New Books In Literature

Usually on the New Books Network we do exactly what our name says: we talk about new books. Today, however, we’re doing something a little different. I’m interviewing Donald Morrill about his very not-new book of essays Impetuous Sleeper (Mid-List Press, 2009). It was published a decade ago. However, it offers us an interesting opportunity to talk about a part of publishing world that we often don’t talk about: what happens when your publisher closes and your book goes out of print? How does that alter your perception of a book, of its purpose and its potential audience? And yet Morrill’s essays offer us so much more than a look at the publishing lifespan of a book. He’s crafted beautiful work that reimagines what the essay can do and be. His is a collection of startling insights and careful observations that gather to a lyrical abundance. It’s a generous gift of a book, one that masterfully demonstrates an essay needn’t be new to be apt, to be beautiful, to be, in the largest sense, newsworthy. Eric LeMay is