A kind visitor to 17th Street recently got in touch to share that KPFA radio has digitized, remastered, and edited an interview with Caleb Carr from October 15, 1997 that hasn’t been heard in over a quarter century. In this half hour interview, Caleb talks exclusively about the Alienist novels, including the approach he took in researching and writing both novels and providing insights into his inspiration and intentions. For fans of The Alienist or The Angel of Darkness, this fascinating interview contains insights not found anywhere else. You can listen to the interview below or download it from KPFA here.
In addition, the Press page has been updated to include two interviews I had not previously been aware of. One from the New York Times News Service in 1999 describes Caleb’s purchase of his Cherry Plain property, and the other from The Denver Post in 2001 focuses on his future-oriented novel, Killing Time.
I hope you enjoy these newly unearthed interviews. If you know of any others that aren’t already on the Press page, please feel free to contact me.
The New Statesman, which each year asks writers and guests to select a favorite read from the preceding 12 months, published their 2024 selections last week, and My Beloved Monster was among those picked. To justify the choice, John Gray wrote:
Caleb Carr’s My Beloved Monster (Allen Lane), an account of the life he shared for 17 years with a Siberian forest cat, is a profound story of mortality, grief and love. Left to die in a locked apartment, Masha was found by Carr in an animal sanctuary, where she adopted him as much as he adopted her. Abused as a child by his violent father and suffering poor health for the rest of his life, he formed a more enduring relationship with her than with any human being. While he was writing in the remote farmhouse they shared in upstate New York, she was “hunting and defending our territory” and comforting him in his illnesses. When she died of cancer Carr was desolated, and died himself, also from cancer, not long after. My Beloved Monster will be compared with JR Ackerley’s classic My Dog Tulip (1956), but to my mind Carr tells a more extraordinary tale. Unlike Ackerley’s Alsatian, Masha remained untamed, befriending an ailing human without ever giving up her wild nature.
The selection coincided with the UK release of My Beloved Monster in late October by Allen Lane. Already a New York Times bestseller from its earlier US publication in April, it has garnered lovely reviews from across the Atlantic as well.
Reviewing for The Times, Francesca Angelini called the memoir “a warm, heavy love letter to Masha and her feline predecessors,” while Kathryn Hughes, reviewing for The Guardian, described the memoir as “one of the finest meditations on animal companionship that I have ever read.” Hughes explained:
In this exquisite book novelist Caleb Carr tells the story of the “shared existence” he enjoyed for 17 years with his beloved cat, Masha. At the time of writing she is gone, he is going, and all that remains is to explain how they made each other’s difficult lives bearable. The result is not just a lyrical double biography of man and cat but a wider philosophical inquiry into our moral failures towards a species which, cute internet memes notwithstanding, continues to get a raw deal.
For those who may have missed them, you can find Caleb Carr’s interviews about My Beloved Monster given late last year here.
And if you have not yet met the remarkable Masha, like the reviewers above I recommend giving Caleb’s final, heartfelt memoir a try. Whether you are a cat aficionado or not, My Beloved Monster is a moving tribute to both Masha and her human companion of 17 years, and provides a glimpse the kind of deeply loving relationship possible between feline and human, if only more humans would give them a chance to come that close.
With the year nearing its end, the time has come for the last post in our celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Alienist’s publication. To honor the novel and its author, we have so far discussed its origins and first/special editions (Parts One and Two), explored early attempts to adapt it to the screen (Part Three), and summarized the publication history of its sequel, The Angel of Darkness (Part Four). In order to complete our homage today, we now turn our attention to the novel’s many translations and consider its enduring legacy.
Translations
Perhaps one of the best markers of a novel’s success is how widely translated it has been, and The Alienist is no exception. Although our celebration so far has primarily focused on the novel’s reception in the United States, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to its status as a bestseller. As described in Part Two, The Alienist was a worldwide phenomenon upon its release. Since that time, millions of copies have been sold, and it has been translated into over two dozen languages.
While it is beyond the scope of this blog series to provide details about each and every translation, a very small subset of covers for translated editions can be viewed below. These include editions in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Czech, and Russian.
Continuation of the series
Over the past 20 years, perhaps the most frequently asked question I’ve received as the owner of 17th Street relates to whether the series will ever be continued. Although the idea of a third novel was floated on and off in interviews with Caleb Carr following The Angel of Darkness’ publication (see Part Four), it wasn’t until 2016 that the long-awaited announcement was made: Mulholland Books would be publishing two new Alienist novels intended to ‘bookend’ the series. More exciting still, the books would shed light on the two most enigmatic characters in the series: Miss Sara Howard and Dr. Kreizler himself.
The first novel, titled The Alienist at Armageddon, would focus on Kreizler. Set 18 years after The Angel of Darkness and drawing on Caleb’s expertise as a military historian, the Vice President of Mulholland Books explained that the novel would be “set against a stage of rising nationalist violence and the early spy state,” and was “centered on nativist violence and terrorism during America’s involvement in World War I.” The blurb, which can still be found on the defunct Amazon page (it was never published), describes the story in the following way:
The Alienist at Armageddon begins in the winter of 1915, soon after the start of the First World War. Reuniting the original’s beloved characters, the story is told from the perspective of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler–the famous psychologist, or “alienist,” and his friend and comrade, John Moore, crime reporter for the New York Times. A massive explosive detonates mere feet from Kreizler’s home, marking the fourth in New York City in as many months.
With his friends at his heels, Kreizler takes up his own case, and the cases of the other explosions. Amid the turmoil in New York City, they receive a news report: the RMS Luisitania, a British passenger ship bound for Liverpool from New York with Americans on board, has sunk mysteriously just eleven miles off the Irish coast. With international tensions high at the onset of the Great War, and many in Europe clamoring for American intervention, Kreizler’s case threatens to embroil not only his own life, but the lives of his countrymen, in the greatest and most deadly conflict modern civilization had ever seen.
Not as much is known about the second novel, which was set to act as a prequel. This work, titled The Strange Case of Miss Sara X, was described in the announcement as a story in which “a youthful Kreizler, after finishing his psychology training at Harvard, falls under the spell of William James, has his first run-in with Roosevelt, and delves into the secret life of Sara Howard, heroine of the first books.” Presumably, it was intended to finally reveal the mystery at the heart of Sara’s story: what really happened to her father.
Unfortunately, five years after the series continuation was announced, Caleb revealed to 17th Street that the first novel had suffered a significant delay due to a necessary change in its concept and plot. More importantly, he was waging a formidable health battle that had further slowed its progress. The wider circumstances around this extremely difficult period can be learned in My Beloved Monster, the memoir Caleb ultimately devoted his final years to completing — a beautiful tribute that memorialized the loving relationship he shared with his feline companion, Masha.
Surrender, New York
Even though fans of The Alienist did not, in the end, get the direct series continuation they may have been hoping for, the books were not left completely unresolved. In 2016, Caleb published what would turn out to be his last work of fiction, Surrender, New York, in which a modern criminal psychologist was drawn into a puzzling case involving the deaths of local children abandoned by their parents. Despite being set in the present day, the novel shared several key thematic elements with the original series and directly referenced the trailblazing theories of Dr. Kreizler.
“The idea that came to me was what if you had a man who used some modern tools, but applied Kreizler’s principles to a modern case?” Caleb said in an interview with Literary Hub in 2016. Beyond the references to Kreizler’s theories woven throughout the story, the novel required the same rigorous research as the original works. “I was going through these New York State documents, and I kept finding references to ‘throwaway children,'” he explained. “It turns out it is a widespread problem. That is the pitfall of research. It takes you places you didn’t plan to go. It stopped being a simple book.”
In addition to the victims in the novel being youths from vulnerable sections of society (like those in the Alienist books), Surrender also explored themes that ran through the earlier works such as corruption, what happens when investigators get too emotionally involved in a case, and the contrast between crime in rural and urban regions of New York. Even the book jacket design shared similarities with the hardcover editions of the original series, from its color palette to the title design elements.
While I wouldn’t recommend that readers approach Surrender, New York expecting the same atmosphere as the original novels given its contemporary setting, fans can still enjoy digging into a world in which Dr. Kreizler’s legacy has been kept alive for more than 100 years by an equally interesting and complex team of investigators. In more ways than one, Surrender, New York can be thought of as a fitting capstone for a series that made a mark on the historical thriller genre that even its author never anticipated.
I hope you have enjoyed this exploration of The Alienist’s publication history. Even though this post concludes the 30th anniversary celebration, the journey doesn’t end here!
17th Street will be continuing to add and update content over the coming years, exploring different aspects of Caleb Carr’s work (not just the Alienist books) to keep his legacy alive. If you would like to receive periodic updates, I encourage you to sign up for the newsletter. You are also welcome to get in contact to suggest topics for discussion or examination here on the blog.
We have now reached the penultimate post in our celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Alienist’s publication. In the series so far, we have discussed the novel’s origins (Part One), its release and first/special editions (Part Two), and the early attempts to adapt the novel to the screen, including glimpsing a rare leather-bound copy of Steven Katz’s script (Part Three). In today’s post, we will examine how the success of The Alienist led to the publication of a sequel before exploring the various uncorrected proofs (including a very rare proof), an advanced reader copy, first editions, and one example of a paperback that have been released for the novel over the years.
A sequel is called for
It should come as no surprise that the phenomenal success of The Alienist led to a book deal for a second. Partially inspired by Wilkie Collins who often had multiple characters narrating a single mystery, Caleb Carr revealed in interviews that he had similar plans for alternating narrators in the Alienist novels. Speaking to Crime Time in 1997, he explained that the original idea was for “the narration of each book [to] shift from person to person to person, with each narrator telling the story that was most significant for them. I chose Moore in the first book, as he was the most accessible of the group. He was modern in some ways, and I felt that people would have the least trouble with him.”
For the sequel, Caleb decided to shift to a narrator who was, in some respects, easier to write. He told The Seattle Times in 1997 that “Stevie is a little closer to me personally, in terms of growing up in a lot of different worlds, a lot of different levels of society, in New York.” In response to the Crime Time interviewer suggesting that this shift in narrator involved “cheating,” as Stevie was less educated than Moore, Caleb argued, “I didn’t have Moore’s attitudes myself, so you could say that I had to cheat with him as well. This is really to do with language: the way Stevie views the city is not slumming. He’s been there, he has lived in the lower depths, unlike Moore. To a degree, this reflects my background: I lived in an area where it was a question of slumming for the rich kids when they came to buy drugs and act disgracefully, before going back to their well-upholstered homes.”
In an interview with NewCity in 1997, Caleb revealed that he spent eighteen months “creating the world” for the novel that would become the sequel; and, according to Times Union, he would “disappear into 12-hour writing binges” while cloistered “in a fifth-floor walk-up apartment on the Lower East Side (in a family-owned brownstone).” The end result would be The Angel of Darkness, a 629-page novel that focused on a female serial killer driven to violence by society’s insistence that motherhood was the only “way for her to be a full, complete woman.” Speaking to Salon about why people find maternal violence particularly difficult to grasp, he said: “You want to believe that there’s one relationship in life that’s beyond betrayal—a relationship that’s beyond that kind of hurt—and there isn’t.”
The proofs are distributed
It is unclear when the manuscript that would become The Angel of Darkness was finally turned in to Random House, but a kind visitor to 17th Street, Steve Rogers, recently obtained what is likely to be one of the earliest extant copies: an extremely rare, non-copy-edited manuscript, signed by Caleb Carr, that was sent to a magazine reviewer in early July of 1997 to meet the lead time for their October issue. The manuscript came presented in a red two-piece tray case, and included a protective cover, a letter addressed to the reviewer by Pamela K. Cannon (a senior publicist at Random House), and an information page about the book. This is a truly special find.
A few weeks later, the novel’s standard uncorrected proofs were distributed to reviewers, critics, and industry professionals. As you can see in Part One, the proof for The Angel of Darkness had the same standard blue and white Random House paperback binding as The Alienist. The copy shown below also came with a letter and information page about the novel that would have accompanied each proof when they were sent out.
The Angel of Darkness is released
Several months after the uncorrected proofs and advance reader copies were distributed, the highly anticipated sequel was released in September of 1997. Like its predecessor, The Angel of Darkness had its true first edition published by the Franklin Library as part of their Signed First Edition series. As explained in Part Two, these beautiful editions were printed on acid-free paper with gilt edging, were fully leather-bound with 22 karat gold ornamentation, and included a custom illustration. Each edition was limited to 1,500 copies worldwide.
But again, as with The Alienist, it was the Random House first edition that most readers would be familiar with. I have tried to identify the photographer of the black and white photo that was used to illustrate the cover, but as it was not credited anywhere in the book, I was unable to find the source. However, in a blog post from 2008, Ephemeral New York dated the photograph to 1898 and identified it as having been taken on Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street. And for collectors, the first printing of the first edition can be identified by the printer’s key “2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3” and “First Trade Edition” on the copyright page.
A wonderful feature of both editions is the map that illustrates the endpapers, created for the book by Anita Karl and Jim Kemp. The map plots all the key locations in the novel — at least, those that take place in the New York City portions of the story — and add an extra layer of interest and authenticity to the read (but which, unfortunately, were not included in all of the later paperback editions of the novel).
Reception and other editions
Unsurprisingly, The Angel of Darkness was an instant bestseller. The public’s love of The Alienist led the sequel to debut at number 3 on the Publishers Weekly and Wall Street Journal hardcover bestseller lists, and number 4 on The New York Times bestseller list. Although some of the critical reception of the novel was mixed, with a few reviewers preferring the faster pacing and narration of the original, overall it was extremely well-received and went on to spend 11 months on the hardback and paperback bestseller lists. When it was released, the reviewer for The New York Times wrote:
“Sequels usually don’t work, but in The Angel of Darkness, Caleb Carr has written at least as winning a historical thriller as his best seller The Alienist. Once again, he has created a turn-of-the-century New York City that feels as authentic as a fading tintype… Best of all, the theme of The Angel of Darkness is both historically accurate and contemporary, concerning as it does the social pressure on women to be mothers and what happens to their psyches when they lack the instinct to nurture.”
On a personal note, The Angel of Darkness happens to be my favorite of the two novels (though I obviously love The Alienist as well), and the most prized edition of any of Caleb’s work that I possess is a custom-bound leather copy with gilt edging, marbled endpapers, and a slip-case that was given to me as a gift many years ago. I debated sharing these photos as they are not of an official or publicly available copy, but given that celebration is the theme of these blogs, I decided to include them anyway.
As you might be able to tell, this custom-bound copy was created from the novel’s UK first edition published by Little, Brown and Company. Interestingly, unlike The Alienist which had different UK and US covers, the original UK first edition of the novel had the same cover design as Random House. The primary differences between the two editions is the color of the cover’s photograph (the UK edition has a pale green hue) and minor changes to the title and author text placement.
In addition to the UK and other international editions, the sequel’s success led to numerous paperback editions over the years as well. Unlike The Alienist, the novel never received any special anniversary editions, but most paperbacks have continued to use the original cover photograph in varying designs. The following is an example trade paperback released by Random House in 2018 to coincide with the TV series release.
And that is all for our exploration of the publication history for The Angel of Darkness. In the final post of the 30th anniversary series, we will examine some of the international editions for both The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, and discuss the enduring legacy of the books. You can continue reading here.
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By clicking "accept all", you consent to our use of cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
