The Poet's Funeral: Summary and book reviews of The Poet's Funeral by John Daniel, plus links to an excerpt from The Poet's Funeral and a biography of John Daniel.
The Poet's Funeral
by John M. Daniel
Hardcover: May 2005,
257 pages.
Paperback: Oct 2006,
257 pages.
At the annual convention of the American Booksellers Association
Convention, everything goes wrong. Julia Child's cooking demonstration
in the Random House aisle blows up and catches fire. A top New York
editor catches a pie in the face. Invitations to the most exclusive
publisher's party are stolen and all the wrong people show up. Worse,
Heidi Yamada, the world-famous poet, is found dead, spread over the
late Elvis Presley's king-sized bed. It's all caught on film by a busy
photographer from Publishers Weekly, a woman soon kidnapped. When the
Las Vegas Police shrug their shoulders, Guy Mallon, Heidi's first
publisher (and a discarded lover) wonders what to do. Poor Guy. He's a
bookman from Santa Barbara who, despite Ross Macdonald and Sue
Grafton, never felt inspired to be a sleuth, but he feels he owes it
to Heidi. Besides, catching her killer may be his only chance to leave
Las Vegas alive.... The Poet's Funeral is a romp rich with poetry,
publishing, book collecting, and literary gossip. Its cast ranges from
smalltime players to the famous Rock Bottom Remainders. It's a story of
ego, love, art, and murder during four hot days at the 1990 ABA.
This delightfully sharp and sardonic send up of the book trade is a shoe-in for bibliophiles who are also aficionados of cozy mysteries. (Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Chicago Tribune - Dick Adler
Daniel knows how to take the shenanigans of a book convention and turn one of those basically dreary (and often depressing) occasions into a bright, funny, brain-twisting mystery.
Booklist - Jenny McLarin
Daniel ladles plenty of tasty publishing tidbits into his narrative stew but never at the expense of the suspenseful plot. An affectionate look at the publishing industry from one who clearly knows that world.
Kirkus Reviews
Nonstop wisecracks and an amiable tweaking of the publishing world add up to a highly entertaining debut, mystery aside-which, for the most part, it is.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Daniel turns the 1990 Las Vegas ABA convention (now known as BEA) into a murder site in this delicious sendup of the book trade....Daniel's sharp, sardonic wit and insider's view of book industry foibles are sure to make this bibliomystery a hit.
The ABA Convention is now
known as BEA (Book Expo America). It's the
largest book show in the USA, with about
35,000 people attending each
year. Most are connected with
the book industry in some shape
or form, but it also attracts
many savvy members of the public as
well.
The key attraction for many are
the approximate
1,000 authors (many of whom are
household names) who autograph their books
at each BEA, often
giving away free copies in the process.
In 2005, industry sources
estimated that about 50% of all
books signed at BEA were for
sale on Ebay within the week - some within only a
few minutes of being signed!
BEA will return to Las Vegas in
2010, for the first time in 20
years.
A murder-mystery set in an exclusive English boarding school, where somebody's dark past may lead to the school's destruction.
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(286 words).
Chicago Tribune - Dick Adler
