Everyone loves New York Times reporter David Carr, who's just published Night of the Gun, an excellent reported memoir about his years of crack addiction and bad behavior. That's why the self-promoting spam e-mail that he sent to everybody he knows this morning is so easy to swallow. Most authors self-promote while falling all over themselves, trying to apologize. Not David! "As you can see from the non-customized hello, I am spamming you out of self-interest."He goes on to say, "I'd apologize for that, except there is an easy way to solve — don't hit 'send.'" So he spams us, shamelessly. Used to being spun, we're dazzled by the lack of pretense. Apologies are insincere—as everyone already knows, addicts are experts at talking their way out of their sins. So, damn it: we'll bookmark Night of the Gun.

From: david carr Sent: Tue 8/5/2008 12:41 AM To: david carr Subject: putting a bookmark in Night of the Gun greetings, david carr here. as you can see from the non-customized hello, I am spamming you out of self-interest. I'd apologize for that, except there is an easy way to solve — don't hit 'send.' My new book from Simon and Schuster — : "The Night of the Gun: A reporter investigates the darkest story of his life. His Own"— goes on sale today. I tried to take the trope of the addiction memoir and add value by interviewing people from my past, pulling documents and doing legwork. It was an exercise in fact-checking my memory that stumbles across some significant surprises. Of course, I'd love you to buy it. From what I have read, "no memoirist who has more skillfully used journalistic tools to reconstruct his own life"and the effort resulted in " a remarkable narrative of redemption as manipulative as it is compelling."The book, which took a couple of years to report and write, had been called "a great read," "an arresting tale of pleasure paid for with pain, rendered in "sharp and sometimes poetic prose." In a nice bit, someone said the " book practically interrogates itself, questioning its own right to exist" (Many people have also pointed out that the guy who wrote it seems to be a jerk, but why put such a fine point on it?) So, if you are so inclined, please buy today to give the book a nice little push out the door. (A few caveats: Even though the story ends in a hug, it's not the kind of book you would want a teenager to read. Or someone in your life — maybe you — who is brand new to sobriety.) I'm proud of the book, if not always the story it tells. Please buy and read, and let me know what you think. (*And please forward this message to folks you know who you think would be interested. A little viral love can push a book into just the right hands.)* *The metadata:* Buying it offline at Barnes and Noble and Borders, both of which have given it major space and love, is a great way to go. And of course, you neighborhood indie will have in stock and deserves your business. You can easily buy online at Amazon—which made it one of its seven featured books for August — or Powell's. I am incredibly proud of the website we have put together for the book. It has archive interviews, documents, pictures and produced video segments. It's a quirky wonder, if you ask me. And of course, there is the inevitable Facebook page. Join in the frolic. if you wish. Regardless, please know that I am grateful to everyone who helped this book find light, including those of you who made it this far. all best personal and professional regards, david