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Friday, 2/9/2001
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Friday, 2/9/2001
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 Purdue professor to appear at book-signing fundraiser
By Anna Herkamp Ten years, four agents and 100 rejection slips later, an English professor who started out as an undergraduate pre-med major at Notre Dame published his first book in 1975. He went on to be the editor of one of the most renowned and oldest literary criticism journals in the United States, "Modern Fiction Studies," and a published author of a murder-mystery series. Despite all of this, Professor William Palmer, who goes by Joe, doesn't care about his popularity.
He said it would be nice if Oprah liked one of his books, but that isn't why he writes. Palmer is a fan of Charles Dickens, who is a major character in his murder-mystery detective series, commonly referred to as the "Dickens mysteries." Palmer became a fan as a child when his grandfather sat with the kids at Christmas and read "A Christmas Carol" aloud. Palmer graduated from Notre Dame and has been teaching at Purdue for 32 years. He began writing fiction in the mid-'70s after being tenured at Purdue. Palmer teaches classes on 19th and 20th century American and British novels, modern British fiction, contemporary British fiction and graduate seminars on modern authors such as Don Delillo, George Eliot and F. Scott Fitzgerald. His first novel was never published, and he hopes "it never will be." He said his first book was a learning experience that helped shape the kind of author he has become. Palmer's first published novel, "The Detective and Mr. Dickens" was printed in 1990, and two others, "The Highwayman and Mr. Dickens" and "The Hoydens and Mr. Dickens," followed. The latest book in the series, "The Dons and Mr. Dickens," was published last year. "The Detective and Mr. Dickens" received much literary acclaim. It was selected for the Literary Guild, the Mystery Book Club and the Doubleday Book Club. "The Highwayman and Mr. Dickens" was a Book of the Month Club selection. The average customer rating on Amazon.com for "The Dons and Mr. Dickens" is four and a half stars. The inspiration for the setting of his latest novel, Oxford, England, came from teaching at the Purdue study abroad program at Oxford College. The other books in the series take place in Victorian London and are set during the mid-1800s. Palmer also has written non-fiction books. These include "The Fiction of John Fowles," "The Films of the Seventies: A Social History" and "The Films of the Eighties: A Social History." His latest academic book, "Dickens and New Historicism," was published in 1997. In addition to his longer works, Palmer has written for several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Journal and Courier. He lived in California five different times during his career and still travels there to research film history and to sell his screenplays. So far he has only sold screenplay options, which allow a producer the "option" to produce the movies for a certain amount of time. Palmer's advice for young authors is that anyone who wants to publish a book needs to write something first, rather than worry about representation. "Agents can tell you if it is sellable, but developing your own style is most important." Maureen Socha, a reference librarian at the library and bookseller at Barnes and Noble said the signing is the biggest event she's seen so far. "I've never seen an event that has the signing of four authors before." Three authors besides Palmer will be present. They are Roberta Gellis, John Riggs and Elenor Rosellini.
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Students to participate in engineering contest Classes help review for law exam Purdue professor to appear at book-signing fundraiser Musician releases crossover album Campus House presents lively production Students vie for concerto spot Illustrator to speak at Purdue BCC to host annual valentine event tonight Album lacks depth, entertainment value Jazz band travels to University Inn for Evening of Romance Saturday
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 Purdue Exponent 2001 | |||||||
There
will be a signing for his latest novel, "The Dons and Mr. Dickens,"
at 7 p.m. Saturday at Barnes and Noble bookstore on Route 52 as a part
of a fundraiser for the Tippecanoe County Library.