Emma Straub's Blog, page 3

It sounds like something out of a Walt Whitman poem, doesn’t it?

I just got home from the newsstand with two very exciting and beautiful magazines, BUST and O. They both have wonderful things to say about Laura. You should go and buy the magazines (especially BUST, because my boss Tavi is on the cover, and she rules), but I’ll give you a little taste here!

“Given that her wonderful short story collection, Other People We Married, was just published in February, and that Barnes and Noble has chosen this debut novel for its Great New Writers displays across the country, it would seem that Emma Straub has hit the big time. And deservedly so–Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures is dramatic, human, and historical: like a classic Hollywood movie.”

–Christine Femia for BUST

“This bewitching novel is ultimately a celebration of those moments when we drop the act and play the hardest role of all: ourselves.”–Pamela Newton for O

Other articles I’m looking forward to reading in these magazines are about dealing with stress and making your open little Peter Pan collar necklaces, so don’t feel like you’re only buying them on my account! There’s good stuff in here!

Yours, glossily,

Emma

Exciting news! This November, I will be hitting the road again with my dear friends The Magnetic Fields…this time, as the opening act. I’ll be reading before their shows in Detroit, Pittsburgh, and DC! Expect to hear a short section of the novel as well as some other fun pieces.

All tour and ticket information can be found here.

Wheeee!

Yours, currently trying to learn how to play the ukulele,

Emma

*The above photo was taken on the last night of the first US leg of the Tour at the Bottom of the Sea. You can see all of our adventures here. Expect more photos to come in the fall!

This really lovely review just came in from Booklist. It’ll be in the August 1st issue, but here it is now:

“In her first novel, Straub (Other People We Married, 2011) tells the story of how Elsa Emerson, milked Wisconsin tow-head, becomes brooding and brunette Laura Lamont, celebrated actress. Raised in Door County, a beacon on Midwestern beauty, Elsa flees to Hollywood and is lucky enough to be rechristened as Laura by producer Irving Green. But she can’t help being forever haunted by her idyllic homeland, the family she left behind, and the tragedy that shaped her young life. Straub’s approach is wide-angle. The novels covers a large part of the twentieth century and takes into account most every aspect of Laura’s life–her loves, her family, her career highs and disappointments– and what emerges is a zoomed-out image of fame before the Google search and an obviously painstakingly researched account of Hollywood’s golden era. Recalling a time when reigning studios managed stars’ “privacy” with stories spun, Straub’s deft hand is gentler than any tabloid artist could hope to be, and her addicting portrayal of Laura’s life is one of a complicated woman who cannot fully grasp her own power but transcends her circumstances, nonetheless.”

–Annie Bostrom

Thank you, Booklist!

love

Emma

I love Wisconsin for lots of reasons: it’s where my parents grew up, met, and married; it’s where I went to graduate school; it’s where they make cheese curds and beer. And it appears the love is mutual! I am DELIGHTED to share that the Wisconsin Library Association has given Other People We Married an Outstanding Achievement award.

Now, you may be asking yourself, Emma, how on earth do you qualify as a Wisconsin author? Well, I wrote about half the collection while living in Madison, and my genes are Wisconsin all the way. I guess that’s enough! I can’t wait for the Wisconsin Library Association to read Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, in which Door County is presented as heaven on earth.

I’ll be doing three events in WI in September, so if you live in the state, please come out and say hello!

Sept. 17, Peninsula Players Theatre, Door County

Sept. 18, Boswell’s, Milwaukee

Nov. 9 and 10, Wisconsin Book Festival, Madison

On Wisconsin!

love

Emma

This was a lovely first review to receive.

In her debut novel (after her early-2012 story collection, Other People We Married), Straub weaves together snapshots of the long, large life of Elsa Emerson, the youngest daughter in a family of quintessentially blonde, corn-fed Midwestern sisters living in Door County, Wis. In the late 1920s, the family runs a summer playhouse, and Elsa’s first role, as a flower girl in Come Home, My Angel, coincides with a family tragedy. These two events shape her passion for acting and her desire to slip into a different character than that of the good, homespun girl she is. At 17, a few years before WWII, she moves to Los Angeles and finds Hollywood the perfect stage for her metamorphosis into Laura Lamont, a dark-haired, serious-eyed starlet who carries with her an air of mystery and gravity completely apart from her idyllic Midwestern upbringing. Written in a removed prose, Straub brings Elsa to life with the detached analysis of an actor examining a character, exemplifying Elsa’s own remote relationship to her identity. Through marriages, births, deaths, and career upheavals, Elsa and Laura coexist, sometimes uneasily—until Elsa learns to reconcile her two selves. An engaging epic of a life that captures the bittersweetness of growing up, leaving home, and finding it again. Agent: Jenni Ferrari-Adler, Brick House. (Sept.)

Click here to see it with the cover and the PW snazziness. Hooray! That last line makes me want to do cartwheels.

love

Emma

Woo hoo! I’ve just updated my Events page with most of the dates I’ve booked for the fall. There are some truly, truly exciting events on the list, so please check it out!

Tour!

love

Emma

This week, Penguin had me play Girl Reporter at their swanky BEA party at the Algonquin Hotel. Check it out! Also, extra points for anyone who spies Ann Patchett in the background.

Wheee! Funtimes. Someone please show this to Oprah and tell her that I should have my own talk show about books on OWN. Thanks in advance.

love

Emma

Do I look different to you? Maybe a little bit more glamorous? That’s because I’ve just gone Hollywood! No more Other People We Married font and backgrounds– we are getting closer and closer to the pub date of Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures (September 4th!), and I thought the website needed to reflect that. Poke around a bit and check out all the changes.

The other exciting news is that my pals at WORD have made a special pre-order page just for me. Of course, you can pre-order the book anywhere, but only at WORD will it come signed and personalized just for you. I will write you little poems, and draw you little pictures, and make the title page look completely glorious and/or like its been attacked by a fifth grader. Plus, then you don’t have to worry about buying the book when it comes out–it’ll be sent right to your door. Hooray! Order a copy (or twelve) today!

love and signatures,

Emma

Just like Lana Turner at the counter at Schwab’s! I’ve finally been discovered! I got some delightful news this week: Barnes and Noble has selected Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures as one of their Discover Great New Writers award winners for the fall, which means the book will be displayed and supported at the B + N nearest you! And you! And you! I am over the moon. Feel free to pre-order the book through Barnes and Noble, if you’re feeling frisky.

I’ve been writing recaps of the brutally hilarious HBO comedy Girls for New York magazine’s Vulture blog, have you been reading them? You should.

In related news, I did a reading at my high school yesterday (related because there are a lot of girls in high school nowadays, weird, and also because Girls creator Lena Dunham is a fellow alum), and it was easily the most exciting reading I’ve ever done, except maybe for this one. It felt incredible to be asked back to a place I loved so much, and where I really identified as a serious writer, even when I was fourteen.

It’s the first of May, and there are a lot of things that have to get done in the next few weeks, but I’m also devoting lots of good time to my new novel, which feels like a baby bird, which might die if I don’t break out the eye-dropper. And so off I go, eye-dropper in hand. Wish me luck.

love

Emma

P.S. My last Magnetic Fields blog post went live on the Paris Review blog yesterday. Read my (admittedly rather schmoopie) thoughts here.