Generally Horrible Questions: Karen Hayes

Our pal Karen Hayes (left) and her business partner,
author Ann Patchett.

Karen Hayes is the slightly less famous co-owner of the new bookstore in Nashville, Parnassus Books.  (The other owner is some author named Ann Patchett.)  Karen has long been involved in the book business and worked with us at Random House, but she's new to the other side of bookselling--the part where you run the bookstore and help the customers.  Since Karen is a woman business owner and we're saluting the dames for the rest of March, we asked her to answer our questions.

Generally Horrible Questions: Karen Hayes

1. We are pretty sure the following musicians/singers have some connection to Nashville…pick your favorite (we think we know who you will pick it rhymes with Hiley Byrus). Black Keys, Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Ke$ha, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Dwight Yoakam, Jack White, Earl Scruggs, Taylor Swift or… Donna Summer?

It is so hard to choose!  I guess it would have to be Ke$ha, cause you know I’m all about the $.  That’s why I’m in the book biz.  [Finally someone comes clean about all the money floating around the book business!  Apparently it's all in Tennessee....road trip!]

A busy day at Parnassus Books

2. Your business partner is Ann Patchett, so you sure as hell better have read all her books. What’s your favorite? It’s okay, she doesn’t read this blog…be honest.

Thank god she won’t be reading this, because I haven’t, as of yet, read all her books.  Please don’t tell her.  I love State of Wonder (and no, it is not the only one of hers I’ve read).  [Gianna has read nearly all her books and Truth and Beauty is her favorite. Liz's favorite is Bel Canto...not that anyone asked.]

3. As you may know, Liz and I are starting a band which Dan Chaon has named The Uncircumcised Girls. We want to debut in Nashville. What is the coolest venue in town?

Parnassus.  We can set you up.  But you must bring Dan Chaon with you. [Of course he will come with…he’s our roadie!]

A brownie troop visiting the store.

4. We are looking for that book…it was on TV last week (I can’t remember what show)…it’s about a woman who might be sad…it’s blue, oh, and “The” is in the title. Can you find us that book?  No, but I will try. [Oh yea..its about 300 pages long, that should help.]

5. Who is your favorite person you ever got to train at Random House? Gianna, of course 

6. Author you most want to sign in your store? Is it Stephen Colbert? Because we think Ann nailed that down when she was on his show.  He would be the one.  That would be so much fun.

7. Gianna or Liz?  Liz, of course. [Obviously.]

8. I’ve never read _________________ and I’m so ashamed.  There are way too many to choose from, including the aforementioned books by Ann Patchett.  [We are starting to think that Karen hasn’t read ANY Ann Patchett books and she is desperate to cover her tracks….]

9. What book(s) changed your life?  There are many books that have altered my perceptions, but the only book I can say that truly has changed my life would be State of Wonder.  The change came, not through the reading of the book, but through the timing of the publication.  Ann’s tour for the book gave her the platform to talk about the store (and independent bookstores in general).  I’m sure the store would have been a successful local bookstore if Ann had been in between books, but it would never have gotten such national attention.

10. How’d you end up owning a bookstore with Ann Patchett?  When/where did you first meet her?  We had met very briefly earlier, but the first time we really talked was April last year.  I sat down to lunch with her and a mutual friend of ours to present an idea I had to get a bookstore coop started.  I was hoping that she would join with some other friends and interested parties to help with the fundraising.  She said she was not too fond of committees and that maybe we should just do the whole thing ourselves.  I said alright. [Committees are awesome! They are simply the best way to not get things done.]

11. In honor of Women’s History Month, who’s your favorite ballsy dame?  I think you could probably guess who it is.  Hint, she is the only person I’ve seen stop Colbert in his tracks twice in one interview. [It's obvious you’re talking about Bill O’Reilly and we think YOU'RE ballsy for calling him a dame.]

12. What are you currently reading?  The Hunger Games.  My book group is reading it. [...Never heard of it.]  What upcoming book has you giddy with excitement?  I’m excited about The Unexpected Guests which has the best handle of the year from my Harper Rep, Kate McCune…Downton Abbey meets Edward Gorey.  [Dammit Karen! Would it kill you to at least once mention a Random House book, or god forbid a UT Press book? You're lucky our bosses don’t read this blog!]

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Best of 2011: Liz's Picks From Publishers We Don't Work For

As Gianna mentioned yesterday, we're spreading out our Top Picks list for the next month or so.  On the one hand, our dozen of fans seemed to like the 30 Day Book Challenge format.  On the other, do you understand how much [little] effort we put into coming up with blog post ideas here?  Literally minutes every month are spent agonizing over topics.  If we drag things out, you'll love us and we can maintain our lovely half-assedness.  Continuing where Gianna left off yesterday, it's my turn to pick my favorite books that don't involve our corporate shilling.  This is really difficult for me.  I hope you all understand that I'm an insufferable company whore.  I'm half-tempted to recommend crap so that the books I sell look even better.  In case you were wondering, I also cheat at Monopoly and Scrabble.  I wouldn't say that my parents are proud.

Liz's List of Best Books from Publishers for Whom We Don't Work [Unlike Gianna, I am pretentious enough to be disturbed by the whole ending-a-sentence-with-a-preposition thing.  Do not email me about the title of this post.  I know how it reads.]

1. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.

Patchett just opened a bookstore in Nashville, Parnassus Books, with our pal Karen Hayes, so I'd be placing her on this list based on that tidbit of coolness anyway, but I actually really liked her book too.  State of Wonder is an adventure story, a mystery, a morality tale, and a highly entertaining read.  Scientists researching fertility find an indigenous tribe in the Amazon Basin in which the women give birth their whole lives.  One scientist goes missing, and his colleague is sent to find him and to ascertain why her mentor in med school has quit communicating with corporate headquarters.  Let's go back to that fertility thing, though.  Imagine squirting out a kid at the age of 70.  Hell no.  I'd much rather go the Pet Sematary route and make Zorro immortal, and it's pretty obvious that he's already a demonically possessed creature.  So anyway, State of Wonder is a fascinating and entertaining and thought provoking read, and Ann Patchett is awesome.

2. Bossypants by Tina Fey.

Yes, Gianna placed this book on her list too.  We have similar tastes.  I also think that Tina Fey may actually be my alter-ego, and she's most certainly going to star in both the Lifetime TV Movie of my life, A Liz to Replace All Lizzes, and the SyFy Channel flick, Hellcat: Revenge of Fat Zorro.  Tina has already begun stretching herself so that she'll be six feet tall.  If Meryl could do it to play Julia Child, Tina can do it to play me.  And Amy Sedaris and Amy Poehler are genetically fusing themselves with Mama Fratelli from The Goonies in order to accurately portray Gianna.  Moving on.

3. Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean

Gianna also picked this book.  While my general disdain for people is well known and the tales of my codependent relationship with my cat are the stuff of urban legend (all true), I actually like most animals.  Hate people, love animals.  It's the flaw in my quest for sociopathy.  Orlean's chronicle of the beloved "Rinty," her own quest to understand an American icon, and the relevance to a society disillusioned by the status quo make Rin Tin Tin a terrific read.  I was somewhat familiar with Rin Tin Tin's beginnings because the novel Sunnyside a few years back used it as a plot line. This book, though, is more Seabiscuit in its scope.  And I love German shepherds.  They are great dogs.

....Whose idea was it to come up with 10 books?  I don't really get a chance to read non-RH books until the holiday break.  Lists are hard.  I hate Gianna.  She's a bully.

4. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.

First, there's the baseball.  Secondly, it's a Franzen-reminiscent without the ugly stink of Franzen's public persona to ruin it.  Third, I think my colleague Jason liked it, and he has better taste than any of us.  And it's most likely going to win the Pulitzer Prize next April.

5. You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

I credit my Lemuria bookselling pals for turning me onto this great short story collection.  Relying on her firsthand experience of the lives of army wives at Ft. Hood, these semi-connected stories capture the difficulties of the women left behind.  This is one of those books that receives some acclaim, and then in several years you can brag to your friends that you were all over Siobhan back before she was a literary wonder.

6. Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III

Gianna's going to kick herself when she realizes that she forgot to include Dubus's memoir on her list yesterday.  There are no redos, LaMorte.  The memoir tells the story of the author's difficult childhood and the problems with being the author Andre Dubus's son, who was absent much of the time.  It's a dark, tough book, but what's a best-of list without a tortured author memoir?

7. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

I'm a sucker for books with sleep and brain disorders.  Here's a suspense novel with a Memento-like twist. Every morning when Christine wakes, she doesn't know where she is, who she is, and she's at the mercy of her husband to fill in the gaps.  What caused her amnesia?  What happens when you can't even trust your own head?  Imagine getting up every morning and not understanding that Zorro will attack if you put your hand on the back of the sofa.  That's living dangerously.  Oh, and S.J. Watson is a first-time novelist.  We love those.

8. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

This book gets my vote for coolest book jacket of the year.  On top of that, it has literary chops, having made the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize.  And it's a literary Western, one of my favorite sub-genres (think All the Pretty Horses as an example of the category, but this book is decidedly funnier than Cormac McCarthy).  Violence, 1850's American West settings, and the bond between brothers (Eli and Charlie Sisters)--good stuff.

Seriously?  Two more?  Sheesh.

9. These Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

Just like Gianna picked I Want My MTV, I'm going to pick an oral history-type book that captures great television culture.  Picture me on the road for more than 40 days a year, and sitting in a hotel room alone.  It's 6 am.  If I start working, my boss will come to expect me to regularly work that early.  My pal Elizabeth won't let me play Words With Friends when she's sleeping because her iPhone will ding and wake her up.  What to do?  Sportscenter.  I can watch the broadcast loop for hours.  I love sports, particularly baseball and basketball, and I find the ways sports are reported fascinating.  Some of it is annoying, some of it is moving, some of it is top-rate.  There's no question that ESPN is synonymous with quality sports broadcasting, but that's only happened in the last 25 years.  Fascinating stuff.

10.  A Shore Thing by Nicole Polizzi

Snooki wrote a novel.  Allow me to quote some of the customer reviews out there on the interweb:

Marxius writes, "This is by far the best assisted suicide novel I have ever read. I was literally cutting my wrists as every page was turned. Bravo Snooki!!"

Goodcustomer writes,
"As a door stop, it lacks heft.
As a smoking adjunct, the paper lacks pliability.
As bird cage liner material, it doesn't lay flat.
As fish wrappers, it lacks breadth.
As an accessory to self-abuse, it lacks absorbency.
As compost, it's toxic.
As a weapon, it lacks a reliable grip.
As a comedy, it's too tragic.
As a tragedy, it's too pathetic.
As a book, the hardcover edition is 304 pages too long."

And Marcopolio shares this:  "I noticed that there are used versions of this on here, meaning someone bought it. The only saving grace to my mind is that the ones who did probably opened it, realized they couldn't read and put it back down."

Guess what Gianna's getting for Christmas. And thank the good lord I didn't have to sell this book.