Letters to Inspiring Writers: Josh Henkin wrote Matrimony. Now he’s my (goodreads) friend.

January 10, 2009
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Last September, I received this e-mail from one of my mentors.

From: [One of my mentors]
Date: Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 9:01 AM
Subject: Strong suggestion

Must read book of the year that no one has heard of:
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

So, of course, I read it. It was a quick read. It made me think a lot about forgiveness – what it means, who deserves it, why it’s essential. Plus, as an aspiring author, English major, University of Michigan alumna, entrepreneur, (non-practicing) legal do-gooder, and former patron of Red Hot Lovers, I couldn’t help but relate to the book.

But this ain’t no book review. If you want to read one of those, you can read “Domesticities,” Jennifer Egan’s review in the New York Times.

No, this is how Josh Henkin and I became friends. On goodreads. (His guerilla marketing shows his dedication to his writing. To me, it’s proof positive that he’s an author worth reading.)

From: Joshua Henkin
Date: Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Subject: Be my friend on Goodreads
To: [revisingproust]

Hi [revisingproust],

Joshua (…) would like to add you as a friend on Goodreads.

View invitation | Ignore

Joshua said: “[revisingproust]–Thanks for rating MATRIMONY on Goodreads. I don’t know if you’re in a book group, but I’ve been participating in a lot of book group discussions of MATRIMONY, and I’d be delighted to participate with your book group. Let me know if you’re interested. Best, Josh http://www.joshuahenkin.com

I accepted. Obviously. Here’s what happened next. (*we hope to interview Josh in the near future as well. but, i’m saving that coveted interviewer spot for my mentor who recommended for me to read Matrimony in the first place.)¹

from: 1050299 Joshua Henkin
to: [revisingproust]
subject: from Joshua Henkin, author of MATRIMONY, a NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
message: Dear [revisingproust],

I’ve been touch with you in the past about my offer to participate in book group discussions of MATRIMONY, but I wanted to touch base with you again, since it’s the beginning of the year and a lot of book groups are making their choices for 2009. I’ve now participated in over 80 book group discussions of MATRIMONY in person, by phone and online, and I’d be delighted to participate in your book group’s discussion. And even if you’re not in a book group, I hope you’ll pass this message on to your Goodreads friends and to others who might be interested. Here’s the link to a feature article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer over the holidays about my visits to book groups.

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/2008…

Finally, I wanted to let you know about a special offer to my Goodreads friends. If your book group chooses MATRIMONY, let me know the date and location of the meeting and I’ll send you/the group one free signed copy of MATRIMONY.

Let me know if you’d be interested in my talking to your book group, and thanks in advance for spreading the word. I hope you had a happy new year.

Best,

Josh
http://www.joshuahenkin.com

from: [revisingproust]
to: 1050299 Joshua Henkin
subject: re: from Joshua Henkin, author of MATRIMONY, a NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
message: Hi Josh:

When I saw your name in my inbox, I was excited. Josh Henkin writing to me? Surely, this was something to write home about.

I start reading…

Dear [revisingproust],

I’ve been touch with you…

Hmmm… been touch with me? not been in touch with me?

That made me pause.

Therefore, I must ask: Josh Henkin, published author, is that really you?

Best,

[revisingproust]

from: 1050299 Joshua Henkin
to: [revisingproust]
subject: re: from Joshua Henkin, author of MATRIMONY, a NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
message: [revisingproust]–It is, in fact, really me. When I say I was in touch with you in the past, I meant through Goodreads–specifically, when I saw that you’d read and rated MATRIMONY, I friended you and mentioned in the accompanying note that I was participating in a lot of book club discussions and would be happy to participate in yours. So I thought I’d touch base again since it’s the beginning of the year and a lot of book groups are making their choices. Anyway, sorry for the confusion. So far as I know, there are no Josh Henkin impersonators out there!

Josh

from: [revisingproust]
to: 1050299 Joshua Henkin
subject: re: from Joshua Henkin, author of MATRIMONY, a NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
message: NO WAY! It’s really you? I didn’t know if it was your marketing department (…a college intern…)!!

I feel like there are so many questions that I’d like to ask.

It’s like meeting a famous person! I’m speechless!

First, I love how your second setting is the University of Michigan (yes, my alma mater). Second, the first college wasn’t real, right? Why did you decide to do that?

Also, now I’m forgetting all of the details but there was something missing at the end. I want to say that I wanted Julian to put a rose on Mia’s bed like he did in the beginning. If I’m not just making this up off the top of my head and that’s really what I was thinking, did you do that on purpose? Did you not want closure or was it an accident?

Finally, I have a sorta selfish question. I’m an editor at http://www.nonpretentious.com. Could I either post this exchange to the site for our column Letters to Inspiring Writers? Or, can one of our contributors interview you for the site Interviews with (Quasi-)famous people? Or, both?

We would love it!

(But, of course, we don’t want to violate any publicity contracts that you may have.)

Either way, great book!

Best,

[revisingproust]

from: 1050299 Joshua Henkin
to: [revisingproust]
subject: re: from Joshua Henkin, author of MATRIMONY, a NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
message: alas, i don’t have a college intern working for me, and my publicist at vintage, who’s amazing, leaves these more grass-roots sorts of efforts in my hands. turns out, they pay off. check out the article in the philadelphia inquirer from a couple of weeks back about my visiting book groups–it grew out of a connection on goodreads. here’s the link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/2008…

as for your questions: the first college is a fictional college (graymont) in a fictional town (northington), but the college is based loosely on hampshire and the town based loosely on northampton. i decided not to make it hampshire because i’ve never been there (though i’ve visted northampton several times) and i wanted to be able to play fast and loose with the facts. i teach at sarah lawrence, which is a lot like hampshire, but i didn’t want to set the college scenes at sarah lawrence because that part of the book felt deeply new england to me.

as for the end of the book, i did leave certain things open-ended (will mia get the surgery, for instance?) because i think life is like that–you don’t know what will happen next. to my mind, the key to ending a novel is trying to give it enough closure that it feels like you’ve reached a kind of end point but not so much that it feels contrived, as if you’ve wrapped a nice bow around everything. unless you kill off all your characters (which is what some of my undergraduate writing students do), there will always be more for the characters to experience/do after the book is over.

By all means, you’re welcome to use this for your site or have someone on the site interview me (though if it’s the latter, better to do it by phone, since by email takes so long).

when did you graduate from michigan?

i take it you’re not in a book club?

There you have it folks. Now, who else wants to read Matrimony so that I can host a book club?

—–

¹ After receiving my first e-mail from Josh, here is the exchange that I had with my mentor:

From: [revisingproust]
Date: Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Subject: you’re so jealous
To: [mentor]

i am going to write him a book review for http://www.nonpretentious.com (like this one ) and/or a letter for inspiring writer

i’ll mention your name or refer to you…

gosh, on good reads , i only rated _Matrimony_ three stars! along with the pretty little liars books.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Joshua Henkin <no-reply@mail.goodreads.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Subject: Be my friend on Goodreads

From: [mentor]
Date: Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Subject: Re: you’re so jealous
To: [revisingproust]

Hi
I am so jealous. You at least could have told him that I recommended the book to half of the western literate world(about ten people). By the way didn’t tell you that I now spend a considerable amount of time riding the train between here and New York and am reading oh so many books every week. And two weeks ago, I could have sworn I saw Henkin buying a Sunday Times but it was unlikely because he lives in Brooklyn not Manhattan and has older kids than the baby I saw him with. Well that’s my celebrity stalking tale for today.
As for your review, I now know more than I ever hoped to know about your love life and not too much about Amy Cohen’s book. But then again maybe your life is more interesting than the book anyways.
Phillies 5-3 tonight.

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3 Responses to “ Letters to Inspiring Writers: Josh Henkin wrote Matrimony. Now he’s my (goodreads) friend. ”

  1. Lonnie on January 11, 2009 at 5:38 am

    tell me more about this mentor.

    also i want to give you feedback about the new website soon–your hardwork is looking good!

  2. revisingproust on January 12, 2009 at 6:58 pm

    thanks, Lonnie! You should e-mail me your list of “Lonnie Recommends” for the sidebar. (So should Harrumph…and Tough_Love…and others…)

    what do you want to know about my mentor? he was a professor of mine.

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