Book perks

Help me help you, plus my weekly shareables: Vac is back, Paul Simon's mystical music, and the life of the Iron Sheik

It’s getting oh so close to the time when I can give you some concrete updates about my Westminster Dog Show book. Whenever I’m able, I’ll announce details here a day ahead of when I put out the news elsewhere—on social media and such. So you’ll get a 24-hour heads-up before everybody else does.

Of course you’ll have to be a subscriber to get the early bird news, so if you haven’t yet:

Now then. My friend Joe Posnanski has a brilliant book coming out in September called WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL. As part of promoting the book, Joe is offering to not just sign a copy but inscribe it any way you like—if you preorder it from his favorite bookshop, Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, by Father’s Day. (Which is June 18! Hurry!)

Joe’s fans have sent all kinds of ridiculous and hilarious inscriptions for him to write. One reader named John even sent this request, which Joe dutifully fulfilled:

As Bugs Bunny would say, “Of course you realize this means war.”

So I’ll just say right now that I will have some sort of similar deal when my dog book comes out. You can ask me to write “God loves a terrier” or “Cats are superior”* or “Let’s see Joe’s baseball book top THIS” or whatever you want. You preorder, I’m at your service.

*This would, obviously, be sent in by a cat.

I’ll mention this several more times before the book comes out: Authors LOVE preorders. Heavy preorders can lead a publisher to increase the promotional push behind a book—meaning things like a longer book tour, for instance. And more important, every preordered book gets counted toward the first week’s sales when the book comes out. For most books, that first week is the best chance to make the New York Times bestseller list. So if (brief moment of prayer) every Shedhead preorders my book when the time comes, it’ll have a great shot. Which would mean the book gets “New York Times bestseller” on the cover, and I get “New York Times bestselling author” in my bio, and my wife will say “Hey, New York Times bestselling author, do the dishes.”

So: I’ll be reminding you many times to preorder the book if you’re so inclined. You will get a chance … soon.

In the meantime, loyal Shedheads, think about what preorder perks would be fun and meaningful for you. Drop an idea in the comments if you think of something. I’m already working on some things that I’ll announce along the way as they take shape.

I’m starting to feel all Carly Simon about this. Hope you are, too.

10 things I wanted to share this week:

1. This week’s SOUTHBOUND was a replay of my 2020 conversation with Wright Thompson, whose brilliant book PAPPYLAND has just come out in paperback. We talk about the origins of that book, his pieces on stars like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, and how he points his wandering soul back home.

2. My weekly for WFAE was on the Charlotte Hornets, who came into the NBA the same year the Miami Heat did, and have accomplished … basically nothing.

3. Mike Vaccaro, a great New York sportswriter and even better guy, lost part of his left leg to medical issues. Here’s his story on his journey back to an active life—and the golf course. (New York Post)

4. The New Yorker’s music issue was stuffed full of goodness, but the story that lingered with me the most is Amanda Petrusich’s review of Paul Simon’s new album SEVEN PSALMS, about love and grief and searching for God. A gem of a sentence: “Outside religious spaces, posing the big questions—how we arrived here; what we’re supposed to do with the time we’ve been allotted—is generally considered the terrain of undergraduate philosophy majors and people who have gravely misjudged their tolerance for edibles.” (New Yorker)

5. DOG NEWS: While I work on my book, I’m devoting this slot to dog stories. This week: Celebrity gossip! Pete Davidson faces off against PETA over a pet-store dog. (Jezebel)

6. How Pat Summitt, the legendary women’s basketball coach at Tennessee, shaped one Tennessee girl’s life. (Oxford American)

7. A Denver dive bar mourns a beloved bartender. (Westword)

8. RIP the Iron Sheik, one of pro wrestling’s consummate bad guys, who had a fascinating backstory both before and after his career in the ring. (The Ringer)

9. A beautiful and educational animation: the Space Elevator. I learned a lot from this! (neal.fun)

10. Jason Isbell’s new album WEATHERVANES is out today and I’ll be devouring it this weekend. It’s also the 10th anniversary of his breakthrough album SOUTHEASTERN, which is still holding strong on my Perfect Albums list. (I need to make a new version of that sometime soon!) I enjoyed Craig Manning’s look back at SOUTHEASTERN and what it meant to him: it was “like seeing Superman away from kryptonite for the first time.” (Chorus.fm)

    
    
    

    See y’all next week, everybody.