Denver Picks Dead Author and U.K. Publisher to Print Missoulian’s Controversial Book

By Jenny Shank, 9-10-08

Yesterday, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced that this year’s pick for One Book, One Denver will be Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man.  The first three years, One Book, One Denver featured living authors (Peace Like A River by Leif Enger, Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros and The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols) and faced criticism for not selecting a local author, so last year they chose Articles of War by Denver’s Nick Arvin, and faced criticism for not being exciting enough or involving enough of the community.  So this year’s pick of a classic crime novel should test whether they can interest a broader audience in the program without having any author appearances, which would be tricky to manage, as Hammett died in 1961.  My bet is that they’ll try to involve Denver’s film community in the events this year, since the book was made into such a great movie.  And to those who decry them for not picking a local, well, at least Hammett spent many of his writing years in San Francisco, which is West of the Mississippi.  I think it’s a fresh, solid choice and I’ll be interested to see how it works out.

Colorado writer David Wroblewski can keep celebrating the success of his debut novel, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.  It’s been on the New York Times’ Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List for twelve weeks now, and last week the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction announced that the book made the list of finalists for the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize.  Junot Díaz will present the award to the winner on December 1.  (Via Critical Mass.)

Speaking of Colorado success stories, Doreen Orion, Boulder’s reigning queen of sloth, reports that Queen of the Road, her memoir of a year spent traveling with her husband in a luxury bus, has gone into its fifth printing after two months.  Orion will read and sign copies of her book at the Barnes & Noble on Bowles Ave. in Littleton on Saturday, September 13 at 2 p.m.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Random House had dropped plans to publish former Missoulian Sherry Jones’ novel, The Jewel of Medina, because the publisher feared that the book, told from the perspective of one of Muhammad’s wives, could “incite violence.” According to AFP, a British publisher, Gibson Square, announced that it will publish the book, releasing it in the U.K. next month.  (Via Galleycat.)

The Rocky Mountain News has begun publishing its ”Dozen on Denver” series each week.  The paper asked eleven prominent Colorado authors to each pick a decade from the city’s past in which to set their stories, and they are seeking entries for the twelfth story, to be set sometime in Denver’s future.  So far, the Rocky has featured Margaret Coel‘s story set in the 1860’s and Joanne Greenberg‘s set in the 1880’s, as well as interviews with each writer. 

Utah writer and photographer Stephen Trimble has several upcoming regional appearances behind his new book Bargaining for Eden scheduled in the the next few weeks, including a September 17 presentation at Weber State University (noon) and an October 4 reading at the Tattered Cover in LoDo (2 p.m.).  Watch for David Frey’s review of the book for New West soon.

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