Pamela Erens

events

November 13, 2008, 7:30 p.m.: "Writers Talking" series. A reading, talk, and Q & A at the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 609-924-9529.


news

7/22/08
Amazon, currently the most reliable purveyer of The Understory, is temporarily out of copies. They will be receiving more soon, but in the meantime, if you want a copy and are having trouble finding one, I've reduced the amount I charge for shipping a copy (signed!) direct--to only two dollars, less than it costs me for postage and packaging. Multiple copies are the same, or only fractionally more. Just click the Buy Now button on this website's LINKS page. I hope this will help bridge the distribution gap.

7/18/08
My first international review! The UK's Small Press Review writes of The Understory that it "gives the reader a rare experience--it allows a deep and engaged understanding of the emotions, temptations and compulsions of another."

7/13/08
The Understory has been shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. The prize is for a work of fiction published in 2005, 2006, or 2007. The other finalists are The History of Love by Nicole Krauss and Dead Boys by Richard Lange. Hoorah, and congrats to the other finalists! The winner will be announced in September.

5/12/08
Jim Ruland reviews The Understory and interviews me on The Elegant Variation.

4/28/08
I've just returned from a very enjoyable weekend in Los Angeles for the L.A. Times Book Prize ceremony and the L.A. Times Festival of Books. The prize in First Fiction went to Dinaw Mengestu for The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears--hearty congratulations, Dinaw. Three of the other finalists in the category-- Ellen Litman, Antonia Arslan, and I--took part in a panel discussing debut fiction with moderator Carolyn Kellogg of Pinky's Paperhaus. The audience was warm and attentive, the crowds at the Festival were incredible, and it's wonderful to know that so many people can get so excited about books.

If you'd like to read a more detailed report, I was asked to do one for Xujun Eberlein's Inside-Out China. Read it here.

3/26/08
The American Chronicle has published an interview with me about the writing of The Understory. You can access it here. The interview was first posted on the cultural-literary blog Inside-Out China.

3/15/08
The website Writers Read asked me, "What Is Pamela Erens reading?" and today it posted my response.

2/28/08
I'm thrilled to announce that The Understory was chosen as one of five finalists for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in First Fiction. I'm incredibly honored to join the other four writers on this short list, who are:

Antonia Arslan, Skylark Farm
Rebecca Curtis, Twenty Grand
Ellen Litman, The Last Chicken in America
Dinaw Mengestu, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

As a result of the short-listing, I've been invited to appear on a panel and do a book signing at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in L.A. at the end of April.

In case you're curious, in the (Non-First) Fiction category, the finalists are:

Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Andrew O'Hagan, Be Near Me
Stewart O'Nan, Last Night at the Lobster
Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses
Marianne Wiggins, The Shadow Catcher

You can check out the L.A. Times Book Prize website for more. And here's info on the Festival of Books.

Did I say thrilled? Thrilled.

2/15/08
The new press run of The Understory is IN and books will be shipping this coming week. Copies will again be available at the bookstore of your choice (other than Borders).

1/3/08
First, the good news: The first print run of The Understory has sold out! Now, the bad news: this happened so quickly that Ironweed Press was caught by surprise and was not able to do a new print run in time. Right now bookstores that don't already have copies can't get them in. However, The Understory should be available again by month's end. In the meantime, Amazon still has copies for sale.

1/2/08
Meredith Sue Willis of Books for Readers has named The Understory one of the best reads of 2007. (Scroll down to see the item, entitled "Your Best Books?")

12/22/07
In today's weekend book section, Chicago Tribune calls The Understory "an elegant, understated study of physical and psychic dislocations," adding that it is "artfully detailed and beautifully rendered." Read the full-length review here!

12/19/07
"We have such a deep understanding of and sympathy for the engaging but troubled Jack that we willingly follow him into the dark corners of his wounded psyche," writes the quarterly review journal Rain Taxi of The Understory's main character. Unfortunately Rain Taxi does not post reviews from its print editions online, but you can read a PDF of the review by clicking on the PRESS link above.

12/18/07
The Emerging Writers Network includes
The Understory in its list of recommended books of 2007.

12/5/07
Mary Akers reviews The Understory on her literary blog. "The Understory crackles with the energy of compulsion and unrequited obsession... [it] is a book that relentlessly and incrementally pulls you forward on intelligent tenterhooks." Check it out the full review here.

12/3/07
I've only just learned of a review of The Understory that appeared in the September/October issue of Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide and that proclaims: "The Understory comes to a gripping finale. Erens ... is a very talented writer, and this slender volume is a welcome contribution to contemporary fiction." This link unfortunately doesn't offer the full review, but if you select "See the Full Review" you can get free access to the rest in a few keystrokes.

12/1/07
Barnes & Noble has announced that it will soon start carrying The Understory.

Also, the problems that have bedeviled distribution for the past many weeks appear to have been resolved. Baker & Taylor has corrected an error in its database and is now shipping copies to just about any bookstore in the country. So mob your local brick-and-mortars, folks!

11/01/07
A nice review on the literary/cultural blog Capone's Hit List.

10/28/07
New review in the El Paso Times! To read it, click on the PDF link on the PRESS page of this website.

10/9/07
Small Spiral Notebook's review of The Understory remarks: "Erens's narrative is not your typical debut. The soul of this novel is its meditative lyricism, rendered in language that is as exquisite as it is penetrating." SSN adds, "The Understory is successful at the most difficult of fictional forms--the novel of ideas distilled through the ordinary life of its protagonist." Wow! Thank you, Small Spiral Notebook!

10/1/07
The latest issue of "Books for Readers," the online newsletter produced by novelist and short-story writer Meredith Sue Willis, recommends The Understory, saying, "the great value of this novel is Jack’s self awareness as he falls in love and falls apart.... It’s an interior, precise, and carefully imagined novel that makes a powerful social statement in an oblique but focused way." For the full review, click here.

10/1/07
Nice review in the American Library Association journal, BookList.

9/14/07
According to the September/October issue of ForeWord, the venerable publication for reviews of independent and small-press books, The Understory is "a mesmerizing tale... a universal human cry for love."
Click on the link for the complete review.

9/2/07
The Understory is featured in the October issues of New Jersey Savvy Living and Writer's Digest. In Writer's Digest, the writeup appears in the "First Impressions" column, which covers debut books. In New Jersey Savvy Living, it's in the "Sightings" section.

6/11/07
Publishers Weekly has pronounced! It calls
The Understory "skillfully rendered," "hauntingly abject," and "a sensitive, restrained debut." Read the whole review here (scroll down; it's the ninth review).


****

The latest issues of Upstreet and Skidrow Penthouse include my short stories. "Sebastian" appears in Upstreet Issue Three and "Saving Me" appears in Skidrow Penthouse Issue Eight. [Update: "Saving Me" has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.]

The wonderful and tireless Dan Wickett of The Emerging Writers Network has assembled a new anthology of literary fiction, entitled Visiting Hours. The stories all deal with situations in which, as Dan puts it, "one person must stay, and the others involved are only allowed to be present during specific hours." Think hospitals, jails, nursing homes, etc.

I'm honored to be one of the contributors, along with a great bunch of writers including Benjamin Percy, Quinn Dalton, Bill Roorbach, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, and Joseph Freda. The anthology will be published by Press 53 in 2008.

***
My review of James Salter's Light Years is now posted on Jesse Kornbluth's terrific website Head Butler. I love Salter's work and was delighted to have a chance to proselytize for this beautiful novel. Here's the review.