Genre-Setting Travel Author Dies at 47

(NEWSER) - Michael Crichton's seemingly endless output may not be literature (a statement the late Crichton himself might take issue with), but don't discount the "fine craftsmanship" they entailed, writes Charles McGrath in the New York Times. From Andromeda Strain to Jurassic Park, his "intricately engineered entertainment systems" relied on a simple formula—usually a sinister aspect of science run amok—and well researched detail. "Very few readers who started a Crichton novel ever put it down." More»

'2001' author shaped space-age thought

(NEWSER) - Arthur C. Clarke, the sci-fi author who helped shape 20th-century scientific imagination, is dead at 90, the New York Times reports. The co-creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey faced post-polio syndrome in recent decades and died at his home in Sri Lanka due to breathing trouble. “No one can predict the future,” Clarke maintained, but he couldn’t resist trying—and often succeeded. More»

British children's author wrote more than 100 books on rural life

(NEWSER) - Dick King-Smith, the British children's author who created one of filmdom's favorite pigs, has died at the age of 88. The writer passed away peacefully at his long-time home in rural England, the Guardian reports. King-Smith, a World War II vet, spent 20 years as a farmer before turning to teaching and, in his 50s, writing. Most of his more than 100 books drew on his knowledge of farms and animals. His best-known work, The Sheep-Pig, was adapted into the 1995 hit movie Babe. More»

'The Day I Shot Cupid' is a mess, but an entertaining one

(NEWSER) - Jennifer Love Hewitt wrote a book of advice about love, which is just as ridiculous as it sounds. “Here are 10 completely awesome things that happen in this book,” writes Linda Holmes for NPR :

1. Hewitt admits to visiting and trying on her “dream ring” once a month since she was 12. She is now 31. “If this is true, she has made roughly 225 trips to the jewelry store to try on engagement rings. I do not know where to go with this.”
2. Among her recommendations: Make out with a stranger to get over a breakup—but only if he’s “gorgeous”—and always spray tan before a date.

Obituaries, tributes pouring in for late author

(NEWSER) - How to sum up the life of JD Salinger in a paragraph? Here's a sampling coming in from the wires:

• Kyle Anderson, MTV : He's "the reclusive genius who crafted one of the most iconic and important pieces of youth fiction."
• Charles McGrath, New York Times : "JD Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer to emerge since World War II but who then turned his back on success and adulation, becoming the Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous, died Wednesday at his home in Cornish, N.H., where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91."