Vampire author gaining on Rowling's popularity
Daily Telegraph (UK) Nov 28, 08 9:39 AM CST
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Have we finally found the next JK Rowling? Even Brits are starting to admit Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer is coming close, the Daily Telegraph reports. The 34-year-old Mormon author of a series of swoon-worthy novels about teen vampires has a similar “out of nowhere” story, and her book and movie sales are starting to give Harry, if not a run for his money, at least cause for concern.
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt puts freeze on new books amid slowdown in sales
Publishers Weekly Nov 25, 08 3:21 AM CST
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has asked its editors to stop buying books, Publishers Weekly reports. The publisher already has plenty of works in the pipeline and the freeze is only temporary, according to executives, who offered no indication when it might be lifted. Still, it unsettled literary agents, who say they've never heard of such a dramatic move before.
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Writes real Alice of his fondness for children
Daily Mail (UK) Nov 20, 08 4:44 AM CST
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Alice in Wonderland 's author is sending a message from the grave to the literary experts who have long wondered whether he was a pedophile. A privately held letter has emerged in which Lewis Carroll tells real-life Alice—a child friend 18 years his junior—about his fondness for kids and a preference for girls over boys, the Daily Mail writes.
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Journalist-guru's latest book is 'closest to his heart'
New York Nov 10, 08 1:49 PM CST
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Journalist and pop guru Malcolm Gladwell brings other people's big ideas to the masses, and in that way, “I’m a parasite,” he says. In his new book, the author takes modesty to a new level, crediting his success—which, by the way, manifests itself in a $4 million advance for his latest book and $80,000 speaking fees—to circumstances outside his control. That goes for everyone else's, too. Success, he writes in Outliers , is as much about luck as it is talent, reports Jason Zengerie in New York magazine.
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appreciation
New York Times Nov 5, 08 5:30 PM CST
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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."
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Author, oral historian, and firebrand leftist will be sorely missed
Chicago Sun-Times Nov 1, 08 7:18 AM CDT
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Chicago has lost its finest citizen with the death of Studs Terkel, Roger Ebert writes in his Chicago Sun-Times blog. The author "represented the joyous, scrappy, liberal, generous, wise-cracking heart of this city," Ebert writes, and chronicled the lives of countless Chicagoans. “He was the most widely and deeply loved man I ever hope to know," Ebert writes.
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Publisher moves up release date after London firebombing
Reuters Oct 7, 08 2:08 PM CDT
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A controversial novel tracing the life of the Prophet Mohammed's child bride has been rushed out early by its US publisher, Reuters reports. The Jewel of Medina 's British release was suspended after its London publisher's headquarters was firebombed. Beaufort Books—which took the project after Random House dropped it amid fears of attacks—said it has not received threats, but hoped attention will shift to the book's merits.
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glossies
Entertainment Weekly Oct 3, 08 7:11 PM CDT
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Nicholas Sparks may run low on creative gas, but that only lasts for a minute or two. The multimillionaire author of The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe works out for nearly 3 hours a day before writing 2,000 words and coaching track at his son's school. ''I'm efficient," he smiles. And he's confident enough to compare himself to Shakespeare—which may be why he bristles at the tag of "romance writer."
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Only friends, family knew of the writer's emotional state
Salon Sep 27, 08 6:04 PM CDT
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After a torrent of tributes to David Foster Wallace since his suicide 2 weeks ago, Salon talks with close friends and family members about the decades-long battle with depression that led the beloved and astonishingly talented writer to take his life. For years, Wallace functioned with the help of antidepressants, but he'd developed problems with the drugs, and stopped taking them.
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Curiosity, not ideology, piqued his interest
Daily Telegraph (UK) Sep 15, 08 7:35 AM CDT
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British spy novelist John le Carré once considered defecting to the Soviet Union out of curiosity about the country, he told an interviewer while promoting his new book. “When you spy intensively and you get closer and closer to the border it seems such a small step to jump and find out the rest,” he said. The author was a spy himself before a double-agent exposed him, the Daily Telegraph notes.
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Dave Freeman visited about half the sites on his adventurous list
Los Angeles Times Aug 26, 08 1:47 PM CDT
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Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things to Do Before You Die , died at age 47 after falling and hitting his head at his California home last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. Published in 1999, the free-spirited travel guide, among the first to offer a sight-seeing agenda based on adventure and mortality, spawned dozens of imitators in other genres.
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Candidate hits back
at Obama Nation with detailed rebuttal
Talking Points Memo Aug 15, 08 10:10 AM CDT
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Barack Obama is launching an aggressive counterattack on Obama Nation , the Jerome Corsi book aimed to derail his reputation, Talking Points Memo reports. In sharp contrast to John Kerry's "don't dignify that with a response" approach to Corsi's book demolishing the decorated veteran's Swift Boat record, the Obama campaign is swiftly responding to claims in the book, blasting Corsi's credibility, and pushing media outlets to give his side equal time.
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Attack book portrays candidate as having secret radical agenda
New York Times Aug 13, 08 5:27 AM CDT
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The author who helped torpedo John Kerry's White House bid is aiming to make it two for two, the New York Times reports. Jerome Corsi's Unfit for Command launched the Swift Boat controversy. His new book, Obama Nation , portrays Barack Obama as a radical liberal with strong ties to Islam, who may still be taking drugs.
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REVIEW
Modern lovers aim to invert roles long 'set in stone,' author says
Salon Aug 10, 08 3:38 PM CDT
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Author Susan Squire takes a long view of marriage—about 5,000 years, in fact. Her new book, I Don’t: A Contrarian History of Marriage , traces matrimony’s bizarre historical journey, from pure mating ritual to Christian "lust-containment facility" to modern romance. In an interview with Salon, she says that love had nothing to do with marriage until Martin Luther said it did.
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Random House feared violence over work on prophet's child bride
Reuters Aug 8, 08 3:25 AM CDT
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Random House has pulled a book about the life of Mohammed due to be published this week, Reuters reports. The company feared that The Jewel of Medina, a historical novel and love story about Mohammed and Aisha—a child bride who was engaged to the prophet when she was 6—might rile Islamic radicals and endanger the lives of employees.
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