Michael Cart - Confessions of a Book Reviewer: The Best of Carte Blanche

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Michael Cart is a columnist and reviewer for Booklist magazine and the author or editor of twenty-four books. He is a past president of both the Young Adult Library Services Association and ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English). Cart has taught young adult literature at UCLA and lectures nationally on the subject. He is the recipient of the Grolier Award and the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Services to Young Adults Achievement Award. He earned a bachelors degree from Northwestern University and a masters degree from Columbia University.

2018 by the American Library Association

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs

978-0-8389-1645-2 (paper)

978-0-8389-1674-2 (PDF)

978-0-8389-1673-5 (ePub)

978-0-8389-1675-9 (Kindle)

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Control Number: 2017050589

Cover design by Kimberly Thornton; imagery Adobe Stock.

ONE DAY IN the spring of 1994 my telephone rang. To my surprise it was Bill Ott, editor and publisher of Booklist magazine, calling. I had met Bill but didnt know him well, so I presumed he wasnt calling just to chat or talk about those Cubs. My presumption was correct: to my amazement he was calling to invite meout of the blueto do a monthly column for Booklist. I considered his invitation for approximately five seconds before I said Yes. I might have added Try and stop me, because to do a column was a lifelong dream of mine. It began when I was a boy, a boy whoIm fond of sayingwould read anything that didnt get up and walk away. My reading ranged from cereal boxes to the daily newspaper, from classics to comics. Somewhere in the middle was my mothers monthly copy of the magazine Better Homes and Gardens. Mind you, I wasnt that interested in homes and gardens, either better or worse; no, what interested me was a feature that appeared on the final page of each issue: a column called The Man Next Door written by Burton Hillis (years later I discovered this was a pseudonym for William E. Vaughan, who also wrote for The Readers Digest). The column was a cheerfully anecdotal report of his familys small adventures in suburbia, accompanied by some homespun aphorisms; for example, Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them; A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works. Andwell, you get the idea. I enjoyed it so much that I found myself thinking how great it would be to write a column of my own someday. Flash forward forty or so years and I found that my dream had just come true!

Twenty-three years have passed since Bills phone call and its genesis of the column that has come to be called Carte Blanche. During that time Ive written more than 250 columns about a great gallimaufry of topics (its not for nothing that the column is called Carte Blanche), though all have, in their respective ways, dealt thematically with sundry aspects of books, reading, writing, and publishing, a fact that lends some unity and coherence to what would otherwise be a ragtag assemblage.

Inevitably, some things about the column have changed over the years. In the early days I was, at most, a shadowy presence in them; I always took Aside from an infusion of me, me, me, what else has changed in the columns? Well, one thing has been my growing passion for young adult literature. In the early years it wasnt uncommon for me to devote a column or three to some aspect of childrens literature, which wasafter allmy first passion as a reader. But gradually young adult literature has moved center stage, in part because of my love for it but also, more pragmatically, because that field has become so, yes, vast that its almost impossible to keep abreast of its every aspect, let alone that of childrens literature. You wont find evidence of it in this bookexcept in its titlebut in addition to being a columnist, Im also a reviewer for Booklist, specializing in young adult literature and, increasingly, in adult books as well, though this last is a topic for another time. The bottom line is that Im consumed with young adult literature and my columns reflect that. One thing hasnt changed, however, and thats my seeming obsession with my age! I was a mere stripling of 53 when I began the column; over the years people have watched me age until, now, I have reached a spirited 76. No matter my age, however, Id like to think that over the years I have revealed a sense of humor and I hope, accordingly, that Ive been able to invest most of my columns with some salutary wit (this is where some wise guy says, Well, at least hes half right, har har har). As for style, thanks to a degree in journalism (I graduated from Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism), Ive tried to affect an accessible, easygoing expository style, sprinkled with some polysyllables when they have seemed irresistibly apposite (see what I mean?).

Given the parameters Ive outlined above, I really have had carte blanche to write about whatever has excited my interest, though if youre a regular reader of my home base, Booklist, youll know that each of its issues focuses on a spotlight topic such as Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels, Mystery, and so on. Most of the time my columns will spotlight the same subject; that is, if the issues focus is on Mystery, my column will explore some aspect of Mystery. The words some aspect are central here, because they give me lots of latitude in my approach. Thats the good news. The bad news is that after youve written half-a-dozen columns aboutsayRomance, you tend to repeat yourself if youre not carefulespecially if, like me, you have about as much romance in your soul as a turnip, and a short memory. That said, my columns doubtless reveal a sentimental streak as wide as the state of Texas. Im fond of saying thatlike former President ClintonIll cry at the grand opening of a car wash! Anyway, though it sometimes takes a bit of heavy lifting, I think Ive managed to keep my approaches original. Youll be the judge of that when you read the columns this book contains.

About those columns: youll find fifty of them here. Id like to think they comprise the best of the best of the more than 250 Ive visited on you over the years. For ease of access Ive organized them into the eight different categories youll discover when you take a gander at the Table of Contents. Of course, my columns have explored far more than eight categories over the years, so obviously some didnt make the cut; oftentimes those are ones that seem dated because of their focus on individual titles or topics of the moment. Thus, for example, you wont find any of my Columnists Choice columns in which Ive offered my selections of the best books of the year; nor will you find any of the columns Ive written about annual American Library Association (ALA) conferences. No, forget the timely; instead Ive striven for thedare I say it?timeless.

Have I succeeded? You tell me. Welcome to Carte Blanche.

I MET MICHAEL CART soon after my first book Weetzie Bat was published by Charlotte Zolotow at Harper Collins (then Harper & Row). I was in my twenties, recently graduated from UC Berkeley, and new to the world of publishing. I didnt even know that I was writing a young adult book and had intended Weetzie for an older, smaller audience of artists, punk rockers and Los Angelinos, rather than for teens. As I tried to navigate this new world, Michael came to my rescue. He was the elegant, urbane mentor I needed. My beloved artist father, who had always championed my work, had just died and I cast Michael in the role of an avuncular guide. But I also saw Michael as a colleague, a friend, and, dare I admit, a bit of a crush. He was so handsome, charming, and kind! Michael had written the quintessential review that launched my book. He drove me to one library event and, on the way, he talked to me about his mystical experiences with meditation and offered his astute theories on the possible psychology behind my book