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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: book

book stories: 297 news summaries

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book review

This Is Your Best Shot to Finish
a Pynchon Novel

Author shifts gears, has fun with a stoner detective in the '60s

Jul 31, 09 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thomas Pynchon's back with what appears to be his most accessible novel yet, in the unlikely category of detective fiction. Critics reviewing Inherent Vice say he pulled it off:
  • Laura Miller, Salon: It's "a sun-struck, pot-addled shaggy dog story that fuses the sulky skepticism of Raymond Chandler with
... More »

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fiction • author • book reviews • book • Thomas Pynchon • Inherent Vice • Raymond Chandler

opinion

 Why the Kindle Stinks 


Jul 31, 09 10:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Nicholson Baker wanted to like the Kindle, honest. But when he unwrapped it and began to see what all the fuss was about, he "tussled with a sense of anti-climax," the prolific author writes in the New Yorker. Things never improved. He slams the e-reader for having a... More »

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Apple • iPod Touch • book • electronic books • Kindle • Amazon • ebooks • iPods • e-readers • Kindle DX • Nicholson Baker

INTERVIEW

Cooking: What Separates Men From Apes (and Women)

And anthropologically speaking, women are always the cooks

Jul 29, 09 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cooking—not just eating—meat is what prompted human evolution, Richard Wrangham argues in his book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, and he discusses his beliefs—including an opposition to the trend of raw diets—with Salon. “Raw foodists argue quite strongly that it is our... More »

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evolution • cooking • human evolution • human • anthropology • book • raw food • Richard Wrangham

 Madoff Crafty but 
 Dumb: New Book 

Pals surprised he pulled Ponzi scheme off

Jul 24, 09 8:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bernie Madoff was a swindler from a young age—but many acquaintances also considered him “the dumbest man on earth," says an upcoming exposé. Jerry Oppenheimer’s new book, Madoff With the Money, also reveals that the Ponzi schemer skirted 2 years of Army Reserve duty during... More »

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fraud • federal prison • book • Ponzi scheme • Bernard Madoff • Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities • Jerry Oppenheimer

 Dumbledore  
 Sparks Fight for  
 Real-World Justice 

Nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance uses books as inspiration

Jul 20, 09 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Potter’s battle against injustice in the wizarding world has prompted fans to take the fight to the Muggle universe, the Los Angeles Times reports. Inspired by moral teachings of Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, the nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance has registered voters, collected some 13,000 books to... More »

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Harry Potter • Darfur • Sudan • JK Rowling • literature • political activism • Myanmar • Burma • book • Albus Dumbledore • Andrew Slack • Harry Potter Alliance

OPINION

 Spoiled Harry a Hero 
 for 'Entitled Generation' 

Books lack moral weight as Potter gets off easy

Jul 20, 09 7:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Potter is a fitting hero for a generation of readers: his powers arrive on a silver platter, and from there it’s “all zapping bad guys, no taking out the trash,” writes Kyle Smith in the New York Post. While heroes like Luke Skywalker face obstacles to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • film • JK Rowling • literature • book • Luke Skywalker • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

GLOSSIES

 I Think, 
 Therefore 
 I Overeat 

New fleet of books tries to explain American obesity

Jul 18, 09 8:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - As the waistlines of Americans continue to expand, so is the genre of literature seeking to explain why, Elizabeth Kolbert writes in the New Yorker, profiling no fewer than seven books on the subject—including one that endorses “fat power.” The Fat Studies Reader argues that the real... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • overweight • book • weight gain

A Hundred Celebs, One Hotel Room

Book of portraits
raises money for human-rights charity

Jul 15, 09 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - During a four-month period in 2006 and 2007, 100 celebrities checked into Room 23 of Beverly Hills’ Peninsula Hotel. The result is photographer Deborah Anderson’s Room 23, a coffee-table book to raise money for a human-rights charity. “We wanted to portray anything and everything, from Minnie Driver reading... More »

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entertainment • Lindsay Lohan • photography • celebrity • charity • book • George Clooney • Minnie Driver • Jay-ZTV • Diana Jenkins • Roger Jenkins

Fact-Challenged Facebook Book Not Making Many Friends

Author Mezrich defends his reporting methods

Jul 15, 09 1:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Not everybody is friending a book detailing the birth of Facebook, Reuters reports. BusinessWeek calls Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires a “tawdry mismash,” amounting to “a fictionalized account of the founding.” The book is full of over-the-top scenes—like one in which Facebook founder Mark... More »

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Silicon Valley • Facebook • Mark Zuckerberg • book • nonfiction books • Danielle Steel • Ben Mezrich • Jackie Collins

 Posthumous 
 Carlin 
 Memoir 
 Coming 

Simon and Schuster will publish comedian's Last Words

Jul 14, 09 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - We haven't heard the last from George Carlin. A posthumous memoir of the late comedian's life will be published by Simon and Schuster’s Free Press in November, reports Entertainment Weekly. Entitled Last Words, the book is Carlin’s take on his 50-year career. Carlin, who died last June at... More »

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memoir • book • comedian • George Carlin • publishing industry

In Infinite Jest, Book Club Sees Finite Ending

Online group may help you finish Wallace's intimidating tome

Jul 14, 09 3:45 PM CDT
(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,”... More »

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entertainment • literature • novel • book • David Foster Wallace • Infinite Jest • Jay-ZTV • Decemberists • Colin Meloy

NEW RELEASE

 Potter Still Making Magic 

Sixth installment is one of the best in the series

Jul 14, 09 7:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Our sixth cinematic trip to Hogwarts holds onto the magic with stunning visuals, great acting, and a maturing storyline:
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is “spellbinding, even though it is more grounded in reality and less fanciful than previous installments,” writes Claudia Puig in USA Today.
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • film • movie review • book • Daniel Radcliffe • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • Emma Watson • Rupert Grint

GLOSSIES

How the Kindle Could Kill Book Publishing

...if an Apple e-reader doesn't kill the
Kindle first

Jul 9, 09 7:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - With the Kindle, Amazon's Jeff Bezos may be poised “ to do to book publishers what Steve Jobs did to the music industry,” writes Adam Penenberg in Fast Company: rapidly create a market from nothing and use it to rule over publishers with an iron fist, perhaps even “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Apple • publisher • book • Kindle • Amazon • ebooks • publishing industry

GLOSSIES

 Kindles, iPods Spell 
 Tragic End to Snobbery 

How can we show off taste when it's onscreen?

Jul 8, 09 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - On the subway or in a cafe, taking a peek at what others are reading has long provided a convenient way to judge them on the spot: a mindless crime-novel fan? A Joyce-toting member of the intellectual elite? But with the Kindle, we’re left guessing, observes James Wolcott in ... More »

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iPod • culture • record • book • Kindle • album • snobs • James Wolcott

 Levi Shops Palin Tell-All 


Jul 4, 09 3:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Levi Johnston is poised to strike it big with a book about the Palins and a possible feature film role alongside an ex–Miss Oregon, he tells New York. His hulking bodyguard/publicist, Tank Jones, says Levi is still shopping the book. As for Levi's rumored TV effort, it won't... More »

MORE ABOUT:
book • movie deal • Sarah Palin • celebrity tell-alls • Bristol Palin • Levi Johnston • leading role • docudrama

Meghan McCain the Movie: She's Already Casting

Wants Hilary Duff in
film version of book
she hasn't written yet

Jul 1, 09 8:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Meghan McCain’s book is set to be released next spring, and she’s already plotting the movie version. “I want Hilary Duff to play me,” she tells the New York Daily News. “I think she’s really hot—hotter than me.” It’s unclear how... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • film • celebrity • book • Meghan McCain • Hilary Duff • Bradley Cooper

Edwards Told Aide He'd Be 'Set for Life' in Paternity Ruse

Dem begged Young to claim love child as own

Jun 30, 09 10:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - John Edwards was apparently desperate for aide Andrew Young to pretend to be his baby’s daddy. In a proposal for Young’s tell-all book, leaked to the New York Times, Young says Edwards promised he’d be “taken care of for life,” if he went through with... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John Edwards • Andrew Young • book • celebrity tell-alls • Rielle Hunter • book deal

 Weird Facts About 
 Best-Selling Authors 

Dan Brown, pop musician? And more.

Jun 24, 09 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Summer's here, and that means it's time for beach reading. Mental Floss compiles some surprising facts about the authors most commonly toted along to the shore:
  1. Dan Brown hasn’t spent his whole life pondering Vatican conspiracies: he was also a musician and pop singer. The name of his
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
beach • literature • summer • author • book • John Grisham • Dan Brown • Nicholas Sparks • Danielle Steel • authors • Nora Roberts

(Newser) - There could soon be another tome trying to cash in on the John Edwards melodrama. Andrew Young, the Edwards aide who claimed to be the father of Rielle Hunter’s child, is shopping a tell-all book, the Daily Beast reports. Young says he feels betrayed by Edwards, who cut off... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John Edwards • Elizabeth Edwards • book • celebrity tell-alls • Rielle Hunter • book deal

Ill. Parents Seek to Ban Award-Winning Novel

Language, sex in Alexie book inappropriate for high schoolers

Jun 22, 09 12:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Parents at an Illinois high school are trying to get Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian taken off the summer reading list, and out of the school’s library, the Chicago Tribune reports. “I can’t imagine anyone finding this book appropriate for 13-... More »

MORE ABOUT:
high school • censorship • book • banned • Sherman Alexie

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