QUIT SMOKING TODAY. For help call 311 or visit nysmokefree.com

THEY ALL CAUSE LUNG CANCER.IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT COLOR YOUR PACK OF CIGARETTES IS.

mybooks

10

2my www.metro.us

TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2010

Sponsored by

For Bret Easton Ellis, itturns out that you can gohome again. Twenty-fiveyears after he burst ontothe literary scene with“Less Than Zero,” a novelthat encompassed thebleak ennui of an ’80s LosAngeles, Ellis is back livingin his hometown and hasreturned to “Zero’s” cast ofcharacters in the just-re-leased sequel, “ImperialBedrooms.”

Nice author photo! It seems

to sum up your L.A. life.

Every single author photo Ihave has been carefullychoreographed. I wantedthis one to look older anddouchier than that loucheyoung man in a loosenedtie I took when I was 21 for“Less Than Zero.” This onetook two days to pull off. So in 30 years, your author

photo will be in a nursing

home?

[Laughs] One day. Or hey,maybe in the next twoyears. What will happen at tonight’s

reading?

I want it to be a muchmore interactive experi-ence. Talking about why Iwrote the book is not thatinteresting. So I’ll open adialogue with the audi-ence. I want to hear whatthey have to say. That’smuch more interesting. Why the title “Imperial Bed-

rooms”?

When I first began think-ing about the book andthe characters of “LessThan Zero” and the sexualexploitation that happens,I thought of the ElvisCostello song. It’s really assimple as that. The use of violence

— especially

against

women — is

always a light-

ning rod for your work. And

in “Imperial Bedrooms” it is,

again, pretty shocking. Are

you ever surprised by how

many fans you have when

your writing can be so dark?

Maybe that’s why I have somany fans. Really. Do peo-ple only respond to sympa-thy and lightness? If thatwere the only thing peopleliked, then 80 percent ofthe literary canonwouldn’t have been read.It’s a tired complaint —the violence in my work.Look, this is how I feel. I’mwriting within a fictionalcontext. [The violence]isn’t something I am think-ing about when I’m havingdinner.‘Zero’

Bret Easton Ellis on ‘ImperialBedrooms,’ his sequel to ‘Less ThanZero’ Why violence in his work isa tired topic (for him, anyway)

East Coast vs.West CoastNow a California resident,we asked the once-infamous New Yorker if heever missed living here.

“No, I don’t. Every nowand again there is a pang.I’ll read something some-where about a party or seea Patrick McMullan photoand think, ‘Oh yeah! Iwould have gone to that.’

And then I think, ‘ThankGod I don’t have to gothat,’” he says. “It was agreat run, 17 really funyears. The party just endsfor some people.”

METRO/DR

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

This shot — which Ellis wanted to sum up his L.A. life — took two days.

Inside:

So long,‘Earl.’Hello,‘Memphis’PAGE 13

Goodcheese in theSlopePAGE 15

Television

Shop

JEFF BURTON

Back to

If you go

Bret Easton Ellisin conversation withAndrew McCarthyTonight, 7 p.m.,

Barnes & Noble

33 East 17th St.

SAVE ON SAILINGS FROM NEW YORK AND FLORIDA. OFFER ENDS 6/30, SO BOOK TODAY.* Up to $160 cash back per stateroom – based on double occupancy. Cash back issued as refundable onboard credit on cruises booked by June 30th, 2010, and is applicable on selected sailings through February, 2011. May not be applied to cruise fare or gov’t taxes. Restrictions apply. Full details on Carnival.com. Ships’ Registry: The Bahamas & Panama.

UP TO $160 CASH BACK? AS IF YOU NEEDEDANOTHER EXCUSE TO GO ON VACATION.

mybooks

209mywww.metro.us

TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2010

drama queenPhilippa Gregory continues her streak of best-selling historical royal novels

with ‘The Red Queen’ If you thought the life of Princess Diana was something, you’ve never learned about Lady Margaret Beaufort

From Anne Boleyn toPrincess Di, our obses-sion with the privatelives of royal women

has spanned centuries. Historical novelist Philip-

pa Gregory not only under-stands our fascination, shebenefits from it greatly.With her quick turn-around and an education inhistory and 18th centuryliterature, Gregory haslaunched a hugely prof-itable writing career basedon fictionalizing the lives ofthe monarchy. She tackledAnne Boleyn in “The OtherBoleyn Girl,” Katherine ofAragon in “The ConstantPrincess,” and now, afterher best-selling novels onthe Tudor dynasty, Gregoryis focusing on The Cousins’War series with 2009’s “TheWhite Queen” and the just-released “The Red Queen.”

“In the period I’m writ-ing about, royalty and thosearound them regardedthemselves as higher thanordinary humans,” saysGregory. “It’s the same rea-son we love them today —they are fabulously dramat-ic and glamorous.”

“The Red Queen” pres-ents the life of MargaretBeaufort, a woman whoplotted, schemed and usedmarriage to secure thethrone for her son. But howdoes a stuffy British queenwho died over 500 yearsago have as sensational alife as depicted in “The RedQueen?” “Oh, easy,” Grego-ry responds. “She’s awoman of immense per-sonal confidence and in-credible determination.”

And that’s just onewoman — Gregory hascenturies of backstabbingroyals to cover. “Englishhistory is very long,” shelaughs. “I’m going to diebefore I run out of queensto write about.”

The ultimate

Crowded crowns

The queen of royal fiction

Gregory is certainly at thetop of her game (“The RedQueen” debuted at No. 2

on The NewYork Timesbest-seller list),but the marketis gettingcrowded. Thisyear alone hasseen the re-

lease of “For a Queen'sLove: The Stories of theRoyal Wives of Philip II (ANovel of the Tudors),” “TheThree Crowns: The Story ofWilliam and Mary,” “Cap-tive Queen: A Novel ofEleanor of Aquitaine” anddozens more, but Gregoryis diplomatic about hercompetition: “[Historicalfiction] is having a real ren-aissance and I’ve been apart of that. That’s been re-ally interesting to see.”

Judging from this engraving of Beaufort from 1490 (above),maybe there’s been just a bit of dramatic license taken with at least her looks on the cover of “The Red Queen,” left.

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

Inside:

Bieber:AdorableTwitterterroristPAGE 11

What lifeis like outon the Fringe FestPAGES 14-15

Get herchiclook and fine tunesPAGE 12

The Word

Music

Theater

mybooks

12 my www.metro.usTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

SPONSORED BY

GET UP TO

*

* Up to $200 in refundable onboard credit – based on double occupancy. Restrictions apply. Full details on Carnival.com. Ships’ Registry: The Bahamas and Panama.

THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL

SOME GOOD VACATION KARMA.BOOK YOUR CRUISE TODAY WITH YOUR MASTERCARD

®

CARD. SAILINGS FROM NEW YORK AND FLORIDA.

Ken Follett seemspretty at-ease for aman who is about tohave a million

copies of his book “Fall ofGiants” released today.

“Oh, it’s only a millionin the U.S.,” he corrects uswhen we asked if hisnerves are rattled by theenormity of having somany copies of his workgoing to the reading publicat once. “There are severalmillion more translationsbeing released simultane-ously worldwide — Ihaven’t actually countedhow many.”

If Follett is a man whodoesn’t seem modest, that’sOK. He can afford to be con-fident — the British writerhas sold more than 100 mil-lion copies of his fiction,which includes both popu-lar thrillers such as “Eye ofthe Needle” and “The Keyto Rebecca,” and historicalpop fiction including “ThePillars of the Earth” and“World Without End.” “Fallof Giants” has Follett once

again returning to histori-cal fiction.

“I had such a wonderfulsuccess with ‘World With-out End’ that I wanted thesame again. I guess I’mgreedy for acclaim, itseems,” he laughs.

Author Ken Follett on the worldwide launch of ‘Fall of Giants,’ which will have a million copies

released today in the US alone The story behind the beginning of his ambitious new trilogy

One million

and counting

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

Study time

For this grand scope of historical fiction — “Fall ofGiants” tops out at 1,008pages and is the first of atrilogy that will follow thefamilies all the way throughthe Cold War — Follett hadto do his research.

“That task is to make thehistory clear and quite simple to the reader. Thatdoesn’t mean I can getaway with a superficialknowledge. I have to understand it quite profoundly to give them an accurate picture of whathappened. But the historyis the background. At itscore, it’s a novel aboutcharacters and their personal destinies; thewonderful, great, historicalevents are just the background.”

Why he mustbe ‘Giant’“I didn’t want to go backto writing thrillers anddidn’t want to do anothermedieval story and I’ve al-

ways liked to change. It’sa good idea for me tomove to fresh subjects. SoI thought, ‘What can Iwrite about that wouldgive me the sweep of his-tory and cataclysmic

events that I had in“World Without End”?’ Ithought about the 20thcentury and how it’s ourhistory — where we comefrom — and I got excitedabout it.”

Follet

“Fall of Giants” is the first in a projected trilogy that will follow the fortunes of five familiesacross multiple nations during the monumental events of the 20th century.

LUKE WOLAGIEWICZ

“I had such awonderful successwith ‘WorldWithout End’ that I wanted the sameagain. I guess I’mgreedy for acclaim,it seems.”KEN FOLLETT

mybooks

www.metro.usTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2011

10

2my

MEDICAL HYPNOSIS

Dr. Gluck is an Internationally Respected Medical Hypnotist and Life Coach with

over 32 years of experience.

Change Your Life In Hours, Not Years!

Individual & Group Sessions Available

Offi ce: 420 Lexington Ave, Suite 1712 Tel: 212-599-3195Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m. www.glucksolutions.org

• Weight Control – lose 10 to 18 pounds a month

• Addiction – alcohol, cocaine, oxycodone, gambling

• Sexual Dysfunction – 93% of sexual dysfunction

• Shyness & Self Esteem – have the ability of talking with anyone about anything, anytime

• Dating & Relationships – don’t settle for a 5 when you can have a 9 or 10

• Phobias – planes, bridges, public speaking, sicknesses

Sesiones para ayudar con la perdida de peso disponible en español.

He has written books on everything from illegal immigration in ‘TheTortilla Curtain’ to the loves of Frank Lloyd Wright in ‘The Women’

Now he tackles the environment in the lively ‘When The Killing’s Done’

The far-reachingfiction of T.C. Boyle

Q&A

Your novels are all onsuch divergent topics.What makes you not onlywrite about somethingbut also do the vastresearch required? I think an artist shouldchallenge themselvesand grow; I’ve neverbeen limited in anyway. I am just interest-ed in many, manythings and see them asgrist for writing. It’sjust the way my lifeworks. In life, there isalways a story. My workjust reflects that.

JAMIESON FRY

Boyle’s “When The Killing’s Done” tackles

the dark side of “utopian longing in America.”

T.C. Boyle is a whirlingdervish of an inter-view. At points hilari-ous, self-deprecating

and slightly smug, he is theembodiment of his prolific,fascinating writing careerthat includes fictionalizingthe loves of Frank LloydWright in the best-selling“The Women” to Dr. AlfredKinsey in “The Inner Circle”to a hippie commune in“Drop City.” And now he fo-cuses that famed Boyle en-ergy into his latest, “Whenthe Killing’s Done,” a wide-reaching novel about two ri-val environmental groupsfighting over how to bestpreserve the wild NorthernChannel Islands off thecoast of Santa Barbara.

In writing about such adistressing topic as the stateof the Earth and theirreversible harm we’recausing the environment,how do you stay upbeat?

Well, I am terribly de-pressed. But art is a way tonot be depressed. I have akind of negative view ofwhere our species is headedbut I can make art to dis-tract myself. The hardestthing to do is to present twosides and allow the readerto enter those without be-ing lectured at and creatinga story to explore for fun. You are so well-versed in thebiodiversity of the NorthernChannel Islands. How muchresearch did you have to do? Anything to do with ani-

� TO CHECK OUT A COOL BOOK TRAILER OF “WHENTHE KILLING’S DONE”VISIT US ONLINE AT

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

If you go

T.C. Boyle readings:

Tonight, 7 p.m.Barnes & Noble —Upper

West Side, 2289 Broadway

Wednesday, 7 p.m.Book Court

163 Court St.

Brooklyn, NY

mals and the environmentis fascinating to me. Read-ing about it is my hobby,not research. It’s the waywomen read fashion maga-zines or men read aboutsports. I read about animals.

07www.metro.usWEEKEND, APRIL 8-10, 2011

Collins’ newest book is “Horoscopes for the Dead.” He reads Sundayat the Harvard Book Store at 4 p.m. The event is sold out.

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

A poet achievesrock-star status

Meet the ‘phenomenon’ that is Billy Collins — a manwho has made poetry popular (again) He discusseshis latest book ‘Horoscopes for the Dead’ and how life is always viewed ‘through the lens of death’

Even if you’ve never heardof another contemporaryliving poet, you’ve probablyheard of Billy Collins. Sure,there are the accolades —he was the U.S. poet laure-ate for three years and morethan a million copies of hisbooks are in print — butCollins wouldn’t have takenhold of the public con-sciousness if his poemsweren’t such charming cre-ations — accessible, clearand perfect meditations onthe American existence.

In the press notes for“Horoscopes for the Dead”they call you a phenomenon.Twice. Why is it such a miraclethat a poet can be popularand actually sell books?Well, that’s a big question.It certainly has to do withcompetition these dayscompared to the 19th cen-tury. Poetry was a verycommon part of education.Once, to be truly educated,you’d have to write a fewsonnets. And now poetry

has been marginalizedthrough the allure of othermedia that are a littlemore glamorous. And Iguess the other reason isbecause of high school. How so?If your first introduction topoetry is something that is200 or 400 years old, youare trying to digest some-thing that is written in al-most a different language.You can see how thatwould cause great anxiety.I think poetry should betaught backwards. Givethem some contemporarypoems they can catch onthe first bounce — seducethem that way and thenmove backwards to moredemanding poems.

“Horoscopes for the Dead,”like the title suggests, is ameditation on life andmortality. Were you ever wor-ried that it would be seen astoo morbid?[Laughs] When I write, Inever think, “OK, people,let’s get some more deathpoems out there.” All of mybooks have the shadow ofmortality falling across thepage. It’s really more of afollowing of a convention inlyrical poetry, where poetryis obsessed with mortality.It’s not any personal obses-sion. If you go to a restau-rant and sit down and touchthe beautiful flowers andyou find out they’re silk,they really aren’t that beau-tiful anymore, right? That’sbecause they aren’t dying.Life gives their beauty an in-tensity; it’s the same withhuman life. And with poet-ry, life is seen through thelens of death.

“A good poem islike a pair offlannel pajamas.Comforting.” BILLY COLLINS

Quoted

© BARBI REED

“A KNOCKOUT!“A KNOCKOUT!LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN!”LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN!”

– PETER TRAVERS

RAVES:

DIRECTED BY JOE WRIGHT

ORIGINAL SCORE BY

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

SAOIRSE

RONANERIC

BANA

and CATE

BLANCHETTTODAY ADAPT OR DIE

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS NO PASSES OR DISCOUNT COUPONS ACCEPTEDCHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES OR CALL FOR SOUND INFORMATION AND SHOWTIMES

MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes – Text HANNA with your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)

‘‘‘ARTHUR’ IS BRILLIANT!IT’S HIGHLY ENTERTAINING FROM START TO FINISH.”

Ben Lyons, E!

“RUSSELL BRAND AND HELEN MIRREN ARE THE PERFECT COMBINATION.”

Chris Parente, THE CW

STARTS TODAY - CHECK DIRECTORIES FOR LISTINGS

Writer? It’stime to exploreBook CountryMost how-to books on thecreative process tell writ-ers to stay far away fromthe time-suck that is theInternet. But Book

Country, a new online plat-form, lets new writers getexposure, motivation and,most importantly,feedback.

Focused on the genresof romance, fantasy,science fiction, thriller andmystery, members can up-load a work in progress,explore and provide notes

about work already posted,and participate in discus-sions about the businessand craft of writing.

“Traditionally, a writerhas to have a fullmanuscript before reviewsare possible. With BookCountry, he just has to up-load a few chapters and hewill be able to get feedback

on his work,” says MollyBarton, president of thesite. “It makes the wholeprocess less intimidating.”

Book Country alsofocuses on reciprocity.Members are allowed toupload work only afterthey’ve provided reviewsfor three other works.

“All the reviews are

moderated. And reviewsby established memberswill weigh more thanreviews by newermembers,” Barton says.“This way, a writer cannotask his friends to give hisown work a raving review.This maintains the integri-ty of our website.”

NICOLAS LIM

NO FEE • UP TO 2 MONTHS FREE RENT*

Spacious Apartments in Manhattan’s East Village 1 BEDROOMS FROM $2,915 2 BEDROOMS FROM $3,7003 BEDROOMS FROM $4,875 (888) 696-0840 stuytown.com

Leasing Office: 252 First Avenue @ 15th Street*Limited time only. Ask a leasing representative for more details. Net effective rents.

mybooks

16 my www.metro.usTUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

NYC’s #1 FREE DAILY

Austin Wright is having ayear most authors can onlydream of. Not only is hisbook, “Tony and Susan,” abest-seller in Britain, butthis week, a major U.S. pub-lisher is publishing thework in the states with aprinting of 10,000 copies inhardcover.

Too bad he’s not aroundto witness it: Wright died in2003 at the age of 80.

Here is the very oddbackstory to “Tony and Su-san”: The thriller was firstreleased in 1993 to a smallpublishing house. It gar-nered critical acclaim, but

it failed to gain tractionwith readers. However,over in England, editor RaviMirchandani, who read theoriginal manuscript twodecades ago, just couldn’tforget it. So he decided toinvestigate what happenedto “Tony and Susan” anddiscovered the book wasout of print. The staff at hispublishing house loved it,they acquired the rights toit and went on to sell world-wide rights in 15 languages.

“I’ve never had this hap-pen,” says Jamie Raab, Pub-lisher of Grand Central,who bought the rights for

U.S. publication for its re-re-lease. “I read the book andthought it was amazing. Iwanted to be a part of intro-ducing it to a much largeraudience.”

Raab knows the wholetale is bittersweet.

“Unfortunately, [Wright]is not around to appreciateit and to enjoy its success,”says Raab. “But it’s just aseamless book and workson so many levels. I justhad to try to get it outthere.”

Rescued from thebook graveyard

An author is receiving an unexpected second chance this summer afterbeing out of print for nearly 20 years The rare story of ‘Tony and Susan’

The plot

So why did all of theseeditors fawn over “Tony andSusan” enough to resurrectit? Because it’s just so good.

Set up as a novel-within-a-novel, “Tonyand Susan”follows SusanMorrow, amild-man-nered college

teacher, as she reads a man-uscript her ex-husband mailsher, a chilling thriller of mur-der and revenge.

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

Wright, pictured right, was an English professor at the University of Cincinnati and author of seven novels, all of which fell out of print. Eight years after his death, his masterpiece, “Tony and Susan,” is being reissued to worldwide acclaim.

GETTY IMAGES

Get writing!

In the news

Even if you’re not agraphic novel afi-cionado, you proba-bly know the work

of Daniel Clowes. A fre-quent contributor to TheNew Yorker and The NewYork Times Magazine,Clowes has written twomovies based on his comicworks, “Ghost World” and“Art School Confidential.”In his latest book, the bold,zesty “The Death-Ray,”Clowes follows a 1970steenager named Andy,who, with a puff of a ciga-rette, discovers his specialpowers. And once Andygets his hands on a specialray-gun, Clowes turns thetraditional superhero storyon its masked head.

A kid who smokes a cigaretteto discover his secret powersis subversive — and brilliant. It seemed like, in a way, themost taboo thing thatcould ever happen in awork of art. If you had amovie where a kid smokesa cigarette, it is less likely itwould be made than if heinjects serum into his armwith a needle or takes blot-ter acid to attain superpowers. Nothing makesyou more of an outcastthan portraying smokingin a positive light. [Laughs] Are you a smoker? No. And I can’t stand to bearound people who smoke.My dad even died of lungcancer. But you can’t saythere isn’t a certain adoles-cent appeal to smoking.And he needed a way to dis-cover his powers. So …What is it about the secret super hero story that’s so attractive to artists? I read superhero comics asa kid and was really attract-ed to the way they looked;the early Marvel comics es-pecially seemed so chargedwith electricity. I readthem until I was 12 or 13 orso and then I lost interest.They suggest this richworld of imagination, but

they never quite live up tothat as you’re readingthem. I just wanted to cre-ate a story that seems tohave some depth and reso-nance but also uses theiconography of the old su-per hero comics. And, sure,I do feel some primal at-traction to that costume-wearing kid in a dark ur-ban environment.

‘Pop!’ goes the‘Death-Ray’“I have a small collection ofsmall toy ray guns, and theone in the book is based onwhat I had as a kid,” saysClowes of the inspiration be-hind Andy’s weapon ofchoice. “I like their sound ef-fect — how something thatcan be so destructive justmakes a little ‘pop’ sound.”

mybooks

15my www.metro.usTUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2011

The p

ho

tos in

pictu

re are fro

m p

reviou

s editio

ns o

f Ph

oto

Ch

alleng

e.

LET THE WORLD SEE YOUR PHOTOS!Sign-up for Metro’s annual Global Photo Challenge. Submit your photos and enter for a chance to win as the best local, national and Global Photo Challenge Photographer of 2011! You could win a new lens, camera or even a trip to anywhere in the world. Plus, this year when you submit your photos you’ll have the opportunity to make money for your work!

Go to metrophotochallenge.com

REGISTERNOW!

Smoke ’em ifyou got ’em

Artist Daniel Clowes on his latest graphic novel Meet Andy, his cigarette-wielding teenage superhero

DOROTHY ROBINSONdorothy.robinson@metro.us

Catch Daniel Clowes in conversation with fellow graphic novelist Seth tonight at 7

at Housing Works, 126 Crosby St., www.housingworks.org.

Clowes’ self-portrait