Exclusive Interview: Will Americans Read Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio?

Following the news that French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (pictured) won the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature, GalleyCat asked Chad W. Post from the University of Rochester’s Open Letter Books if his international publishing imprint would look at the newest Nobel winner.

“I am going to check his books out for Open Letter Press,” Post replied. “I just talked to an editor at a big house who doesn’t think any of the commercial houses will go after him. Even with the Nobel, there are too many books, many of which still wouldn’t sell well enough to justify this.”

Earlier this week, Post blogged about how Slate author Adam Kirsch called the Nobel process a sham and urged America to secede from the contest. GalleyCat asked if the Le Clezio award would stir this controversy. Post replied:

“Adam Kirsch will be all over this, pointing out that once again an “unknown author” won, instead of realizing that an author known throughout the world (an author that maybe we should know) won. The gross nationalism behind Kirsch’s comments (in Slate and on NPR) horrifies me.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.