Book Review Update: The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt

Lest anyone wonder whether your humble blogger has gone the way of Rick Perry's poll numbers, let not your heart be troubled. I'm alive and well, though still recovering somewhat from my trip to Old Tucson Studio's Night Fall. I didn't like haunted houses as a child, so imagine the many dollars in therapy sessions I'll need to dole out in order to recover from a haunted town.

Yes, you read that right. A haunted town. In truth, I was fine for a good portion of our visit - that is until the chainsaw-wielding clown chased me around the haunted town square. Some things you just never recover from.

At any rate, I wanted to give a brief update on title above. When we last left off, I was awaiting a copy of the novel, while teasing your interest with author interviews and preview trailers. Well, I received my copy of Caroline Preston's The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt ($25.99/Hardcover/240 pages/HarperCollins Publishers; On-Sale: October 25, 2011) from the folks at HarperCollins/ECCO last week. I'm about midway through the novel, and while I will save the bulk of my comments for the review, I want to briefly note how stunning and ambitious a project this is.

As I noted, Ms. Preston acquired numerous items of vintage, 1920s ephemera to create this 'novel in pictures.' But the sheer scope of items, the story's attention to detail, and its commitment to authenticity all combine to make the project really impressive. (Check out a few sample pages here). In terms of scope, the range of items Ms. Preston collected extend from authentic, period magazine covers, to actual college graduation announcements from the same era. The work of collecting the ephemera alone was a massive undertaking, so imagine arranging the items into a coherent story, that's actually quite readable. Suffice it to say, the novel is quite a unique work.

I hope to have my review of Ms. Preston's novel done by the end of the week, with an exciting announcement to follow.

For now, and as always, stay tuned...