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- Feb 17, 2011
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Hello,
I've written a Biercean-type devil's dictionary but mine is quite different primarily in that I have people, both historical and imagined, for entries as vehicles to satirize politics, religion, sex, academia, etc. However, there are also footnotes and editor's notes (i.e., me commenting on my own work). A lot of parody and wordplay. Probable drawback is that it's on the "intellectual" side, not in comprehension but in references to ideas and people that are not "popular." (My background is US and European intellectual history but have been a copy editor and proofreader for twenty-five years and currently a proofreader for Penguin.) Possible upside might be in combining both high and low culture, e.g. entry for the letter w manages to combine Elmer Fudd and Vassily Denisov (character in War and Peace), since both have the same speech impediment (rhotacism). Not having any luck finding an agent and wondering if some other approach might be worth exploring or if you know an agent or even a publisher who might be interested in this kind of thing.
Thanks for your time.
Jeff Barash
I've written a Biercean-type devil's dictionary but mine is quite different primarily in that I have people, both historical and imagined, for entries as vehicles to satirize politics, religion, sex, academia, etc. However, there are also footnotes and editor's notes (i.e., me commenting on my own work). A lot of parody and wordplay. Probable drawback is that it's on the "intellectual" side, not in comprehension but in references to ideas and people that are not "popular." (My background is US and European intellectual history but have been a copy editor and proofreader for twenty-five years and currently a proofreader for Penguin.) Possible upside might be in combining both high and low culture, e.g. entry for the letter w manages to combine Elmer Fudd and Vassily Denisov (character in War and Peace), since both have the same speech impediment (rhotacism). Not having any luck finding an agent and wondering if some other approach might be worth exploring or if you know an agent or even a publisher who might be interested in this kind of thing.
Thanks for your time.
Jeff Barash