Soho publishes two new hardcovers a month: one international detective novel for Soho Crime, and one literary novel or memoir for Soho Press. When I started in May, Ailen, the Marketing Director, slipped me a shiny new copy of Lisa Brackmann’s Rock Paper Tiger, the story of Ellie, a 26-year-old Iraq vet living in China. Ellie’s good friend, a Chinese political artist, disappears under very shady circumstances. Suddenly, Ellie is being followed everywhere by menacing guys in suits, and she finds herself on a trek across China trying to escape her strange stalkers, find her missing friend, and figure out what the heck is going on.

“If you want to get to know Soho, this is a good place to start reading,” Ailen told me. “This book is coming out soon. I’m really excited about it.”

I’d heard a lot about Lisa and the book–I’d seen the starred PW review, first of all, and noticed that the book took place in China. As a gal who can’t read enough about China, both fiction or nonfiction, Lisa’s edgy, journalistic-slash-adventurer approach seemed very appealing. Tasty, I’d go as far as to say. Full of dumplings. Literally. I was not disappointed.

Ailen loves the book for a different reason–the gaming component. I have to admit this is the only literary novel I’ve read in which one of the characters retreats into an online game world, and boy does Lisa Brackmann succeed in creating a very tense real-world/virtual adventure.

Rock Paper Tiger is both innovative and very entertaining, the kind of combination you hope for whenever you open a debut novel. For those of us (like me) who love us a satisfying story arc, RPT has a quest, a likable heroine with a number of conflicts, even (dare I say it?) a love story. Very serious readers will be equally rewarded, though.

“RPT grew out of two impulses,” Lisa says. “One was to comment on the War On Terror and the Iraq War, which I felt very strongly about. The other was to set a book in contemporary China, which I felt had been underutilized in current Western fiction.”

It’s true that Lisa’s “utilization” of China goes in a direction I’ve never seen before, and found very engaging. RPT doesn’t fit the genre rules of most American novels that take place in China or feature Chinese characters. Lisa’s take is richer, more nuanced, and friendlier–Ellie, her main character, is American, yes, but Ellie is at home in China. She’s not an outsider looking in. She’s a girl on a quest to help her friends.

The War On Terror element is another part of the story that makes the book valuable. RPT reminds us that America’s war has affected different parts of the globe in weird ways–cooperation with America, Lisa tells me, has been a great excuse for the Chinese government to work toward suppressing their own “ethnic minorities” (in a country made up of literally dozens of racial and ethnic groups), particularly the Muslim Uighurs of Xinjiang province and the Tibetan population in the western provinces.

Reading Rock Paper Tiger made me happy–both on the levels of having myself a very happy literary experience (um, and at least 3 plates of dumplings over the course of the reading), and because it made me realize that I worked at a press that liked to publish the kinds of stuff I was into, the kinds of stuff I believed in. Good writing, social consciousness, edgy fiction by a female author? Check, check, and check. I’m happy.

[Juliet's getting to know Soho, one book at a time. She will always take recommendations about what she should read next!]

So I’ve been at Soho for a month now–yesterday was my official one-month anniversary. Due to the unfortunate alignment of BEA (Book Expo America, the hugest American trade publishing show and a happy but chaotic annual stress-fest for everyone involved) a lot of this month has been tied up in meeting people and generally running amok.

But now that things are settling down for the summer, I’m looking forward to acquainting myself with the Soho list, one author at a time. The Soho Crime series are particularly exciting for me to dip into, since in many cases I’m going to be working with some of our long-time authors myself.

I hope you long-time Soho fans will check in and comment if I touch upon books you’ve read. Also, if you know the list really well already, I look forward to your recommendations. I’m going to tackle a book a week, so let me know if you have a particular favorite and I’ll bump it up on my list!

Juliet
Still Newish Editor
Desk by the Air Conditioner
Soho Press, New York

Since I’m so new to Soho, I’ve been making my best effort to catch up on Soho’s list–both back list classics and newer front list titles. I’ll share my thoughts here as I go along.

For the most part, this plan has been going well, until this morning. As excellent as my new job at Soho has been thus far, I was EXTREMELY resentful that I had to come to work because it meant I would have to tear myself away from ALCESTIS.

I’m only 2/3 of the way through, so I won’t say more now, but this retelling of the Greek myth of Alcestis (the woman who agreed to die in place of her husband, and descended to Hades as a heroine of wifely virtue) is so lush and so surprising that I’m really glad I don’t have plans after work–I’m just going home to read.

More later :)

Dear Soho Press,

It’s me here, Juliet Grames, your new editor. You know, the one who just started. So I know it’s not exactly elegant for me to come out and say, but I’d better just put it out there, lest it nag at our blossoming relationship. So here goes.

I have a big crush on you.

There, I said it.

It’s true–I’ve had a crush on you for a while, ever since I read my first Soho book (it was, FYI, was Ruthanne Lum McCunn’s God of Luck; I read the PW review, was intrigued by the story of a young Chinese man captured and shipped as a slave to Peru’s guano mines, and pre-ordered the book immediately). Once I’d discovered the list, it was fun to realize how many other cool books of yours I already knew and loved–you discovered the amazing Edwidge Danticat, and your excellent literary crime imprint featured Henry Chang’s Chinatown Beat and Stuart Neville’s The Ghosts of Belfast. It turns out different people in my life knew Soho for different reasons–my mom was excited I’d be working at the house that publishes the crime series of Peter Lovesey; meanwhile, Connie Santisteban, the editor who mentored me back when I was an editorial assistant, was like, “You’re working at Soho? They publish The Elfish Gene!”

So, Soho Press, you are many things to many people. Any wonder why I have a crush on you? An independent press, quiet and unassuming and yet widely known for its quality literary fiction and literary crime? And especially for its commitment to international and multicultural literature? Oh yes, that sounds like a recipe for infatuation. But having a crush on a press’s book list and then getting to acquire and edit for that list? That’s my definition of getting lucky.

It’s weird to have a crush, right? Now that I work here, the mystique should have worn off. But I kind of feel like a particularly dorky yearbook band geek who inexplicably finds herself dating her best friend’s foxy older brother with whom she’s been secretly in love for four and a half years. You know, as a rough approximation. Kind of an “Oh crap, does he realize how lucky I think I am? Play it cool, sister, play it cool!” kind of feeling. Unfortunately, I’ve always excelled at playing the dork; playing it cool, not so much excelling happening there. But it’s ok–you make me feel cool by association.

Ok, I got that off my chest. We can move forward now. I can’t wait to see how our relationship blossoms. I think it could be love.

Sincerely,

Juliet
–
Juliet Grames, New Editor
Desk Over by the Air Conditioner
Soho Press