NOVEMBER 1997

Busted by the Capitalization League of America

Touchy subject, it seems. Read on:

Dear Burning Questions:
You asked what we prefer -- upper- or lower-case letters. Please use the correct capitalization (upper-case letters). I work for a literary council. There are enough people struggling to learn grammar rules. We certainly don't need a publication like BookPage to contribute to the problem. Lower-case may be artistic in poetry or to make a point in a short story, but in now way, shape, or form is it appropriate for Burning Questions. Shame on you for even considering it.
Sandy Schultz
Sussex, Wisconsin

BQ:
We are shamed but may sin again.

Endearing

N is for Nightmare
Pauline Thompson
Gainesville, Florida

N is for Nefarious
N is for Negligence
N is for Nobody
N is for Nameless
Dianna Read
Crystal River, Florida

Our second most common BQ

Dear Burning Questions:
Volume #3. The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. When?
Michael McClure
Key West, Florida

BQ:
"Cities of the Plain." January 1998. Latecomers. Read the first two: "All the Pretty Horses" and "The Crossing."

Hey, you try writing thousands of pages about a guy who looks like every fat-cheeked baby in the universe

Dear Burning Questions:
What has happened to favorite author William Manchester? Dead? Ill? Incapacitated? The third volume of "The Last Lion" biography of Churchill is long, long overdue.
Fred Blumenthal
Dayton, Ohio

BQ:
We can't vouch for his health, and we certainly hope Mr. Manchester is none of the above. From what we hear, he is still researching the third volume which will be published some day by Little, Brown.

For those wanting a good wintertime reading project, the first two parts are out there and waiting for you. "The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory 1874-1932" and "The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone 1932-1940." And if you really lack anything else to do, Martin Gilbert's eight-volume Churchill biography will keep you up all night. For 11 months or so.

Enough authoritative biography -- we need something to blow up

Dear Burning Questions:
I am waiting not so very patiently for Dale Brown's next book (after "Shadows of Steel") to be released in paperback -- any ideas?

Secondly, was "Executive Orders" Tom Clancy's last book in the Jack Ryan series? (Please say no!) And if not, when might we see it?
Mark
via the Internet

BQ:
Mark, please, be patient. Don't send us a virus or cybervoodoo or anything. We have answers for you, man.

You have to love an author whose Web site address is www.megafortress.com. It is there that Dale Brown fans will find friendly comments from this best-selling author, whose "Fatal Terrain" is currently available in hardcover and will arrive in paperback in June 1998. Mark, if your patience is running thin, hie thyself to the library. It's like a bookstore, only better: it's free.

What's Brown's potentially doom-ridden scenario this time? Chaos reigns across Asia, and only aerial strike warfare expert Patrick McLanahan and his untried Unmanned Aerial Attacker force can stop the madness before World War III breaks out.

Those wanting to contact this king of military hardware-based fiction can write Dale Brown at Readermail@Megafortress.com.

As for the most high emperor of the literary-military complex, not to worry. Tom Clancy is not done with all-purpose superhero Jack Ryan. Expect to see Jack again sometime in August or September 1998.

Poets, French social theorists -- It's time for the big brainyhead corner

Dear Burning Questions:
I'd be happy to hear about any forthcoming titles/projects from the American poet James Tate and the French theorist Jean Baudrillard.

Thanks.
Clay Banes
via the Internet

BQ:
It's a big month for both of your fellas.

This month Ecco Press will publish Pulitzer/National Book Award/Tanning "That's $100,000 for You, Sir" Prize winner James Tate's "Shroud of the Gnome: Poems."

As for Baudrillard, jump into his latest, "Fragments: Cool Memories Iii, 1991-95," coming out this month from Verso. It's translated, thank heavens, by Chris Turner.

A not-so-sunny Florida

Dear Burning Questions:
I'm a humongous fan of Florida author Harry Crews. I've anxiously been awaiting something new from him since "Mulching," but haven't heard a thing. Any news? Thanks for your help.
Jim Bagg
via the Internet

BQ:
Harry Crews' new novel, "Celebration," will be published by Simon & Schuster in January. Author of "The Mulching of America," "Scar Lover," and "Body," Crews sets this latest novel in a trailer park in Florida -- a place that serves as sort of elephant graveyard for the elderly. Into this bleak landscape walks one of Crews' most memorable characters to date, a young, beautiful siren who shakes up the trailer park more than any tornado or hurricane ever could. Crews' caustic wit and discerning eye for the absurd have never been more right on than in this latest novel.

Dear Mr. Trump: I would like to write a book about the Trump International Hotel and . . .

Dear Burning Questions:
What is Jeffrey Robinson writing these days? He has supposedly written a new book about a famous London hotel. Thanks!
L.J. Griffin
Valdosta, Georgia

BQ:
Jeffrey Robinson, an American writer living in London and the author of 15 books, figured out how to turn a month's stay at the ultrafancy Claridge's in London at a paying gig. "The Hotel: Backstairs at the World's Most Exclusive Hotel" was published by Arcade Publishing in May, and it makes for genteel keyhole publishing.

Claridge's will do anything to please a guest: swap out all the televisions for Korean-made sets to please the president of South Korea; address you by whatever title you'd like to be called; cover all the doorknobs in Kleenex.

More power to you, Jeffrey. Wish we'd gotten there first.

Are you missing your favorite authors? Is it just not the same without them? Write us, and we'll try to intervene to find out why they don't call, don't write. Send your cards and letters to Burning Questions, 2501 21st Ave. South, Suite 5, Nashville, TN 37212. Or better yet, e-mail us at Burning_Questions@bookpage.com.

Alas, we regret that personal replies are not possible.

©1997, ProMotion, inc.

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