Dear readers -
I'm David Birkett, and I joined the Capuchin team recently in a Sales and Marketing role, and thus inherited the blogging mantle. My intention is to add a blog each day, which will reflect some aspect of the book world, be it specifically related to titles or activities at Capuchin or otherwise.
New arrivals
Bouncing into the Capuchin maternity suite recently came four new children, each bearing the healthy green, white and black pallor of their sixteen siblings. We have (very much non-identical) short story twins - H.E. Bates' Love in a Wych Elm & other Stories and Leo Tolstoy's Tales of Sexual Desire. These are, respectively, explorations of rural England and the darker landscape of violent sexual desire. Hugh Walpole's Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill exemplifies the fine British tradition of powerful writing about public school life and culture, while Charles Morgan's The Voyage, set in the Charente region of France, beautifully describes one man's quest for love. Stylistic and geographical contrast are on offer in this newest batch of books which we are proud to add to the Capuchin family. Our Capuchin Classics website has full details of these books, our previously published list and some forthcoming titles.
Publishing Cliche #24
It is indeed a small world. Readers of the delightful Alma Books blog will know that we had the pleasure of lunching Alma's co-founder Alessandro Gallenzi recently. Alessandro's description of that event made reference to my colleague Max Scott resembling Hugh Grant and speaking in an unintelligibly refined accent. We would like to state for the record that not only is Max's diction a model of clarity and intelligibility, but that he's much better looking than the Grant chappie. Our conversation took me back to the days when I worked for a sales agency - Troika - which helped introduce Alessandro's first British publishing project, Hesperus. Troika also represented many other fine independent publishers, and its work included being involved in the launch of another two new ventures that, through wonderful content, design and editorial passion and expertise, continue to enrich the publishing world today, namely Maia Press and Gallic Books.
It was exciting and fulfilling to watch and assist these projects become reality, and equally so to have become a part of the Capuchin team which is celebrating and restoring works of enduring literary value. As ever, it was also a pleasure to share Alessandro's company.
Quotation of the day
"There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is God's finger on man's shoulder." Charles Morgan.
Best wishes -
David
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2 comments:
Nicely constructed - Looking forward to further blogs where I suggest you make regular references to a non existent tome just to see who is paying attention...
Gc
I love the idea of a publisher bringing neglected works into print. Perusing your list I found a combination of the familiar (A C Doyle, Poe) and the relatively obscure. If the objective is to remain commercially viable through a mix, then well-done. As an American living in ENgland for 21 years, may I make a few suggestions? Calder Willingham's magnificent Eternal Fire, John Gardner's Sunlight Dialogues, any of Angus Wilson's novels and Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children. Best of luck.
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