James Conaway's "Nose"

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James Conaway is a former Wallace Stegner writing fellow at Stanford University and an Alicia Patterson journalism fellow, and the author of three novels, The Big Easy, World’s End, and the newly-released Nose.

About Nose:

In a gorgeous wine valley in northern California, the economic downturn has put a number of dreams on hold. But not so for wine critic Clyde Craven-Jones, a man whose ego nearly surpasses his substantial girth. During a routine tasting in advance of his eponymous publication’s new issue, he blindly samples a selection of Cabernets. To his confounded delight, he discovers one bottle worthy of his highest score (a 20, on the Craven-Jones-on- Wine scale), an accolade he’s never before awarded.

But the bottle has no origin, no one seems to know how it appeared on his doorstep—and that's a problem for a critic who’s supposed to know everything. An investigation into the mystery Cabernet commences, led by the Clyde’s wife, Claire....

Here Conaway shares his choices for the leads in an adaptation of the new novel:

When Nose is made into a film I'd like to see Alec Baldwin as Craven-Jones (if he can master an English accent) and Scarlett Johansson as his wife, who's both smart and hot.

Learn more about the book and author at James Conaway's blog.

Writers Read: James Conaway.

--Marshal Zeringue