Japan Fetes Genji, World's First Novel, at 1,000

Audience, sales huge for works written, read on handsets

(NEWSER) - Japan’s literary world has been rocked by the ascendancy of cell phone novels: serial works written mainly by young women on their phone keypads. The New York Times reports five of 2007’s 10 bestsellers were cell phone novels reprinted as conventional books—despite the fact that the country’s cultural establishment has yet to accept the terse prose on familiar romantic themes as literature. More»

Online group may help you finish Wallace's intimidating tome

(NEWSER) - As the first anniversary of David Foster Wallace’s death approaches, many would-be readers still see his Infinite Jest collecting dust on their bookshelves. Wallace’s 1,079-page tome “has become known equally for its sprawling attention to detail, its near impenetrability, and its effectiveness as a doorstop,” writes Joe Coscarelli for Salon. Enter InfiniteSummer.org, envisioned to help its creator deal with Wallace’s death—and finally finish Jest. More»

Giant of Latin American literature's oeuvre is complete

(NEWSER) - The world has probably already seen the complete work of Gabriel García Márquez, the Guardian reports. Friend and fellow author Plinion Apuleyo Mendoza said last year that the creator of magical realism was working on a new novel, but his agent recently quashed that rumor. "I don't think that García Márquez will write anything else," Carmen Balcells said. More»

(NEWSER) - Anderson Cooper’s mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, is a published author with a romantic novel to her credit, sure, but her new book could give the CNN anchor pause, the New York Daily News reports. Obsession, an erotic tale, hits stores in June. “Master, I whisper as you surrender to our ecstasy,” is a choice quote. Oh, and “I still crave the power you have to turn my body into an instrument of joy.” More»

(NEWSER) - Bill O’Reilly’s 1998 crime novel Those Who Trespass has already caused him some embarrassment, given that one character is a ticked-off TV journalist who murders his rivals. But the Fox News host also recorded an audiobook version, which Village Voice blogger Alan Scherstuhl has mined for gems—namely the tome's many sex scenes. The most lurid excerpts are inspiring viral-video mashups. Click the links below for the, um, high points. More»