Geoffrey Wright’s college professor in American Fiction has a problem many writers face in today’s insanely crowded publishing marketplace: his novels don’t sell.
Absolutely, and some pushback on the insanity that has ensued over the past...oh...decade? Hard to believe it's gone on for so long. I hope the movie is a sign of things to come!
Thanks Lev. Never heard of this film. Always interested in the workings of the publishing world. I wonder if a version of this story has actually happened. Has anyone ever "conned" the industry?
Have you read The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle? It started off well for me (in an amusingly satirical kind of way), but then the joke got old, and the interspecies sex was revolting.
Yes, this movie is brilliant, and so true to writing and publishing today that I found it hard to sit quietly in my seat and only watch. Geoffrey Wright has deeply imagined and understood his character. He gave a superb interview on Amanpour back in February, I think, that is worth finding and watching. It's time to watch the movie a second time.
Thanks for sharing. I recently published a novel that barely sells. The key is finding an agent AND a publisher. Finding either these days is like hunting for the Holy Grail, so many of us are forced to self-publish and flog our own books as best we can. It's a brave new world. Would it be too much of a stretch to write and publish as an alien?
Such a great movie! Cathartic for me as well.
It was such a relief to see an intelligent, deep movie in the current film wilderness of sequels and prequels.
Absolutely, and some pushback on the insanity that has ensued over the past...oh...decade? Hard to believe it's gone on for so long. I hope the movie is a sign of things to come!
Thanks Lev. Never heard of this film. Always interested in the workings of the publishing world. I wonder if a version of this story has actually happened. Has anyone ever "conned" the industry?
People do that with pseudonyms, but it's not quite the same thing.
Oh, I MUST watch this movie!! Thank you for the recommendation!
I hope you enjoy it!
I’m sure I will.
Publishing satires are so delicious.
Have you read The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle? It started off well for me (in an amusingly satirical kind of way), but then the joke got old, and the interspecies sex was revolting.
No, haven't heard of it, and I guess Ill pass. :-)
A wise decision.
yeah great movie for sure
A smart script, great characters, good narrative arc.
True dat!
And the novel on which this was based, Erasures, is even better. Slightly different but better. The MC's post-structuralist lecture is a masterpiece
I preferred the film but mileage will vary. :-)
Yes, this movie is brilliant, and so true to writing and publishing today that I found it hard to sit quietly in my seat and only watch. Geoffrey Wright has deeply imagined and understood his character. He gave a superb interview on Amanpour back in February, I think, that is worth finding and watching. It's time to watch the movie a second time.
I felt similarly.
Thanks for sharing. I recently published a novel that barely sells. The key is finding an agent AND a publisher. Finding either these days is like hunting for the Holy Grail, so many of us are forced to self-publish and flog our own books as best we can. It's a brave new world. Would it be too much of a stretch to write and publish as an alien?
The number of books published every year in the US is apparently three million. "Breaking out" is harder than ever however we choose to pbulish.