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Reading and Writing by Evan Wright:

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I learned to read out of spite. My older sister had been attempting to teach me to read with Dr. Seuss and Richard Scary books for several weeks when one night she refused to provide any further instruction. She would no longer sit beside me at bed time and flip through the pages, enunciating the words, pointing to the corresponding pictures, tucking me in when I drifted off. I was on my own. Enraged, I banished her from my room--I do remember slamming the door, thrashing blankets around, tears--and picked up Go Dog, Go! Reading it on my own was an act of sheer hatred, intended to prove to my sister, the entire world, that I needed no one. They could all fall off the face of the planet. I had found my new family among the dogs of Go, Dogs Go! joining them as they raced their cars for the party at the top of the tree, the climactic finish to the book. I vowed to never come down from that tree, to live in the world of dogs until the end of time.

It took many years before I realized how susceptible I am to reverse psychology, that my sister had played me masterfully.

My sister definitely deserves credit for this. Teaching me to read at such a young age, before I'd even entered first grade totally screwed up my life. I was so far ahead of the other kids when I started school, I became an immediate slacker. It set the pattern and so retarded my progress that by the time I reached adulthood, I definitely needed a career in a profession requiring no credentials or qualifications. Journalism fit the bill.

Posted by Penguin Group USA on Mon, 07/21/2008 - 11:51am. in

Generation Kill, Evan Wright

Mon, 07/21/2008

Penguin Imprint Focus: Day Three, by Nichole Morford:

As we round down the final few posts for our Penguin Imprint Feature, we're going to step aside and allow Nichole Morford to post about life at DK. She's going to be guest blogging for the next few entries, and will reveal what being a DK Editor actually entails.

About a month ago, we held a very unconventional editorial meeting. At our publisher's invitation, we headed to "that most traditional of publishing environments"-the pub-and sat down to talk about a rather non-traditional publishing topic-the Kama Sutra. It was a cozy gathering at the Pitcher and Piano. There's something about stepping outside the office that always gets the inspirational juices flowing.

Mostly we were there to discuss new ways of presenting this classic love manual. A challenge of writing or editing sex books is that there are only so many positions that are, well, plausible. A rework of the Kama Sutra doesn't provide brand new information, so needs a clever package and spin on content to add to our already impressive sex and relationships library. We came up with several inspired possible KS routes-and then started drinking.

Yesterday, back in 7C for our typical monthly meeting, we saw the first fruits of our labor. Our art director had mocked up covers for all our best brainstorms, and as we passed them around the table, the concepts really began to take root. This is a unique attribute of a DK book: it often starts with the design. Seeing a well-designed jacket is sometimes just the trigger you need to create a well-thought-out book. In the end, this results in the best of both worlds: pictures and words that together make up a beautifully complete reference.

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