BOTM: FEB 2010: The Melting Season by Jami Attenberg

Laura · **Posted:** Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:52 pm

Our first ever Book of the Month is our February selection:

THE MELTING SEASON
by Jami Attenberg

Several years ago, I read Jami's second novel, The Kept Man, and it totally revived my belief in the power of fiction. So much so that I felt, for the first time ever, to write to an author and express my gratitude for her commitment to writing a novel with compelling characters and a wonderful story line. Jami wrote back and I've been on her email list ever since. When I received the notice for the release of The Melting Season, I just knew it had to be our first ever Book of the Month. Jami has graciously offered to answer questions, so please feel free to post questions or comments.

Below are two recent emails from Jami regarding her latest book and advance press.

Laura · **Posted:** Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:35 pm

Jami Attenberg wrote:

January 11, 2010

]Hi friends near (New York) and far (the rest of America and I think one dude in Hong Kong),

It's almost time for my third novel, The Melting Season, to hurtle itself into the world. The book follows the life of Moonie Madison, a small-town Nebraska woman who leaves her husband, steals all his money, and hits the road. On the way she encounters cheeseburgers, cancer survivors, celebrity impersonators, and s-e-x. I'm extremely proud of it and I think it's a fine read. If you like books that make you want to stay up late reading them till you're done, this would be one of them. It is available in stores on January 21, and obviously you can pre-order it right now from Amazon. Oh look, here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Melting-Season-Ja ... 594488967/

It's already received great press from Marie Claire and Glamour, amongst other publications. You can find out about all of that and more on my newly launched website, jamiattenberg.com. And here's a fun little interview on the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teddy-way ... 19396.html

I'll be reading all over the country in the coming months, from Boston to Chicago to San Francisco to Austin, and many points in the middle - 24 readings! - and I'll be sure to let you know about that soon. But in the short term, I'd like to invite you to my two New York launches, one in Manhattan, all fancy-like, and one in Brooklyn, because that is where my heart is.

January 21, 7:30 PM - Barnes and Noble Tribeca, 97 Warren Street
After party: Puffy's, 81 Hudson Street

January 28, 7:30 PM - Word Bookstore in Greenpoint, BK 126 Franklin St
After party: Diamond Bar, 43 Franklin Street

I thank you all for your continued support over these past five years I've been putting out books. It has meant the world to me. You don't even know. Seriously.

xoxo
Jami

Laura · **Posted:** Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:38 pm

Jami Attenberg wrote:

January 29, 2010

Hi!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the two book parties over the last week. Last night's party at Word was amazing. My friend Melissa sang some Melting Season-inspired opera in front of a packed house, and everyone ate my sea-salt chocolate chip cookies. It was pretty next level. I was thrilled.

The book has received so much great coverage in the past two weeks, more than I could have hoped for, including mentions in The New York Times, O, and Time Out Chicago, as well as on NewYork.com, Elle.com, DailyBeast, HTMLGiant, The Rumpus, and more. You can view the complete list on my website.

I especially loved this piece in Time Out Chicago, where Jonathan Messinger calls the book, "a rich novel, one that begins as a road-trip yarn but then contains enough twists to form a complicated emotional journey." I also really loved this piece I wrote about book touring for Largehearted Boy, called "On The Men We Meet, and What Their Music Means to Us."

I wanted to let you know that I'll be reading a bunch in the next month in New York and Chicago. (I have a big cross-country tour planned in March, and I'll let you know about that before I leave town. That'll be the last email, I promise!) A lot of the readings will be group events, which will make them extra fun. I hope to see you there.

January 31 – New York, NY
KGB Fiction Series, 7:00 PM w/Simon Van Booy!

February 1 – Wheeling, IL
Indian Trails Library, 7:00 PM

February 2 -Mount Prospect, IL
Borders Books, 7:00 PM

February 4 – Chicago, IL
Book Cellar, 7:00 PM w/Wendy McClure!

February 11 – Brooklyn, NY
The Greatest 3-Minute Rock n’ Roll Stories Ever Told @ Bar Matchless, 8:00 PM w/Justin Taylor, Maura Johnston, and I think like ten other people.

February 15 – New York, NY
Just Working on My Novel series @ The Tank, 7:30 PM

February 17 – Rhinebeck, NY
Oblong Books with Josh Ferris, 7:30 PM

February 18 – New York, NY
In the Flesh Series, Happy Ending, 7:00 PM w/Kevin Sampsell, Julie Klausner, Michael Musto, and many more for this one too!

Take care everyone. Spring is just around the corner!

xoxo
Jami
jamiattenberg.com
Shop indie! http://www.wordbrooklyn.com/book/9781594488962

TwilightTINK · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 1:52 am

Very cool, the author is coming to my home town in March. It might be fun to go and see her!

sassenach · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:36 pm

I haven't heard of this author before but I shall take a look and see if she publishes in the UK

TwilightTINK · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:29 pm

I ordered the book today on Amazon. I decided that I needed the hard copy so that if I can get to the book signing, I would have the book I read.

Laura · **Posted:** Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:17 pm

I finished the book yesterday. I started at 5:30 and finished before 11am. Can't wait for everyone else to read it so we can discuss. I'm looking forward to my re-read.

Hurry up, ladies!

nina · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:03 pm

I finished the book this morning. It was a really good read- not what I expected, but well written. I liked the heroine, Catherine, a lot. And she grew so much in just a short period of time. The writing is along the lines of Emily Giffin, but not quite so main stream.

Thanks for the recommendation, Laura!

Laura · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:39 pm

nina wrote:

I finished the book this morning. It was a really good read- not what I expected, but well written. I liked the heroine, Catherine, a lot. And she grew so much in just a short period of time.

yeah! I'm so glad you liked it ... I just loved this book. Kudos to Jami for yet again writing a book with fascinating characters and interesting life stories. When I read her second book, A Kept Man, what enthralled me was Jami's commitment to her characters. I don't know how else to explain it. Catherine is a woman I would probably never meet in real life, but from page one I was rooting for her. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her, "It's gonna be okay. Really it is. You can make it, sweetie! You can get through this."

The characters we read about in books become a part of our own life stories. In Catherine (and the others), I can say I'm glad to have her story part of mine. When a book or characters stay with you after you've read them, then you know you have a good author in your hands! I still think about the heroine in The Kept Man: what would I do in her situation? *It's a great book ~ I highly recommend it.*

Laura · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:40 pm

Laura wrote:

I finished the book yesterday. Can't wait for everyone else to read it so we can discuss. I'm looking forward to my re-read.

Hurry up, ladies!

Questions for Jami:

1. What was the significance Catherine's obliviousness to the relationship of the gay couple? Was it a way to show that Catherine couldn't see things (or wouldn't see things) right under her nose?

This is one of my favorite passages of the book:

p140-141 wrote:

"But I was not her, thinking of something that existed beyond our flat horizon. I dreamed of the small things. Little noises, like the high-pitched squeal of the crickets calling for love, or the pregnant sizzle of bacon and eggs cooking together in a cast-iron frying pan. Or the different colors in our town, on our land, the purple and gold of prairie flowers, and the way those colors repeat themselves again and again, the plain, healthy green of the elm trees that shade the south side of the farmhouse, so it was the coolest part of our home. The swollen purple belly of our tiny town river after a storm, waves of anxious minnows following the flow of the water. That was all, just the little details of the world around me. There was no plotline to my dreams, as much as I would have liked there to be sometimes, something to shoot for in the future. But I had no need for bigger things, no need for alteration to my self. That was how I felt them. Couldn't I already be whole?"

2. When you write a passage like the one above, does it flow naturally in one fell swoop, or is it a bit-by-bit process?

3. In the same vein, do you write the book from beginning to end, or in chunks?

4. How do you develop your characters and story?

Many thanks, Jami!

TwilightTINK · **Posted:** Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:08 pm

I got my copy of Thursday but haven't had a chance to start it yet. Maybe I will take a break in the middle of FC to read it.

nina · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:38 pm

TwilightTINK wrote:

I got my copy of Thursday but haven't had a chance to start it yet. Maybe I will take a break in the middle of FC to read it.

Tink, put down FC for a couple of days. It took me about eight hours total to read The Melting Season. I don't read as fast as Laura, but it's still a fast read. I want to see what you think about it!! :bigsmile:

Questions for Jami:

1. Why did you choose to place the characters in rural Nebraska vs. rural Illinois (you grew up in Chicago, right?); and

2. Is the destination of Santa Monica significant or does it just represent "California and warmth"?

BOTM: FEB 2010: The Melting Season by Jami Attenberg

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