Publisher Description

Eleanor Lerman, whose last collection, The Mystery of Meteors (2001), was named by Library Journal as "Best of Poetry, 2001," returns with a dazzling, funny, and seriously mature new book.In Our Post-Soviet History Unfolds, Lerman boldly wrests contemporary mysticism from a hard-knock New York Jewish consciousness. She's a solid witness to the 1960s, Cold War, Vietnam, sexual revolution, and drugs. However, in her favor, she's traveled through baby boomer irony, bought the T-shirt, and found her way back.Eleanor Lerman has been nominated for a National Book Award, received the inaugural Juniper Prize, and was the recipient of a fiction grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a lifelong New Yorker.

Author Biography

A native New Yorker and unrepentant member of the Woodstock Nation, Lerman has received numerous awards, including a Juniper Prize, a grant from the NY Foundation for the Arts, National Book Award nomination, an NEA grant, and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Award. She is the author of four previous collections of poetry and two collections of short stories.

Promotional

*Plans to sell Lerman "story" (see selling points) to gay and lesbian media *Incredible stage presence with experience as a stand up comic. Tour to include bars and clubs in NYC area. *Total season marketing budget of $15,000; individual book budget of $3,000 *Newsletter and catalog feature mailed to entire Sarabande database and to Lerman's personal contacts *2,000 brochures and 1,000 postcards mailed to bookstores, libraries, and Lerman's personal contacts

Long Description

Eleanor Lerman, whose last collection, The Mystery of Meteors (2001), was named by Library Journal as "Best of Poetry, 2001," returns with a dazzling, funny, and seriously mature new book.In Our Post-Soviet History Unfolds, Lerman boldly wrests contemporary mysticism from a hard-knock New York Jewish consciousness. She's a solid witness to the 1960s, Cold War, Vietnam, sexual revolution, and drugs. However, in her favor, she's traveled through baby boomer irony, bought the T-shirt, and found her way back.Eleanor Lerman has been nominated for a National Book Award, received the inaugural Juniper Prize, and was the recipient of a fiction grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a lifelong New Yorker.

Description for Sales People

*Incredible discovery story: Thirty years ago, Lerman was a cultural icon. Known as "The Queen Lesbian of Greenwich Village," her work was sited in the NY Times as deserving "at least a double X." She had won the Juniper Prize and National Book Award nomination with her first two books. However, Lerman fled the field of art, married, and began a career in comedy and true-crime books (her brother is Philip Lerman, known for his work with America's Most Wanted). . . . Poetry, she said, was difficult for her because "it became clear that the poet was not heterosexual." Everything changed when Sarah Gorham contacted her: Lerman was insighted to write poetry again, she became open about her lesbianism, and her life changed entirely. *Will appeal to gay and Jewish audiences, as well as Baby Boomers *A true New Yorker, born there and very rooted in the community. Sees herself as a female Leonard Cohen.

Details