That’s Entertaining

by Matthew | Dec 24, 2013 | Media

We at Idiots’Books are not in the habit of showing the cover of Entertainment Weekly, but this week we are compelled to do just that. And not merely on account of the fetching and humorous women featured on this week’s issue.

No, our motives are far more selfish than that. You see, this week’s EW contains a holiday gift guide featuring books of various types. Perhaps you are interested in this fine periodical’s take on the best pop culture books of the season? Well then, have a read.

But perhaps your tastes are more literary. If this is this is the case, why not sample a newly illustrated version of The Hobbit, or a multimedia edition of The Little Prince voiced by Viggo Mortensen. Or what about a modest volume by Matthew Swanson called…

And this is where we stop and issue a nice loud WTF. There, amid Bilbo and Tintin is Ten Thousand Stories.

This strange ride gets ever stranger and more wonderful.

We’re honored to be included in the magazine, and even more so to appear in the issue curated by Tina and Amy. Though we’re a little miffed by their obvious rip-off of our Idiots’ redaction style. As shown.

For those of you who do not know, the sassy redaction has been a staple of Idiots’Books since our very first letter, sent back in the fall of 2006 and continuing through the introduction to the Chronicle edition of Ten Thousand Stories (shown here).

I write something thoughtful and earnest, and Robbi comes along and savages with her bright red pen. She justifies her action by citing pursuit of truth.

I just think she’s mean.

Thanks, Entertainment Weekly, for including us in such good company.

As for Herge and Viggo and Amy and Tina, so sorry you had to slum it this week. We’re guessing that this will be our one and only moment in your midst.

Ten Thousand Stories in PRINT Magazine Holiday Gift Guide

by Matthew | Dec 15, 2013 | Media

Of course you have heard by now about this book of ours. But thanks to the good folks at PRINT magazine, a whole bunch of new folks found out about it last week. Yes, we are part of the PRINT holiday gift guide, which includes some other books that sound rather interesting, so have a look, even if you’re sick and tired of all this talk about Ten Thousand Stories.

And if, somehow, you’re not yet sick of it (we admire your fortitude), here’s the PRINT writeup.

It pleases me to no end that reviews of this book have included such words as “dirty-minded,” “naughty,” and (here) “depraved.” Lets me know that we’re doing our jobs, that people are really understanding us.

High Praise from the Washington Post

by Matthew | Dec 13, 2013 | Media

As far as days go, yesterday was hard to beat. I woke to a flurry of excitement on my Facebook feed. Apparently, there was a review of Ten Thousand Stories in The Washington Post.

And what a review.

It was, quite frankly, the sort of thing that any writer or artist dreams will be written about his or her work. And not just because it was flattering (which it was), but because the reviewer (in this case, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Michael Dirda) really got what we do. Instead of just describing the mechanics of the book and praising its novelty, Dirda dug into what makes Robbi and me tick.

He mentioned the introductory letter with Robbi’s redactions. He referenced the legacy of the mix-and-match format, going to Raymond Queneua’s One Hundred Million Million Poems. He aptly described our stories as “tales of desperate yearning, lost hopes, sexual transgression and broken hearts and bodies.” He likened my style to that of two of my literary heroes, Edward Gorey and Daniel Handler (AKA, Lemony Snicket). He described Robbi’s illustrations as potentially giving “even Salvador Dali nightmares.”

And he talked about Bobbledy Books. And Idiots’Books. Because to really understand what we’re up to in any one book is to understand what we’re up to in making all the different types of books that we do. Dirda understands this. And it was immensely gratifying to hear him say it.

He concludes with this paragraph, which felt so right it made me cry.

What draws me to the various books of Swanson and Behr — there are more than 50 — is their never-ending exuberance and flair for mischief. The couple gently mock themselves, their writing and their art, not to mention literature, history, technology and politics, and yet their deep love for each other, their children and their crazy work always shines through.

The thing that really good writers can do, whether poets or novelists or literary critics, is to give voice to that which we sense but do not fully know, to help us understand ourselves a bit better than we did before. I like the idea that what Robbi and I are up to is “gentle mockery,” but always against a backdrop/foil of love. We’re offering critique, not just for the sake of pointing out flaw, but because we yearn for the world to be better, and because we believe that it can be.

That’s what I learned from Dirda yesterday. It’s a pretty important lesson.

Here he is, with Robbi and me, at the Chestertown Book Festival a few years back. Lucky for us, he lives in Washington, and so was able to drive over to speak at the Book Plate that day. We met, we gave him some books, and have been the lucky beneficiaries of his good opinion ever since.

As if getting high praise from one of the nation’s leading literary critics wasn’t enough, the real joy of yesterday was the outpouring of support and excitement from our friends around the country and world. On Facebook, on Twitter, via email, in person. It reminded us that are so many people on this wild adventure with us. Thank you all for your support, for being a part of this thing, for making our lives so much bigger and more interesting than they would be without you.

Here’s the review, should you care to read it. It’s actually pretty funny. At one point, Dirda muses over what Robbi might look like in skimpy lingerie. No joke.

The Stories Seem Endless (And So Does the Fun)

by Robbi | Dec 7, 2013 | Media

Perhaps you have heard of Baltimore magazine, which offers a monthly focus on the people and happenings of Charm City and its environs, even those environs that are separated from the mainland by the Bay.

A few years back, Baltimore did a profile of Robbi and me. And now, they’ve done us the honor of reviewing Ten Thousand Stories.

We assume most of you have the ability to read microscopic type, but for those of you who prefer a more leisurely reading experience, here’s a slightly larger version.

If we got to choose an illustrator and writer with whom we would be compared in a book review, Steadman and Gorey would top of the list. I’m not sure we’re worthy, but we’ll take the compliment.

So thank you Baltimore magazine. And, although we’ve said it before and will certainly say it again, thank you Chronicle Books.