Why Hasn't Any Journalist Tried to Unravel the Mystery of Harriet Klausner?

This week, when I was preparing for our book club discussion of Herta Muller's The Passport, I was browsing various web sites and came across one called "Genre Go Round." Surprisingly enough, it was an blog that indexed all the reviews by Harriet Klausner, the #1 reviewer on A-zon.

Folks have been trying to figure out if this person is the real deal for years. She has claimed to read two books a day, but the review all sound like jacket copy. And while I have previously noticed the large amount of reviews posted on A-zon-mart and Barnes and Noble's web site, it hasn't really been laid out so bluntly:

224 books reviewed in the month of February, 2009.

2882 books reviewed in 2008.

By the way, that is almost triple the number of books reviewed in 2006, though this blog might not include the higher year.

I can't figure out what they get out of project Harriet K. There is no advertising on the blog. It doesn't seem to be some trick to get you to upload a virus. It's obviously a scam, or a big practical joke, or a cult. Folks on A-zon-mart's discussion board contemplate the options.

Here's her post about Noah Boyd's The Bricklayer. Note that the second link is to our web site. Klausner likes it!

"This is an action-packed investigative tale starring a man’s man antihero who does what he believes is right especially using his contacts, fists and guns, but infrequently his brains. The story line is fast-paced from start to finish though one wonders when the Bricklayer gets any sleep. Although the finish is abrupt and the Machiavellian villain obvious from someone at the top of the Sears Tower looking down at the street; readers will enjoy this testosterone thriller."

I particularly like the part about not getting any sleep.

What the Heck Did I Just Read?--And Other Questions I am Saving for Our In-Store Lit Group Discussion of The Passport Next Tuesday, March 2nd, 7 PM

Here's my first complaint and it's not about the book per se. Technos can ravage the entire book industry, but they can't figure out a way to add an umlaut to most things on the web (or an accent) without a hullaballoo. Like Herta Muller, the author of The Passport, for example. Our store database from Ingram ("Ipage") only spells the author's name as "Mueller", but some of her titles are spelled both ways. Cross "passport" and "muller" and you get nothing. I know how to fix it in a word document, but here? I'm stuck.

It's just one of the things that confused me about Nobel-Prize-winner Muller's novel about an ethnic German family trying to get a passport out of the country. I agree with some postings I've seen that think the original German title, translated to Man is Nothing but a Pheasant in the World, would give readers a much better indication of what they are getting into. It's a surrealist delight, with missed cues, clashing images, and stark, spare wording. A bit Gordon Lishy, really (you should remember our iconic editor from the Raymond Chandler biography).

But isn't this just the kind of book that's perfect for a book club? How can you be culturally literate if you haven't read the current Nobel Prize winner? But after reading The Passport, you'll have questions.

We're answering them (I hope) on Tuesday, March 2nd, at 7 PM (my apologies for bumping our session from Monday, but I'm visiting my mom for the weekend).

Here's a fabulous review from The Independent.

On Trying to Find Herta Muller Books

At least this year there wasn't that buzz saying "This year is Philip Roth's year." I think the American literary community is pretty much resigned to a relatively obscure European writer taking the Nobel Prize.

And think of all the good that comes from it. Last year, when Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio was awarded the prize, the big winner seemed to be independent David R. Godine. Godine deals with our wholesaler on a nonreturnable basis (we're seeing that more and more, which means deposits for customers who place special orders) but most indies still needed to take a chance and get something in, and I think for a store like ours, it paid off. I'm still a little confused, however, if we ever brought in The Prospector from Verba Mundi. And another thing to ask Jason--do we need a separate non-returnable Ingram vendor?

Well, it seems to have worked out better than that year with Dario Fo anyway. He doesn't even get mentioned in any of these obscure-or-not-obscure debates. I guess it's been a long time, but I still remember our special order person taking months to chase down his plays, only finding one or two customers when he was successful.

So now we've got Herta Muller and she has four books with rights sold in the United States, none of which were immediately available. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, my first pass showed nothing in active or extended from our I-Page database, and sadly, despite the announcements, there's still nothing there. (I have no idea if this is a current jacket of The Land of Green Plums, but I felt chilly without one.)

Per the New York Times, five books have been translated into English (by my math, that means one didn't come out here--I can't even get my facts straight within one blog posting. Macmillan's Metropolitan published In the Land of Green Plums and The Appointment, but sold off the paperback rights. They plan to do hardcover editions, with Northwestern University Press doing a paperback of the former. Now I'd be surprised if we sold many hardcovers if the paperback was out, but I think they are counting on the university press having distribution hampered.

Serpent's Tail, which had some books from former Nobel winner Elfriede Jelinek, including The Piano Teacher, which became the focus book for sales, has the rights to The Passport, Muller's first novel. Hillel Italie has some nice ruminations on these selections in the Huffington Post. I had no idea that the purpose of the Nobel Prize was to make people famous, not honor famous people. Thanks for bringing attention to Saul Bellow, friends!

And for the other two, I have no idea. In the old days, they'd show up in a catalog, but now we're most likely to hear abou them in an email, or a blog post from someone with more info than me. Meanwhile, we wait for Hilary Mantel's Man Booker award-winning Wolf Hall. I told my booksellers that if we only get one (our buy went from one to five upon being nominated to 20 upon winning), it goes to John Eklund, who had the only special order before the announcement.