table of contents Plume May . 2. June . 9. July . .18 August . 26. Valentine’s Day Feature . .30 Plume Highlights . 32. New Titles by Plume Authors . .33 Reading Group Guides . .36 Gotham Books . 38. Portfolio . .56 Overlook . 60. Order Info . .80 Index . .82 Cover design and illustration by Melissa Jacoby PLUME A taut, complex psychological thriller from the author of The Doctor’s Wife Somebody Else’s Daughter A Novel Elizabeth Brundage Photo © Sigrid Estrada Photo Like The Doctor’s Wife —which The Boston Globe a blind eye, and the headmaster’s wife is busy keeping called “a compelling read”—Somebody Else’s Daughter her husband’s current indiscretions well hidden . is a literary page-turner peopled with fascinating and Building to a breathtaking collision between two disturbing characters . In the idyllic Berkshires, at the fathers—biological and adoptive, past and present— prestigious Pioneer School, there are dark secrets that Somebody Else’s Daughter is both a suspenseful thriller threaten to come to light . Willa Golding, a student, and a probing study of richly conflicted characters in has been brought up by her adoptive parents in emotional turmoil . elegant prosperity, but they have fled a mysterious and “[A] deft balancing act of taut plot and richly drawn shameful past . Her biological father, a failing writer characters. .Brundage is a storyteller supreme.” and former drug addict, needs to see the daughter he —Wally Lamb abandoned, and so he gains a teaching position at the “Riveting…very moving and completely involving. school . A feminist sculptor initiates a reckless affair, the Brundage is a brilliant novelist.” Pioneer students live in a world to which adults turn —Richard Bausch ALSO AVAILABLE THE DOCTor’s wife 978-0-452-28691-7 U.S. $14.00 / $15.50 CAN. 2 MAY • PLUME A taut, complex psychological thriller from the author of The Doctor’s Wife Somebody Else’s Daughter A Novel Elizabeth Brundage “Brundage has a penchant for turning topical subjects into gripping novels…Sex, drugs, violence and murder are all in the Brundage mix.” —The Washington Post “[A] well-turned thriller. Brundage writes with startling clarity.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch “A taut tale of suspense rounded out with sharp observations on parenting, adoption and the fraught business of keeping up appearances.” —New York Observer ELIZABETH BRUNDAGE is the author of The Doctor’s Wife and holds an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she received a James Michener Award . She lives with her family in upstate New York . 978-0-452-29537-7 MARKETING U.S. $15.00 / $16.50 CAN. • Online Readers Guide On Sale: 4/28/09 • Targeted Online Advertising Fiction • Regional Author Events 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” / 352 pages • National Print Features Rights: W00 • www.elizabethbrundage.com Pub History: Viking HC, 978-0-670-01900-7 Also available as an e-book SUGGESTED ORDER MAY • PLUME 3 “[A] delightful and eccentric new tale”* from the author of the runaway bestseller The Jane Austen Book Club Wit’s End A Novel Karen Joy Fowler Photo © Laurie Roberts Photo In Karen Joy Fowler’s newest novel, the bestselling she has writer’s block . As one woman searches for truth, author of The Jane Austen Book Clubonce again delivers the other struggles to control the reality of her fiction . top-notch storytelling, creating characters both oddball Rima soon becomes enmeshed in Addison’s household and endearing in a voice that is utterly and memorably of eccentrics: a formerly alcoholic cook and her irksome her own . Wit’s End is a clever, playful novel about son, two quirky dog-walkers, a mysterious stalker, the finally allowing oneself to grow up—with a dash of tiny characters that populate Addison’s dollhouse crime- mystery thrown in . scene replicas, and even Maxwell Lane himself . But, At loose ends and weary from her recent losses—the wrapped up in a mystery that may or may not be of her deaths of an inventive if at times irritating father and own creation, Rima discovers to her surprise that the her beloved brother—Rima Lansill comes to Wit’s ultimate solution to this puzzle is the new family she End, the home of her legendary godmother, bestselling has found at the house called Wit’s End . mystery writer Addison Early, to regroup…and in search Playfully exploring the blurred boundaries between of answers . For starters, why did Addison name one reality and virtual reality, fiction and fact, Karen Joy of her characters—a murderer—after Rima’s father? Fowler subverts the whodunit and gives us a thoroughly But Addison is secretive and feisty, so consumed with modern meta-mystery with wit, warmth, and heart . protecting her famous fictional detective, Maxwell Lane, from the vagaries of the Internet that—rumor has it— ALSO AVAILABLE THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB SISTER NOON SARAH CANARY 978-0-452-28653-5 978-0-452-28328-2 978-0-452-28647-4 U.S. $14.00 / $16.50 CAN. U.S. $14.00 / $20.00 CAN. U.S. $14.00 / $20.00 CAN. 4 MAY • PLUME “[A] delightful and eccentric new tale”* from the author of the runaway bestseller The Jane Austen Book Club Wit’s End A Novel Karen Joy Fowler “Fowler’s understated wit and storytelling skills are in full flower.” *— The Boston Globe “[A] Rubik’s cube of a book…this is venturesome work.” —The Seattle Times “Fowler’s subtle humor glides across these pages.” —The Washington Post “[A] cyber-gothic-mystery-romance (you heard it coined here), and it’s a lovely read.” —The Sunday Oregonian KAREN JOY FOWLER’s most recent novel, The Jane Austen Book Club, was on bestseller lists nationwide and spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times list . Along with her first two novels, it was a New York Times Notable Book . Fowler lives in Santa Cruz, California . 978-0-452-29006-8 MARKETING U.S. $15.00 / $16.50 CAN. • Local Author Events On Sale: 4/28/09 • National Review Attention Fiction • Online Readers Guide 5 5/16” x 8” / 336 pages • Targeted Online Rights: E30 Advertising Pub History: Putnam HC, • www.karenjoyfowler.com 978-0-339-15475-1 Also available as an e-book SUGGESTED ORDER MAY • PLUME 5 Fascinating and often bizarre true stories behind more than 200 urban legends about comic book culture Was Superman a Spy? And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed Plume Brian Cronin Original Was Superman a Spy? demystifies all of the interesting stories, unbelievable anecdotes, wacky rumors, and persistent myths that have piled up like priceless back issues in the seventy-plus years of the comic book industry, including: • Elvis Presley’s trademark hairstyle was based on a comic book character (True) • Stan Lee featured a gay character in one of Marvel’s 1960s war comics (False) • Wolverine of the X-Men was originally meant to be an actual wolverine! (True) • What would have been DC’s first black superhero was changed at the last moment to a white hero (True) • A Dutch inventor was blocked from getting a patent on a process because it had been used previously in a Donald Duck comic book (True) With many more legends resolved, Was Superman a Spy? is a must-have for the legions of comic book fans and all seekers of “truth, justice, and the American way ”. 978-0-452-29532-2 MARKETING BRIAN CRONIN is the writer and U.S. $14.00 / $15.50 CAN. • 6-copy counter display producer of the Comics Should On Sale: 4/28/09 978-0-452-29353-3 Be Good blog at Comic Book U.S. $84.00 / $93.00 CAN. Resources . A devoted comic book Comics/Popular Culture • National Publicity reader, he has been writing the 5 5/16” x 8” / 256 pages • National Feature b/w photos and illustrations Attention online column, “Comic Book throughout • goodcomics.comic Urban Legends Revealed” since Rights: E30 bookresources.com June 2005 . Pub History: A Plume Original Also available as an e-book Photo © Meredith Berrett © Meredith Photo SUGGESTED ORDER 6 MAY • PLUME From the author of the “hugely entertaining”* The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, lessons in debunking the faulty arguments we hear every day The Duck That Won the Lottery Plume And 99 Other Bad Arguments Original Julian Baggini This latest book from the pop philosophy author of The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten tackles an endlessly fascinating area of popular debate—the faulty argument . Julian Baggini provides a rapid-fire selection of short, stimulating, and entertaining quotes from a wide range of famous people in politics, the media, and entertainment, including Donald Rumsfeld, Emma Thompson, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and Chris Martin . Each entry takes as its starting point an example of highly questionable—though oddly persuasive—reasoning from a broad variety of subjects . As Baggini teases out the logic in the illogical, armchair philosophers and aficionados of the absurd will find themselves nodding their heads as they laugh out loud . The Duck That Won the Lottery is perfect fodder for any cocktail party and pure pleasure for anyone who loves a good brain twister . “Julian Baggini has come to the rescue. The prolific philospher’s latest work is a curiosity cabinet of spurious reasoning and spin.” —Financial Times JULIAN BAGGINI is the 978-0-452-29541-4 MARKETING cofounding editor of The U.S. $15.00 / NCR • National Print Features Philosopher’s Magazine . He writes On Sale: 4/28/09 • Online Promotions regularly for The Guardianin the • www.julianbaggini.com Philosophy UK and is the author of The Pig • www.badarguments.com 5 5/16” x 8” / 336 pages ALSO AVAILABLE That Wants to Be Eatenand co- b/w illustrations throughout author of Do You Think What You Rights: N00 Think You Think? Pub History: A Plume Original Also available as an e-book THE PIG THAT WanTS Photo Courtesy of the Author of Courtesy Photo *Publishers Weekly TO BE EATEN 978-0-452-28744-0 U.S.