Books: Marc Maron, Rupi Kaur, scary stories for Halloween and more
Welcome to the books newsletter from the L.A. Times. I’m books editor Carolyn Kellogg — let’s get started.
THE BIG STORY
Marc Maron is known for his podcast “WTF” and his comedy tours and his role on “GLOW” and now he has a new book, “Waiting for the Punch.” Co-written with “WTF” producer Brendan McDonald and taken from the podcast interviews, it’s more than the sum of its parts. “Reading it was eye opening to me because when I’m engaged in a conversation I’m processing in the moment,” Maron told me when we talked about the book.
SCARY STORIES
Best known for the Hollywood versions of his stories (the “Twilight Zone” episode with the monster on the wing of the plane, “The Omega Man”/“I Am Legend”), Richard Matheson was a master of midcentury horror. Penguin has a new omnibus collection of his short fiction, just in time for Halloween, and novelist Scott Bradfield has our appreciation.
The 1970s and ’80s were a good time for pulp horror, as the new book “Paperbacks From Hell” by Grady Hendrix demonstrates. Frightening premises that are outgrowths of social anxiety! Fantastically illustrated covers! Fonts that have been adopted by “Stranger Things”! Agatha French looks inside.
‘INSTAPOET’
Instagram poet Rupi Kaur has sold more than 700,000 books this year, topping bestseller lists with her debut collection, “Milk and Honey.” On Thursday she comes to Los Angeles with her brand new book of poetry, “The Sun and Her Flowers.” Agatha French explores the Kaur phenomenon and talks to the poet, whose upcoming event has been sold out for weeks.
BESTSELLERS
Last week I got an email from a reader who wanted to know where Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing England” was, since it appeared on the New York Times bestseller list and not ours. There are a couple of reasons for that: The New York Times tallies books sold in the New York region, while we tally sales in Southern California. Another is that it was on our extended list last week, which can always been seen on our online bestseller list. This week O’Reilly and his co-author Martin Dugard also made it into print: “Killing England” is at No. 4 on our nonfiction list.
BOOK NEWS
The new MacArthur Fellows include two brilliant writers: Viet Thanh Nguyen, who is one of our critics at large (read his essays here), and Jesmyn Ward. Read the story of all the 2017 fellows.
Go ahead and take your next Amazon Kindle into the bath — it’s waterproof.
Last weekend, President Trump claimed to have invented the term “fake news” — but dictionary Merriam-Webster says that’s fake news.
The scandal around Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct expanded to his publishing imprint, which will be closed by parent company Hachette. (Here’s the L.A. Times’ complete coverage of the Weinstein scandal).
Sign up for our Book Club newsletter
Get the latest news, events and more from the Los Angeles Times Book Club, and help us get L.A. reading and talking.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
