Third Book News!

I hope you all enjoyed the live discussion yesterday at the Big City Book Club with Caleb Carr as a special guest. Most excitingly for regular visitors to 17th Street and long-time readers of the Alienist books, Mr. Carr has confirmed that a third book is indeed planned! In addition, another crime novel with “historical overtones” is also in the pipeline. The full question with Mr. Carr’s response is below.

Question: Do you have any plans to write a third book?

Caleb Carr: Well, not exactly the time to ask this: I have just finished a massive new work, “The Legend of Broken,” which is very different, and yet, at its core, not so different at all. An experiment in the theory that most of the questions we’ve been discussing are philosophically eternal, like nobility, greed, and stupidity; and I hope everyone will give it a chance, even if it is not set in New York.

And so I can’t set RIGHT off to do another long Alienist book. I have another crime novel in mind, with many historical overtones, and if all goes well, I will tackle the last in the Alienist trilogy thereafter.

And yes, it will unravel the mystery of Sara Howard…

You can read the rest of the questions submitted to Mr. Carr and his answers at the Big City Book Club or on the message board. There was some really interesting discussion about the characters, the social issues at the heart of The Alienist, the question of whether the book will ever make it to the screen (or the stage?), and the history of New York City itself. Enjoy!

Online Discussion

Although it’s been a long time between updates, I am very pleased to say that there is substantial news to report. Starting with news that will be of most interest to fans of the Alienist books, The New York Times is reporting that there will be an online discussion about the books this week on January 15 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. EST with Caleb Carr as a special guest!

The Big City Book Club will convene online for our live discussion of “The Alienist” on Jan. 15, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with two special guests taking part: Caleb Carr, the book’s author, and Ric Burns, the filmmaker behind the public television mini-series “New York: A Documentary Film.”

Set in 1896, just as Theodore Roosevelt comes to take over the Police Department in a city where vice reigns, Mr. Carr’s 1994 literary thriller revolves around a murder investigation conducted by a reporter for The New York Times and his psychologist friend. At the book’s center is the mutilated body of a young male prostitute discovered on the Williamsburg Bridge, along with the nascent world of criminal profiling.

Join us for the discussion of the book and of the world of 19th-century New York.

In addition, readers may be interested to learn that Caleb Carr released a new novel, The Legend of Broken, late last year. Described as “…[a]n excellent and old-fashioned entertainment that evolves into a clever discourse on the history and development of modern warfare,” in a review by The Washington Post, Random House released the following description of the novel:

Legend meets history in this mesmerizing novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Caleb Carr. Demonstrating the rich storytelling, skillful plotting, and depth of research he showcased in The Alienist, Carr has written a wildly imaginative, genre-bending saga that redefines the boundaries of literature.

Some years ago, a remarkable manuscript long rumored to exist was discovered: The Legend of Broken. It tells of a prosperous fortress city where order reigns at the point of a sword—even as scheming factions secretly vie for control of the surrounding kingdom. Meanwhile, outside the city’s granite walls, an industrious tribe of exiles known as the Bane forages for sustenance in the wilds of Davon Wood.

At every turn, the lives of Broken’s defenders and its would-be destroyers intertwine: Sixt Arnem, the widely respected and honorable head of the kingdom’s powerful army, grapples with his conscience and newfound responsibilities amid rumors of impending war. Lord Baster-kin, master of the Merchants’ Council, struggles to maintain the magnificence of his kingdom even as he pursues vainglorious dreams of power. And Keera, a gifted female tracker of the Bane tribe, embarks on a perilous journey to save her people, enlisting the aid of the notorious and brilliant philosopher Caliphestros. Together, they hope to exact a ruinous revenge on Broken, ushering in a day of reckoning when the mighty walls will be breached forever in a triumph of science over superstition.

Breathtakingly profound and compulsively readable, Caleb Carr’s long-awaited new book is an action-packed, multicharacter epic of a medieval clash of cultures—in which new gods collide with old, science defies all expectation, and virtue comes in many guises. Brimming with adventure and narrative invention, The Legend of Broken is an exhilarating and enthralling masterwork.

Let us know what you think of the new book or the New York Times chat at the message board! As an aside, if you tried to make a message board account at any stage last year, you may have found that your account was not validated in a timely manner (my apologies, I was bogged down last year with work and study commitments) so you may need to create a new account in order to post. Rest assured that any new message board accounts will be validated in a timely manner from this point onwards, so please get involved and enjoy a discussion with other readers.

Book Recommendation

Not Alienist news but for anybody looking for a good read this summer (or winter, if you live in the southern hemisphere), Caleb Carr has recently praised a new Sherlock Holmes novel, Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson, which was released on April 28, 2009. Mr. Carr wrote: “At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, what remains one of the greatest and most horrifying unsolved murder cases in modern history: the Jack the Ripper killings. Where others have failed, Lyndsay Faye’s extremely impressive debut novel succeeds, on every level, providing thrilling entertainment without blatant exploitation. It will instantly take a place of distinction among the best attempts of contemporary authors to continue the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, and is, quite simply, a must for Holmes fans and Ripperologists alike.”

Regarding an update of 17th Street content, I have unfortunately been snowed under for the past few months with research and teaching so my travels into the world of 19th century New York have had to be put on hold. I am, however, currently working on an update which I hope will be available in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you know of any Caleb Carr news that hasn’t been posted here, please feel free to contact me so that it can be shared with other visitors to the site. Thanks and happy reading!

Big Update!

There are several pieces of site news and Caleb Carr news to make mention of in this update so I encourage you to read this entire post, particularly the second last paragraph (hint, hint).

The most obvious thing to make mention of is that for the first time since the site opened in 2005, 17th Street has a new layout! As you might have gathered, I love historic maps and the one featured in this layout is a panorama of Manhattan from early in the 20th century. Although the overall look is a rather big departure from the previous layout, I hope that you all still approve of it and find it easy to navigate.

In addition to the new layout, I am pleased to announce a new section of the site containing information about Caleb Carr which can be accessed via the Author link in the navigation menu. It contains a summary of Mr. Carr’s education and career, links to interviews he has given over the years, and a list of his book and film works. The only thing missing from that section of the site is a publicity photo. If you know of any relatively recent photos of Mr. Carr that I would be free to use, I would appreciate it if you would contact me. Please note that any photos you suggest will need to be of a similar size and quality to those found elsewhere on this site, and I would like to be able to get permission from the photographer.

Now, onto the news that I’m sure you’re all more interested in.

In completing this update, I made the discovery that Mr. Carr is working as a librettist on composer Ezequiel Viñao’s new opera, Merlin. Although this doesn’t really count as “news” given that the opera has been in progress since the 1990s, I hadn’t heard about it until I stumbled upon the opera’s website recently, so I assume that there are others of you in the same position as myself. Plus, I happen to love opera so this is almost as exciting as a new Alienist book, from my perspective!

For those of you more interested in Mr. Carr’s books, however, the opera’s website also contains another piece of exciting information: it is written that Mr. Carr is currently “continuing work on several creative projects, including a new Alienist volume and the Ezequiel Viñao opera, Merlin.” This, of course, means that we finally have confirmation from a source other than The Age (at last!) that the elusive third Alienist novel is in progress. Love opera or not, I think it’s safe to say that this is good news all round!

Well, I hope you’re all pleased with this month’s site update. As always, if you have any feedback, you’re welcome to leave a comment on this post, post at the message board, or contact me directly.