From Putnam's Web site:
Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam was founded in 2007 by Amy Einhorn and launched in February of 2009. The imprint publishes fiction, narrative nonfiction and commercial nonfiction. The overarching tenet of Amy Einhorn Books is to hit the sweet spot between literary and commercial—intelligent writing with a strong narrative and great storytelling.
In the past two years, AE has published:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett [Feb. 9, 2009]
[S]et during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. [Publisher's Weekly review]
Signed first editions/first printings list for over $1,000 on Abebooks.com; unsigned first/firsts list for up to $200.
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake [Feb. 9, 2010]
Weaving together the stories of three very different women loosely tied to each other, debut novelist Blake takes readers back and forth between small town America and war-torn Europe in 1940. [PW]
Signed editions list for up to $100 on Abebooks.com; unsigned list for at or below the cover price.
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan [July 23, 2009]
Compared to works by Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, and Patricia Highsmith, Bad Things Happen rated as a "brilliant first novel" (Chicago Tribune) and "the best first novel [of the] year" (Washington Post) among most critics. [Booklist]
First printing was reported to be 20,000!
This might be the deal of the decade. Because it was an under-appreciated novel you can still get signed first editions for $60 or less on Abebooks.com and Alibris.
The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha [April 15, 2010]
In this adaptation of his blog www.1000awesomethings.com, Pasricha celebrates the simple pleasures of everyday living. Focusing on both tangible pleasures and simple experiences, Pasricha provides a contemporary take on everyday inspiration that skips the typical Chicken Soup for the Soul fare.... [PW]
Signed editions in both paperback and hardcover list for up to $60; unsigned list for at or below the cover price.
You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon [Jan. 20, 2011]
In Fort Hood housing, like all army housing, you get used to hearing through the walls... You learn too much. And you learn to move quietly through your own small domain. You also know when the men are gone. No more boots stomping above, no more football games turned up too high, and, best of all, no more front doors slamming before dawn as they trudge out for their early formation.... There is an army of women waiting for their men to return in Fort Hood, Texas. Through a series of loosely interconnected stories, Siobhan Fallon takes readers onto the base, inside the homes, into the marriages and families-intimate places not seen in newspaper articles or politicians' speeches. [From the Product Description]
Signed editions are already listing well above the cover price.
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown [Jan. 20, 2011]
Sisters Rose (Rosalind; As You Like It), Bean (Bianca; The Taming of the Shrew), and Cordy (Cordelia; King Lear)--the book-loving, Shakespeare-quoting, and wonderfully screwed-up spawn of Bard scholar Dr. James Andreas--end up under one roof again in Barnwell, Ohio, the college town where they were raised, to help their breast cancer–stricken mom. The real reasons they've trudged home, however, are far less straightforward: vagabond and youngest sib Cordy is pregnant with nowhere to go; man-eater Bean ran into big trouble in New York for embezzlement, and eldest sister Rose can't venture beyond the "mental circle with Barnwell at the center of it." For these pains-in-the-soul, the sisters have to learn to trust love--of themselves, of each other--to find their way home again. The supporting cast--removed, erudite dad; ailing mom; a crew of locals; Rose's long-suffering fiancé--is a punchy delight, but the stage clearly belongs to the sisters; Hamlet's witches would be proud of the toil and trouble they stir up. [PW]
First printing reported to be 50,000.Labels: Amy Einhorn, Bad Things Happen, Blake, Book of Awesome, Brown, Dolan, Fallon, Hypermodern collectible, Pasricha, Postmistress, Stockett, The Help, Weird Sisters, You Know When the Men are Gone
[S]et during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. [Publisher's Weekly review]
