Comments on: MacMillan New Writing Signs David Isaak

By: Matt Curran

Matt Curran — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:22:42 +0000

I must throw in my congratulations too to David i, and welcome to the family, because in a way that’s what you’re getting here. We’re all pretty much in touch with each other, either via blogs, via e-mail or the various book launches.

And I second Roger’s comments on Will and Sophie, they’ve been fantastic with me. Look forward to seeing the book in print…

By: roger

roger — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 16:06:18 +0000

I’m late to the party, but congratulations David. Thanks too for the kind words about my book.

I can vouch for Will and Sophie. They are both great to work with – very supportive and very approachable.

By: david i

david i — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:19:55 +0000

Michael, hello and thank you! I’ll certainly be in London under some pretext or another, so I’ll definitely stop by and pester you. And congrats on the film option!

The beaming-in is an excellent recycling concept, at least as it worked in your book. But I recently tried it out myself, and I was less fortunate. I was trying to channel some Chandler types for my novel about South Central gangs, but I kept getting characters evenly mixed between Evelyn Waugh and Edna Ferber.

By: david i

david i — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:12:30 +0000

Thanks, Ray! I’m blushing–and that doesn’t look at all attractive under this beard. (And congrats on your latest book and screenplay deals.)

By: Michael Stephen Fuchs

Michael Stephen Fuchs — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:36:57 +0000

Congratulations, David – and welcome to the MNW coterie. It is rather a warm and welcoming group, and strangely family-like. Perhaps that comes from having huddled together to brave the perverse (and largely inexplicable) slings and arrows that greeted the original announcement of the imprint . . .

If you happen to have a London launch of any sort – or make it over on any pretext – it would be great to meet up.

Oh, and I was hoping to keep it under wraps, but in fact I actually *did* beam my characters in from a lesser-known Pynchon novel . . . he generally had too many to keep track of anyway, so I figured no one would notice, and it saved me an awful lot of effort . . .

Cheers,
Michael
http://www.the-manuscript.com/

By: Raymond Obstfeld

Raymond Obstfeld — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:35:51 +0000

I’ve also had the great joy to read several of David’s novels in manuscript form. As a creative writing teacher for the past thirty years, I can say without hesitation that David is one of the top three student writers I’ve read in that time. More important, he’s as good as most of the well-known literary writers that are currently in bookstores. His wit, intelligence, and skill make his writing memorable and entertaining–as well and insightful. Do yourself a favor next September and read his book.

By: David Thayer

David Thayer — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:21:55 +0000

This is the sort of news I’m delighted to report.

By: Steve Clackson

Steve Clackson — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:01:06 +0000

Babble on you have every right to be happy about this!

By: david i

david i — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:04:20 +0000

Thanks, Steve, and thanks, David Thayer.

And, oh, we have a tentative pub date now: September 7, 2007.

I read a few of MNW’s first books before I decided to submit SMITE, and I’m thrilled to be joining their gang. The MNW list is eclectic. Brian Martin’s “North” is sexually charged but literary, like something Fowles might have conceived; Roger Morris’ “Taking Comfort” is stylistically unusual lit-fic with some real surprises buried inside; Conor Corderoy’s “Dark Rain” is a noirish detective piece that just happens to take place in an eco-diaster future; Michael Stephen Fuchs “The Manuscript” is a full-up chase-the-McGuffin thriller, but the cast of characters might have been beamed in from a Pynchon novel. Nothing at MNW quite fits the conventional mold, and that’s exciting.

Did I mention that the books are beautifully produced? Cloth hardbacks, sewn in signatures, an old-fashioned ribbon bookmark sewn into the spine…it’s like traveling back in time. But, then, the whole MNW experiment, for all the controversy it generated, is really just a move back to traditional publishing. One can only hope that at some point one of the big NY publishers will start a copy-cat scheme.

You can probably tell from the way I’m babbling that I’m happy. I’ll shut up now.

By: Steve Clackson

Steve Clackson — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:34:15 +0000

From a Canadian (where Warren Moon tore up the stats) to David,
Congrats!