THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS:

It's official... Alex George's A GOOD AMERICAN is the NUMBER ONE pick for the February 2012 Indie Next List!!! Amy Einhorn Books will publish Feb. 7, 2012.






Congratulations to Penelope Lively! Viking published HOW IT ALL BEGAN on January 5th. The New York Times says "one of our most talented writers has written an elegant, witty work of fiction, deceptively simple, emotionally and intellectually penetrating, the kind of novel that brings a plot to satisfying closure but whose questions linger long afterward in the reader's mind." Read the full review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/books/review/how-it-all-began-by-penelope-lively-book-review.html

In a wonderful endorsement for OPEN HEART, OPEN MIND Sogyal Rinpoche states, "Tsoknyi Rinpoche is a rare gem -- a teacher who combines a deep understanding of the Buddhist tradition with remarkable insight into the challenges we face in the modern world. In this book, he skillfully weaves together profound teachings on 'essence love' and the 'subtle body' with examples from everyday life to show how it is possible to overcome our fears and limitations, and ignite the boundless wisdom and compassion that we all have within us."

We are happy to report Lynn Cullen's REIGN OF MADNESS was selected as The Best of the South 2011 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Well deserved, Lynn!

Anita Amirrezvani's new novel EQUAL OF THE SUN continues to gather momentum! To date we have accepted deals from Meulenhoff Boekerij in Holland, ODTU in Turkey, and Azbooka in Russia.

We are pleased to announce we have accepted an offer from Autentica Editora to publish Katherine Sharpe's COMING OF AGE ON ZOLOFT in Brazil. Congrats Katherine!

APE HOUSE has recently been sold to Mono & Manana in Serbia, and Gailivro in Portugal, bringing the total number of foreign deals up to twenty-one countries.

Due to APE HOUSE's popularity elsewhere, the book's Spanish publisher Santillana-SUMA is now moving the publication date of APE HOUSE from October to June.

Historical Novels Review picked Carol Wallace's LEAVING VAN GOGH (Spiegel & Grau, April 2011) as their Editor's Choice selection and declared it "highly recommended."
Take a look at http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/editors-choice.htm

In bookseller news, Barnes & Noble has already had to reorder LEAVING VAN GOGH to keep their shelves stocked, and Vroman's, Southern California's largest and oldest independent bookstore, is pleased to report LEAVING VAN GOGH is a top-seller as of May 16th, currently just ahead of Tea Obrecht's The Tiger's Wife.
See the list at http://blog.vromans.com/vromans-bestsellers-51611

In April The Los Angeles Times called LEAVING VAN GOGH "riveting," saying "The book is truly delightful -- not cute or flowery or simplistic in its effort to illuminate the life of the luminous man."
Read more here: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-discoveries-20110410,0,7374663.story

Bookreporter.com posted a review of LEAVING VAN GOGH and said, "…at once beautiful and accessible, and the reader is drawn immediately into the story. Similar to recent works like Loving Frank and The Paris Wife, LEAVING VAN GOGH provides an interesting and different vantage point of a well-known figure."
You can read the full review here: http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/9781400068791.asp

Spanish rights for Justin Taylor's novel THE GOSPEL OF ANARCHY have been sold to publisher AlphaDecay, and this literary tale with an indie bohemian feel continues to stir up foreign and film interest.

Carol Wallace's LEAVING VAN GOGH received a stellar review in Booklist this week, declaring "With profound empathy, compassion, and insight, Wallace fully inhabits both Vincent's despondency and Gachet's futility as they despair of a cure, pondering the ease with which a wound can be stitched versus the baffling maladies of the mind."

A new blurb for Richard Snow's A MEASURELESS PERIL: "Fastidiously researched and beautifully written, A Measureless Peril is gripping, jaw-dropping, moving, at times surprisingly funny, and always spellbinding." -- Laura Hillenbrand, author of Unbroken

Lynn Cullen's THE CREATION OF EVE was named the Best Historical Novel for 2010 by Atlanta Magazine.

Stephanie Cowell's CLAUDE & CAMILLE has been picked by January Magazine as one of the best novels of the year.



Sara Gruen's APE HOUSE: there's a long article about Sara and the apes in the Miami Herald, and another nice review in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. APE HOUSE is also a "One Read" pick in a few places, and the NY Daily News mentioned Ape House in its Autumn Reads suggestion earlier this month.

Recent international sales:

Russian rights in APE HOUSE and RIDING LESSONS to EXMO; Italian rights in Heather Barbieri's THE LACE MAKERS OF GLENMARA to Rizzoli/BUR, and UK rights in Ellen Feldman's NEXT TO LOVE to Picador (translation: Random House).

Three new blurbs:

Ellen Feldman's NEXT TO LOVE just received this heartening endorsement from Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff: "A powerful, haunting, deeply ambitious novel about love and war, impeccably executed, impossible to put down."

And Carol Wallace received two blurbs for LEAVING VAN GOGH:

Robert Olen Butler: "Carol Wallace's new novel is a wonderfully rich exploration of the deep interconnectedness of art and madness, friendship and therapy, hope and despair. And through Wallace's estimable talent, Vincent Van Gogh, one of the most fascinating figures in the history of any art form, acts and speaks and passionately lives with absolute authenticity. Leaving Van Gogh is a remarkable imaginative achievement and an utterly compelling read." -- Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Intercourse, and Severance.

Elinor Lipman: "How did Carol Wallace do this? Her novel so thrillingly and compassionately illuminates the tragic life of Vincent van Gogh that he is now lodged in my heart like a beloved lost relative. I am awed and enthralled, and so grateful for this perfect blend of artistic authority and suberb storytelling." -- Elinor Lipman, author of The Family Man and winner of the New England Book Award.

Andrew Beahr's TWAIN'S FEAST was declared a #1 editor's choice by Amazon.com in the food book category!

And the Kirkus and Booklist reviews for Justin Taylor's THE GOSPEL OF ANARCHY are now in! Kirkus: "A cult emerges from a punk/hippie sanctuary in this mordant first novel... Taylor writes sex wonderfully well... [His] nimble analysis of these schisms recalls T.C. Boyle's Drop City." And Booklist called it "a provocative debut," and summed up the novel nicely: "Writing from various perspectives in a wholly captivating style, Taylor traces the delicate lines between freedom, spirituality, politics, and happiness, depicting a lifestyle both hopeful and flawed."

APE HOUSE received a starred review in Booklist, and will appear on the September "Indie Next List Great Reads."

Sara Gruen's APE HOUSE is #12 on the Wall Street Journal Best Seller List! (September, 2010)

Sara kicks off her nationwide 17-city tour at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa on September 8th.

Isla Morley's COME SUNDAY is the winner of the 2009 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. See full press release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/09/prweb4509334.htm (August, 2010)

We're thrilled to announce that APE HOUSE has received starred reviews in both Booklist and Library Journal, and a nice review in Redbook: "Share it with the club. The author of the wildly bestselling Water for Elephants returns wtih a new novel, this time focusing on another odd population: a community of apes who can speak sign language--and who are on a reality TV show. Sounds like an out-there premise--and it is--but keep reading, becuse Gruen delivers a tale that's full of heart , hope, and compelling questions about who we really are." (August, 2010)

Film rights in MAKING ROUNDS WITH OSCAR have recently been optioned to Wind Dancer Productions (producers of "What Women Want" and "Home Improvement") and Anonymous Content ("Being John Malkovich," "Portrait of a Lady, "Winter's Bone"). Way to go, Oscar!(August, 2010)

Sara Gruen's APE HOUSE will be one of Good Housekeeping's September Book Picks. (July 1st, 2010)

Andrew Beahrs' TWAIN'S FEAST was recently mentioned on NPR as a "hot summer read," and has been named one of the Indie Next List Notable picks for August. (July 1st, 2010)

Justin Taylor's EVERYTHING HERE IS THE BEST THING EVER was recently longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Award, and Justin himself was named in Dzanc Book's alternate "20 under 40" list as a young writer to watch. (July 1st, 2010)

Stephanie Cowell's CLAUDE & CAMILLE received a nice review in the New York Times this week, declaring "Historic verisimilitude cuddles with bodice-ripping fancy in this diverting fictional representation." (July 1st, 2010)

And finally, Eva Sallis' DOG BOY just received a glowing review in the Boston Globe this week, calling it "[A] book of deep imagination written compellingly."

ESA is thrilled to announce two recent US sales:

Katherine Sharpe's COMING OF AGE ON ZOLOFT: NOTES ON MY GENERATION ON DRUGS, a memoir-investigation of the use of antidepressants among young people, tied to the 25-year anniversary of Prozac in 2012, to Allison Lorentzen at Harper Perennial, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2012 (NA). UK and translation rights are available, and will be handled by ESA. (June 10th, 2010)

Emily Croy Barker's THE THINKING WOMAN'S GUIDE TO REAL MAGIC, about a woman who finds herself in an alternate world -- a fairy tale gone wrong -- where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive, pitched at adult readers of Harry Potter and JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL, for publication in 2012, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books (world). Translation rights are with Penguin. (June 10th, 2010)

And we're happy to announce two great new blurbs for Sara Gruen's APE HOUSE:

"I read Ape House in one joyous breath. Ever an advocate for animals, Gruen brings them to life with the passion of a novelist and the accuracy of a scientist. She has already done more for bonobos than I could do in a lifetime. The novel is immaculately researched and lovingly crafted. If people fall in love with our forgotten, fascinating, endangered relative, it will be because of Ape House." -- Vanessa Woods, author of Bonobo Handshake

"Sara Gruen knows things -- she knows them in her mind and in her heart. And, out of what she knows, she has created a true thriller that is addictive from its opening sentence. Devour it to find out what happens next, but also to learn remarkable and moving things about life on this planet. Very, very few novels can change the way you look at the world around you. This one does." -- Robert Goolrick, author of A Reliable Wife

Also, American retail chain BJs has chosen APE HOUSE as a September Book Club Pick. (June 10th, 2010)

Richard Snow's A MEASURELESS PERIL: AMERICA IN THE FIGHT FOR THE ATLANTIC (published just last month by Scribner), has made a nice appearance in the "Approval Matrix" of last week's New York magazine. (June 10th, 2010)

Snow also recently made an appearance on Fox News. (June 10th, 2010)

Check out the book trailer for A MEASURELESS PERIL here. (June 10th, 2010)

Finally, we've recently made three new translation deals: Stephanie Cowell's CLAUDE AND CAMILLE has sold in Poland to WYDAWNICTWO "BUKOWY LAS", in association with Magda Cabajewska of Graal; and Dr. David Dosa's MAKING ROUNDS WITH OSCAR has sold in two new territories: in Finland to Otava, in association with Ulf Toregard of Sane Toregard Agency, and in Estonia to Olion, in association with Tatjana Zoldnere of Andrew Nurnberg Associates Baltic. Many thanks to all our co-agents -- keep up the good work!