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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Foul Matter, October 27, 2006
This review is from: Foul Matter (Hardcover)
I have enjoyed Martha Grimes for a number of years and was delighted with her jaunts off the beaten path (her entertaining Richard Jury mystery series) with Hotel Paradise and Cold Flat Junction. I cannot say that Foul Matter generated the same kind of delight. Characterization is a strong suite for Ms. Grimes, and in Foul Matter she never spends enough time with any character to do much more than present a sketch. She is writing about superficial characters, and, indeed, they come across as such. Not a loveable or particularly interesting one among them. Typically I find sentences of gold sprinkled here and there in her writing. Strangely enough, when she writes about a good writer in Foul Matter, I found little in the examples of Ned's writing that was nearly as good as when she is simply being herself. I know it is a spoof about the publishing industry; I wonder if anyone not in publishing will find it terribly entertaining. Books need people to inhabit them; this one is an idea not fully realized.
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A satirical look at the publishing industry., September 3, 2003
This review is from: Foul Matter (Hardcover)
Martha Grimes's new book, "Foul Matter," is a funny and off-beat treatment of the corrupt, venal, and nasty side of the publishing industry. Paul Giverney is a best-selling author who can write his own ticket. He decides to change publishers, and he agrees to sign on with a house named Mackenzie-Haack on the condition that they drop a talented writer named Ned Isaly. Ned loves his craft and his characters live vividly in his head. He cares little about wealth and adulation. In short, he is the exact opposite of many of today's high-priced authors. Critics love Ned, but, alas, he does not command big publicity tours and his books are not displayed in the front window of major bookselling chains. Paul Giverney negotiates a deal with an ambitious Mackenzie-Haack editor named Clive Esterhaus, who knows that getting Giverney would be a major coup for his publishing house and for him personally. Esterhaus's boss, Bobby Mackenzie, has no scruples about doing whatever it takes to get this hot author. He can actually see the dollar signs dancing in front of his eyes. To what lengths will Bobby go to get Giverney? How will Bobby get rid of Ned, who is under contract? Grimes must know some reprehensible and unscrupulous publishing types, because her book is a scathing indictment of the business. Although the author is a bit heavy-handed in her distaste for the sordid aspects of publishing, she makes up for it with her deliciously deadpan humor and her amusingly eccentric characters. The two funniest individuals in the book are Karl and Candy, hit men with a conscience and an appreciation for a good book. There is a farcical interlude in which Ned Isaly travels to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a virtual posse of his friends, acquaintances, and the omnipresent hit men follow him. Although everyone is trying to be incognito, all of these characters practically fall over one another. Grimes's wacky and whimsical sense of humor makes "Foul Matter" delightfully entertaining.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ultimately unsatisfying, March 29, 2004
This review is from: Foul Matter (Hardcover)
Best-selling author Paul Giverney is switching publishers, and most any acquisitions editor in New York would gnaw a limb off to sign him. While Paul isn't interested in self-mutilation, he does make an unusual demand of the house whose multi-million-dollar offer he's decided to accept: Mackenzie-Haack must drop one of its most valued authors--Ned Isaly, a better writer than Paul who sells far fewer books--as a prerequisite to signing Giverney. Unfortunately for Ned, "Mack-Haack" is not in a position to rip up his contract. It's far easier for the publisher to hire a pair of hit men to take Isaly out--thugs who turn out to be more discerning than your average performers of "wet work."
Foul Matter follows the sometimes comic results of Mackenzie-Haack's determination to sign Paul Giverney, and it follows Ned Isaly and his writer friends as they struggle variously with their novels. The book's premise, if implausible, is intriguing. Unfortunately, the book seems to be short a chapter or two. Grimes does finally answer the question readers have been asking themselves since the book's first chapter--why is Giverney gunning for Isaly?--although the payoff isn't really worth it. But the author leaves unanswered a more important question about Ned that develops in the book's course. Ultimately, then, Foul Matter is an unsatisfying read, though there is some fun to be had along the way.
Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece
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