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In a bad cop/good cop sequence that's becoming standard practice at The New York Times, on Oct. 24 Michiko Kakutani, chief book reviewer for the newspaper's daily The Arts section, trashed Richard Ford's new novel, "The Lay of the Land" (Alfred A. Knopf, $26.95), as only she can, in a full display of loathing and sarcasm. Then, on the Oct. 29 cover of the Times' Sunday Book Review, A.O. Scott practically knelt in homage to the novel.
The same situation prevailed in the Times when Kakutani, on Nov. 20, slam-dunked Thomas Pynchon's immense new novel "Against the Day" (Penguin Press, $35) into the abyss of ignominy, while on last Sunday's Book Review cover, Liesl Schillinger called the book Pynchon's funniest and most accessible effort.
Anyway , "The Lay of the Land" is the third and concluding of Ford's novels about aging New Jersey real estate agent Frank Bascomb, a series that began with "The Sportswriter" in 1986 and continued with "Independence Day" in 1995; the latter won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award.
Ford will be at Off Square Books in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday at 5 p.m. to read from and sign "The Lay of the Land." The reading begins at 5:30.
Kakutani had better watch out; she could end up as a despised minor character in Ford's next novel. Ford does read reviews, and he doesn't take kindly to negative comments. Alice Hoffman wrote a critical review of "Independence Day," and Ford reacted by firing a shot through Hoffman's latest novel and mailing it to her. After Colson Whitehead produced a scathing review of Ford's collection of stories, "A Multitude of Sins," in 2002, Ford waited two years and, at a literary party in New York, spat on Whitehead. Said Whitehead: "It's not the first time some old codger has drooled on me, and it won't be the last."
Who knew the world of belles lettres was so bellicose?
In addition to the books mentioned above, Ford is author of the novels "A Piece of My Heart" (1976), "The Ultimate Good Luck" (1981) and "Wildfire" (1990), and the story collections "Rock Springs" (1987) and "Women with Men" (1997).
Ford was born in Jackson, Miss., in 1944, and was long a resident of New Orleans, but he has never been a "Southern" writer. He now lives in Maine.
Off Square, an annex of Square Books, is at 129 Courthouse Square in Oxford . Call (662) 236-2262.
Busy at Burke's
It's unusual for Burke's Book Store to field three events in one week or even in a month, but this week, perhaps gearing up for the coming Yuletide, is an exception.
Monday from 5 to 7 p.m., Frank Jones will be at Burke's to discuss and sign his book, "A Penny Saved ... Is Impossible (But It's the Surest Way to Become a Millionaire): Twelve Steps for the Beginning Investor" (Xlibris, $20). Jones was president of Cook Industries, bought and sold steel-forging and aluminum die-casting companies and, in 1992, founded Summit Asset Management. From 1993 to 2003, he wrote a weekly financial column for The Commercial Appeal.
It's been a busy year for Corey Mesler, owner, with his wife, Cheryl, of Burke's. Mesler is a prolific writer, and in 2006 he published five chapbooks - inexpensive, limited edition pamphlets - that he will read from and sign Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. The chapbooks are "The Agoraphobe's Pandiculations" (Little Poem Press, $10); "Following Richard Brautigan" (Plan B Press, $6); "Short Story and Other Short Stories" (Parallel Press, $10); "The Lita Conversation" (Southern Hum Press, $7); and "The Hole in Sleep" (Wood Works Press, $9). Mesler is author of numerous other chapbooks and of two novels, "Talk: A Novel in Dialogue" and "We Are Billion- Year-Old Carbon."
In what may be an unprecedented mass book-signing, Burke's will host an event Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. for five faculty members of Memphis Theological Seminary, all of whom will sign books they wrote or edited. The participants are Valerie Bridgeman Davis, Peter Gathje, Matt Matthews, Kendra Hotz and Paul R. Dekar.
Burke's is at 1719 poplar. Call 278-7484.
Busy at Davis-Kidd, too
Mississippian Leslie Carpenter will be at Davis-Kidd Booksellers Tuesday at 6 p.m. to discuss and sign "At Home Caf: Great Food and Fun for Everyone" (Basil Leaf Publications, $24.95), a cookbook designed to bring families back into the kitchen.
William Bearden will be at Davis-Kidd Thursday at 6 p.m. to discuss and sign "Memphis Blues: Birthplace of a Music Tradition" (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99). Bearden, a local documentary filmmaker has produced two other photograph-and-caption books about Memphis for Arcadia, "Images of America: Overton Park" and "Cotton: From Southern Fields to the Memphis Market."
Saturday at 1 p.m., Davis-Kidd will welcome local writer and 12- year breast cancer survivor Pat McRee, who will discuss and sign "Support to Go: The Unbook for the Journey Through Breast Cancer" (Side by Side Publishing, $18.95).
Davis-Kidd is at 387 Perkins Ext. in Laurelwood. Call 683-9801.
To submit items to Book Folks, fax to 529-2787 or E-mail koeppel@commercialappeal.com.
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