Book Titles: A Blog Post
The September 2010 Indie Next List* has come out. Here it is:
Room: A Novel by Emma Donghue
The Gendarme: A Novel by Mark T. Mustian
Ape House: A Novel by Sara Gruen
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant
The Good Daughters: A Novel by Joyce Maynard
The Lady Matador's Hotel: A Novel by Cristina Garcia
Russian Winter: A Novel by Daphne Kalotay
Juliet: A Novel by Anne Fortier
I'd Know You Anywhere: A Novel by Laura Lippman
An Impartial Witness: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd
A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
Vermilion Drift: A Novel by William Kent Krueger
Freedom: A Novel by Jonathan Franzen
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating: A True Story by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Healer: A Novel by Carol Cassella
Hector and the Search for Happiness: A Novel by Francois Lelord
A Small Death in the Great Glen: A Novel by A. D. Scott
The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia: A Novel by Mary Helen Stefaniak
The Witch of Hebron: A World Made by Hand Novel by James Howard Kunstler
And once again I'm struck by how many have "[title]: A Novel" on them.
I can kind of go with "A novel" on a title such as How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, since the title is deliberately referencing the style of self-help books. And I can live with "A [series title] Novel" because it helps identify the book to readers of a particular series, perhaps differentiating it from other books by the same author that aren't part of the series.
I can even go with "A true story" on those few what carry it; I assume that's the publisher reassuring the readers that this isn't a phony-baloney James Frye sort of thing.
But the other sixteen books are novels, and fifteen of them say "A novel."
My first thought is that publishers have followed this pretentious trend to the point where it's parody of itself. Any idiot phrase can become a highfalutin' lit'ry book title if you put "a novel" after it. Try it yourself!
"How to Eat Cornflakes: A Novel"
"Your Mother Was a Hamster: A Novel"
"I Thought an MFA Was a Requirement: A Novel"
My second thought is that it's really insulting to the readers. Are readers assumed to be so stupid that they can't tell if the book is fiction by reading the flap copy? Maybe the publishers think the booksellers are idiots and won't know where to shelve it? That putting "fiction" or "novel" or "[genre]" on the spine won't be sufficient?
I work for a scholarly press. We never worry that someone will mistake one of our books for a novel. We do not publish books with titles such as "The Court of the Sun King: A Scholarly Treatise" or "Why Human Rights Matter: A Rewritten Thesis." We assume that readers will examine the book and decide if it's what they're looking for.
Or maybe it's that cover design has gotten so bland and abstract, with so much reliance on stock photography, that it's become impossible to tell the difference between novels and nonfiction by the cover design.
Whatever the reason, it's not good. Those two annoying words sullying a writer's book can only be interpreted as an insult to someone, an attempt to spackle over a weakness in the packaging of the book so as not to confuse the (presumed idiot) readers.
Just Say No to: A Novel.
*A list of books from indie booksellers that are, I guess, ones they particularly like or are selling very well, or something. But that's not relevant to the discussion, which is about the titles, not the list.