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Salome in Graz
= Frequently Asked Questions =
The Salome in Graz FAQ-page.
Where can I get Salome in Graz ?
Currently only via Lulu, but it should soon be available at Amazon and all the other usual outlets. Your local bookseller likely won't be stocking it, but should (soon) be able to order it for you -- the ISBN is 9781304605481.
Will I like Salome in Graz ?
As with any book, that really depends.
If you liked my Arno Schmidt: a centennial colloquy, if you enjoy what I do at the complete review and its Literary Saloon, then you'll probably like Salome in Graz.
If you're curious about the Salome-story, you should find a great deal that is of interest here.
If you like books about reading and writing and different forms of story-telling, I think you will enjoy Salome in Graz.
If you're looking for plot-driven action, on the other hand, you might be somewhat disappointed. (There is plot-driven action -- but it's definitely not of the pop action-thriller kind.)
What does the title refer to ?
The well-attended 16 May 1906 performance of Richard Strauss' opera Salome -- the Austrian premiere of the work.
Is that the setting of the novel ?
No.
The novel (among other things) traces the evolution of the Salome-story, from its Biblical beginnings through Oscar Wilde's play and then to the Strauss opera (with a bit of spill-over beyond that as well). The Graz performance does feature as hub and then apogee for the narrative, but Salome in Graz is not, in the usual sense, an historical novel.
There are over thirty pages of end-notes. Is this a documentary work ?
To some extent. The vast majority of the endnotes are citation-references; the novel is meticulously documented, relying on and quoting -- extensively -- from original source material.
The text -- Salome in Graz -- goes back, wherever possible, to the original texts; authenticity and textual authority are prime themes of the novel. So it relies on the actual Salome-texts, from the Biblical ones through the various Wilde-versions and the libretto for the Strauss opera, and many of the variations in between. Similarly, other material -- commentary and the like -- is also, wherever possible, primary rather than secondary; first-hand accounts rather than second-hand. I.e. rather than relying on the summary-accounts in, for example, Richard Ellmann's Oscar Wilde-biography going back to the actual source(s).
This extends to translation: rather than quote from an English translation of what, for example, James Joyce wrote about Wilde, the text is quoted in the original Italian.
Isn't that asking a lot of the reader ?
An English-language version of all foreign-language quotes is provided, generally in a footnote.
How many foreign-language quotes are there ?
Close to two hundred, in seven different languages.
Wouldn't it have been easier just to present everything in English ?
Translation is one of the major themes of Salome in Graz. It is a novel about how our stories are told -- including in what form (i.e. inter alia also: in what language) -- and how they are transformed, including in translation.
Recall: Strauss' opera has a German libretto which is closely based on one of the English translations of a play that was originally written in French -- by an author who generally wrote in English.
There is also an extensive, three-tiered bibliography. What's that about ?
The long listing of primary sources includes all those relied on and quoted from in the text.
The section on secondary sources includes relevant sources that were not consulted or relied upon but which may be of interest to readers looking for additional information or perspectives.
The tertiary list does include a few texts that are mentioned incidentally in the narrative, but the majority have nothing to do with it directly. Rather, the listing is meant to give readers some guidance as to where the narrator(s) are coming from, so to speak; it presents some of the literary background going into the story, beyond that which directly touches on it.
Salome in Graz is a work of fiction, a novel, and every part of the book is part of that fiction. Among the themes of the novel are: who tells our stories, and why do they tell them; the bibliography gives some insight into aspects of those questions.
Are there pictures ?
Fifteen. Mostly reproductions of line drawings.
The book retails for US $25.95. That's expensive.
It is.
Salome in Graz is not available in any e-format at this time ?
That's correct.
My strong reading-preference is print, and in any case Salome in Graz would not appear to lend itself to comfortable e-reading.
However, if there is sufficient reader interest, an e-version may eventually be made available.
Salome in Graz is essentially self-published. You weren't interested in publishing it commercially ?
Leaving aside the question of whether any publisher would have been interested in publishing it ...: while there are considerable benefits to publishing traditionally -- better distribution, possibly a lower sticker-price for consumers, some perhaps helpful editorial oversight -- I preferred doing it this way.
I like having complete control and taking full responsibility for the product. This -- the text, the format -- is exactly how I want to present the novel; it's exactly how I envisioned it.
I suspect any commercial publisher would have wanted to have had some input -- maybe for the better -- but I didn't want to risk that.
It's the ideal version of the text ?
Well, I was of course tempted to format it in mass-market paperback size .....
And a truly definitive version would include an appendix -- or a second volume in a boxed set -- that would present, for easy reference, four of the relevant Salome-texts side by side: Oscar Wilde's French original, the 1894 English translation, Hedwig Lachmann's complete German translation (1900), and the libretto of Richard Strauss' opera.
(I still think there is a need for such a volume, independently of Salome in Graz, and would certainly be interested in preparing one; if any university presses are interested in such a project, you know where to find me.)
[Note: If you have additional questions, feel free to pose them; relevant ones, and the responses, will be added to this page.]
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