{"id":24392,"date":"2011-12-19T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T18:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=24392"},"modified":"2011-12-20T12:49:16","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T17:49:16","slug":"the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/","title":{"rendered":"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hope: A Tragedy <\/em>was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low self-esteem, and I agreed to keep working. These are some of the alternate titles I presented, and the reasoning for or against them:<\/p>\n

The Diary of Anne Frankenstein:<\/strong>
My working title; I never really intended to use it\u2014too Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters<\/em>\u2014but it had grown on me, and I mentioned it to my editor as I was finishing the manuscript. This caused him to proclaim a couple of \u201ctitle rules\u201d for this novel:<\/p>\n

1) Nothing funny.<\/p>\n

2) No mentioning Anne Frank.<\/p>\n

Apparently, people don\u2019t buy \u201cfunny\u201d novels, and they don\u2019t buy books about Anne Frank. Which is, ironically enough, pretty fucking funny.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Wonderful Ka-Pow:<\/strong>
Too funny.<\/p>\n

Did I Ever Tell You How Unlucky You Are?<\/strong>
Too funny.<\/p>\n

To Those About to Be Consumed by Flames:<\/strong>
Too Sedaris.<\/p>\n

Nowhere Ho:<\/strong>
I liked this title quite a bit, a play on the old expression \u201cWestward Ho.\u201d Kugel, the main character, wishes for nothing more than to be nowhere\u2014a place with no past, no history, no wars, no genocides. My editor liked it as well, and began mentioning it to people, testing it out. It turns out young people don\u2019t know that expression anymore. The poor dears were very confused. My editor was disappointed. I wanted to run to Nowhere even more than I had before.<\/p>\n

There was a brief concern that they wouldn\u2019t know who Anne Frank is, either, which, we decided, would be pretty fucking funny.<\/p>\n

The Sufferers:<\/strong>
I do my best to stay out of bookstores because they make me want to kill myself, but apparently The X <\/em>is a bit of a trend now. The Informers<\/em>, The Intuitionist<\/em>, The Imperfectionists<\/em>. Et cetera. There was some concern it would be seen as that. I had a difficult time believing that things had gotten so bad that the word \u201cThe\u201d was a trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike the <\/em>Bible?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep working,\u201d I was told.<\/p>\n

The Lacerations <\/em>and The Crematorians <\/em>died for the same reason. Probably for the best, those. <\/p>\n

What Have You Done, Mother, What Have You Done?<\/strong>
My editor phoned one day, and told me that he liked novel titles that were questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestions?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like titles that are questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you just like them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you like titles that are questions?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d he replied, \u201cwhat\u2019s with all the goddamned questions?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low self-esteem, and I agreed to keep working.<\/p>\n

The Sea:<\/strong>
That\u2019s the title of a John Banville novel. It makes me laugh for some reason, and so I suggest it as a title for every book I write. This was the response:<\/p>\n

?<\/p>\n

The Driftwood Remains:<\/strong>
There\u2019s an old Yiddish expression: the storm passes but the driftwood remains. It seemed appropriate, and it sounded like a \u201cliterary novel,\u201d plus Yiddish is a dying language, so I\u2019d get points for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the title?\u201d people asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Driftwood Remains<\/em>,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d they replied, nodding their heads as if to say, Yes\u2014yes, that sounds like a book. My editor, showing it to people he knew, was getting the same unenthusiastic reception.<\/p>\n

We kept looking. As the time ticked by, the suggestions received more scrutiny and less consideration. The Attic <\/em>was my shrink\u2019s recommendation. He pushed it pretty hard, too. \u201cBecause the attic is his superego, which he is trying to emerge from beneath.\u201d That\u2019s what\u2019s called knowing too much about your character. Just analyze me, Doc, stay away from my characters. Laceration Nation<\/em>\u2014too George Saunders. Life\u2019s a Gas<\/em>\u2014too Tadeusz Borowski. Sufferer\u2019s Delight<\/em>\u2014too Sugarhill Gang.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

The Excruciating Agony of Joy<\/em>: Sounded to my wife a bit too much like The Unbearable Lightness of Being<\/em>. She was pushing for Hope: A Tragedy <\/em>from the beginning, though, so maybe she was just bullshitting me.<\/p>\n

At last, time ran out and the winter catalog had to ship, which is the way most literary decisions are finally made.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about,\u201d the editor said to me, \u201cHope: A Tragedy: A Novel<\/em>? But when the copy editor complains, I\u2019m giving her your landline.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lesson in there somewhere, but I\u2019ll be damned if I know what it is.<\/p>\n

Shalom Auslander is the author of the\u00a0short story collection <\/em>Beware of God<\/a> and the memoir <\/em>Foreskin\u2019s Lament<\/a>.<\/em> His first novel, <\/em>Hope: A Tragedy<\/a>, will be published by Riverhead Books in January.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low self-esteem, and I agreed to keep working. These are some of the alternate titles I presented, and the reasoning for or against them: The Diary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[489],"tags":[5193,5194,970,5191,4468,5196,5192,5203,5202,5201,5199,5197,5198,5200,244,5195,3037],"class_list":["post-24392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-2","tag-anne-frank","tag-david-sedaris","tag-george-saunders","tag-hope-a-tragedy","tag-john-banville","tag-kugel","tag-sense-and-sensibility-and-sea-monsters","tag-sugarhill-gang","tag-tadeusz-borowski","tag-the-driftwood-remains","tag-the-imperfectionists","tag-the-informers","tag-the-intuitionist","tag-the-sea","tag-the-unbearable-lightness-of-being","tag-westward-ho","tag-yiddish"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title by Shalom Auslander<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"December 19, 2011 \u2013 Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title by Shalom Auslander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 19, 2011 \u2013 Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-19T18:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-20T17:49:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shalom Auslander\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shalom Auslander\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shalom Auslander\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/38002b148990906385da8c47cef1b0c9\"},\"headline\":\"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-19T18:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-20T17:49:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\"},\"wordCount\":796,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Anne Frank\",\"David Sedaris\",\"George Saunders\",\"Hope: A Tragedy\",\"John Banville\",\"Kugel\",\"Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters\",\"Sugarhill Gang\",\"Tadeusz Borowski\",\"The Driftwood Remains\",\"The Imperfectionists\",\"The Informers\",\"The Intuitionist\",\"The Sea\",\"The Unbearable Lightness of Being\",\"Westward Ho\",\"Yiddish\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\",\"name\":\"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title by Shalom Auslander\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-19T18:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-20T17:49:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"December 19, 2011 \u2013 Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/38002b148990906385da8c47cef1b0c9\",\"name\":\"Shalom Auslander\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/370d7ab401f8d25506b1bc0aa7b97f7c95149ec5b95b7f80998c2894f3447907?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/370d7ab401f8d25506b1bc0aa7b97f7c95149ec5b95b7f80998c2894f3447907?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shalom Auslander\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/shalom-auslander\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title by Shalom Auslander","description":"December 19, 2011 \u2013 Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title by Shalom Auslander","og_description":"December 19, 2011 \u2013 Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2011-12-19T18:00:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-12-20T17:49:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Shalom Auslander","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shalom Auslander","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/"},"author":{"name":"Shalom Auslander","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/38002b148990906385da8c47cef1b0c9"},"headline":"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title","datePublished":"2011-12-19T18:00:54+00:00","dateModified":"2011-12-20T17:49:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/"},"wordCount":796,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg","keywords":["Anne Frank","David Sedaris","George Saunders","Hope: A Tragedy","John Banville","Kugel","Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters","Sugarhill Gang","Tadeusz Borowski","The Driftwood Remains","The Imperfectionists","The Informers","The Intuitionist","The Sea","The Unbearable Lightness of Being","Westward Ho","Yiddish"],"articleSection":["Books"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/","name":"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title by Shalom Auslander","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg","datePublished":"2011-12-19T18:00:54+00:00","dateModified":"2011-12-20T17:49:16+00:00","description":"December 19, 2011 \u2013 Hope: A Tragedy was the first title I suggested to my editor. I really thought it was right. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. My parents didn\u2019t love me, so I have low","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/hope.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/19\/the-driftwood-remains-my-search-for-a-bankable-title\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Driftwood Remains: My Search for A Bankable Title"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/38002b148990906385da8c47cef1b0c9","name":"Shalom Auslander","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/370d7ab401f8d25506b1bc0aa7b97f7c95149ec5b95b7f80998c2894f3447907?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/370d7ab401f8d25506b1bc0aa7b97f7c95149ec5b95b7f80998c2894f3447907?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shalom Auslander"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/shalom-auslander\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24392"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24903,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24392\/revisions\/24903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}