LitMinds Blog and Interviews

Recently our local paper, the SF Chronicle, turned its attention southward to cover the L.A. Times' plan to cut back its Book Review section.  Among the reasons suggested: unsympathetic out-of-town management and declining advertising revenue.  There was no mention of the rise of book review bloggers.  But we can't help but note that one of the most successful book review bloggers sits in L.A. and is himself a tough critic of the L.A.Times Book Review. 

Mark Sarvas, the man behind "The Elegant Variation," has won several honors including Forbes "Best of the Web pick," a Guardian Top 10 Literary blog, and a Los Angeles Magazine Top L.A. blog.  His blog entries are unapologetically irreverent (hey, could that be an inelegant variation?) and he hasn't shied away from controversy taking on the established, the pompous, and the overhyped (oh boy, we're on a roll).

We like mavericks, so we invited Mark to join the LitMinds community and tell us about his writing and reading life. 

1) You are a screenwriter, short story writer, novelist, book reviewer and host of the literary blog, The Elegant Variation.  Those are a lot of projects!  What occupies most of your time and energy these days?
Well at the moment I'm spending a bit too much time navigating an unseemly literary brawl that, sadly, I'm partly responsible for setting off.  But the flames seem to be dying down – and I'm trying to steer the conversation back to dry ground.  I'm hopeful.  Beyond that, I'm balancing the usual load of book reviews with blogging responsibilities, which includes managing correspondence, opening packages, scanning for literary news and, of course, reading, reading, reading.  I'm also about to begin revisions on my novel with my editor.

2) Your blog, The Elegant Variation, has won a number of awards.  What have you learned throughout the process of creating your blog and what do you think makes a successful blog?
I've learned that one mustn't think too much about what others think or say about you, and that one needs to be true to one's creative impulses and critical radar as opposed to trying to guess what it is your readers are after.  If you're independent, fair-minded and post regularly – the regularity is important – you'll develop a following.  It doesn't hurt if you make people laugh from time to time. 

I've also learned – gradually and not without struggle – that one needs to be cognizant of the human beings who are the subject of your posts.  It's easy to be careless and unintentionally destructive or hurtful and one must exercise constant vigilance.  That doesn't mean that one can't or oughtn't call "bullshit" on idiotic pronouncements or overhyped works.  It's sort of like Hemingway's famous bullshit detector but with humor and manners; or at least picking on those big enough to defend themselves.  (I'm particularly wary of criticizing first novels, always have been.  There's absolutely nothing to be gained for strangling someone in the crib first time out, unless they've written something odious – hateful or racist.)

3) Of your different written works, which piece(s) are you most proud of?

And the blog post that I think I'm most proud of is a personal one, a remembrance of a beloved writing teacher of mine who died from AIDS-related complications. 

4) Through your blog, you follow many aspects of the book industry.  What do you find to be some of the interesting stories or changes occurring these days in the world of books, authors, publishers, and booksellers?
Well, do you mean "interesting" or "depressing"?  I'm troubled by how much the book business continues to emulate the worst aspects of Hollywood; the search for the blockbuster, the focus on the widest possible common denominator; marketers in charge of making creative decisions; the lamentable fixation with Young And Attractive.  Those are certainly interesting but not especially uplifting.  I'm also very interested to see how POD (print-on-demand) changes the book business, which is the most inefficient business model I've ever seen – even worse than Hollywood, and that's saying a lot.  The Google Books project is also a fascinating tale that's unfolding, and the question of what copyright means in a digital age is a profound one.  I'm not enough of a visionary to forecast where things might go, but I'm an interested observer.

5) What is the last book you read that really affected you?  If you could make a book recommendation to some specific person(s), what book would it be, to whom, and why?
I think "affected" is open to some interpretation.   Every book affects me to some degree – sometimes it's the disgust with which I hurl it across the room; sometimes it's the heartbreak of the narrowly missed opportunity; occasionally it's the book that makes me feel glad to be alive, that inspires me to write, whether it's a post extolling the book's virtues or prose of my own.  But given that in this context "affected" probably means the last book I really loved or was moved by, you can usually find that one sitting at the top of my Recommended sidebar.  In this case, that would be Joshua Ferris' lovely debut Then We Came to the End, which I found joyously humane and talked up to everyone who would listen.  (Since then, he's gotten a well-deserved front page review from the New York Times Book Review.)

As for the second part of the question, the answer would really depend on who the "whom" in question is.  I suppose I could be cheeky and say I'd recommend you read my book when it comes out next year, but I won't.  Instead, I think I would like to recommend that James Wood, the critic I esteem most highly, read John Banville's new book Christine Falls, written under the nom de plume Benjamin Black, if only because it would bring together my two great literary fixations, and I'd love to hear what Wood thinks about it in particular and Banville in general.

6) What do you like about the LitMinds community?
What I like most about what I've seen of LitMinds is that it's about continuing the conversation.  I like the notion of bringing thoughtful readers together with folks from the independent bookstore scene (which needs all our support) and providing a place where people can come to talk about the books that matter to them.  I think the message board model works really well and brings together a wide range of readers who wouldn't otherwise have the chance to exchange their ideas.  That's to everyone's benefit.

You can find Mark Sarvas' LitMinds profile here.