Underground Success
…King for a Day, in my own mind
I had a underground thrill the other day.
A guy asked if I liked the poetry of Jim Harrison, famous poet.
I said Yeah, but I’d recommend the older works. Then he asked
why I liked it and what I’d really recommend he read.
All of a sudden it occurred to me that perhaps the best reading
value for this guy’s time might be better spent
reading the work of this guy I’m just now publishing.
That was a neat thing to realize. That not only did I like this
guy’s work but that in my mind his work held up in comparison
with The Master. Even though technically this guy’s work was
specialized niche stuff.
Victor Vicente of America’s “A Dirt Road Rider’s Trek Epic.”
—It’s the only book of mt-bike poetry and art from one of the
original mt-bike inventors and guru of the scene.
Cool guy who’s been *way out there*
for decades. This is an important book in bike culture.
But it was just so neat to realize that it’s a dang good
book in general, too. A runaway crossover success!
Actually, it’s no more about cycling than Old Man and
the Sea is about fishing. Bike as metaphor. Lit, art,
in a little homebrew bike book! A wonderful thing to pull off
and be a part of, let me tell you.
It was neat to realize that a person would likely have
as good a time reading this book as reading most
things in print. Don’t need to be a biker either.
It will be neat to see how it is received. —Days from
going to press.
Has anyone ever read the account of the tiny editor
who got the rights to Henry Miller’s first big novel?
The description of the moment when he first got the
manuscript and read it is truly a gem of publishing
writing. High point of an editor’s life to really know
you got your hands on something that will rock the world.
Get that tasty nervous feeling.
