Granted, I recognize elitists but don’t have to appreciate them. I agree with your advice to Mr. Barlow to ignore the slight and move ahead. My guess is the reading public doesn’t fear–or care a whit–about PW or their royal pronouncements nearly as much as writers, publishers and, unfortunately for Mr. Barlow, the faint-hearted press.

What does the book jacket look like? Are the rave reviews on it? Are they in the press release?

Did anyone do a targeted email campaign that included a px of your book jacket and some fragments from these comments to generate new interest?

I would definitely do an end run around PW’s comment by ignoring it. I just find it hard to believe that PW could crush your book so thoroughly when you’ve gotten such excellent reviews that you could use.

Has anyone else got an opinion out there?

Publishers Weekly said, after a summary of the plot: “…the Brookeses [main characters] prove engaging but not remarkable, and Rodrigo is colorful but hardly unforgettable. What is remarkable is Barlow’s attention to period detail, a potent Victorian cocktail of repressed sexuality and simmering violence, but the secret formula that would make it work is missing.”

Other big reviews said…

Washington Post
…as surprising, funny and satisfying as a good belch. The British writer is something of a master at concocting what could be called “sentimental grotesques,” and Intoxicated , a novel about the development of an improbable soft drink made from rhubarb, delivers a strange but irresistible mix of flavors….. Intoxicated delivers the goods. It’s the real thing.

Booksense (March ’06 notable)
Take a pinch of T.C. Boyle and of E.L. Doctorow, add some molasses and secret ingredients, and a flare for period dialogue, and you’ve got a great new novel.

Kirkus
Like T.C. Boyle, to whom he has been appropriately compared, Barlow paints personalities in broad strokes and doesn’t shun melodrama…. Despite his novels’ excesses, the author conveys genuine affection for his grotesque characters and situates Rhubarilla’s creation within the shrewdly observed context of Victorian society, culture and business. (Barlow sketches with equal authority a music-hall performance, the workings of the temperance movement and the tentative early stirrings of modern advertising.)…. Barlow’s lively imagination will carry along those who appreciate risk-taking fiction.

Booklist
Victorian England will never be the same again. A whimsical, farcical novel that weaves together the most unlikely people and situations, making for a madcap read.

Library Journal
…in the style of Gregory Maguire’s fairy tale reworkings (e.g., Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister), this fizzy literary concoction will intoxicate readers who love irreverent humor.

Quoting your comment in Grumpy Old Bookman: “The week prior to publication we had two syndicated radio interviews coming up, reviews slated for Atlantic Monthly and for the biggest advertising trade magazine in the US (the novel touches on advertising); all the big newspaper book editors had the novel. Three of the ‘big four’ trade reviews had been good; Mathew Pearl (The Dante Club) had offered an amazing blurb for the cover (on the strength of which the rights were sold in Russia); the novel had got a Booksense notable pick. The only negative point was a bad line (a killer line) in a trade review. Unfortunately, it was Publishers Weekly.

The Washington Post ran an early review, which was stunningly good. But then no one else ran anything. It might have been PW, or not. The radio interviews were cancelled, the Atlantic review was pulled; ditto the magazine. Not a single piece of press of any sort, in any media, was generated for the book from then on.”

I’d be tempted to capitalize on the PW negative review, if that’s what it was. I’d change my press release headline to read: ”PW Hates Intoxicated!” Then I would mention all the positive reviews. I’d give Publishers Weekly a punch in the nose. What did the review say? How bad could it have been? Tell us!  

Thank you so much for all the suggestions at Grumpy Old Bookman on March 30th, and for taking an interest in [Intoxicated's] curious progress. All your ideas for focussing on the Yorkshire angle are brilliant. It would have been great to do that kind of marketing for the UK edition, but it seems less likely now that there’ll be one. The publishers are indeed trying, but Nielsen doesn’t lie, and the numbers really were bad.

The good news is that a US paperback is being issued, with a whole new cover design. Don’t ask me how THAT was justified to Accounts… Nevertheless, I can use some of those ideas of yours for the US paperback.

Anyway, I’m immersed in non-fiction for a while now.

Best,

John

Note from the Wicked Witch of Pubishing: John has written three books: Intoxicated (pub date March 2006!), Los Ratones and Eating Mammals (won The Paris Review Discovery Prize in 2002). Born in England. Living in Spain. Grumpy Old Bookman reviewed John’s book and a number of fellow bloggers responded. Take a look. By the way, I love being thought of as brilliant!