tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3230664933538461949.post1206956949810648962..comments2023-10-30T07:28:27.097-04:00Comments on Gotham Ghostwriters: Around the WordGotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3230664933538461949.post-89270158049616113762010-10-15T09:24:31.919-04:002010-10-15T09:24:31.919-04:00Thanks for stopping by, Alice! I perfectly agree. ...Thanks for stopping by, Alice! I perfectly agree. I attended the first Selected Shorts reading at Symphony Space (where Hope Davis read an especially brilliant story by Jennifer Egan) and heard Richard Russo talk about selecting the "top 20 short stories in America" for the annual anthology. Other editors read through over 1,000 stories before choosing 250 to send him! He said the most difficult task was whittling the top 50 down to the top 20, and that it simply came down to an irrational feeling of <i>loving</i> the stories he finally chose.Marissa (Gotham)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3230664933538461949.post-45683508606814874422010-10-14T18:51:09.266-04:002010-10-14T18:51:09.266-04:00I can't imagine trying to choose a winner for ...I can't imagine trying to choose a winner for a prize like the National Book Award or the Booker Prize. Do the judges read every book published in a given year to determine the nominees? Do they have a team of readers handing them synopses and reviews? Every time I go to my favorite bookstore, Book Court, in Brooklyn, I feel like a mini prize-panel. How to choose which books to read, out of so many? How to determine which will be worthwhile, and which a waste of time? Book recommendations from friends seldom pan out, book reviews often reflect the reviewer's desire to write a beautiful essay rather than reveal the book's true worth (and they are beautiful essays, NYT), and book covers can be deceiving. It seems the only way to find out is to buy and read, buy and read. And with all my buying and reading, I've still never read a single one of those nominated books. Guess it's back to the bookstore...Alice Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16008177785071669308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3230664933538461949.post-40349555488158729092010-10-14T18:49:18.013-04:002010-10-14T18:49:18.013-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Alice Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16008177785071669308noreply@blogger.com