Mini Book Review: Libra.

DeLillo, Don. Libra

Libra is historical fiction at its finest. DeLillo builds a complicated Lee Osward from the time he is a child until he becomes the adult that readers identify as the man that assassinated the president. A parallel narrative with Nicholas Branch, a CIA archivist, who is assigned to research Kennedy’s death, is woven around the story of Oswald, which allows for a sense of immediacy. It also works as a powerful narrative thread that raises questions about the way that time affects how events in history are "read."

ALICE DAY has been an editor since 1988. After earning a graduate degree in creative writing at Brown University, she has worked at the book publishers Henry Holt and Company and Carroll & Graf Publishers. Writer Don Smith, whose awards include 19 regional Emmys, said of Alice Day, "She's the kind of editor every writer should be so lucky to have." Alice Day is an award-winning poet with four collections of poetry that have been published by nationally-recognized publishing houses. Kathleen Wakefield, whose novella won the 2008 Cleveland State University novella contest, said "that [Alice] has been an editor at a major New York publishing house gives her insight into that complicated world; that she is a poet, I believe, gives her the sensitivity to find the beauty of a writer's individual work." Alice Day has the skill and experience to focus on a writer's vision and help the writer realize it. She's a hands-on editor who's not afraid to cut words and offer insights. And she has a poet's sensitivity to language.

Alice Day's specialty is fiction editing. She has worked with numerous award-winning authors (authors who have won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award, as well as first-time novelists) She does detailed manuscript evaluations, as well as developmental/substantive editing. She is also a skilled copy editor.

Her fiction specialties include short stories, novellas, literary fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction, women's fiction, chick lit, thrillers, mysteries, and detective/crime novels.

"Alice is a joy to work with and someone I recommend most highly to other writers. She is a skillful, sensitive editor with excellent judgment and tremendous respect for an author's voice. Whether she's commenting on the overall arc of a story or zeroing in on a specific phrase or line of dialogue, her comments are always insightful and instructive." --Amanda Filipacchi, author of Nude Men and Vapor

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