More good news for UNC-Wilmington's Lookout Books

"It seems impossible," my latest message from UNC-Wilmington's Lookout Books begins, "but the fairy tale for Edith Pearlman and Lookout Books continues."

On Saturday, Pearlman's "Binocular Vision," a short story collection, was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. That makes it the first book to be nominated for that award, the National Book Award and the Story Prize in the same year.

What makes that accomplishment even more amazing is that the book was the very first from Lookout Books, a small new publisher affiliated with UNC-Wilmington's Department of Creative Writing.

Here's more good news: In April, Charlotte-area residents will have the chance to hear Pearlman read from her work. She'll be at Davidson College on 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17,in the Sloan Music Center's Tyler-Tallman Recital Hall. She'll also do a signing at Park Road Books. Details to come.

The winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award will be announced March 8. The other fiction finalists are Teju Cole's "Open City," Jeffrey Eugenides's "The Marriage Plot," Alan Hollinghurst's "The Stranger's Child" and Dana Spiotta's "Stone Arabia."

Wilmington publisher scores a National Book Award finalist

Back in January, The New York Times Book Review raved about "Binocular Vision," the very first book published by UNC Wilmington's Lookout Books. The glowing review of Edith Pearlman's story collection appeared on the section's front page.

That was pretty amazing. A small, independent press landing a front-page New York Times review with its very first offering was akin to "a rookie stepping up to the plate for the very first time and hitting a grand slam," Lookout Editorial Director Ben George said at the time.

Guess what? The rookie has hit another home run. "Binocular Vision" is now a finalist for the National Book Award. The winner will be announced Nov. 16.

The folks at Lookout are thrilled, as you can imagine. And they should be. Pearlman, 74, has been writing award-winning stories for years, but she wasn't widely known. With hard work and smart marketing, Lookout Books introduced her to a much wider audience of readers.

UNC Wilmington's new press strikes gold with its debut book

Just days after UNC Wilmington’s new Lookout Books released its debut book, The New York Times raved about it in a front-page review.

How unusual is it for a small, independent press to land a front-page New York Times review with its first book? It’s probably unprecedented.

“It’s like a rookie stepping up to the plate for the first time and hitting a grand slam,” says Lookout Editorial Director Ben George.

I was lucky to reach Lookout Books folks this morning. After glowing reviews of Edith Pearlman’s “Binocular Vision” from both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, they’ve been swamped, responding to interview requests, queries from interested European publishers and emails from U.S. bookstores eager to host Pearlman for readings.

How did an unknown press get such attention?

For one thing, it had a great writer. Pearlman, who’s 74 and lives in Brookline, Mass., has won many accolades for her work, including three O. Henry Prizes. Three of her stories have also been selected for inclusion in “Best American Short Stories.” But like many good short-story writers, she wasn’t widely known.

One person who did know and love her work, however, was George. Formerly an editor with Tin House, a literary quarterly, George came to UNC Wilmington in 2008. He and Executive Director Emily Smith founded Lookout, a literary press that involves creative writing students in the publishing process.

George thought Pearlman would be a perfect fit for Lookout’s mission: To bring attention to emerging and underrepresented writers, as well as overlooked gems by established authors.
It often takes more than great writing to get a short-story collection noticed.

So the press came up with a savvy marketing plan. Knowing that Ann Patchett (“Bel Canto”) was a fan of Pearlman’s, George asked her to write an introduction to the stories. Patchett replied, George recalls, saying she loved Pearlman so much she’d happily pay for the privilege of writing an introduction.

This book, Patchett predicts in the introduction, “should be the book with which Edith Pearlman casts off her secret-handshake status and takes up her rightful position as a national treasure. Put her stories beside those of John Updike and Alice Munro. That’s where they belong.”

Other literary heavyweights, including T.C. Boyle (“The Tortilla Curtain”) and Brock Clarke (“An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England”), also contributed glowing blurbs. If those weren’t enough, Smith and George enticed reviewers and booksellers with an appealing narrative.

“The narrative is Edith’s story,” Smith says. “She’s 74 and has been writing remarkable stories for decades with little fanfare. When we wrote to some key people, we invited them to discover Edith Pearlman.”
A few days before Christmas, Smith got word via voicemail that The New York Times Book Review was planning a front-page review. “I could barely hold the phone,” she says. She telephoned George with the news.

“I remember saying, ‘Did you say cover? Are you sure, cover?’” George says.
The review, by Roxana Robinson, begins: “Why in the world had I never heard of Edith Pearlman? And why, if you hadn’t, hadn’t you? It certainly isn’t the fault of her writing, which is intelligent, perceptive, funny and quite beautiful.”

Lookout has already ordered a second printing from Winston-Salem’s John F. Blair Publisher and predicts printing about 10,000 books in all.

“Everyone likes the story of a wrong being righted,” George says, “of a writer working out of the limelight for years, finally being recognized.”

Pearlman will visit UNCW in March for the official launch of Lookout Books. She’ll read at 7 p.m., March 3 in Morton Hall Auditorium. A reception and book signing will follow.

Lookout, meanwhile, is planning its next publication. Steve Almond’s “God Bless America,” a story collection, will be out in October.

And George, as he tries to describe his reaction to this unexpected success, says he’s attempting to avoid cliches: “I was talking to a friend and saying I won’t use that cliché that it was beyond my wildest dreams. But it is on par with my wildest dreams.”