Inside Jacket

CALLING ALL SCI-FI COMEDY LOVERS!

Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. His sidekick just stole his girlfriend. The galaxy’s most hideous and feared bounty hunter wants to lay eggs in his brain. And the luxury space yacht Cole just hijacked turns out of be filled with interstellar do-gooders, one especially loathsome stowaway, and a cargo of freeze-dried orphans.
Enter Michael Rubens’ hilarious world of YRNAMEER (short for Your – Name – Here). In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best–mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling page-turner. Even Stephen Colbert is already a fan: “Finally, a science-fiction book your grandmother will love­, if she’s a lustful, violent lady.”

And here’s the best part:
Email the word YRNAMEER, along with your mailing address to pantheon@randomhouse.com and you will automatically enter yourself into a drawing to win a free copy of the book! There will be 3 lucky winners selected at random. Please note: U.S. mailing addresses only.

Be sure to stop by the SHERIFF OF YRNAMEER launch party at BookCourt, TUESDAY, AUGUST 11 at 7pm (at 163 Court Street in Brooklyn). For more info, click here.

Visit Michael Rubens’ website here.

And buy a copy of the book here.

Praise for THE SHERIFF OF YRNAMEER:
“A rocket-fast, knee-slapping narrative. . . . Lighthearted [and] adventure-filled. . . . Cole’s ludicrous exploits keep the laughs coming.” –Publishers Weekly

“Rubens hits the jackpot with a zanily humorous parody of sf adventure, with tributes to space-opera and Western classics along the way. . . . Recalling the volatile and irreverent humor of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, this madcap journey through space will appeal to Pratchett’s readers and fans of such sf film parodies as Galaxy Quest and Space Balls.” –Library Journal

“Broadly amusing.” –Kirkus Reviews

“A tremendously fun and surprisingly touching read.” -Alison Laubach, BookPeople

“Really, really funny.” -BJ Bloebaum, Powells

“An enjoyable sci-fi/comedy/pastiche/parody/adventure…a fun, fast-paced flight through regions of space where men have gone before, most notably Douglas Adams; however, unlike others who owe Adams their lifeblood, Rubens is genuinely funny–I especially enjoyed the universe’s stupidest computer (he likes pebbles!). There are even moments of actual character development amongst the wackiness, and–points again–Rubens gives his female characters more to do than Adams ever did. This book won’t change your life, but it might brighten it for a few hours.” -Allison Kaufman, Diesel, a bookstore

“There is a great big bucket somewhere (probably in Houston) from which all great sci-fi/comedy novelists drink. And though Sheriff will no doubt be compared (favorably) with both Hitchhiker’s and Discworld, Rubens really has his own thing going here. There’s the standard stuff, the stuff you’d expect in a top-tier genre novel–the richly textured universe; the hapless, oft-misbehaving protagonists; the perpetually amusing adversaries–but Rubens’s sense of humor (which tends toward the absurd) seems more biting and incisive than that of others currently milling about near the bucket. In fact, as you flip the final page you might find you’ve learned more about our own world than Yrnameer. Plus, there are zombies in it–so it’s automatically awesome.” -Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Last Saturday, August 1st, was one of the biggest, most joy filled days for many of us here at ‘da Soup. First we had Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith in with director Steven Sebring. Together they signed “Patti Smith: Dream of Life” a collection of stills and poems from the film of the same name. Patti kindly gave us a shout out that got the whole crowd (200 or so) cheering.

Then, after we caught our breath, Werner Herzog arrived and surprised us all by giving us a reading and answering questions before signing “Conquest of the Useless”. Even though the store was packed to the gills, Mr Herzog had crowd hypnotized with the elegance of his perspective. The entire reading is below.

Every workday begins the same for me. I turn on my computer, go make my coffee, then sit down to read my favorite book industry blogs. Every day I'm floored at the insights and knowledge that I encounter. How do these people know so much? And more importantly, how are they able to put this knowledge into such amazing, coherent, and eloquent writing? One of my new favorites is HTMLGIANT, which always entertains me, even at its most absurd times. Recently, after sifting through a few posts on the site, I encountered this one on favorite first sentences. Ken Baumann, the author of this particular post, lists the first sentence from Blood Meridian as his favorite: "See the child." Wow. Three words. That's it. Yet, I stopped in my tracks when I read that line. See. The. Child. What an incredible opening! Now listing off favorite first lines isn't anything new, but it is always something that makes me pause. I love hearing what people's favorite first lines are. The impact that one line can have. A first sentence. A string of words. When placed in a certain order, these words can make us gasp, make us woozy, bring chills to our entire core. Just in the first sentence! Can you imagine creating something that stirs such reactions? But the most amazing thing about first lines, those few words that when separated may have little meaning, incite us to an incredible action. They incite us to read. Thank goodness for first lines. –Lindsey