Dominick V. Anfuso is v-p and editor-in-chief of Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Over the course of his career, he has acquired and edited across a broad range of nonfiction genres and fiction as well. Some of the writers he has worked with include Robert Timberg, Mikal Gilmore, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Mark Mathabane, Chris Hedges, Annie Murphy Paul, James Kunstler, Peter Bergen, Harry Dent, Chris Matthews and Stephen Covey.
How did you find Mira's manuscript?
We had just bought a wonderful memoir from the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth agency, so when Mira's agent, Jennifer Gates, who is part of that group, called me and said, "I know how much you love that book you just bought. Do you think you want to see another one that we think is just as amazing and off the charts?" I thought, my God, can there be two from the same agency in what felt like less than a month? So I said, well, of course. I had the same associate editor for the first one--Leah Miller--help me out with the reading. I told her all about it; she's a voracious reader and she came in the next day and said, 'It actually can be as good, I can't stop reading it, it's amazing." And I started reading it and we just ate it up, and then I gave it to Martha Levin, our publisher, who thought it was the best memoir she'd read since Jeannette Walls. She's real tough, so we just couldn't stop. We thought it was actually a problem that we had two such great memoirs, but the momentum just never ended. Shortly after that, we got a great quote from Audrey Niffenegger and things just kept happening.
What drew you to the book?
Well, for me, the mother-daughter story. Parental stories are so fundamental to me; from my own relationship with my father and mother to being a dad, I've always been fascinated by the connection and wonder about it. It seems like it's unbreakable, no matter what happens. It's what the other book is about, too. And Mira's was different. Leaving your mom. Changing your name, and how difficult it must have been to be challenged by that, and the strength of the sisters--it was just an extraordinary story line. One of the readers said to me, oh God, it's not even about her accident. I said, well, that's tough, because the accident is fundamental, but it's a mother and her daughters.
How many people normally read a book for you? What's the process you go through before you decide to take a book?
We have an editorial board, we have seven editors and assistants, a couple of people in the publishing offices and a couple in sub rights, but we didn't do that in this case. Our reaction was so strong, once the three of us loved it we just called the agent-- I don't remember if it went to auction--and she was very keen on having us acquire the book, too. It was a great match.
What was it like working with a writer who is also an artist? Did you collaborate on the book design?
Yes, we did, actually. We were very torn, because everybody was very cooperative, but I kept saying, guys, we have to focus on the story, we have to focus on the story. It isn't about paintings and drawings, it's about the story. The book was originally plotted by Mira to be a picture book with writing, and we flipped it around. And we all came to agree on this, so we have spot art and it's referenced in the text, but it's not overwhelming, it fits comfortably into the storytelling. It's beautiful.
Were there any challenges in editing the book, other than the design discussions?
Mira still has challenges with her brain process, and it's really amazing. She said, when I saw her at her place, "You're probably wondering why I have two beds in my barn [where she writes and paints]." It's because she gets exhausted a lot. She feels sometimes that her brain gets overwhelmed; sometimes she'd ask me to talk slower, she has to process things, and other times it all gets to be too much. She can't handle a lot, she has to stop. So that affected editorial conversations, that affected speed of writing, it just affected Leah and me all the time, and we didn't want to overwhelm her. We weren't used to it and we never know when she is going from fully functioning to slightly slower. But she's very good about telling us. And we read a lot about TBI [traumatic brain injury]--we wanted to know everything we could. I talked to doctors about it. They said every case is different. It led to another book, in fact.
The things she's accomplished are kind of unbelievable under the circumstances. We had a signing at NEIBA. I drove up so I could be with her in case she needed me. She was great, she was very tired but she was a real trouper and met with all the booksellers, and was met with a lot of enthusiasm, especially with the indies. She was really good, and delightful. She just attracts people to her.
I don't know, I'm an Italian, a superstitious Sicilian... I feel so much good will and it's all about the book, obviously, and we have such enthusiasm. We're trying to will this book, and we won't be denied.
We're challenging ourselves every day to come up with ideas, whatever we can do. We don't have unlimited money these days for book promotion but there's such a good feeling about it and, as always, it's all about the story--and this one is extraordinary.
Photo by David Jacobs