DOGLAND early reviews!

Some kind words from the trades, plus my weekly shareables: a ride in a fast car, a journey with the very old, and a Lab among the Clydesdales

The above line is the kicker on the review of DOGLAND in Kirkus Reviews, one of the key publications in the book trade. It went straight to the top of our blurb list. Nice line, anonymous Kirkus reviewer. We’re thrilled.

Here’s a little inside baseball on the review process. There are four major publications that specialize in early capsule reviews of books: Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Library Journal. They do short reviews of thousands upon thousands of books every year. Bookstore owners and libraries read those reviews carefully to decide which books to put on their shelves.

There’s a torrent of books published every single week—I went scrolling through the Kirkus site and found 24 reviews of nonfiction books on DOGLAND’s publication day alone (April 23). A good early review in one of the trade mags can catch the eye of the key people—especially folks at independent bookstores—who can highlight a book for their customers. Word of mouth means everything for books fighting to get noticed. Indie bookstores are American treasures, especially for authors like me.

(Would this be a good time to mention that one of those treasures, Park Road Books in Charlotte, is offering a preorder deal where I will sign and inscribe DOGLAND any way you like? There’s never a bad time to mention that.)

Publishers Weekly also has very kind things to say about DOGLAND. Before I link to it, a slight spoiler alert: The review gives away a bit of the narrative—not enough to ruin the book, and certainly not a spoiler if you follow dog shows carefully. Here’s the review.

We’re about 75 days out from Pub Day … lots of stuff is happening behind the scenes and I will share things with you whenever I’m able. A lot of you are asking about a book tour … there will definitely be a tour, but we haven’t settled on dates and places yet. I will absolutely post those details as soon as they’re ready. I can’t wait to get out on the road and talk dogs with y’all.

Last week I mentioned a few DOGLAND-related perks for paid subscribers to the Writing Shed. A quick reminder:

—As we get close to publication day, I’ll have a couple of “deleted scenes” available to paid subscribers. They’re things I wrote for the book that I love but had to cut for space or flow.

—I’ll also be doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) for paid subscribers not long after the book comes out—maybe a few weeks after pub day, so people will have time to read the book and come up with questions.

—I’m also offering a 20 percent discount on the first year of new subscriptions. This offer ends Feb. 15, so hurry!

Finally, if you are interested in signing up at the Golden Ticket level ($250/year or more), the perk that comes with that is a free copy of DOGLAND plus every book I write in the future. (If you don’t have a copy of THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, I’ll throw in one of those, too.) For those of you who have subscribed at that level, I’ll be in touch shortly to make arrangements on getting you the book(s). Thanks for your support.

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Another quick reminder, especially Charlotte-area readers: I’m moderating two live panel discussions on the future of Charlotte in my role as host of the podcast SOUTHBOUND. Each event will feature experts from across the city talking about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in education, the environment, the arts and more.

The events are Feb. 22 and March 28 at WFAE’s uptown building on Seventh Street—a beautiful place to gather and have a conversation. Tickets and more info are available now. Come join us!

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10 things I wanted to share this week:

1. My weekly for WFAE was about Charlotte’s dual crises—affordable housing and office space—and which one the city cares about the most.

2. Like so many others, I got all choked up at the Tracy Chapman/Luke Combs duet on “Fast Car” at the Grammys. Video of the performance has been a little elusive—the Grammys are not inclined to share much from the show online. Here’s a Twitter link that was good as of midweek. There are a lot of complicated emotions around Luke Combs’ cover, and the fact that a white country artist got the song higher on the charts than Tracy Chapman herself did … I understand all that, and am on board with much of it. I’ll just say two things: One, that duet was a beautiful musical moment, even if it wasn’t some big cultural transformation. And two, there’s only one version of that song people will still be playing 50 years from now. It ain’t Luke Combs.

3. Here’s something I wrote about “Fast Car” last year, about six weeks before the Luke Combs cover came out. It might be my favorite thing I’ve written for this newsletter.

4. The piece of writing that moved me the most this week—after “Fast Car,” I guess—was 89-year-old Sam Toperoff’s dispatch from the Land of the Very Old. (Sunday Long Read)

5. DOG NEWS: From now until DOGLAND comes out, I’m devoting this slot to dog stories. This week: One of my favorite things about Super Bowl week is seeing the commercials in advance (so I can, like, go to the bathroom when they come on during the game). This year’s big Budweiser ad features a heroic yellow Lab:
   

6. Iowa newspaperman Art Cullen’s column on how Trump tore apart his friendships is a gem of a writing exercise—simple, clear, funny, heartbreaking. (NYT)

7. What it was like at the end at The Messenger, another ill-conceived journalism site that ran aground after just 11 months. I had friends there who deserved so much better than the people who ran that place. (New York)

8. RIP Carl Weathers, who did a lot of other great work but will always and forever be Apollo Creed to me. (The Guardian)

9. We thoroughly enjoyed THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP, the Netflix documentary on the making of “We Are the World.” It’s funny, gossipy and moving. Worth it just for Stevie Wonder’s pitch-perfect Bob Dylan impression—which helped Dylan loosen up so he could sing his part.

10. RIP Toby Keith (obit from the Tennessean), who made a series of absolute country bangers for 30 years. I didn’t like his politics (although from what I’ve read, they were a little more nuanced than his surface reputation—if Stephen Colbert liked him, that’s good enough for me). As a musician, he was undeniable. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” through “Red Solo Cup” is a pretty amazing run. One thing I liked is that the jokes in his songs were usually on him. And he gave a lot of us middle-aged folks a slogan to live by: “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.”
    

    Have a great week, everybody.