Street Teams And Other Business [Sep 5, 2003]

A few quick self-promotional notes, in case today's Spanish-language entry wasn't enough for you.

The Telegraph Company, the record label that has kindly agreed to release The Neal Pollack Invasion's first album, is looking for Neal Pollack Street Team volunteers in the cities to which I'm touring this fall. If you're interested, email me, and Telegraph will send you posters and stickers along with instructions as how to spread the gospel word of this most adventurous of all book tours. A complete list of tour cities is available to your right, in the Live column. Any help would be greately appreciated, and paid back with, well, something free. Sign up now to volunteer for The Neal Pollack Street Team!

Meanwhile, publication date for Never Mind The Pollacks is little more than three weeks away. Early reviews, the three that I've seen, have been very positive. Kirkus reviews called it "loud, messy, wild and fun--just like the best rock-n-roll," and Publishers Weekly said "Spinal Tap fans and groupies everywhere should love it." Did you hear that, groupies? If that's not enough, Amazon has named Never Mind The Pollacks number 28 (out of 29) books in its list of fall fiction picks. Soon, I predict, this book will be in the top 100,000 in sales, nationwide.

I also wanted to call your attention to Philadelphia's 215 Festival, which has turned into the country's pre-eminent annual showcase for the uneasy marriage between literature and rock-n-roll. This year's festival lineup includes Patti Smith, George Saunders, Toure, Jonathan Lethem, The Frogs, and, naturally, The Neal Pollack Invasion, as well as fantastic showcases of some of our best alternative presses and literary magazines, including Akashic Books, Pindeldyboz, Word Riot, and The Land-Grant College Review. It may not have Hilton Als in conversation with Wyclef Jean, whoo-hooo, like at The New Yorker Festival, but it costs a lot less and will be a lot more fun, meaning more focused on beer-drinking. In the end, what is literature but a great excuse to drink beer?