the Scott Stein

I am pleased to announce that the Philadelphia City Paper has a review of Mean Martin Manning appearing in their March 22-28 issue. It is now available online. The review of my novel is the last on the page, so scroll down. After you read the review, you'll know why I'm smiling. If you don't have your copy of the novel yet, well, I don't know what to say. I mean, really, what does a guy have to do? Read the review and then go get the book from the publisher. Don't make me tell you again.

Now that Mean Martin Manning is published and being read by people, I expect the sites promoting the book to be more active. So please visit the sites and participate. This brilliant (modesty be damned) book promotion premise will only work if people get in the spirit of it. Mean Martin Manning himself has already commented on the book's first review and Alice Pitney just blogged about it as well. You can get in on the act at these sites as well as at mmm4prez.com and itsdrkaren.com. So writers and readers, have a little fun with it.

Update: It appears that a spammer has taken Alice Pitney's blog seriously, choosing to post advertisements for self-improvement products on an earlier blog entry.

Per Contra has reviewed Mean Martin Manning. Apparently, they liked it. More information about my novel is available at encpress.com, where it can be purchased.

My essay, "Losing My Religion Over 'Handy Manny'," is being featured in the April 2007 issue of Liberty. I think the issue will be available in the magazine section of Barnes & Noble and Borders within a couple of weeks, in case anyone is interested.

Unfortunately, it isn't available online (they only make a few articles available online from each issue), so if you do want to read it, you'll have to get a copy. Yes, one made out of paper and ink. And no, I do not make any extra money if you buy the magazine, so I am only telling you all about it because I worked hard on it and think you would enjoy it. Whether or not you read it, don't let this distract you from the main event — my novel Mean Martin Manning, just released.

Compared to a typical blog post, the essay is a bit long, at 3,800 words. Although it has footnotes, it's also satirical and, I hope, entertaining. It's a difficult essay to describe — it takes on what's wrong with reviewers today, political correctness, the choices fiction writers make, and lots of other stuff — in terms of approach, I am guessing it is not like most essays you've read.

Regular readers of Books, Inq. who read the essay are in for a pleasant surprise. I will say no more on that subject. Unless someone asks, I guess.

Anyway, Liberty put my name on the cover, at the bottom, which you can see here (you should be able to magnify the cover by clicking on it — I said they put my name there, not that it was big). The table of contents is here.