Apparently, The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel, published just about a year ago, is doing so well for Scribner that the paperback, which ordinarily would be showing up right about now, has been put off at least until the fall. That’s the short but sweet industry news takeaway from an Associated Press profile of Hempel where Hillel Italie really doesn’t have much to do other than hang out with her at a diner near her Upper East Side home and shoot the breeze. And, you know, that’s okay—in fact, if book section editors are interested in establishing their cultural vitality, maybe they ought to do more features like this, stories that aren’t strictly tied to the perpetual new-release cycle but just introduce readers to interesting writers. (Which isn’t to say that I don’t imagine Hempel’s publicity team might not have had some role in getting the ball rolling, of course. I mean, I’m idealistic, but I’m not naive.)
UPDATE: Score one for idealism! A Scribner publicist assures me that the story was Italie’s idea, another example of the “slow and steady” progress Hempel’s collection has been making with reviewers and other media over the last year.