By: John Mark Boling,
on 1/18/2008
Tito Perdue, author of Fields of Asphodel, Lee, and many other fine works of fiction, will appear at this year's South Carolina Book Festival in Columbia, February 22-24. Now in its 12th year, this popular celebration of books and authors is free to the public and held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in downtown Columbia.
By: John Mark Boling,
on 12/10/2007
By: John Mark Boling,
on 10/16/2007
Come meet novelist Tito Perdue at these upcoming events: Nov 2. Friday evening 6-8pm –Barnes & Noble – MONTGOMERY; Nov 10. Saturday noon –Waldenbooks- DOTHAN, AL ; Nov 17-18. Southern Writers Reading, FAIRHOPE; Dec 1. Saturday noon– Books-A-Million – ANNISTON.; Dec 7. Friday evening 5-7pm - Waldenbooks HUNTSVILLE.
Tito's new novel Fields of Asphodel continues the story of Lee Pefley, who was first introduced in the 1991 novel Lee. The Los Angeles Times called Lee a "compact, virtuoso performance, singular in its depiction of one of the more pretentious, grandiloquent protagonists gracing the pages of American fiction."
By: John Mark Boling,
on 10/3/2007
By: John Mark Boling,
on 7/16/2007
Check out Antonie Wilson's great notice of Fields of Asphodel from Sunday's LA TIMES:
Tito Perdue's first published novel, "Lee," follows one Leland Pefley, a septuagenarian misanthrope disgusted with the decadence of modern times, on his return to his native Alabama. With a head full of literature (12,000 volumes, by his count), a self-bestowed "Dr." before his name and a heavy cane, he wanders through his hometown, his only companion the recurring specter of his dead wife, Judy. Over the course of the book, he beats several people with his cane, urinates through a car window and burns down a house. In the end, we find him wandering in the woods on a cold night, stripping off his clothes and, presumably, dying of exposure.
It is a sordid tale. It is also a compact, virtuoso performance, singular in its depiction of one of the more pretentious, grandiloquent protagonists gracing the pages of American fiction. ("Lee" is being reissued in paperback to coincide with the publication of Perdue's new novel.) Leland Pefley has been compared to Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces," but it might be more apt to consider him a sort of reverse-polarity Don Quixote, as consumed by his delusions and romantic notions as his Spanish forebear, but with a decidedly different approach to life: Whereas Quixote sees a bygone age everywhere and gets beaten up for it, Lee sees a bygone age nowhere and beats up others for it.
By: John Mark Boling,
on 6/20/2007
Meet Overlook Press' beloved gentleman novelist Tito Perdue, author of Fields of Asphodel, as he introduces us to his muses and writing partners from his writerly estate in Alabama. Fields from Asphodel and his novel Lee in paperback are due out this July. Here our dear Mr. Perdue gives us a sample of his summer-perfect, silky-smooth prose: you can meet him live at the Lemuria Books in Jackson, MS on Wednesday July 27th beginning at 5 PM. If you can't make it, order a signed copy.
By: Carlyn Beccia,
on 10/19/2006
I keep hearing that authors should have a "platform". If you write a book about a beagle then you better be the president of the beagle society. Writing a book about Egyptian excavation? Well, you better spend your free time mummifying your relatives. I generally ignore buzz words unless they make me feel inadequate. This one makes my 5.6 (with favorite heels on) self feel especially short.
My next book, Who put the B in the Ballyhoo? is about the circus. I can't juggle, I am terrified of clowns, and my last name doesn't end with Barnum or Bailey. What's a circus-loving girl to do without a platform?
I know my publisher realized that I didn't have a platform before they signed the book. I was not at the acquisition meeting, but my active imagination has vividly recreated it:
Publisher: what is this author's platform? (publisher has that delighted "I just used an industry buzz word" look)
Editor: Well, I believe her third cousin, twice removed, trained big cats until an unfortunate incident with a hungry Bengal tiger. Oh, and she can paint.
Publisher: hmmm...can she perform any circus tricks?
Editor: um well no...no wait.. I think she mentioned a hidden sword swallowing talent. She is also very handy with a paint brush!
Publisher: Will she swallow swords to sell books?
Editor: I could certainly ask.
Publisher: well, if she will swallow swords then sign her up. And if not, then maybe we could count on that painting thing.
And there you have it. A sad tale of a midget circus girl with a lonely paint brush and no circus tricks. What will be her book's fate????? (insert dramatic organ music here)
Someone out there give me some ideas, hope, sage advice, or maybe just a stepping stool. How do you promote a book without a platform?
Tito will also be appearing at Page & Palette in Fair Hope on December 15 from 11am to 1pm.