TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Archive for the ‘The Solomon Scandals’ Category

By David Rothman

Two engineering mavens from Clarkson and Penn State have been at work dissecting The Solomon Scandals.

They’re helping me bring down an IRS/CIA building put up by a clippy contractor.

I feel a little like bin-Laden or one of his henchmen plotting scenarios. The destruction has to work. I’m endlessly grateful to the professors for their uncovering the mistakes that a nonexpert would make when writing on a subject so complex.

Right now it looks as if we’re headed toward a mix of missing rebars, inferior materials, use of a reinforced concrete raft rather than piles driven down to the rock, a gas explosion and some oil nearby to heat up steel and weaken it. Oh, and there’ll have been lots and lots of rain in the past week—which, in ways I’ll explain in the book would weaken the building further.

The e-book angle

So is there an e-book angle here? You bet. While our interactivity is happening via e-mail, perhaps in the future it can be more elaborate and more public—with a forum where engineering students can comment on the case history we’re creating in effect. That’s what I’m hoping. Someday, in fact, the forum might even be built into the e-book of Scandals—perhaps even a special edition for engineering students.

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By David Rothman

For some days now, I’d been testing the Stanza e-reader for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

With Kindle-level ease, I could download classics and public domain titles from Feedbooks—everything from Tarzan of the Apes to Edith Wharton’s Summer.

But Stanza lacked a way to bring in files already on my desktop PC.

That’s changed (download here). To the left, you can see how The Solomon Scandals showed up on my iPod Touch.

Word 2002 in style: Just one of many formats supported

Scandals isn’t a finished book, just a Word 2002 file in editing in an RTF incarnation at Twilight Times Books.

But you’ll notice how slick it looked on my Touch when I tested Word 2002.

Stanza was smart enough to detect my chapters, marked only by forced page breaks and centered boldface. Look at the style it assigned the centered boldface I’d originally entered without a font change. As for the unneeded title at the top of the page, I suspect that I could just avoid entering a title within Word’s "Properties" menu. If not, perhaps Lexcycle can make the necessary tweak.

No, Stanza wasn’t perfect—it failed to pick up the italics in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, for example. But notice the hyphenation?

I didn’t even have to hook up my HP desktop computer to the Touch. Stanza, like BookShelf, let me transfer books wirelessly.

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By David Rothman

A young Brooklyn novelist named Tao Lin offered 60 percent of his royalties from his next book to members of the public. Would you believe, investors snapped up six shares. Each share, hawked for $2K, will bring in ten percent of royalties.

Yes, as you can see at left, Tao has a track record as a fiction writer. And, yes, the existing global publishing industry so often bungles in gauging the financial prospects of books. I wish Tao all kinds of luck. He is quoted as saying that "I actually will work better on my second novel, the way the novel is right now, if I have no obligations or responsibilities at all.” So why not get the money up front?

The nobody-one-knows-nothing factor

But do we really want this new option to become a common practice? Might the public end up buying Brooklyn Bridges, so to speak? Didn’t William Goldman, the Hollywood screenwriter, once say, "Nobody knows nothing"? And he was talking about pros.

Of course, the argument could be made that the $2K shares will be feel-good patronage of the arts. But potentially some real legal issues might still arise with the SEC and other agencies. And beyond that, isn’t the "literary" world fixated enough on money? Some houses won’t even buy books unless they see best-seller potential.

This is a little close to home, with The Solomon Scandals, my D.C. newspaper novel, due out in the fall from Twilight Times Books in P and E. Writing a good book is time-consuming enough. Do I really want to worry about government forms such as disclosure statements? I’d rather write about imagined scandals than risk being part of a real one.

The real problem—and opportunity—for writers and publishers

Meanwhile, as amusing as the Tao’s gimmick is, lets consider the real financial problem of writers and publishers—or maybe the opportunity. While the U.S. GDP is maybe $13 trillion, Americans are probably spending less than $100B a year on books. I’d like to see that increase, given the value that the best books deliver in enlightenment and entertainment. A TeleRead-style library system could help by creating demand, not just through library purchases but also by building interest in books for sale by the private sector. The grubby stuff isn’t as much fun as Las Vegas-style schemes, but for readers and writers alike, the end results of a TeleRead-style approach will be endlessly more satisfying.

Related:  The Telegraph, a New York Times blog, and the Mumbai Mirror.

(Thanks to Tamas Simon and Mike Cane.)

By David Rothman

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd still hasn’t explained how she picked up an iffy quote on March 10, 1989: "If you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog." I queried her twice via a Times e-mail form and find her silence rather disappointing. Ah! But there’s a happy twist suggesting that, as I’d hoped, she published the quote in good faith.

Thanks to Garson O’Toole, the nom de plume of a TeleBlog regular, we now know that the quote appeared in the Times at least as early as June 7, 1987. In dispensing advice for Alan Greenspan, then about to chair the Federal Reserve, a Stanford economist used the above quote word for word. I’m going to write Prof. Michael J. Boskin and see where he got the quote. Yet another mention in the Times appeared on October 15, 1987, in a letter from Timothy Norbeck, executive director of the Connecticut State Medical Society, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Quote still iffy—but you never know

The quote and a predecessor are still problematic—the Harry S. Truman library couldn’t find anything before playwright Samuel Gallu used, "You want a friend in life, get a DOG!" in 1975 play. Dramatic license? But who knows? Maybe we can surprise the Truman Library and find that the quote is authentic. If not, might the Times want to do a retraction? At least as recently as last year, the line was still popping up there. Both the library and Ralph Keyes, author of The Quote Verifier, mentioned Ms. Dowd’s 1989 use of the quote, also cited by Bill Clinton.

Related: Earlier TeleBlog items on the quote, which I wanted to confirm for use in a forthcoming  newspaper novel.

By David Rothman

Okay, so Jossip isn’t the Columbia Journalism Review.

And the headline is a tad overdone: New York Times rocked by Maureen Dowd’s Harry Truman quote scandal—even if there’s a qualifier in a smaller font, "According to a loose definition of the word ‘rocked.’"

Still, it’s good to see more people wondering if Harry Truman actually said, "If you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog," a quote that appeared first in Ms. Dowd’s work for the Times. The TeleBlog is simply the most recent outfit to revive the issue, having been preceded over the years by USA Today and presumably others. The Truman Library can’t find such a quote, just a similar one in a play whose author probably used dramatic license: "You want a friend in life, get a dog!"

The real news: Times public editor ignoring issue—while the NYT still uses the quote

Here’s the real news, the fresh twist in the controversy. The office of Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt shrugged off the matter when I queried him. Michael McElroy e-mailed me that it was outside Hoyt’s jurisdiction because "its use was before Mr. Hoyt’s tenure and therefore outside of our purview."

Wrong. As I showed earlier this morning, Times writers are still using Ms. Dowd’s memorable Truman quote on occasion, even if just paraphrased (here, for example).

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By David Rothman

I’ve asked this before.

Did Harry S. Truman really say, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog?"

Or "buy a dog"—the words that Maureen Dowd of the New York Times first attributed to him on March 10, 1989?

After a month, I have yet to receive a reply from Ms. Dowd, whom I tried to contact though a Times form on the Web. Does anyone have the Pulitzer Prize winner’s e-mail address handy for my private use? Got access to a New York Times corporate directory? Even if she were easy to reach on the phone, I’d prefer the e-mail approach so I could share her precise response here.

Meanwhile, along the way, my experience raises a not-so-trivial question. Is there a statute of limitations on possibly inaccurate quotes that appear on the Web through old archives? The office of the Times’ public editor said the 1989 quote was outside his jurisdiction because it appeared before he started on the job. But read on! Times writers are still relying on Ms. Dowd’s work.

Why this cosmic question

Why is the Dowd-spread quote—she referred to it again in 2000—almost surely apocryphal?

Even the Harry S. Truman Library can’t find an earlier appearance of the quote, just a similar line in an old play, whose author, Samuel Gallu, obviously might have used dramatic license: "You want a friend in life, get a dog!"

No grudge against Ms. Dowd. The substitution of "in Washington" for "in life" is pure genius, in my opinion—however it happened. In fact, I’m reminded of the accidental invention of penicillin. Sir Alexander Fleming unwittingly discovered that mold killed bacteria, which, like sleazy Washington lobbyists and other D.C. cutthroats, may be lethal if allowed to multiply beyond control. More importantly, I like Ms. Dowd’s columns. I just want the full story here. I’m watching out for the credibility of Thackeray, the talking Afghan Hound in the epilogue of The Solomon Scandals, my Washington newspaper novel, who uses the quote in a late-21st century fund-raiser on behalf of "pre-virtual literacy."

Blown off despite serious query reflecting past research

With Thack in mind, I futilely asked the Clark Hoyt, the Times’ Public Editor, to give me Ms. Dowd’s e-mail address so I could write the columnist directly to be certain that my earlier query had reached her. The PE’s office normally won’t provide contact information, but I’d done my research via correspondence with a friendly archivist at the Truman library. Hadn’t I earned an exception? Couldn’t annoyances like this be one reason why people distrust the old media, especially in the Internet era when the past is just a click away?

Mind you, I love the New York Times, flaws and all; let me praise the Times for so generously sharing its archives, an act of good journalism, not just a sign of business acumen. In matters cyber, the Times is miles ahead of the pack. Now I hope Ms. Dowd will meet my expectations and share with us the true origins of the dog quote. If it’s wrong and if Ms. Dowd won’t do a follow-up, will the Times issue a correction?

Statute of limitations at the Times on inaccurate quotes published on the Web?

Is there a statute of limitations on possibly inaccurate quotes, including those accessible via the Web?

Michael McElroy in Clark Hoyt’s office has e-mailed me: "As for the Truman quote, its use was before Mr. Hoyt’s tenure and therefore outside of our purview." Hoyt’s term began on May 14, 2007. As recently as January 27, 2007, the Times had published Harry Hurt’s article with the Truman-related dog quote—oft-repeated over the years in one form or another in the Times and elsewhere. Should just a few months have mattered? 

Besides, on or about September 27, 2007, Sam Roberts’ draft podcast script paraphrased the quote:"In Washington, Truman once said, if you want a friend, get a dog."

Directly or indirectly, Ms. Dowd was almost surely Roberts’ source. Would Roberts have done the paraphrase if he’d been in touch earlier with the Truman library? For all I know, there may be other recent usages of the quote or variations. And what about the future? Just how much hair-splitting does Clark Hoyt’s office need?

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By David Rothman

Jonathan Karp runs Twelve. Topic of a public radio segment earlier this year, it’s an imprint within the Hachette Book Group USA and home to such best-selling writers as Christopher Buckley.

Should publishers like Karp bow simultaneously to the gods of commerce and quality? Maybe by spending more on R&D and less on cranking out junky titles destined for quick mulching? It would appear so if you go from his recent Washington Post piece, Turning the Pages on the Disposable Book. No, he isn’t confusing contemporary bestsellers with Madame Bovary. But he apparently thinks that all kinds of books could benefit from more care. Instead the trend seems to be just the opposite, and I fear that the economies of E could actually worsen it, unless the industry uses the technology in a more sensible way.

Faster conveyor belts in the book factories

"I can’t prove it empirically," Karp says, "but when I talk to literary agents and fellow publishers, they acknowledge an unarticulated truth about our business: Fewer authors are devoting more than two years to their projects. The system demands more, faster. Conventional wisdom holds that popular novelists should deliver one or two books per year. Nonfiction authors often aren’t paid enough to work full-time on a book for more than a year or two."

Close to home

Is anyone listening? This is a close-to-home issue for me. About three decades ago, Warner Books, which Hachette owns today, came close to buying my Washington newspaper novel. Luckily for me, Warner turned down The Solomon Scandals. I went on to hone it—on and off, when I had time—over the next 30 or so years. Literature? Damned if I know. But in all the important ways, from dialogue to characterizations, it’s far, far better than it would have been in the late ’70s.

The joys of reflection—for writers and readers

"There’s no guarantee that a book will be better if an author spends more time writing it," Karp writes, "but years of research and reflection often provide a perspective that offers readers a kind of wisdom and authority they can’t get anywhere else. Many of my favorite contemporary books were years in the making: ‘The Corrections’ by Jonathan Franzen, ‘The Emperor’s Children’ by Claire Messud, ‘Titan’ by Ron Chernow, ‘The Looming Tower’ by Lawrence Wright, ‘No Ordinary Time’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin, ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins and one I had the privilege of editing, ‘Seabiscuit’ by Laura Hillenbrand. As she was crafting ‘Seabiscuit,’ Laura envisioned specific sentences in her head, word by word, before writing them down. That kind of careful, methodical writing contributed to the power of her prose.

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By David Rothman

Did Harry S. Truman really say, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog?"—a gem picked up by Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, Bill Clinton and others?

Google Book Search led me to The Quote Verifier, which concluded: "An old saw put in Harry Truman’s mouth." I promised to contact the Harry S. Truman Library directly. Sure enough, it can’t find evidence of such a witticism coming from HST himself. The nearest thing is a line in a 1975 play by the late Samuel Gallu, who, being dead, is unavailable for comment. Gallu’s Truman said: "You want a friend in life, get a dog!" Then on March 10, 1989, Maureen Dowd gave us a variant: "If you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog."

Guarding Thackeray II’s credibility as a talking Afghan Hound

So what’s the origin of the variant? I’ll try to reach Ms. Dowd, whose columns I like, and see if she can enlighten us. Let’s get this straight. In The Solomon Scandals, my forthcoming Washington newspaper novel, I’ll not have my talking Afghan Hound spreading misinformation when he does his Truman send-up at the Cosmos Club. Stay turned. Perhaps Ms. Dowd can surprise us. Or did a source give her a bum steer—and if so, who? Happens to us all. I just want to keep Thackeray II believable in his act on behalf of a previrtual literacy project for Anacostia.

Meanwhile, in full except for contact information, I’ll reproduce an e-mail from Randy Sowell, a helpful archivist at the HST Library. Thanks, HSTL!

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By David Rothman

DRMless audiobooks in MP3 format will be available to Washington, D.C., public library patrons—a way to help deal with the format war between iPods and Windows-related devices. Just some of OverDrive’s 20,000 DRMed audiobooks will be offered. Still, this is definite progress.

Library systems in four other cities are next after Washington. I’m just tickled to see D.C. among the pioneers, given all the financial challenges the system has faced. Positive PR!

Users will get a prompt to delete files once the lending period is over. Terms will vary from branch to branch of the D.C. system. Even now, D.C. patrons can burn at least some DRMed OverDrive books onto CDs for private use.

E-books next?

So here’s the inevitable question. How about e-books next? Maybe using social DRM? And perhaps even with arrangements for libraries to offer patrons a chance to keep the books forever for private use, within a quota—the permanent checkout arrangement I’ve mentioned earlier?

More details on the DRMless lending in D.C. and elsewhere

You can find a few more details in an OverDrive news release, which says that "New York Public Library, Cleveland Public Library, King County Library System (WA), and Hamilton Public Library (Ontario)," will follow, "as well as hundreds more throughout the end of 2008."

Top photo: Martin Luther King Jr. branch, the D.C. system’s headquarter, where I spent many hours researching The Solomon Scandals, decades ago, in the Washingtoniana Room. Thank you, MLK! Psst! In Scandals, a gossip columnist sneaks in some literacy-related volunteer work for the D.C. system. Scandals will appear in October 2008.

Related: Library books you can KEEP forever—and other ideas to help public libraries survive the digital era. It’s an evolving document. I’m still getting input from a library law expect.

By David Rothman

The Solomon Scandals, the only Washington newspaper novel that ends with a talking Afghan Hound doing a Harry Truman send-up at the Cosmos Club, has made the popular GalleyCat blog.

Hey, thanks, Cat. Thackeray II, unlike many canines, is a big feline fan.

The “Get a dog” lowdown

Now some more news, especially for writers of media-related novels.

In Thackeray II’s Truman act, my favorite line is, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” The only problem is that Truman never said those words, if a book of quotes is right, despite a bunch of references in the press.

I discovered the above today while double-checking Scandals via Google Book Search.

Accuracy, accuracy!

So in the cause of accuracy I’m leaving Thack’s gem in Scandals while adding an essential footnote to Prof. Rebecca Kitiona-Fenton’s epilogue, written in the late 21st century:

“Even Thackeray’s omniscience has its limits. As determined by my researchers at the Institute for Previrtual Studies, the actual quote was: ‘You want a friend in life, get a dog.’ Worse, the words seem to have been put in Truman’s mouth by Samuel Gallu for his play Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! (1975). Source of this information is The Quote Verifier (Macmillan, 2006), by Ralph Keyes, who relied on archivists at the Truman Library. I have asked Thackeray to modify his act and have suggested to the New York Times that it correct old references.”

Returning to ‘08

Now back to the year 2008. Just to be sure, I’m going to phone the Truman Library. People ranging from New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd to former president Bill Clinton will be wrong if Keyes is right. Hey, I enjoy Dowd’s work and hope she gets a funny column out of the Truman quote, whatever he really said or didn’t. With almost any blog, vexingly bereft of copy editors, we’re in sausage factory territory, so I won’t claim infallibility at this end.

Meanwhile, if nothing else, my little discovery is a great testimonial to the power of Google Book Search and all the more reason to hope that a TeleRead-style national digital library system can exist someday to carry digitization to the max. Too bad e-books can’t reliably link to specific places within each other; it’s time for the e-book standards setters to take these matters more seriously, while clueful librarians keep plugging away. Another lesson is the need for Google, publishers and authors to make peace in the copyright wars, so it’s easier for writers and talking Afghan Hounds to get their facts right.

Usual disclosure: I’m a very small Google shareholder.

Related: Google Book Search: A powerful tool for investigating phrase origins and two other TeleBlog items by Garson O’Toole.

By David Rothman

Twilight Times Books has a few details on the above. TTB also sums up the newspaper-related plot and quotes a glowing review of my Scandals from New York VR, the successor to the old New York Times (fiction alert). Thanks, Lida!

Related: Twilight Times picks up ‘The Solomon Scandals’: Talking Afghan Hound included and info on Washington Post exec editor Len Downie’s forthcoming D.C. newspaper novel. That’s Downie in the video, and I wish him all kinds of luck with his own book.

By David Rothman

It’s official now. This fall, Twilight Times Books, a small literary publisher, will publish The Solomon Scandals as both a nonDRMed e-book and a trade paperback.

My Scandals might be the only Washington newspaper novel that ends with a talking Afghan Hound named Thackeray II doing a Harry Truman send-up at the Cosmos Club. I frame the main plot, set around the 1980s, with a foreword and epilogue written in the late 21st century. I’m just a time-warpy kind of guy—warped, too?—having started the novel back in the 1970s on an electric typewriter. Scandals blends Suspense with Quirky, Washington, lots of Newspaper, some Science Fiction of course, and a few other stray genres.

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