Hoban News Archive
Items through December 8 1999
For current items, see the main News page
Posted December 8,1999:
Well, 1999 is ending on a definite high note (I'm inclined to call it a triumphal fanfare, but that could just be the herbal tea talking) for Hoban fans. We've got a lot to cheer about—three recent book releases, and Mr. Hoban's new novel seems to be getting rave notices everywhere! We'll take them one at a time:
- Indiana University's Russell Hoban Omnibus was released right on schedule, and is now available. This is really a great event for Hoban fans everywhere. It's especially nice for those of us in the US, as it means not only are a number of Mr. Hoban's best early novels back in print over here, but also it marks the first stateside publication of Mr. H's 1998 page-turner, Mr Rinyo-Clacton's Offer. All in one fell swoop we go from having to scour used bookshops for a fix of anything Hobanesque (other than Riddley), to having The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin Boaz, Turtle Diary, Pilgermann and the aforementioned Rinyo-Claction all readily available—not to mention some first-rate essays, poems, and that inimitably sweet and sharp-witted children's book, The Marzipan Pig. But even Hoban fans in the UK and other places where more of his books are in print might wish to get their hands on the Omnibus—since it includes the fragmentary sequel to The Mouse and His Child that Mr. Hoban began but later abandoned, The Return of Manny Rat...a fascinating glimpse into the book that might have been, and a very enjoyable bit of writing on its own. See the Omnibus page for a complete list of contents, and information on where and how to order it.
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- Mr. Hoban's new novel Angelica's Grotto has been getting fantastic reviews since its release in October. It looks like the warmest critical reception a Hoban book has gotten in some time! Take a gander at these mash notes:
"Angelica's Grotto is sharp, funny, up-to-the minute, and raises fascinating questions about male sexuality, the link between art and pornography and the nature of the unconscious. The portrait of Klein is beautifully observed...when he asserts that 'Being an old fool is the most fun I've had in a long time,' the reader can only concur."
For complete info on Grotto and where to order it, see the Angelica's Grotto page.
—Michael Arditti, The Times"When the noise of the psychobabble, art criticism and soft and hard porn that Hoban has fun with in this novel has subsided, the spectacle of Klein and his dialogue with death remains. Hoban's ability to evoke a simultaneous yearning for life and the encroachment of a future without form, language or sight is quite remarkable, whispering ceaselessly at the edges of the novel while the reader is distracted with jokes and baubles. To render the imminent end of consciousness and of subjectivity amongst a series of narrative devices is an extraordinary act of creativity, and confirms Hoban as an avatar of the strangeness of reality."
—Alex Clark, The Guardian"An innately intelligent, highly original pondering of some of today's newly pressing problems of communication and interiority in a world committed to surfing, where 'intimacy' means one-on-one-on-line."
—Alan Stewart, Amazon UK
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- Finally, in November Mr. Hoban's well-loved 1972 children's book, The Sea-Thing Child was re-published in a handsome new edition featuring illustrations by Patrick Benson (who also illustrated The Last of the Wallendas). This is one I haven't had the pleasure of reading yet, but I've got a copy on order! You can get it from both Amazon (US), and Amazon UK. (It looks like it's been published simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic—what a concept!) Amazon (US) is offering it at US$11.19, a 30% discount off the list price of US$15. Amazon UK offers it at £8.79, a 20% savings off its list price of £10.99.
Posted November 9,1999:
Hooray! Mr. Hoban's new novel, Angelica's Grotto, was published right on schedule by Bloomsbury Publishing on October 28, 1999. For information on ordering, see the Angelica's Grotto page. Many Hoban fans already have copies in hand and are beginning to discuss the book over on the Russell Hoban listserv, The Kraken.
Posted September 29, 1999:
Grotto watch: Bloomsbury Publishing continues to demonstrate its commitment to promoting Mr. Hoban's new novel, Angelica's Grotto, in an intelligent and effective way. Latest word is that the book's release date has been pushed back a few weeks—to October 28, 1999—in order to give Bloomsbury more time for their promotional efforts. While it does mean a slight delay for impatient Hoban fans, it's a sign that Bloomsbury is taking the book seriously—and that's very good news. More than worth the extra 30 days as far as I'm concerned. Here's Bloomsbury's press release for Grotto. See the Angelica's Grotto page for more information on the book and how to order it.
Omnibus watch: Amazon.com in the US is already taking advance orders for the forthcoming Russell Hoban Omnibus from Indiana University Press, at a whopping 30% discount. That brings the tome's substantial US$39.95 pricetag down to a more manageable $27.97, a savings of twelve bucks. Woo-hoo!
Meanwhile, it's been brought to my attention that the list of contents for the Omnibus I posted a while back was missing the Children's Lit section for some reason. So note that the book will also include the fabulous Marzipan Pig, as well the fragmentary Return of Manny Rat—the sequel to Mouse and His Child that Mr. Hoban began but abandoned. You can see the full list of contents on the new Omnibus page.
Hooray! The Kraken, the long-awaited Russell Hoban listserv mailing list, was finally launched in early September. (The list was named for the entity that communicates with Herman Orff in glowing letters on his computer screen, when it was discovered that the originally-planned-upon name, ORPHEUS-L, was already taken.) Hosted by the free ONElist service, the list already has an active contingent of Hobanites discussing such topics as the social acceptability of Riddleyspeak, the rewards of persevering through Pilgermann, possible Lovecraftian and Coctelian influences on Krakenspeak, Mouse and His Child toys for sale on eBay, and what's the best "starter" book to lend your Hoban-virgin friends. Our ONElist community also has special areas for listmembers to swap pictures, documents, and links. For more information on The Kraken and how to join it, visit The Kraken page.
Latest word from Mr. H is that he's still trying to get a new novel started but, in his words, doesn't have anything yet that "looks like going the distance." He's in what he calls his "in between" phase. Of course, he's been busy lately getting Angelica's Grotto ready for publication. I'm sure he'll have something in the works soon enough.
Through the Mailslot: James Yarker has sent along of couple of pictures from the Stan's Café production of Mr. Hoban's performance text from the '80s, The Carrier Frequency, earlier this year. The performance is set in a Riddleyesque, post-apocolyptic world in which the polar icecaps have melted, so if it looks like the stage is very dark and the performers are standing in two feet of water, that's because it is and they are! There are two shots: the first is a wide shot of the stage, and the second is a closer-in view. Both photos are by Ed Dimsdale...Kraken listmember Eli Bishop has a piece about the new edition of Riddley, and the book itself, on his website at: http://www.concentric.net/~Elib/prose/riddley.html...The inimitable Chris Moon, another Krakenite, has sent along a review of Christine Wilkie's book about Mr. Hoban, Through the Narrow Gate...The used book website formerly known as Interloc have written to tell me they've changed their name to Alibris...Olaf Schneider spotted an interview on Amazon.com with author James Roy, in which he mentions Mr. Hoban. Mr. Roy is asked what books have influenced him and replies:
The books I loved as a child were these. Anything by CS Lewis, theFinally, at the end of July I spotted a news item saying that Glenda Jackson would be running for mayor of London next year. Maybe if she gets elected she could proclaim an official Turtle Diary Day, where people can get the day off work if they liberate oppressed creatures from aquariums and zoos.
Narnia Chronicles in particular. Anything by Arthur Ransome. And the
greatest children's book I've ever read, THE MOUSE AND HIS CHILD, by Russell
Hoban. It's about loss, love and a place to belong, I loved it as a child,
and loved it even more as an adult. It has so many levels to it, that every
time I read it I find something new. Now I like to read anything by Tim
Winton (great Autralian writer), Stephen Fry, Ben Elton, Terry Pratchett,
Kurt Vonnegut, and any ofthe fine books by my good friend (and fellow UQP
publishee) Nick Earls.
Posted June 30, 1999:
Okay, first of all let me apologize that it's been so long since I've updated the site. But it's been a busy couple of months...for starters, I've just returned from London where I was privileged to pay a visit to Mr. Hoban himself, along with ever-resourceful Head of Orpheus "Nexter" Olaf Schneider, who traveled from Germany to meet up with us. I'll be posting some photos and notes on the lovely time we all had very soon. Also traveling with me was my friend and colleague from the Chicago performance scene, videographer/filmmaker, electronic poetry networker and web developer Kurt Heintz. Kurt and I shot some video of Mr. H reading from his work, as well as a bit of interview footage. Some of that may turn up on the site eventually.
While in London, Olaf, Kurt and I made a pilgrimage to see the carving of King Ashurbanipal's lion hunt that inspired Mr. Hoban's novel The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. The Museum's Assyrian art section actually has an extensive collection of reliefs on this theme—King A. did an awful lot of lion-hunting, and it was all well-documented in stone. So it took us a while, but eventually we located the one lion that mattered—the one actually biting the wheel of the king's chariot. Click on the first link in this paragraph to see an image of the carving Kurt captured from video.
One of the excerpts Mr. Hoban read for us was from his forthcoming novel Angelica's Grotto, and if the first chapter or so is any indication the book is going to be a pure delight. My first impression, based on what we heard, is that the book has something of a Kleinzeit-y feel...Mr. Hoban also gave me a copy of the book cover, which I'll be posting as soon as I have a chance to scan it. And I brought home an advance copy of Mr. Hoban's new children's book, Trouble on Thunder Mountain, about a family of dinosaurs who decide to fight back in inventive ways when some developers try to turn their home into an amusement park. If I have time I'll be setting up a page for it.
Calling all gamers and Mouse and His Child fanatics: Colette Bezio, AKA Inkwolf, has started a new web-based RPG (that's Role-Playing Game if you're a nebbish like me) based on The Mouse and His Child, called The Last Visible Dog. Players take turns collaborating on a story set in the junkyard world of the novel, with familiar characters from the book cropping up here and there. The game resides on the Yahoo! Clubs site. You can take a look at it by going to: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thelastvisibledog. To actually join the game visit this address: http://edit.clubs.yahoo.com/config/sjg?.k=9CC3740d2b0oCgFi.
To all of you who've been patiently waiting for the listserv, ORPHEUS-L, to go live, apologies for the lack of progress. There's been a holdup with the server, but I am (as ever) optimistic that things will be moving along shortly. In a similar vein, thanks to all who sent questions for the Head of Orpheus Interview with Mr. H. I hope to get the questions compiled and sent to Mr. H. in the very near future.
Marilyn Beth Breiter of the Indiana University Press writes to tell me that the forthcoming Hoban Omnibus is officially scheduled for a December release, but seems to be moving along ahead of schedule so there's some chance the date could get moved up. Stay tuned. Unfortunately, at this point the 752-page book is slated for a hardcover-only release, at a list price of US $39.95. While no sane person could dispute that this is good value given the sheer weight of priceless literature the omnibus will contain, for those of us who were hoping to snap up 17 copies to give to friends and loved ones the cost will be a bit prohibitive. And at forty bucks a pop, it seems unlikely that many curious first-time readers will spring for it. On the bright side, however, the books will be available to libraries and classrooms, and we hardcore fans will get a nice permanent hardcover volume for our shelves. And if I'm understanding what Ms. Breiter says correctly, there is some chance that a softcover version could be issued eventually, provided the hardcover does well. There's hope for that—in April Ms. Breiter wrote that IU Press had already sold out of the hardcover Expanded Riddley Walker, and was halfway through the softcover print run.
Assorted other notes: James Yarker of Stan's Cafe writes to say that the recent UK production of The Carrier Frequency went very well indeed, and he may send along a photo or two eventually. He describes the crowd's reaction to the piece as "stunned"...Hoban fan Ted Curtin wrote to tell me that 15 years ago, when he was trying to come up with a name for his business, he drew inspiration from Riddley Walker. Ted makes beautiful reproductions of 17th century furniture and woodwork; what else would he call his business but "Heart of the Wood"? Check out his work at http://www.heartofthewood.com...a fan named Chris is trying to come up with a copy of "Deadsy" on video. If anyone out there can help, drop me a line, or e-mail Chris at museme@hotmail.com...finally, I found this item on BBC Online back in April:
"Harrison Birtwistle's wonderfully imaginative opera The Second Mrs Kong, to a text by Russell Hoban, was widely praised when seen at Glyndebourne but has not yet been performed in London. By agreement with the composer, Michael Berkeley has arranged the two rhapsodic love scenes in the piece to form a striking new concert work, Love Cries. Alongside this, Martyn Brabbins revives one of the most successful Prom premieres of recent years by Birtwistle's colleague in the Manchester group, the taut Symphony No.5 of Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as giving a first South Bank hearing for a short, punchy piece by the brilliant talent of Thomas Adés."
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