Katzenjammer: Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture

by Jackson Tippett McCrae

Book Description Katzenjammer is the story of a first-time novelist struggling in New York. The book's main character, Max Perkins, feels cursed by having the same name as that of the famous editor to Hemingway, Wolfe, and Fitzgerald. Max's attempts to get recognized finally land him in the readers' department of Bandomday Books where the plot to get his book published takes on mind-bending twists and turns, eventually becoming a Faustian comical journey. Encompassing everything from Russian pianists, male prostitution, and insane bosses, to the Mormon religion, the New York arts scene, hermaphrodites, dwarfs, and the inner workings of corporate America, Katzenjammer is a scathing, hilarious, and quixotic look at what it takes to get published today. A scathing, quixotic, and Faustian look at the Publishing Industry, Jackson McCrae's new novel Katzenjammer takes us into the mind of Max Perkins-a first-time movie-obsessed novelist attempting to get his work published in New York. In this, his third book, McCrae strips away the media-created and hyped veneer of being a published author and shows us what it really takes to get your book on the bestseller list. The result is not always pretty but it is highly informative, hilarious, and above all, entertaining. Encompassing everything from Russian pianists, male prostitution, and insane bosses, to the Mormon religion, the New York arts scene, hermaphrodites, dwarfs, and the inner workings of corporate America, Katzenjammer is a ribald and adventurous romp through New York, publishing, and the world of books. Excerpt from Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture by Jackson Tippett McCrae. Copyright © 2005. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. In order to test the editor, I typed out a complete chapter of Huckleberry Finn--a chapter from the middle of the book. Then I presented it, along with the statement, "I'm working on something new as you've convinced me that my current novel isn't any good." "This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about," she started in after skimming Twain's work right in front of me. "You're telling the story instead of showing. As this stands now, you'd never get it published. Your use of English is deplorable, and the phrase is African-American--not nigger. And why would anyone want to read about the Mississippi River anyway?" The next week I tried a chapter from Faulkner's Light in August. "Boy, do you need to learn to write!" she said, settling onto the sofa. "You're lucky you came to me. I can really help you with this sort of thing. Do you even know what a sentence is supposed to sound like?" Truman Capote's In Cold Blood was next. "People don't generally like reading about this sort of thing," she said, her eyebrows up. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a publisher for it but if you agree to work with me for the next year-payment in advance-I should be able to help you whip it into shape. We have to start by taking out all the violence. That never sells." And then she added, "Just how many examples of your bad writing attempts do you have?" Her response to three complete chapters from Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, again typed out so as not to look suspicious, garnered the comment, "Didn't you do anything interesting at all on your summer vacation?" In an attempt to see just how far I could push the envelope, I began to send samples of famous books to various publishers, reasoning that they were as inept as my editor. I attached my name and a different title, just to see how they would react. I knew that the samples would either be ignored, read by some ignorant twenty-year-old whose idea of great literature was the Peanuts comic strip, or given the proverbial "shove-off" letter. Strangely enough, I actually got back responses instead of the usual form letters. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I lied about having an agent and being wealthy enough to fund my own marketing campaign. For the first three chapters of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, which I called Morning Aubade, I received the response, "Works like this are generally not publishable and there has never really been a market for this type of thing." In response to the complete Nine Short Stories by Salinger (it took me two weeks to retype them all), I received, "We are not in the habit of printing the work of fifth-graders. May we suggest a writing course at your local junior college?" And then there was the response to Steinbeck's last three chapters from The Grapes of Wrath which I had re-titled California Dreamin'. "We suggest you try one of the lesser-known publishing houses for a work of this genre as the market for this type of thing is usually small. Also, you may want to change the ending as the breast-feeding of the hobo is a bit over the top." One acquisitions editor at a major house even had the intelligence to recognize the name Max Perkins and accuse me of pretending to be someone I wasn't. "I happen to know the real Max P...

Genres: Fiction

359 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2005

Reviews

[Sean Grutzmacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cup of tea. Imaginative and crazy. The plot is soo all over the place but all loose ends tie. Someone described this book as a fever dream and I cannot agree more - I think I enjoy the craziness of it all. Worth a read.

[Aisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is absolutely hilarious, one of my favorites ever. I couldn't stop laughing. The life of the main character is too tragic and so unlucky beyond belief. Excellent story!

[jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most insanely hilarious thing I have ever read. I am so infatuated with this book and I am so so so glad I decided to buy it when I saw it at Value Village. My life is changed for the better

[Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got about half-way through Katzenjammer and thought, "Oh geez, another Confederacy of Dunces." Then the book took a left turn, followed by a U-turn and an illegal turn onto a one-way. I wasn't expecting the second half at all. Total pleasant surprise. You should read this book if you have ever thought that you might want to write a book and get it published.

[Recynd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm...good, but kinda hard to relate to. It was funny and quirky, but in a fever-dream sort of way. It made me nervous, truth be told, but I'm not sure why.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

takes a couple chapters to get into, but once you get going you can't stop reading. and once you get to the end you need to read it again to figure out what you missed along the way.

[James Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange as hell, but good.