Episode 210 with Dan Sinykin, Wise, Thorough Chronicler of The Publishing Industry’s Changing Mores, & Author of Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature

Notes and Links to Dan Sinykin’s Work

 

 

   For Episode 210, Pete welcomes Dan Sinykin, and the two discuss, among other topics, his early reading and how it showed a sort of rebellion and also spurred him on to a life of books and inspired Big Fiction, as well as salient issues and themes from the book, including mass market populism versus literary aesthetics, autofiction and its connection to marginalized writers of color and women, and the evolving role of editors and the colophon in the continuing conglomeration of book publishing.

   Dan Sinykin is an assistant professor of English at Emory University with a courtesy appointment in quantitative theory and methods. He is the author of American Literature and the Long Downturn: Neoliberal Apocalypse (2020). His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rumpus, Dissent, and other publications. Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature, is out now through Columbia University Press.

 

 

Buy Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature

 

Dan's Website with Emory University

 

Interview about Big Fiction with Lincoln Michel 

At about 2:40, Dan discusses the intricacies of his book and its October publishing

 

At about 5:10, Dan highlights early feedback he’s gotten from readers

 

At about 7:05, Dan gives background on his childhood reading habits and some of his favorite books, series, and writers; he also talks about his father’s reading habits influenced him 

 

At about 11:45, Dan responds to Pete’s questions about the draws of “East Coast” writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald

 

At about 14:30, Dan cites the greatness and pull of Gravity’s Rainbow

 

At about 16:55, Pete asks Dan about his connection to David Foster Wallace and other formative writers, who included Wittgenstein 

 

At about 19:40, Pete gives a recommendation about which David Foster Wallace book NOT to read

 

At about 20:00, Pete wonders about how Dan’s job and research areas for his book has affected his “pleasure reading”

 

At about 21:45, Dan shouts out Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture, Dan Kois’ Vintage Contemporaries as current standout reads 

 

At about 23:00, Dan highlights the novels enjoyed by his students, including work by Fernanda Melchor, Jon Fosse, and Rachel Cusk 

 

At about 24:25, Dan discusses the genesis of his book

 

At about 25:50, Pete and Dan discuss a pivotal event for publishing that Dan focuses on in the book’s Introduction-the firing of Andre Schiffrin

 

At about 30:15, The Program Era and The Economy of Prestige is highlighted and 

 

At about 32:45, Dan discusses his book as a “continuation of his [Schiffrin’s] work” and how Dan sees value in avoiding labels of conglomeration as “good” or “bad”

 

At about 34:30, Dan breaks down the importance and symbolism of the colophon; he gives an example from the process of Wallace’s Infinite Jest as representative of the collaborative model

 

At about 43:30, Pete lays out the book’s five chapters’ structure and asks Dan about “high-brow” and “low-brow”; Dan speaks about the ways these books have been mass-marketed

 

At about 48:40, Dan traces the rise of romance books and speaks about the incredibly-interesting Danielle Steel and how she and others have become “brands”

 

At about 52:20, Pete asks Dan about the ways in which historical fiction and other books began to be geared toward literary prizes; he also traces the fairly-recent development of the term “literary fiction” 

 

At about 55:15, Dan speaks to E.L. Doctorow as straddling the lines between the old and newer worlds of publishing

 

At about 59:40, The two discuss the chapters on trade publishers and autofiction’s importance, especially for female writers

 

At about 1:03:30, Pete cites Toni Morrison’s experiences and a quandary she ran into, as well as the experiences of many writers of color and “performance,” and Dan speaks to the story of Karen Tei Yamashita as a microcosm of writers of color in publishing 

 

At about 1:10:30, Pete compliments the far-reaching and insightful book and Dan recommends buying the book at a local bookstore, including A Cappella Books, Eagle Eye Books, and Bookish in the Atlanta

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   Please tune in for Episode 211 with Theresa Runstedtler, award-winning scholar of African American history. Her work focused on intersection of race/masculinity/ labor/sport, and her recent:  Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA.

   The episode will air on October 31.