Described by Provincetown Arts magazine as “a niftily designed ‘paper utopia’ that dances nimbly on tiny barroom tabletops and across acres of ballroom floors, blending contemporary culture and sophisticated old world vitality in one splendidly readable package,” The Longnook Overlook arrived in the summer of 2014 to unanimous acclaim: “A lovely piece of bookmaking!” (Wendy Doniger); “Everything is of interest!” (Toby Olson); “What a splendid review!” (Alexander Theroux)
Praised by Albert Goldbarth as “clever in title, lively in look and format and beautifully written throughout,” the Overlook was never a “literary hoax” in effect or by intention. Instead the literary review’s editorial concept (with contributions presented unsigned in its table of contents) was based on the sincere belief that much writing is shackled by the mere name of its creator; preconceptions about authorship (issues of celebrity or gender, for example) prevent excellent work from being published and read. Nothing in the researched essays were fiction; all contents were literally true. Only the identity of its author was delayed until the volume’s postscript.
Poetry, fiction, theater, translation, cultural criticism, as well as a four-color centerpiece featuring drawings of Serena Rothstein — there is truly something for every reader in this enchanting production, distributed hors commerce for the benefit of artistic nonprofits. Dedicated to the great American Oulipo writer Harry Mathews, the dedicatee himself responded enthusiastically to the finished project: “I receive your ‘homage’ without a trace of anything but delight.”