My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize (Plus, A Giveaway)

Posted by Tasha on September 1st, 2009 in Uncategorized

Tonight my favorite little downtown boutique, Dwelling Spaces, will erupt in a fit of literary glee with a fresh-and-never greasy side order of that Tulsa patriotism that’s the driving force behind so many of the fun projects and partnerships thriving in this city right now.

Case in point: Local writer, social media aficionado and champion of books and all that is Tulsa Jeff Martin.

In case you didn’t already know from Booksmart Tulsa meetings, The Customer is Always Wrong, his recent splash in The New Yorker (check out slide 3 of 5) and my favorite new local blog, Goodbye Tulsa, and his work to make Philbrook Museum a pioneer among the social media-treading public spaces, this Jeff Martin guy is quite a talented individual.

Let me count the ways.

Did you know that Jeff Martin:

-Was born in 1980?
-Made millions on the stock market?
-Lost millions on the stock market?
-Stopped a Chinese tank at Tiananmen Square?
-Managed Michael Dukakis’s 1988 presidential campaign?
-Co-wrote Aliens 2: More Aliens with James Cameron?
-Had a torrid and brief creative relationship with Disney’s animation department?
-Disguised himself as a midget, joined NASA, and became the first-ever child in space, all in tribute to the Challenger space shuttle tragedy?

Who knew such accomplishment was roaming freely among us.

Back to what I was saying about the explosion of Dwelling Spaces tonight. Get there at 7 to celebrate the launch of Martin’s latest book, My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize: The Fabricated Memoirs of Jeff Martin.

While the novel will always be my first love, I am totally digging on the memoir form right now. It’s become such a huge literary space, at least to me, since I consider pretty much all the forms of social media, from the dinosaur that is the long-form blog (sorry, TDT.com, but it’s true) to the microbloggyness that is Twitter, along with reality television, as belonging to or growing immediately from the memoir genre.

It’s fun. There’s just something about that line, “based on a true story,” whether that’s actually said or implied. It draws us in. It gives us a forum in which to try on another life, practically without consequence.

Anyway. Jeff Martin can write this thing, a memoir. If you’re not reading him, you’ll probably never manage Michael Dukakis’s 1988 presidential campaign or be the first-ever child in space or go torrid on Disney’s animation department.

Want a free copy of My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize before pretty much everyone else? Simply enter the title of your favorite book in the comments before 4pm today (Tuesday).

If you put something that’s in Oprah’s book club, watch out – Jeff Martin will be hunting you, Lord-of-the-Flies style.

Be afraid.

I’ll announce the winner from the My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize launch party tonight at Dwelling Spaces.

Happy reading, everyone.

Photos from Jeff Martin’s home on the Web.

Click here for more about Jeff Martin at TashaDoesTulsa.com.

Be Sociable, Share!

Tagged:

16 Comments to My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize (Plus, A Giveaway)

Amber Whitlatch

On September 1, 2009 at 4:03 pm

1

"Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein
Geoffrey

On September 1, 2009 at 4:24 pm

2

"Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson
Eve Burrell

On September 1, 2009 at 4:53 pm

3

"The Customer Is Always Wrong" edited by Jeff Martin,of course!
Carrisa

On September 1, 2009 at 5:01 pm

4

My favorite book as of late is Same Kind Of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Also a memoir.

Jen Lancaster is a good author if you want to read a memoir that reads like chick lit fiction.

See you tonight!
Amber

On September 1, 2009 at 5:05 pm

5

"The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb.
Territory Mom

On September 1, 2009 at 5:17 pm

6

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Marty Coleman

On September 1, 2009 at 5:41 pm

7

"Martin Coleman and Jeff Martin Get Martinized" – The Untrue and Unwriteable Story of a Load of Wash and the Saving of Mid-Western Civilization
Hilary

On September 1, 2009 at 5:42 pm

8

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. It's a children's book, but I have loved it my whole life.
Mommyfried

On September 1, 2009 at 6:10 pm

9

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by Joe Picket is my most recent favorite. This one surprised me that I liked it so much.
Becky

On September 1, 2009 at 6:27 pm

10

"The Pop-up Mice of Mr. Brice" by Dr. Seuss.
Traveling Spork

On September 1, 2009 at 6:53 pm

11

Oprah can pick my book any day.
Of course, I'd have to write one first.

With that said, I can never pick a favorite! Current choice: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.
Mandy Gross

On September 1, 2009 at 7:08 pm

12

It's hard to choose just one but one of my favorites is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
April and Ashley

On September 1, 2009 at 8:41 pm

13

Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural edited by Marvin Kaye. i found it in high school at gardner's and it has been with me ever since.
Nece

On September 1, 2009 at 8:44 pm

14

I think that Hogfather by Terry Pratchett is the one book that has always stayed with me. I read it every winter.

Janece
kariteimo(at)gmail(dot)com
quba

On September 2, 2009 at 1:26 pm

15

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Betty

http://illinoislottery.info
Rene Shepard

On September 5, 2009 at 5:25 pm

16

Hi Tasha,
I just wanted to let you know about the Kings Champion Medieval Faire going on at Chandler park, in Tulsa. Sept. 12 and 13. It is a free entry faire with lots of vendors and entertainment. There will be childrens activities and demonstrations in Medieval arts by the local Society for Creative Anachronism and all kinds of other Medieval related stuff.

I believe we are even going to have a 1/4 scale Pirate Ship!

Its in that area between the big field and the baseball fields, in the woods near the new community center.

Be sure and come yourself, its going to be fun!

By submitting a comment here you grant Tasha Does Tulsa a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate or irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin's discretion.

Tasha Does Tulsa.