The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 20

17 kRIETY The Minneapolis Star Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1982 4B (Editors arm books with blockbuster quotes (Blurbs, from Page IB) rT6 drive authors to stupendous feats of persistence. A recent case in point is a vanity-press volume sporting a hefty double-colon title: "Lawrence and Mann Overarching: Once Up the Country of Ujamaa: Roll Away der Rock and Other Essays." Author Don Paul's collection, which otherwise might have escaped national attention, carries a quote on the back jacket from one of America's most respected men of letters, Malcolm Cowley, who wrote that the book "has vision, if it also lias Inf licities of style," among other ambiguous musings. Cowley, who is sent about 50 books a year and blurbs five or six I read 'em, I give 'em a had no idea who Paul was. He was skeptical of the volume and annoyed by the author's incessant supplications.

Why, then, did Cowley come up with a quote? "Because," says the venerable critic, "he's been on my tail for three years." to more than 500 stores in the huge chain, is skeptical, because blurbers "usually seem to be authors on the publisher's own list" Ideally, in looking for fiction blurbs, says Putnam's Grann, "I would work on the Johns" that Is, Updike, Cheever, Irving and Fowles. But often the most desirable are the least willing, including authors as diverse as Philip Roth, John McPhee, D.M. Thomas, John Hersey, Eudora Welty, E.L. Doc-torow, John Barth, Mary Gordon, Woody Allen, Bernard Malamud, Frederic Forsyth, Robert Ludlum, John LeCarre, Robert Stone, Calvin Trillin and Louis L' Amour. Updike will blurb infrequently (and will appear as the only quote), and Cheever, never.

Not everyone finds the process essential. Carole Baron, publisher of Dell-Delacorte, says, "I often wonder if it has any effect on the book-buying and Kay Sexton believes that "most people dip into the dust jackets and make their decision that way." But that's a minority view. Conviction that blurbs matter can Since bound galleys can cost $20 or more each, and the normal blurb-return rate rarely exceeds one in 10 one In 20, says Korda, "unless the person has a lot of friends" publishers are looking for authors who "kiss on the first date," as Applebaum puts it. Among them, horror champ Stephen King is both bankable and prolific. "One of the great blurb-meisters," says Applebaum.

"He's like a guy who says he's gonna, quit smoking but always wants one last puff." Indeed: Random grazing in the racks will turn up a dozen King quotes. Of Peter Straub's "Ghost Story" he said, "The terror just mounts and mounts." So does the rhetoric, as King describes Straub's "Shadowland" as "creepy from page reveals that Bari Wood's "The Tribe" "had me nervous about going and says of "The Unborn" that "I didn't put it down until I had turned the last page literally wrung out and trembling." A man in that condition can per- haps be forgiven the egregious "literally." After all, he gets a dozen books a week and tries to read them all, probably downstairs. And King says that "I'm determined not to stop," even though his agent has warned him that Most publishing houses believe i that quotes can determine whether a book is reviewed or not, build 4book club interest and sales-force enthusiasm, trigger browser im- pulse and even turn a dubious pro- ject into a phenomenon. When pub-j lisher Seymour Lawrence found himself faced with a book of sto-J ries hardest thing to by a 26-year-old unknown named Jayne A. Phillips, he mounted a -blurb blitz that turned up quotes from John Irving, Tillie Olsen, Tim I O'Brien and Geoffrey Woolf, among many others.

"It was a lay- ing-on of hands," says Lawrence. When the dust settled, Dell had sold 25,000 trade paperback copies, and Phillips had an international reputation. A first horror novel by an obste-I trician named David Shobin might not seem an exploitable property. But "The Unborn" came from Lin- den Press trailing shrouds of glory: killer quotes from Stephen King I and Mary Higgins Clark. "In this impulse-purchase genre," says Stu- art Applebaum, publicity director I at Bantam books, "those are golden names." Bantam paid $375,000 for Shobin's book and printed almost half-a-million copies.

Quote-hunting is usually the re-I sponsibility of editors, who draw from their own stables and person- Erica Jong Stephen King overblurbing will hurt -his reputation. It can. Hele'ne Atwan of Far-rar, Straus recalls that "When 'Garp' first came out, everybody wanted a John Irving quote and everybody got a John Irving quote. And within two days, a John Irving quote was worthless." Irving has since curtailed his endorse al friends, the author's acquaintances and other ostensibly interested parties, depending on the nature of the book. For John Ehrlichman's forthcoming "Witness to Power," Simon Schuster's editor-in-chief, Michael Korda, sent out "only 20" bound galleys.

"I kept it small because I wanted to keep it basically to John's friends," says Korda. Ehrlichman's allegations of improprieties by Chief Justice Warren Burger turned up in the newspapers. "I should have guessed," says Korda. ments radically. So have Erica Jong and Mario Puzo.

Frequently mentioned as de pendable sources are Jerzy Ko sinski, Kurt Vonnegut Joyce Carol Oates, John Kenneth Gal Marnates braith, Carl Sagan, William "A Man Called Intrepid' Stevenson, Hemegi iftl ahp GotdenVfeteyShcppngCerter CBS tops prime-time ratings for seventh consecutive week Susan Isaacs and Peter Straub. If such cheerful symmetries tend to diminish the credibility of endorsements, one pessimistic executive who has worked at several major houses believes that "about 25 percent" of blurbers do not even read the book. And Kay Sexton of B. Dalton, whose newsletter goes (Carman, from Page ib) Our entire fall winter inventory has been reduced to lA 57. Benson (ABC) 58.

Strike Force (ABC) 59. (Tie) Best of the West (ABC) Today's FBI (ABC) 61. Making a Living (ABC) 62. Bosom Buddies (ABC) 63. Code Red (ABC) 64.

NBC Magazine (NBC) 65. Darkroom (ABC) 66. Open All Night (ABC) 67. Palms Precinct (NBC) 68. Late Show (NBC) 69.

Here's Boomer (NBC) 70. McLalnsLaw(NBC) 2r Vv Today" celebrates its 30th anniversary Thursday morning Watch for "Real Radio" to be the slogan for a new WCCO-AM (830) billboard and on-air promotional campaign "Barnard Hughes, the star of CBS' "Mr. Merlin," has agreed to be in the St. Paul Winter Carnival Qran-de Day Parade on Jan. 30 The new weekend sports anchor on KSTP-TV (Channel 5) is Larry Burnett, who had the same job at WCKT-TV in Newest reporters at WCCO-TV are Alan Cox, from WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, and Philip Holman, a CBS minority intern and former New York Post 5 All Sales Final Terror began PARIS The Reign of Terror, during which thousands of French aristocrats died on the guillotine, began in France on May 31, 1793.

11. Laverne Shirley (ABC) 12. Falcon Crest (CBS) 13. (Tie) Happy Days (ABC) Archie Bunker's Place (CBS) 15. Hart to Hart (ABC) 16.

(Tie) Real People (NBC) Love Boat (ABC) 18. Diamonds Are Forever (ABC) 19. Hill Street Blues (NBC) 20. (Tie) House Calls (CBS) Little House on the Prairie (NBC) 22. Trapper John, Mi).

(CBS) 23. (Tie) Knots Landing (CBS) Elephant Man (ABC) 25. Facts of Life (NBC) 26. Barbara MandreU (NBC) 27. Foul Play (CBS) 28.

Bret Maverick (NBC) 29. (Tle)Qulncy(NBC) Private Benjamin (CBS) Will (NBC) 32. That's Incredible (ABC) 33. Kid from Nowhere (NBC) 34. Fantasy Island (ABC) 35.

Dynasty (ABC) 36. Father Murphy (NBC) 37. Fall Guy (ABC) 38. Barney Miller (ABC) 39. (Tie) DifTrent Strokes (NBC) CHlPs (NBC) 41.

Taxi (ABC) 42. Two of Us (CBS) 43. Lou Grant (CBS) 44. Mr. Merlin (CBS) 45.

Flamingo Road (NBC) 48. Walt Disney (CBS) 47. (Tie) WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS) Fame (NBC) 49. Long Riders (CBS) 50. (Tie) Nurse (CBS) Simon and Simon (CBS) 52.

Mork and Mlndy (ABC) 53. Greatest American Hero (ABC) 54. Ambush Murders (CBS) 55. Gimme a Break (NBC) 56. 2020 (ABC) VISA MASTERCARD SHOPPERS CHARGE 11 RGANIZE WITHWHITMOR.

15TO20 OFF. CBS topped the Nielsen prime-time ratings last week for the seventh straight time, and 10th time in the 14-week-old season. It averaged a 21.9 rating. ABC averaged 17.7, and NBC 16.7. Here is how last week's network shows, ranked: 1.

NFL Football Sao Francisco vs. Dallas (CBS) 2. NFL Football Postgame (CBS) 3. 60 Minutes (CBS) 4. Dallas (CBS) 5.

Three's Conpany (ABC) 6. Dukes of Hazzard (CBS) 7. Too Close for Comfort (ABC) 8. Magnum, J. (CBS) 9.

One Day at a Time (CBS) 10.MASH(CBS) Z3 t'y 1 II tr-n If your 1982 resolution is to order your life, we have an easy first step for you. Here's a whole closet shop of ideas from Whitmor on how you can pull all those loose ends together to make your wardrobe compact. (Because after all, you have only so much space to work with.) And once that part of your life is taken care of, you'll be set to make inroads on the kitchen, the garage, your desk at the office. A. 24-pocket shoe bag, regularly 18.00, aale 14.99.

B. 12-compartment shoe chest, regularly 16.00, sale 12.99. C. 4-section sweater chest, regularly 1 6.00, salt 12.99. D.

8-section chest, regularly 50.00, sale 41.99. E. Underbed chest, regularly 14.00, sale 11.99. F. 10-shelf shoe bag, regularly 14.00, sale 11.99.

G. 10-shelf sweater bag, regularly 15.00. sale 1199. Notions. Mr 9.

1 i )C) 11. COATS, DRESSES, SWEATERS, SHIRTS, SKIRTS, PANTS, COORDINATES 25 to 50 OFF tS- i I 1 I We can't improve on the classics, but sometimes we can Improve on the prices! Choose from selected groups of timeless fall and winter fashions at January Clearance prices. rm 1 -J fifiJE Rosedole SoucJale Ricfgedoie Bumsv.Ke Nicollet Matt Town Sauare SI Paul Rochester Sf Cloud I L-.