Just about anyone who has spoken with Rachel Kaplan, Avid
Bookseller and Events Assistant, has heard her talk about Tin House. I’m not
sure how many copies of Before the Feast she’s hand-sold, but I’d wager it’s
quite a few. In the following interview, Rachel and I discuss her enthusiasm
for this delightfully weird small press, fruit, how Tin House fits into the
literary ecosystem, and desert island Tin House books.
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Elizabeth Willis: When did your love affair with Tin House begin?
What was that first book that kick-started it? Did you know about them before
Avid or did you discover them as a bookseller?
Rachel Kaplan: To be fair I
didn’t really know much about different publishing houses until I started
working at Avid. Just as Avid is different from a Barnes & Noble, each
publishing house has its own personality. Tin House was the first press that
made me realize that. They turn out really eclectic works; that’s how I think
of Tin House: a powerhouse of creativity.
It all started when I met THE Julia Elliott. I was interning for
Avid, and I worked an event at this bar in downtown Athens called The Globe
that The Georgia Review was hosting. When I first spotted the cover of the
book, I thought it was so beautiful, and became intrigued. And then when Julia
Elliott got on stage and started reading in her deliciously creepy reading
voice, I was hooked. I couldn’t take my eyes off her the whole reading and
immediately wanted to go home and read that book, which was The Wilds.
The cover caught my eye, the stories drew me in, but meeting Julia
sealed the deal, and I wanted to know more about what this press published. And
I started to realize that as I read more and got more experienced as a
bookseller, most of the books that were really captivating me were Tin House
books. They were these new, fresh, creative voices.
EW: What is it about Tin
House’s schtick that has so delighted you?
RK: I feel like Tin House
definitely takes risks; you can’t confine them to one genre. They don’t just
publish one thing. Tin House is the weird artistic kid in class that’s everyone
loves. It’s got this strange vision and people think it’s quirky, but it’s
still approachable. I feel like the Tin House team must just love taking these
risks. It works out, too; they publish new fiction, essays, short stories—
EW: Okay, yes, on the
subject of genre: What do you think Tin House does best as a publisher?
RK: See, I don’t think you
can pigeonhole Tin House. Maybe I need to read a wider range of genres from
them; I do read mostly their fiction, but I have read an array of genres: short
stories, novels, their essays. Charles D’Ambrosio is great— also another essay
collection coming out is about how Americans relate to movies and media, which
then makes a larger commentary on our culture, [Jim Shepard’s The Tunnel at the
End of the Light]. I’m trying to think if there’s something I would want to see
them do, but I think it’s a mark of how great they are that there’s not much
wanting there. And you know their poetry; they publish good poetry, too.
EW: Let’s actually chat
further on the subject of Tin House the magazine. I have a couple of author
quotes about it. Karen Russell (I know you love Karen) has said: “Tin House
magazine is a port in the storm for people who love language. It is unfailingly
excellent, and committed to publishing new voices in addition to delivering
freaky-fresh work from established writers.” And Jim Shepard said: “As
everything goes increasingly haywire in our politics and in our world, we stand
in ever-increasing need of the emotional and ethical education that great
literary magazines can provide. With each issue you finish, you’re more awake,
erudite, socially aware, and alert to exciting new writers. What more do you want between two covers,
anyway?” Thoughts?
RK: I like Karen’s
description of “freaky-fresh.” Because sometimes it is freaky how brilliant
these new writers can be. Like Annie Hartnett’s debut novel Rabbit Cake is in
the same caliber as someone who has been cranking out books for a while. The
same, I feel, with Julia Elliott. Like The Wilds. It’s literally, I think, one
of the most perfect short story collections, and that was her first short story
collection. It’s like they are diviners at Tin House. They know how to source
that water from the ground. They pull that brilliance—and obviously it’s the
artist themselves, it’s not Tin House making them brilliant, but Tin House just
has an eye for talent. And I love that. I think some of the most important work
that any small press does is really placing trust in new artists. They are
seeking out new talent rather than hounding already existing talent. You see
that in big publishing houses; they make a lot of their money from, you know,
the twelfth book from David Sedaris—*
EW: Publishing things they
know people will buy—
RK: Yeah. Tin House, and other small presses, take risks and it
pays off. With the magazine...we talked about genre earlier; they have it all
here: poetry, snippets of fictions, short stories, essays. And I think the
literary journal is a smorgasbord of everything Tin House is engaging with at
the time. I think you get from it a great sampling of what Tin House has to
offer.
EW: If Tin House (the press
overall, not just magazine) were a type of fruit, what fruit would it be, and
why?
RK: This is hard because I
love fruit and I love Tin House—
EW: I know you do.
RK: —And I love all types
of fruit. I feel like they are un-categorizable. My first gut reaction was to
say, you know this, the dragon-fruit, because it has these brilliant colors and
wild spikes on the outside, and it’s intriguing. Maybe some would be slightly
off-put because you’re just not sure what you’ll get, and then you cut into it
and it’s just— it’s another fruit, you know. It’s delicious and accessible and
nothing too strange but—
EW: So still accessible,
not necessarily so out there—
RK: At the heart of its
strangeness lies universality.
RK: Second answer, any
other fruit because I love fruit.
EW: Excellent. Any upcoming
Tin House titles you’re incredibly excited about?
RK: I am excited for every
upcoming Tin House title and I actually kind of try not to seek out their
titles. Don’t laugh at me, but I let the titles come to me. Like when we were
at SIBA [the bookselling conference], and I just saw Rabbit Cake on a table. It
was calling to me. I feel like most of the Tin House books I’ve read and loved
the most have kind of just fallen into my lap. I'm convinced Tin House books
are magic.
EW: Okay, so the universe
will be choosing Rachel Kaplan’s next Tin House favorite. Stay tuned.
RK: Exactly, yes, exactly.
EW: Okay, well, can’t wait
to see what the universe selects for you. Keep us in the loop.
EW: Okay, I know this is
going to be a hard one, but if you could share a meal with three Tin House
authors, which authors would you choose, and why?
RK: Definitely Julia
Elliott...Annie Hartnett and Morgan Parker. But backups would by Joy Williams,
because she’s wonderful, and Saša Stanišić.
EW: So this is like if
Julia’s tending to her chickens and can’t make it.
RK: Right. This is like if
Morgan’s hanging out with Beyonce; and Annie’s hanging out with her dog… But my
first string would be Elliott, Hartnett, and Parker.
EW: Okay, cool. Now for the
tough one, and you’re only allowed to choose one. If you had to pick a favorite
Tin House book, what would it be, and why?
RK: *gasp noise*
EW: You’re on a desert
island and you can only have one Tin House book—
RK: NOOOOOOOO, noooo.
RK: Let the record show
that I hate this question.
EW: I know.
RK: I love you, but I hate
this question.
EW: I know.
RK: I’m not a big fan of this question because it really is—
That’s really difficult— They’re all my favorites, but I think if I were
picking a desert island book, it would be Before the Feast. There is so much to
discover within its pages, even if you've read it repeatedly. It would also be a very comforting book to
have while stranded on a desert island.
*No shade to David Sedaris;
we love him.
