Book briefs: No third novel hiding in Harper Lee's safe-deposit box

Welcome to your weekly roundup of book news and literary highlights from The Thread.

This week, a rare books expert digs into Harper Lee's safe-deposit box, and a small Minneapolis press gets some big attention.

No new novel found in Harper Lee's safe-deposit box

Still holding your breath, wondering what else experts will find in Harper Lee's safe-deposit box? You can let it out now.

There is no third novel. According to The Wall Street Journal, rare books expert James S. Jaffe has thoroughly reviewed the bank box in Monroeville, Ala., and there are no more "long-lost" drafts lurking there.

The rumor that a third book from the notoriously reclusive author might be hiding somewhere in the shuffle of papers was started by Lee's lawyer in July.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Tonia Carter said the safe-deposit box contained something that could have been "a third book bridging the two" — meaning a book that took place between "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Go Set a Watchman."

Jaffe said that all the box contained was an original typed manuscript of "Go Set a Watchman" — which was published in July, after resurfacing last year — as well as two versions of "To Kill a Mockingbird." One of these versions showed a different opening line for the classic "Mockingbird."

In the published version devoured by millions of readers over the decades, "Mockingbird" begins:

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow."

But the draft in the safe-deposit box starts:

"Where did it all begin? It began with Andrew Jackson."

Other than minor differences in the text, Jaffe's examination of the box yielded no new treasures. But that doesn't meant there aren't any — somewhere else.

The Wall Street Journal notes that, according to the archives of Lee's former literary agents, "her unfinished or unpublished works included seven short stories, the beginnings of a novel called 'The Long Goodbye,' and a true-crime book project."

None of these projects were in the safe-deposit box, so we may not have heard the last from Harper Lee.

The little press that became "a big player"

New York presses often dominate the publishing discussion, but Vulture recently shed some light on a Minnesota outfit making a big impact: Graywolf.

Based in Minneapolis, the nonprofit literary press has racked up a string of accolades in recent years for its fiction, poetry and essay collections. In the last year alone, Graywolf has published Eula Biss' "On Immunity," which The New York Times called one of the 10 best books of 2014; Claudia Rankine's "Citizen," a book-length poem on race in America that was a National Book Award finalist; and Per Petterson's latest novel, "I Refuse," which earned raves from The New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and more.

That's quite the track record for a small press that only puts out 30 books a year. (For comparison, Penguin Random House releases more than 10,000 titles per year.)

Graywolf's fall lineup shows that the small press isn't afraid of takings risks. The publishing house's lead fiction title is a book that was originally self-published in an imaginary language: Paul Kingsnorth's "The Wake" is written in a hybrid of Old and modern English.

Those risks play a central role in Graywolf's recent triumphs, according to one of the press' editors. Ethan Nosowsky told Vulture, "The nice thing about Graywolf is the things that often seem most difficult in the market turn out to be our best successes."

Don DeLillo to get lifetime achievement award at National Book Awards

DeLillo, best known for his 1985 novel "White Noise," will be honored for his contributions to the American literary scene this November.

Considered a postmodern master, DeLillo hopscotches between subjects in his work and never shies away from complicated structure. His novels are a familiar sight on college campuses, where they appear on many a syllabus. Writers including Jonathan Franzen and David Foster Wallace have cited DeLillo as a key influence.

"Don DeLillo is unquestionably one of the greatest novelists of his generation," said Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation. "He has had an enormous influence on the two generations of writers that followed, and his work will continue to resonate for generations to come."

The lifetime achievement award is one of the highest honors in American literature. Previous recipients include Toni Morrison, Philip Roth and Norman Mailer.