Foul Matter - Softcover

Grimes, Martha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451212932 ISBN 13: 9780451212931

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2004

Synopsis

The bestselling author of the Richard Jury novels delivers a razor-sharp and raucously funny send-up of the cutthroat world of publishing. And the praise is pouring in:

"A hilarious and wicked caper-adventure on the evils of the book business."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Does laughing uncontrollably on a subway train constitute legitimate literary criticism? If it does, then Foul Matter...gets a great review from me." New York Times Book Review

"She can kick literary butt—in more ways than one." USA Today

About this title

About the Author

Martha Grimes is the bestselling author of eighteen Richard Jury mysteries and also the acclaimed fiction Foul Matter, Cold Flat Junction, Hotel Paradise, The End of the Pier, and The Train Now Departing.

From Booklist

Grimes, author of the popular Richard Jury mysteries, ventures far afield from Scotland Yard, this time to examine the cutthroat world of contemporary New York book publishing. Book contracts and Mafia hit contracts collide in this caper-satire in which the publishing houses have Dickensian names such as Grunge and DrekSneed. A popular writer suffers from terminal envy--it's not enough to bank millions per book and command the best-seller lists; he wants a big-time literary reputation. The plot hinges on the envious writer's unlikely scheme to get New York's most famous literary editor all to himself by eliminating his main competition, a genuinely talented up-and-comer. Grimes is best here at delivering insider insights about the frantic profit-mongering that dominates publishing. Along the way, too, there is plenty of time for racy editorial details (the title, for example, is the publishing term used to describe authors' manuscripts before editors get their hands on them). Grimes loses her way, unfortunately, in the midst of all the satire. Her characterization--ordinarily a strong point--tends toward the comic-bookish here, and even the comedy starts huffing and puffing with effort about halfway through. Not nearly as surefooted as the Jury novels, then, but a fun read nonetheless, thanks to some grand comic moments (like the editorial meeting with hit men in a prententious New York eatery). Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0451212932
• ISBN 13: 9780451212931
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384