FSG's New Guard Hits the Road

What do you call three young guys jetting around on company money to host exclusive parties in four big cities in four days?

Some have dubbed it the "FSG Youthquake Tour." Others prefer "Bezmozgispalooza." Booksellers call it a smart way to kick up buzz for a new author.

The writer, one member of the Gen-X touring trio, is David Bezmozgis, a 30-year-old Canadian whose collection of short stories is the lead title in Farrar, Straus & Giroux's spring catalogue. To promote his debut, Natasha and Other Stories, FSG sent him—along with his editor and publicist—across the country last month to wine, dine and chat up influential indie booksellers and selected members of the press in gatherings that ranged from an intimate sit-down dinner to a cocktail party for 40. It was the kind of thing that has never happened at FSG.

"We've never done a pre-publication tour for any author," said Cary Goldstein, FSG's 29-year-old publicity manager, who went on the four-day jaunt. FSG understood that Natasha, no matter how well it's written, is the type of book that needs a big push to take off. "We're not blind to the fact that having your lead title be a short story collection is a little weird," said Lorin Stein, the book's 30-year-old editor. "It takes some explaining. You need people to understand why. And he's from Canada. What could be worse than a Canadian short story writer?"

The promo blitz packed in parties in Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. "It was our rock-star moment," Goldstein joked. That is, the rock-star life as interpreted by book people. "The parties were small enough that we all hung out," said Stein. "I talked about David Foster Wallace for an hour with some guy from Skylight Books." Okay, so it wasn't exactly groupies and trashed hotel suites. But the invitations did shoot the collection to the top of booksellers' to-read lists. "I think all of us have this huge stack of books we want to read on our desk," said Paul Yamazaki, a buyer at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. "And this really got our attention."

Not only did booksellers read the book, they liked it—a lot. "I think it was fantastic," said Steven Salardino, manager of Skylight Books in Los Angeles. Even though the book won't be available until June, Salardino said he's already talking it up to customers. "He's definitely a short story writer who will be around for a long time. He's got a classic style of telling a story that is still contemporary." Yamazaki agreed: "I just was thrilled. The writer that came to mind was Isaac Babel because the stories were so well drawn, with such deftness and succinctness."

Bezmozgis, the son of Latvian Jews, immigrated with his parents to Toronto when he was six. Babel is just one of several prestigious short story authors whose names are being tossed around to describe his work. With his explorations of Jewish identity and immigrant family life, Bezmozgis is also drawing comparisons to Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, Nathan Englander and Jhumpa Lahiri. The tour—and Natasha's pride of place in FSG's catalogue—is evidence of the publisher's long-term hopes for Bezmozgis. "We're not out promoting a potential bestseller, we're promoting a writer," said Goldstein. FSG has already signed the author's next book, a novel Bezmozgis is currently writing. No word yet on the subject or pub date of that book.

Beyond launching a single writer, Bezmozgispalooza is also being seen, both inside and outside the house, as a statement about FSG's commitment to young talent. Yamazaki, who has been in the book business longer than the Youthquake guys have been alive, said, "It's tremendous to see them bringing up a new generation of editors like Lorin Stein and publishing Bez and putting them at the front of the catalogue."