My Interview with Paul Lisnek

For your enjoyment, I present an interview I did for Chicago talk radio station WVON this past Sunday about the book and all things Mad Men. During the course of this conversation, I learned:

1. While I have a fine voice, I would never find a comfortable home on talk radio--just not smooth enough.
2. Paul Lisnek is a fine interviewer: like a pro, he front-loads the question and carries on talking for a bit so I have time to think before I speak (always a good thing).
3. Paul Lisnek knows way more about Robert Morse than I do.
4. I live in Toronto. I know--it's weird, right?
   

Enjoy!

"This is how the world ends/this is how the world ends..."

...not with a bang, but a quiet appearance on an Indigo book shelf:



The book came out on September 3rd and I couldn't be happier.

More musings on season three in the offing and details of my upcoming radio interview on WVON out of Chicago.

Launch Day Part One -- CBC Interview

The first thing I think about when approaching the CBC building on Front Street is that I've never been inside it before. Next, I realize that all I know about the interior is what I've seen on "The Newsroom" and that it actually looks smaller in person than on the small screen. Thirdly, I think that the Star Trek-style sliding security doors don't look all that forbidding, particularly because they are see-through plexiglass more at home at a drive-thru window than in the lobby of a national broadcaster.

Otherwise, I liked the place. The staff of "Here and Now", along with host Jane Hawtin, were quite accommodating to an interview newbie like myself. I'd like to thank them in particular for editing out the part where I suggested that Mad Men took place during the Civil War instead of the Civil Rights movement.

Also, anyone who accurately counts how many times I say "bubbling under" and its derivations will earn my lifelong scorn and contempt.

Stay tuned for my riveting account of the book launch. Also, pictures.

Things Change

There are many aspects to publishing a book that I did not expect. Not that strange as it is my first, but in all that time imaging the process, there are a number of things that I did not foresee. Most disquieting is the constantly shifting finish line: much of that can be attributed to my neurotic "writerly" tendencies, which manages to hate giving up the text for review but can't wait for an opportunity to edit. As much as I love to cut and craft sentences of mine, I have endured a strange dislocation when turning in the manuscript (Finished!) only to be reminded that of the editorial process (Not so fast, bub!).

And thank God for that process. So far, it has resulted in correcting the following issues:

• first editorial pass of the manuscript reveals more than a few tortured and convoluted sentences meant, I can only imagine, to impress people with my vocabulary and syntactical prowess, but that instead lead to confusion and frustration in the reader: also abandoned was my theory that the entire second season was a dream of Don Draper's ... and I really thought I was on to something
  
• second editorial pass from the proofreader reveals my unfamiliarity with the Chicago Manual of Style, despite the presence of said tome next to my desk: in all fairness, it's a really big manual and I'm really lazy: upside is I learn the meaning and power of the word "stet" and wedge it into everyday conversation (for audience reaction, see "confusion and frustration" above)
• third pass from the typesetter exposes a pathetic reliance on "typecasting" in the cast bios, as if that is the only spine on which to build the body of someone's life and work: I also discover that I have a bizarre reliance on the phrase "pop culture landscape", as if I am the Mercator of unauthorized television guides

Perhaps just as interesting to me (and possibly nobody else) is how the book has changed from pitch to publication. Notably, there are a few things I wanted to cover in the book that I didn't. They are almost all in the realm of literary reference and context, and I admit that I wish I'd had the time to cover Sloan Wilson's The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and W.H. Auden's The Age of Anxiety (although the latter would have been quite a stretch, refracted through the title bestowed on the works of Richard Yates). I also didn't write a chapter on the Gaslight Cafe, as I felt it was too season one centered, and the same with a proposed chapter on the mainstream acceptance of psychoanalysis.

Oddly, the one thing that didn't change for me was the title of the book. Fortunately, it wasn't until well after writing the book that I realized how close the title was to an autobiography by advertising legend David Ogilvy. I'd like to say I was savvy enough to hope for accidental search engine hits, but that'd be a bald-faced lie.

I did craft a list of possible title alternatives. I think you'll agree I was right not to change it.

Madison Avenue Swells
The Show in the Gray Flannel Suit
Madison Avenue Freak-Out (for when the series hits the late sixties)
Ring-a-Ding-Ding: The Cool Cats & Kittens of "Mad Men"
How to Succeed in Advertising Without Really Mussing Your Hair
Kings of Madison Avenue, Princes of Sterling Cooper

Answering unasked questions.

There might be a few of these that you might have with regard to a book like Kings of Madison Avenue. In an act of supreme generosity (or is it hubris?), I have taken the liberty of asking and answering a few in one fell swoop.

I will have this Q&A take the form of me interviewing myself. It keeps things light and airy, plus I love the sound of my own voice.


JM: What lead you to write this book?

JM: Good question. Really, top notch.

JM: Why thank you. I spent a lot of time working on that lead question ... direct but chatty, nothing too heavy right out of the gate.

JM: Well, bravo. And nice shirt, by the way.

JM: The stripes, right? So slimming!

JM: I wrote the book first and foremost as a fan of Mad Men. It's a series that is written and directed quite elegantly, but is also chock full of historical and cultural references that demand further investigation. I grew tired of spending so much time looking in disparate places for the information I wanted, so I tried to find one book that might contain it all. When I couldn't find it, I wrote it.

JM: You know, I don't used the word 'brave' often ...

JM: But when the shoe fits ...

JM: Why an "unofficial" companion guide?

JM: It's sexier when you don't have permission, don't you think?

JM: Scamp!

JM: Guilty as charged! No, in truth it's a matter of speed and efficacy. The hoops one has to jump through to write an official version of this book would delay publication by years, even if it was actually approved. Also, there would be a great many more masters to serve with such a beast.

But here's the other thing: with an official book, you could look forward to an episode guide that is a recitation of plot and nothing else. When writing a book like mine that kind of thing is off limits, so what you get is more in-depth analysis of each episode. It's more work to be certain, but it leads to a greater reading experience.

JM: Genius.

JM: An overused word, but apt.

JM: Why Mad Men?

JM: I think I covered that quite well in the first question. I said that it is "written and directed quite elegantly" and I think that about covers it. Were you paying attention?

JM: All right, take it easy. I'm just trying to get a sense of you, the author.

JM: No personal questions.

JM: I'm just curious how you--

JM: No questions with the word "you" in them.

JM: How would ... one ... go about writing a book like ... one ... has?

JM: It's a calling. Such a book is an opportunity to utilize a personal history steeped in navigating the pop culture landscape and pair it with a lifelong yen for learning. As I believe most fans of the show are cut from a similar cloth, this book is a natural fit for a yawning void.

JM: Rapid fire portion of the interview. One word questions, one word answers. Ready?

JM: Hit me.

JM: Two words, disqualified. No points.

JM: Wait ... points?

JM: Hat?

JM: Fedora.

JM: Drink?

JM: Scotch.

JM: Purple?

JM: Vestments.

JM: Abbott?

JM: Lewis.

JM: Lightning round ends.

JM: How'd I do?

JM: (tallying score) I'll post it on the wall after final period.

JM: Nuts.

JM: Any last words to people you think might like your book?

JM: I'll go you one better. Not only is it a great read with terrific sidebar sojourns into the cultural and historial context of the show, it also makes a great gift for anyone you know who's a fan. So go out and buy two!

JM: You're a shameless whore.

JM: What happened to us? This started off so well ...

JM: You're like a steeping cup of green tea, McLean: you start well enough but always finish off bitter.

JM: Ouch. Accurate ... but ouch.

JM: Until we meet again.

Kings of Madison Avenue announced on the ECW Press website.

http://www.ecwpress.com/books/kings_madison_avenue

Kings of Madison Avenue available for pre-order!

Available September 1st. Order now!
http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Madison-Avenue-Unofficial-Guide/dp/1550228870

Kings of Madison Avenue: The Unofficial Guide to Mad Men

A companion guide to the best show on television from ECW Press.

Reveling in the consumerist decadence of AMC’s infamous advertising house Sterling Cooper, this complimentary volume to the groundbreaking series Mad Men provides behind-the-scenes revelations, episode guides, cast biographies, and rich sidebar content, such as “How to Party Like the Mad Men.” Delving beneath the glitz and glamour to highlight the workings of a sophisticated modern classic, this definitive fan guide offers fascinating sociological context and cultural analysis. Included in the fascinating content is the detailing of historical ad campaigns that are woven into the show’s storylines—such as Volkswagen Beetle’s landmark “Think Small” campaign, the Nixon/Kennedy presidential push, and the creation of Lucky Strike’s “It’s toasted” slogan.

"Kings of Madison Avenue"

Contents:How the Kings Roll: What You Can Expect
Smoking, Drinking, Selling: It’s Don Draper’s World and We Just Live in It
Cast Biographies
Jon Hamm/”Don Draper”
Elizabeth Moss/”Peggy Olson”
John Slattery/”Roger Sterling”
Vincent Kartheiser/”Pete Campbell”
Christina Hendricks/”Joan Holloway”
January Jones/”Betty Draper”
Robert Morse/”Bertram Cooper”S
eason One - Detailed episode guides plus:
Context: Gender Politics, Helen Gurley Brown and "Sex and the Single Girl"
Context: Doyle Dane & Bernbach’s “Think Small” Campaign for Volkswagen
Sidebar: Money Part One—Inflation from 1960 to Now
Sidebar: What are they smoking?
Before Sterling Cooper—Recommended Viewing: "Lover Come Back"
Sidebar: How tall is the mayor?
Before Sterling Cooper—Recommended Reading: "The Feminine Mystique"
Before Sterling Cooper—Recommended Viewing: "The Apartment"
Context: Nixon, Kennedy and the Changing Face of American Politics
Season Two - Detailed episode guides plus:
Before Sterling Cooper — Recommended Viewing:" How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"
Sidebar: Money Part Two — What They Made Then and What They Make Now
Recommended Reading: Richard Yates "Revolutionary Road" and "Disturbing the Peace"
Context: Civil Rights Movement—Dr. Howard Thurman’s "Jesus and the Disinherited" and its Influence on Dr. Martin Luther King
Sidebar: Guest Stars — I know that faceSidebar: Notable Writers and Directors from Mad Men
Before Sterling Cooper — Recommended Reading: "Meditations in an Emergency"
AppendixHow to Party Like the Mad Men
The Perfect Manhattan Rendezvous: An Itinerary for Touring Locations Highlighted in Mad Men.