Rock Star's Rainbow Named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2011

Hooray! Click here for the full list.

Rock Star's Rainbow: Reader's Guide/Book Club Questions For Discussion

Rock Star’s Rainbow

Reader’s Guide/Book Club Questions For Discussion

1. What is the significance of the title? How does it relate to the overall theme of the novel?
2. What are some of the possible interpretations of the frontispiece—Dürer's Melencolia I—and how does it serve as a symbol throughout the book?
3. How does the preface reflect Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, and how is it reflected throughout the novel?
4. What is the significance of the dates September 4, June 16, and other numbers in the book? What vistas do they open up?
5. Some of the “lost” recordings of the Little Bang, mentioned in the preface, will soon be available on the web (please stay tuned--they'll be up within the next few weeks). How does hearing these lost demos add to the richness of the work’s experience?
6. Our culture is obsessed with celebrity, and even more so with celebrity scandal. Why do you think this is? How is Rook in some ways a stereotypical celebrity, and how do his struggles with fame play out?
7. This is in part a story of love and family––of Rook, Hula, and Boudicca. Discuss.
8. Apparently, this book is the work of a renowned entertainment reporter who was thrown out of a plane over Los Angeles. How does the classic technique of the “found manuscript” contribute to this novel as a narrative device? Just who is Aitchkiss Killawathy?
9. There is quite a collection of characters in the book––some major, some minor. Discuss some of your favorite personalities, and describe what they add to the work as a whole.
10.  The quixotic adventure journeys from LA, to Amsterdam, to India, and back. Discuss the various settings of the novel and elaborate upon how they are important to the book’s structure.
11. This novel is in part a pastiche, paying homage to elements of Don Quixote, Either/Or, Ulysses, Satyricon, Crime and Punishment, and other works. Explain the connections. Also, you might wish to read through the allusions page on the book’s website. How does understanding all the references help contribute to the enjoyment of the book?
12. How do some of the links to physics (Heisenberg, quarks, fine-structure constant, etc.) impact the meaning of the book? How do they relate to the ongoing search for that elusive metaphorical rainbow?
13. From the far-fetched plot to the bizarre characters, this work is in part a satire. What is it satirizing, and how effective is it in achieving its goal?
14. Is the violence and sex contained in the book gratuitous, or is it a necessary part of the satire/pastiche?
15. Using critical theory, view the novel through various lenses. How do they alter interpretation? (For those who prefer a pdf version of these questions, please visit here, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to download.)                                                                                                                                                   

2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalists

Congratulations to Beverly Cleary, winner of the 2010 Robert Kirsch Award, Powell's Books, winner of the 2010 Innovator's Award.

The rest of the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes will be awarded April 29, 2011, in a ceremony at the Los Angeles Times building. Many great books and authors are in the running as finalists.

For more information, check out the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes page.

Stay tuned for more info about the upcoming LA Times Festival of Books 2011.

Joyce's Ulysses, Early New York Times Review from 1922

It's funny, how when Joyce's classic novel Ulysses first came out
in 1922, few people knew what to make of it. While they sensed
brilliance, they also felt frustration with this new form of art.

For instance, check out this early review from the New York Times.
The professor, Dr. Joseph Collins, clearly appreciates Joyce's genius, calling Ulysses "the most important contribution that has been made to fictional literature in the twentieth century."

At the same time, he laments at the work's abstruseness:

"...Moreover, he is determined to tell it in a new way. Not in straightforward, narrative fashion, with a certain sequentiality of idea, fact, occurrence, in sentence, phrase and paragraph that is comprehensible to a person of education and culture, but in parodies of classic prose and current slang, in perversions of sacred literature, in carefully metered prose with studied incoherence, in symbols so occult and mystic that only the initiated and profoundly versed can understand -- in short, by means of every trick and illusion that a master artificer, or even magician, can play with the English language..."

Well, despite the book's Delphic ambiguity, the professor turned out to be right. Ulysses did go down to become one of the best books of all time, at least according to this list from the Modern Library.

It makes one wonder about the artist's aesthetic, as Joyce explores in his first novel, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Should an artist follow a Kantian perspective, focusing on "art for art's sake" and disregarding all else (including $), except one's own Muse? And if the work is accomplished to the artist's wishes, is he "successful" in realizing his vision, regardless of outside understanding and recognition?

More musings later...

Free Is Good

Check out my review of James Patterson's newest novel Tick Tock: http://tiny.cc/lsokr

Good Reads

Rock Star's Rainbow by Kevin Glavin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Hello! I'm the author/editor (I must apologize for this posting--I'm not quite sure how else to link my goodreads profile to my novel). What did I think of the book? I loved it! It was so much fun to write; I hope you have as much fun reading it. If not, it helps make a good fire:)

I'm a bit late to this goodreads site, but I'm glad to have found it and gotten started.

For more info, feel free to check out my website:

http://www.rockstarsrainbow.com

Thanks so much and have a wonderful 2011!

Sincerely,

Kevin Glavin

P.S. Please note that there are some technical issues with the Google eBooks version that are still in the process of being corrected (for some reason, their converted ePub omitted all apostrophes, quotations, accents, and umlauts). All other eBook and print versions work fine:)

View all my reviews

More on the Future of Publishing?

L.A. Times: Bob Stein wants to change how people think about the book; plans to start electronic publishing house http://lat.ms/hKhFjX

The Future of Publishing?

5 E-Book Trends That Will Change the Future of Publishing mashable.com/2010/12/27/e-b…

Lecture Upon The Golf Course

A clod of clay
Upon my cleat
I must remove it
I must be neat
As I discard it
Upon the street
A funeral procession
Do I meet

Oh my word!
Who goes there?
Oh my word?
What do I care?

I have another round
Of golf to play
I'll think about death
Some other day

But the crowd of mourners
Goes on and on
The crowd of mourners
Goes hither and yon
And I am forced to wait
Until they pass
I am forced to wait
Upon this grass

And as I do
I tap my shoe
I twirl my club
I fix my 'do
I even pivot
To fix a divot
And as I bend down--

I see myself--

Beneath the ground

I am beneath the ground and I can't get up
I am beneath the ground and I can't get up
I am beneath the ground and I can't get up

But look!
Pushing through the earth--
There grows a brand new blade of grass!

Kevin Glavin, November 2010

(All apologies John Donne:)

Hullabaloo and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hi All,

(This post and the thread it relates to can be found on KindleBoards:)

... So funny you mention the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Hadn't thought of that, but you're right.
(This is a fantastic yearly contest for bad writing. Check it out for a laugh: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/)

My intention with starting this thread was not to start an argument. It was to try and understand how such a poorly edited book became a bestseller. The novel has a lot of potential--I'll agree with that. I’m just trying to understand how people were able to tolerate the poor writing for the sake of the plot and Lisbeth. Didn’t the accumulation of lackluster diction and syntax bother those who liked the book, at least a little bit? It seems somewhat telling that the translator of the series appears to have used a pseudonym as he was unhappy with the editing job that someone in Scotland did. It seems that even he wished that it had been edited in a more professional manner.

The CSI analogy I made a while back was just that—an analogy. If you like, consider instead any number of literary analogies—Hemingway, Shakespeare, Marquez, Salinger, Plath, whomever. Even Tolstoy, who could go on forever, had a reason behind most of his tangents and epilogues. Most writers who stand the test of time were ruthless redactors, or had ruthless editors, and had many arguments with them over what to leave in and what to leave out. I would say that the process of revision should apply even more in books than in the TV business. Less is more. Every word should count. A writer should show some consciousness of craft behind every decision. I understand wanting to show imagery and description and detail. I can understand a lot of unorthodox choices if there is an intention behind them. But to repeatedly focus on the rising and falling temperature, as I mentioned earlier, doesn't add to the reader's experience. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of the masters of the detective story, might describe the weather outside to create atmosphere, but he wouldn't do it over and over again unless it were linked to the solving of the crime itself.

On the other hand, to be fair, perhaps Larsson would indeed have made more redactions had he lived longer. But that duty fell to the editor/publisher since they are now selling the work, and they failed to perform basic and necessary revisions. Perhaps they could have
sold even more books, or received greater accolades if they had done so.

Finally, I spoke of art in my last post. I realize we can’t only dedicate our free time to the appreciation of “art.” Although that may be the ideal, I understand that we all need other forms of entertainment. That’s what I was hoping from in this book, and unfortunately, I feel like I didn't get my money's worth. Oh well.

I just went to the library today and checked out an odd assortment of books: A Study in Scarlet/Hound of the Baskervilles (Doyle);
Double Cross (Patterson); The Dante Club (Pearl); and tinkers (Harding). Maybe I can lose myself in these and forget about my disappointment with Dragon.

Thanks for all the intriguing discussion. Wishing you happy reading.

Sincerely,

Kevin

Dragon Follow-Up

Hi All,

Thanks for your many comments—they were much appreciated.

Let me say that I did not mean to offend anyone. My original question and review regarding how this poorly written book (in my humble opinion) became a bestseller was posted out of utter bafflement, in an honest search for a real answer.

As I stated, I know I’m in the minority. I know most people like this book, or that it at least averages a four out of five stars on Amazon. I just don’t understand why.

While I mentioned how the marketing campaign behind this thriller has been phenomenal, I feel that the book’s blockbuster status can’t be attributed to that alone. To be sure, there are many books and films that get much marketing and aren’t nearly as successful. Inversely, there are some very high quality books and films that get comparably little marketing, go on to win Pulitzer Prizes or Academy Awards, but don’t make much money. Why? Which type of success is better?

Maybe it has to do with appeal. New York publishers and Hollywood studios try and find the widest possible way to appeal to a target audience to maximize profits. In doing so, they craft their product likewise. Consider what has been one of the top rated TV shows in recent times––the CSI series. I enjoy it myself. If a large audience like this one is what Dragon is aiming at (and I’m not saying it is), it still has an obligation to produce a well written product, just like CSI produces a top-notch show (the old Vegas episodes are my favorite). But in my estimation, it’s as if the Dragon book is still in pre-production.

For instance, if an episode of CSI focused on the heroine admiring someone’s use of PhotoShop (which really has nothing to do with her hacking ability), or kept zooming back to the image of a thermometer rising and falling, you would expect those details to be relevant, and would pay particular attention to how they fit in. But so many expository details in Dragon don’t fit in. You would never see footage like this on CSI (okay, enough with the analogy, Kevin), because the writers on there are good enough, and the producers astute enough, to cut out what doesn’t belong. Likewise, this is what the editors of this book should have done. It is precisely irrelevant details like those mentioned in my review (and there are many, many more throughout the novel) that weigh the book down, causing the reader’s journey to become like walking through thick mud. Why does the author/publisher throw these encumbrances upon the reader’s path? A writer/publisher has the job of making sure that every word counts, that every word adds to the whole, and perhaps even beyond into the land of meaningful allusions.  It is their obligation to put out a satisfactory product, made to the best of their ability.

I bought the Dragon book, and in exchange for that, should have, while not expecting literature, at least have gotten the roller coaster ride that it was hyped up to be. Instead, my car jerked and stopped along the way by the inept mechanics (opening lines: “It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday” (p. 3). I know allowances can be made for stylistic purposes, but it goes on and on. I think it is mere laziness on the editor’s part.) and superfluous prose that cluttered the tracks. The book also consistently breaks one of the first rules of fiction writing—show, don’t tell (“Salander could see that Blomkvist was a fine writer” (p. 101). “She was out of work and hungry” (p. 270). “His time at Rullaker had been unstressful and pleasant enough” (275). “Salander was an information junkie with a delinquent child’s take on morals and ethics” (p. 384)).

As I said in my review, originally I could barely make it to page 202. That is a long way to read without enjoyment. And that’s when I began writing my commentary, figuring by that point it was fair to extrapolate that there was something wrong with the ride.

After several weeks, I forced myself to finish the book, and as I said, the writing did not improve, at least not for me. I can understand how many readers like the plot––I thought it picked up (except towards the end, where after the mystery is solved it goes into corporate intrigue at the Millennium magazine, and revenge on Blomkvist’s rival Wennerstrom, with lots of humdrum emails back and forth. I know this plotline brings the book full circle, but for me the suspense had already gone out of the balloon.) Also, I really did like the character of Lisbeth, and was rooting for her all the way (Blomkvist, however, struck me as a bit too snarky, and somewhat of an egotist and womanizer).

While the plot and the character of Lisbeth are the most appealing elements of this book, the sloppy writing interfered way too much for me to enjoy these aspects. Perhaps my job as a literature teacher has instilled in me very little patience for poorly written prose, especially when there is no reason why an editor could not have been paid big bucks to make the work more readable. Caveat emptor, I know. I know that Dragon was not marketed as literature. Still, it should have been written fluently enough to make it worth the money I paid. But it wasn’t, and after my experience at Costco, I thought others who might be tempted to buy the book based on hype (as I was) should perhaps reconsider.

This leads back to my original question, which is still, at least for me, not fully answered. Why are so many people buying this book as they shop in line for groceries or run to catch their plane? Yes, people are influenced by the fantastic marketing, but that doesn’t explain the sensation. And yes, perhaps it’s also word of mouth. Or perhaps it’s something akin to Gladwell’s idea of the tipping point. In any case, it would make a really intriguing study, more intriguing to me than the book itself.

I know what I’m stating is simply my opinion, and again, I don’t mean to offend anyone. But I do believe that while “art” does have a degree of subjectivity, it also has an objective standard by which it can be judged. I could put up that popular poster of dogs playing poker on black velvet, but does it make it “art?” I don’t think that even the most enthusiastic supporters of Dragon would argue that it is great art. So why waste time on it? Why should one more person succumb to the hype? There is so much great work out there, so many great books to read from across the centuries and from around the world. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to give our precious time to only great art? (But this is a discussion for another thread.)

I know, I know, sometimes we just need to chill. But this book put me in the deep freeze. Maybe I would enjoy the movie more. Or maybe I should watch a Bergman film instead (one review on the back of the book compares it to the “movies of Ingmar Bergman…” I see little connection with the great filmmaker, other than the setting in Sweden.)

Anyway, thanks for putting up with my venting Any other thoughts?

Kevin

Kindle Boards Authors

Hi All,

I am now listed on Kindle Boards, along with a lot of other
great authors. Feel free to stop by--it's a great place for readers
and writers to hang out.

Offical Master List of Kindle Boards Authors

Rock Star's Rainbow Now on Google Books

If you are interested in previewing Rock Star's Rainbow
through Google Books, please check out the link
below:

Rock Star's Rainbow Google Books Preview




Hope you enjoy it.

Review of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

THE MOST COMPELLING MYSTERY IS HOW THIS BECAME A BESTSELLER

I am part Swedish. When I heard all the buzz about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson, I was enthusiastically rooting for its posthumous literary success. However, as I made my way through the crime novel, I felt as if a crime were in progress--my own murder! The prose is so egregious, the characters so cardboard-cutout and humorless, and the plot so weighed down by exposition, that it left me baffled as to all the positive blurbs that adorn the deckle edged work. Did these reviewers even read the book, or were they paid off by the marketing machine? Who knows? Who cares? Who will dare to unravel the mystery?

I must give kudos to the publisher and the rest of the team who have made this and the other books in the series international bestsellers, especially after the unfortunate death of the author. To catapult any fiction to the top of the charts is quite an accomplishment. But when the original writer is no longer working behind the scenes, it makes it that much more astonishing.

That said, I must get on with my honest review, and the stunning fact that this vapid text could be dressed up and hyped up so much so as to get people to fork over their hard-earned money and be happy that they did so. Like others have already stated, at first I thought the problem might be the translation. However, there are serious errors that go beyond the Swedish to English rendering. The narrative is laden with a constant bombardment of trivial information that detracts from the story. For instance, there is the odd repetition of mundane, technical references:

"After discussion with her mother they had agreed to give Pernilla an iPod, an MP3 player hardly bigger than a matchbox which could store her huge CD collection" (74).

"Malm had worked in PhotoShop, and it took a moment to notice that the building was floating in air" (101).

"At lunchtime Salander booted up her iBook and opened Eudora to write an email...To be on the safe side, she ran the message through her PGP encryption programme" (104).

"He wanted to know whether the connection could handle ADSL and was told that it would be possible by way of a relay in Hedeby, and that it would take several days" (139).

"The family was so extensive that he was forced to create a database in his iBook. He used the NotePad programme [...], one of those full-value products that two men at the Royal Technical College had created and distributed as shareware for a pittance on the Internet" (168).

I appreciate technology as much as the next person. But if it doesn't add to the narrative, the characters, or enhance the reading experience in some way, it becomes mud. I realize the heroine, Lisbeth Salander, is a fantastic hacker, but still... these trivial references are unnecessary.

The story also degenerates into frequent reports on the weather (as if one's in a terribly boring conversation and this is all that's left to discuss--did Larsson have the soothing Weather Channel on in the background while writing these sections?):

"The thermometer outside the window said 5 degrees F, and he couldn't remember ever feeling so cold as after that walk..." (138).

"The temperature had dropped to -1 degrees F" (140).

"He had several miserable days in the middle of the month when the termperature dropped to -35 degrees F" (184).

"Then the weather changed and the temperature rose steadily to a balmy 14 degrees F" (185).

"The thermometer showed 6 below zero" (141).

Now, to be fair, I have only managed to muck my way to page 202. Perhaps the rise and fall in temperature will have some vital link to the plot. Perhaps the characters will come alive. I will be sure to let you know if I manage to survive until the end of the book. I am hoping that somehow, miraculously, the novel will redeem itself. If it does, that would be the most astonishing thing of all.

FOLLOW UP--I SURVIVED THE ATTEMPTED MURDER!

Just recently, at a social event, I heard people talking about how great the Swedish movie version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is (I haven't seen it), and how the book is "supposed to be even better." I thought of entering the conversation, but decided it better not to. It is very odd, how marketing and the consequent bandwagon following can make a book that should have been re-edited or relegated to the slushpile a blockbuster. I think it would make a very intriguing sociological study--just how did the Swedish publisher get the ball rolling on this one? I'll admit that the plot got a bit better (I did finish the book), and I did like the character of Lisbeth Salander. The writing, however, did not improve as the mystery unfolded. In the end, this story strikes me as a typical crime thriller that you would find on cable TV. There is no real depth to it, and at the end one wonders: "why did I waste my time with that?"

I hear Hollywood has caught the Larsson fever--I wonder what they will do with the series. To be sure, they will be megahits, as long as they market them like crazy, which they will. The build-up has already begun. Just today, as I was shopping at Costco, strolling towards checkout, I saw them: the familiar, bright, shiny, eye-catching, and admittedly--very cool covers. And while Costco couldn't sell them in a 24-pack, they sure did try--inundating the innocent bystanders with stacks and stacks of Larsson's trilogy, tempting shoppers to take them home with their sundry bulk purchases.

I passed, guilty of the crime of not speaking up.

Free eBook!

June 11, 2010: Available for free for a limited time as an eBook (through Kobo). Enjoy it on your iPad or other computing device!
http://tiny.cc/o5vlk

Naperville Sun Interview

June 11, 2010: Naperville Sun Interview
http://tiny.cc/umdk3

Rock Star's Rainbow Will Soon Be Available on the iPad!

For those interested, the novel will soon be available on Apple's hip new device!

New Novel Outline, Feedback Appreciated

Hi All!

Here is the tentative road map. Very tentative.

Chapter I--The Vampire. An old vampire haunts the Irish countryside, unaware that he too is being haunted.

Chapter 2--The Banshee. A forlorn, beautiful banshee, unable to maintain human love, sets her sights on the aging yet debonair vampire.

Chapter 3--The Woman. A young American inherits a bed and breakfast and moves to Ireland; she reminds the vampire of a long lost love.

Chapter 4--The Leprechaun. The woman discovers a leprechaun living in an old wine cellar behind her B & B--under Ben Bulben.

Chapter 5--The Mountain. Chasing the leprechaun up Ben Bulben, the woman stumbles upon a limestone door--leading to a terrifying Faeryland.

Chapter 6--The Horseman. An unearthly rider finally escapes from his surreal prison with the help of unexpected visitors.

Chapter 7--The Goddess. An ancient deity named Danu suddenly appears from out of the bay with something on her mind.

Chapter 8--The Giant. Upon the goddess' arrival, an old enemy awakes; he goes to slay her, but blind, must first find his eye in the lake.

Chapter 9--The Man. The American's old boyfriend shows up at the B & B; he laughs at her tales of leprechauns & fairies and eats like a pig.

Chapter 10--The King. An old man named Lugh hobbles into Sligo Town Hall, insisting it is time for him to set things right; everyone laughs.

Chapter 11--The Hopeless Romance. The banshee desperately does her utmost to woo the ever-stylish vampire, but his tastes are very different.

Chapter 12--The Bed & Breakfast. The woman and old boyfriend fix up the old place. Their first guest insists on blood sausage for breakfast.

Chapter 13--The Love Quadrangle. As the vampire courts the owner with panache, a beautiful, unearthly guest arrives, flirting, then wailing.

Chapter 14--The Ancient Past. As all hell breaks loose, the leprechaun returns, offering a somber recollection of the old Irish myths, and their revival.

Chapter 15--The Charge. As if on cue, the horseman appears at the end of the leprechaun's story, awakening the old Irish heroes from sleep.

Chapter 16--The Eye. The giant finds his evil eye in the lake. Awakening from a long sleep, he focuses his rage against the goddess.

Chapter 17--The Four Treasures. The ancient magical treasures of Ireland are rediscovered and put to use against the evil giant Balor. 

Chapter 18--The Cycles. The old king and the other ancients find modern Irish and world advancements a confusing game and wish to pursue a different way forward.

Chapter 19--The Ghosts. Three writers from the past, Blake, Yeats, and Joyce, haunt Sligo, carousing and collaborating on one last story.

Chapter 20--The Volcano. The ghosts of Blake, Yeats, & Joyce are forced to cancel their appearances at the London Book Fair.
 
Chapter 21--Postscript. The editor encounters a leprechaun at the couple's B & B in Sligo; he vanishes, leaving behind one shoe and a strange gothic tale told by the ghosts of Blake, Yeats, and Joyce.



          

Poll: Which direction should this new gothic novel take? | Polldaddy.com

Poll: Which direction should this new gothic novel take? | Polldaddy.com

Chapter I--The Vampire

An old vampire haunts the Irish countryside, unaware that he too is being haunted.