By Diane Evans
A novel idea for a book? It’s not easy, especially with nearly 300,000 new titles and editions published each year, and sales flat – at best. But here’s a new twist on the old subject of failed romance: It’s a book coming out in April 2009, titled Relationship Obituaries, based on the Web site of WNYC reporter Kathleen Horan.
For a flavor of what to expect, you can go to the site at www.relationshipobit.com.
It’s mainly women writing death notices about their failed relationships. While the book is billed as humorous, the few entries I read on the site were more in the category of scorned and forlorn.
In an interview on National Public Radio, Horan described the site as a “sort of wake for love.’’ And just like when it’s over in life, the dead rest in silence if not in peace.
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Speaking at Stanford University’s commencement recently, Oprah Winfrey urged the nearly 4,700 graduates to trust their gut instincts. “Every wrong decision was the result of me not listening to my voice,” she said. “If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.”
Winfrey gave each graduate copies of two of her favorite books: Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth and Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind.

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Who really decides what we read?
A recent survey found that adult readers were most influenced by recommendations from family and friends.
But look what happened to the 566-page debut novel by Wisconsin native David Wroblewski. Since its release on June 10 Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, has gone back to press three times to keep up with demand for Wroblewski’s book, titled The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. It’s a coming-of-age story about a mute boy and his dog set in rural Wisconsin.
The book gained media attention even before it came out, most notably with a cover story in the Washington Post’s Book World. Significantly, Amazon.com weighed in with strong promotions after selecting it as one of the best books of June. Among other things, the retailer featured an endorsement of the book by celebrity author Stephen King. Amazon also had the book on its home page for two weeks at a 40 percent discount.
The Wall Street Journal now says the book is positioned to be one of the “breakout titles” of the summer.
Wroblewski, 48, worked on the book for 10 years. He grew up – with dogs – on a Wisconsin farm.

Another example of media power, on a far less literary level: Hundreds of viewers of the Sex and the City movie have contacted AbeBooks.com, an online seller of used titles, looking for a title that Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) reads while in bed with Mr. Big (Chris Noth). But there is no such book as Love Letters of Great Men, as referenced in the scene.
There is a Love Letters of Great Men and Women, and its publisher is reprinting the book, originally published in the 1920s.

Diane Evans is founder and president of DelMio.com. She writes a weekly column about books that is distributed by McClatchy Newspapers.

Sex and the City fans are turning the book world upside down in search of a book that’s never been written. In a Sex and the City scene Carrie Bradshaw is reading from Love Letters of Great Men to Mr. Big in bed.
Problem is, there is no Love Letters of Great Men. It’s a prop.
The closest thing to that is a tome titled Love Letters of Great Men and Women: From Eighteenth Century to Present Day (1920s).
Kessinger Publishing, which reissued that title last year, is suddenly very popular. The book is registered at no. 134 on Amazon.com.
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