jonathan Lethem.
Howard Rodman’s powers of invention, connective synthesis, and grim humor
are matched only by his literary ventriloquism and psychological insight…
A ready-made binge-read!” —Steven Soderbergh.
You can read lots more about it here
But can we tell you a secret? And well we know it from our own forays into The Marketplace.
Quoting Howard himself:
Pre-orders are vital.
They drive book reviews, tell booksellers how much to stock, determine
whether a book makes best-seller lists (pre-orders are counted as first-week
sales). And of course: a book that lands on the Amazon Top 100 garners far
more attention from readers and the media alike.
Pre-orders are the single best way of supporting an author, and of
helping a book find its place in the world.
This is the god’s honest truth. It was your preorders that found Two Against Nature at #6 on its release day!
So if you think you might read The Great Eastern eventually, please consider preordering it at any one of the usual outlets — and let’s help give Howard’s ship a mighty mighty launch!
Thanks.
The proprietors would like to say that this is intended to be the only commercial tout ever to appear on walterbeckermedia.com. Howard was a great friend to Walter: He would want us to do no less.
Listening to Howard speak at the Walter Becker Way naming event, I found myself fascinated at what must have been the interplay between he and Walter as teens. Howard spoke so eloquently just after Walter's passing...and in a way that really reached me. So I started paying attention, and I have to say that I am incredibly excited at the prospect of reading his book. Now beyond Howard, this book sounds like exactly the kind of thing that makes for good reading. Two nautical fictional anti-heroes and one of the most fascinating real men of the era tied up on the cusp of modernity. That's pretty great stuff. And as a guy trying to get a book published himself, pre-orders are so so SO important now. If you're even thinking about getting it eventually, pre-ordering it can go a long way to helping the author position himself to sell more and WRITE MORE.
Wow - all that and a blurb from the late, great, and very missed Ricky Jay? Sold (pre-ordered, that is).