Curious

My original intent was to whet a few appetites for the fiction of 2009. My delight mounted when I, archetypal list addict, latched hold of this (finally!) legitimate excuse to publish a link-happy blogosphere list. Then I discovered the chasm between the spirit of British and American publishing. Exit list, stage right.

As it turns out, looking forward is a British thing to do. (Who knew?) If you want to know what English fiction will be published in 2009, I hope (for your sake) that you live on the isle, because Americans are fixed on the backward glance. Nowhere is this clearer than in the papers, where we discover the obligatory year-end article in the Arts & Entertainment section. Here you find that ironic juxtaposition crystallized: the British write of what is to come while the Americans write of what is past. In early-to-mid December, American Arts and Entertainment headlines read “Books in Brief” (The Atlantic Monthly), “10 Best Books of 2008” (The New York Times), “Fiction in Translation: How to Find the Year’s Best” (LA Times), or “Another Year of Reading” (Wall Street Journal). In late December and early January, British headlines read “Fiction to look out for in 2009” (Financial Times), “Highlights of 2009: Books” (The Independent), and even “Treats in Store for 2009” (The Guardian).

Now I must end that catalogue with the acknowledgement that I have seen (after a week of scoring search engines, blogs, and newspaper headlines) a few American articles daring to look forward. But their focus/content (”Will Big Names Lure Readers?” [WSJ] or “Diet Books for the New Year” [again, WSJ]) disappoints me, a revelation that briefly tempts me to navel-graze at my own shallow application of post-structural ideals.

Why so sad, America? I can’t help but postulate that, once again, “it’s the economy, stupid.” Just in time for holiday shopping, American publishers pumped out lists of “Best of 2008,” catalogues desperately appealing for consumption in a month of consumer famine. Then December brought rumors of trouble; publishing outlooks dipped lower and lower and purse strings drew tighter and tighter. My guess is that the present woes simply stole the spotlight.

But it’s not all bad news. One of my favorite blogs, The Millions, posted stellar back-to-back articles that surely made Janus proud:”Year in Reading…” and “Most Anticipated.” And there’s so much to anticipate (like Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice).

Which 2009 work(s) are you keeping an eye on?