Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's a Lie

Préface

• Co-op available.
• National media campaign, hitting major outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Review of Books.
• Book tour with events on both coasts, a book release party at City Lights, panel events at Litquake and Los Angeles Times Review of Books.
• Targeted digital ads across Instagram, FB, Amazon sponsored product ads, and the Google ad network.
• Ingram Advance supplement.

Auteur

Steve Wasserman is publisher of Heyday. A 1974 graduate of UC Berkeley, he holds a degree in criminology. His past positions include being deputy editor of the op-ed page and opinion section of the Los Angeles Times; editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review; editorial director of New Republic Books; publisher and editorial director of Hill and Wang at Farrar, Straus & Giroux and of the Noonday Press; editorial director of Times Books at Random House; and editor at large for Yale University Press. A former partner of the literacy agency Kneerim & Williams, he represented many authors, including Christopher Hitchens, Linda Ronstadt, Robert Scheer, and David Thomson. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Texte du rabat

An exhilarating journey through the world of books, featuring personal reflections on Susan Sontag, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, W. G. Sebald, and Christopher Hitchens.

"A troublemaker of the good kind since his youth, Wasserman continues to inspire with his vigorous dedication to the life of the mind, exhibited with clarity and grace in this book." —Viet Thanh Nguyen

Steve Wasserman's long-awaited first book combines the urgency of a political thriller with the critical sharpness of our best essayists. Forged in the crucible of Bay Area radical politics during the 1960s—including formative encounters with the Black Panthers and revolutionary Cuba—Wasserman became one of America's preeminent editors, bringing his keen contrarian political sensibility to book publishing. In thirty essays that cover the sweep of his life, Wasserman recounts his firsthand experiences with figures like Susan Sontag, W. G. Sebald, Barbra Streisand, Daniel Ellsberg, Sister Souljah, Orson Welles, and Christopher Hitchens. And drawing from his decades as an editor, he includes several clear-eyed meditations on the fate of books in the digital age. Poignant, incisive, and always surprising, these essays turn their subjects inside out, daring their readers to cut through the noise of the culture. Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It’s a Lie is a revelation, a fresh look at literature and politics that will enchant any book lover.

Contenu

Introduction 
 Machine-Age Muse 
 Future Shock 
 Avenging Angel 
 Rage and Ruin 
 Exit Stage Left 
 American Berserk 
 Commie Camp 
 Tom Hayden, R.I.P. 
 A Nervous Nellie for Scheer 
 The Heresy of Daniel Ellsberg 
 Barbra Bows Out 
 Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It’s a Lie 
 Susan Sontag: Critic and Crusader 
 Orson Welles Meets a Deadline 
 The Russian Avant-Garde: Promise and Betrayal  
 Sebald’s Last Talk 
 Letter from Graz 
 Dear Hitch 
 Sister Souljah Throws It Down 
 Jason Epstein v. Benzion Netanyahu 
 High Noon with Gore Vidal 
 Scallops with Jackie 
 Reading L.A. 
 Chicago Agonistes 
 Goodbye to All That 
 The Fate of Books 
 Size Matters 
 In Defense of Difficulty 
 A Writer’s Space 
 Credo 
 Index 
 About the Author