September 10th, 2014
As of today the good folks at Templeton Press have sent my new book, The Seven Deadly Virtues, off to the printer. I’d like to tell you about it, since, unlike What to Expect, this project has been shrouded in relative secrecy.
First off, it’s not really “my” book. After What to Expect, which took a little more than five years to write, I realized that writing books by yourself is for suckers. So for The Seven Deadly Virtues (I’m open to suggestions on how to short-hand the title; “7DV”?) I called a bunch of my favorite writers and asked them to each write an essay. All I had to do was edit them, shuffle the chapters into a semi-coherent order, and write an introduction. It was an embarrassingly small amount of work. The product is awesome because the secret, it turns out, is getting writers who are better than you to do all the heavy lifting. And I’ve got the 1998 Yankees.
No, really: P. J. O’Rourke, Christopher Buckley, Andy Ferguson, Matt Labash, Mollie Hemingway, James Lileks, Rob Long, Jonah Goldberg Joe Queenan, Larry Miller, Christopher Caldwell, Iowahawk, Sonny Bunch, Christine Rosen, Andrew Stiles, Michael Graham, and Rita Koganzon. That, my friends, is a New Jack Murderer’s Row.
So what’s it all about? Remember Bill Bennett’s wonderful Book of Virtues? It’s like that, but funny. The Seven Deadly Virtues is a meditation on virtue and the human condition and filled with yucks. Yet also, amazingly enough, some philosophical seriousness, too. Imagine Aristotle crossed with . . . well, I don’t know who, exactly. Maybe Rodney Dangerfield. Or Jerry Seinfeld. Or Evelyn Waugh. It’s just funny. You’ll love it.
Of course, I would say that. But I truly believe it. I love how this book turned out and I’m really proud to be part of a project with so many writers I admire. And I think you’ll love it, too.
I’ll be redesigning the site in a few weeks and then moving into pimp mode as we get closer to the release date, October 28.
Now, go order copies for you and everyone you love. It’ll be a fantastic Halloween (or holiday of your choice) gift.
-
You had me right up until you compared a book about virtue to the Yankees.
-
Only on JVL’s blog, I submit, will you find back-to-back posts on “virtue and the human condition” and … pro wrestling. 😉 I offer this as a compliment, because while I have absolutely NO interest in pro wrestling (despite growing up in Dallas at the height of the Von Erich Brothers’ reign at the Sportatorium), I actually enjoyed the wrestling post, which JVL used to say something interesting about how to approach one’s career … he even name-checked Charles Murray!
-
Ok, who’s the Devil?
-
I’d go with “7deadV”…super sweet.
Galley Wife September 11, 2014 at 6:55 am
Don’t worry. He hates the Yankees. As do all people of good character. : )