Virtual Fools

Clipping from the 2009 Scarecrow Press Film Catalog

As I cryptically mentioned in a recent post, my first book–an edited collection on film director Ken Russell–is in press right now.  The project has been in the works for a long time.  Friends will probably remember me mentioning it as early as summer 2005.  I had been actively working on the book in its finished form (which is to say, an anthology of essays as opposed to the tri-authored book originally conceived) since Fall 2007.

In the middle of the busiest few months of my life–PhD visits, finishing my M.A., teaching duties, all that jazz–I managed to put the thing together.  I was very lucky to have worked with such great contributors, from seasoned academics and historians to relative youngsters closer to my generation.  The book represents the considered judgements and continued hard work of a number of people.  I will highlight individual contributions and will provide information about the essays closer to the books’ launch.

There remains a bit more work to be done–proofs, layout work, indexing–and release is at least four months away (current date appears to be September 28th), but I wanted to highlght its immanent completion.

You can view Scarecrow’s page or take a gander at the Amazon page, where the pre-order link just went live.  This is a specialty research title aimed at historian, academics, scholars, and fans of the director, but don’t let the (relative) specificity scare you off.  In fact, there is no better way to spend your free time this summer than to watch (or re-view) Ken Russell’s films!