Books: The New Tupperware?

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 1/10/2008 1:11:00 PM

Word of mouth and serendipity are often cited as the driving forces behind breakout books; the intangible and unmanageable pushes can take books from “never heard of it” to “everyone I know is talking about it.” It happened with a memoir called The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, just out from Voice. To be sure, word of mouth and serendipity aren’t the only things The Middle Place has going for it: it’s a January BookSense pick and is getting lots of coverage in women’s magazines and general-interest web sites. But through events like one held this morning, The Middle Place is starting to creep into the culture in a way that traditional venues can’t possibly pull off.

This morning, about 30 women, ranging in age from about 35 to 45, came to the Rye, NY, home of Amanda “Mandy” Brooks (pictured, right; Corrigan is at left) to attend a private book party for The Middle Place. For the next two hours, the women sipped Pellegrino and coffee, listening to Corrigan talk about her memoir and read passages, buying copies for her to sign, and chatting with each other about books. From 10:00 to noon, the living room of Brooks’s beautiful home in the posh New York suburb was transformed into a bookstore-café of sorts. Corrigan had purchased 70 books that morning at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble, and was somewhat sheepishly taking cash and checks. But the women weren’t shy; everyone bought a book, and many bought two.

Brooks hadn’t actually met Corrigan until recently, when Corrigan’s father sent a copy of The Middle Place to Brooks’s father (the two are old friends), and he passed it along to her. Brooks was so moved by the book—which shares alternating stories of Corrigan’s youth and her recent battle with cancer, at the same time her father was fighting the disease himself—that she sent Corrigan a long e-mail. And then she said, “What can I do to help?” Corrigan’s publisher, Voice, didn’t send her on an author tour, so Brooks offered to host an event at her home. “I e-mailed and then called my yoga, tennis and paddle pals,” she explained. The 30-odd women in attendance this morning seemed more than happy to hire babysitters and skip the gym (as many did) to attend a book party instead.

Stephanie Hoover received Brooks’s invitation and also heard about The Middle Place from friends she’d been in a book club with in Piedmont, Calif., where she used to live—and, perhaps not coincidentally, where Corrigan currently lives. She bought one copy of the book. Linda Mackay, another Rye resident, bought two. Other women had bought the book prior to the event, though two women said the local bookstore, Arcade Booksellers, was sold out. “There’s a lot of buzz in town,” said Jen Morris. Many women at today’s event are in book clubs and said they’d probably suggest The Middle Place as a future selection.

Sally McCartin, who’s handling publicity for the book, said there are about 10 other events like this one planned around the country, sparked by Corrigan’s sisters-in-law, cousins and college pals. Books are being sold at most of the events, either by Corrigan, the host, or a local bookseller.

Brooks may have supplied croissants and muffins, and Corrigan may have charged 70 copies of her book to her credit card, but as the event wound down and the women turned to each other saying “What a great way to spend a morning!” one thing was clear: there’s no price tag on this kind of publicity.