novel

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Plot Rumors Leak on Fourth Stieg Larsson Novel

But much uncertainty remains on whether novel will see the light of day

(Newser) - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo kicked off a trilogy of international bestsellers—and though author Stieg Larsson died in 2004, rumors of another novel’s existence are gaining traction. Plot details have emerged, but the book’s fate remains murky as Larsson’s family and his former girlfriend battle...

Novel Appears Page by Page on NYC Lampposts

East Village fans have to work to read 'Holy Crap'

(Newser) - We've got another anonymous author in the spotlight, or at least the lamplight: Somebody is posting a novel page by page on lampposts in New York City's East Village, notes New York's Daily Intel via EV Grieve. So far, eight pages of Holy Crap have been taped up, with each...

Shame on You, Simon &amp; Schuster
 Shame on You, 
 Simon & Schuster  
OPINION

Shame on You, Simon & Schuster

Tim Rutten: Marketing of 'O' is outright 'deception'

(Newser) - Now that we know McCain adviser Mark Salter is the author of O: A Presidential Novel, Simon & Schuster has some 'splaining to do, writes Tim Rutten in the Los Angeles Times . Marketing campaigns don't have to win prizes for honesty, "but they are supposed to stop somewhere just...

DC's Big Mystery: Who Wrote Anonymous Obama Novel?

Book is due out Jan. 25

(Newser) - A mystery is sweeping Washington: Who penned the forthcoming O: A Presidential Novel ? The 368-page, $25.99 book, out for release Jan. 25, is about the Obama administration—and is reportedly written by an anonymous author who has “vast personal experience” with the subject, the Washington Post reports....

Did This Book Inspire Real-Life Murder?

Lead character based on man who later killed his mother

(Newser) - A Florida man confessed to killing his mother in the same fashion as a recently published novel describes: by beating her, cutting her open, and removing her inner organs. And the author of the novel admits that he based his main character partially on his friend, Beau Bruneau, 29—the...

Inside James Frey's Sweatshop-Like Novel Factory

Controversial author hires writers to churn out novels on the cheap

(Newser) - James Frey, infamous for angering Oprah with his "fake memoir" A Million Little Pieces, idolizes Vonnegut, Hemingway, and Henry Miller. He's the kind of writer who talks about wanting to "change the game" and "move the paradigm." Yet he's also the head of Full Fathom Five,...

Jane Austen's Style? Not Actually Jane Austen's

An editor was likely the one to polish her prose, says professor

(Newser) - Jane Austen is known as a “perfect stylist,” but those perfectly crafted sentences may not actually be hers. After studying 1,100 pages of Austen’s handwritten, unpublished manuscripts, an Oxford professor concluded that “the polished punctuation and epigrammatic style … is simply not there,” she...

CIA Hunts Truth About Obama—in New Novel

Obama Identity: A Novel (Or Is It?) tackles those pesky conspiracy theories

(Newser) - One CIA agent will stop at nothing until he uncovers the shocking truth about the president himself. That’s the plot of The Obama Identity: A Novel (Or Is It?), a new satirical thriller from Edward Klein (the man behind The Truth About Hillary) and John LeBoutillier (a former GOP...

Oprah Mends Fences With Novelist Who Dissed Her
 Oprah Mends Fences With 
 Novelist Who Dissed Her 
book club pick

Oprah Mends Fences With Novelist Who Dissed Her

Jonathan Franzen's 'Freedom' lands coveted book club slot

(Newser) - Nine years after Oprah Winfrey chose Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections for her book club, and the "uncomfortable" novelist talked his way out of appearing on her show, he's getting another chance, reports the New York Post . The media magnate's people won't confirm the Oprah's Book Club selection—likely the...

Anti-Novel Manifesto Reads Like 'Hokey' Fiction
Anti-Novel Manifesto Reads Like 'Hokey' Fiction
BOOK REVIEW

Anti-Novel Manifesto Reads Like 'Hokey' Fiction

David Shields' hypocritical book is dependent on plot

(Newser) - The subtitle of David Shields’ Reality Hunger—an anti-novel, anti-plot screed that celebrates reality in all its forms—is A Manifesto, which automatically makes it less about “reality” and more about creating a stir, writes Laura Miller. Even as he rails against the outdated novel, Shields is creating a...

'Lost' Man Booker Prize From 1970 to Be Awarded

Rule change omitted all books published in 1970

(Newser) - In 1970, the Man Booker Prize went to a book published in 1969, but the rules changed in 1971 and the coveted prize was awarded to a book published that year—meaning no 1970 novel scored a Booker. Organizers plan to right the perceived wrong by awarding the Lost Man...

Writers Pick Best Books of '09
 Writers Pick Best Books of '09 
Year in Review

Writers Pick Best Books of '09

Nick Hornby, Judy Blume, and more weigh in

(Newser) - What was the best book of the year? Salon asked Nick Hornby, Junot Diaz, Curtis Sittenfeld, and other people with better literary credentials than ours what they enjoyed in 2009. Their responses are in the photo gallery.

New 'Vooks' Sex Up Books With Video Clips

Video-text hybrids seen as way to keep 21st-century readers interested in books

(Newser) - Publishers are scrambling to attract readers weaned on video games and social networking by jazzing up a format little-changed since Gutenberg started churning out Bibles in the 15th century. "Vooks" add video segments, either embedded in the text or available online, to electronic books. The hybrids are being created...

Danielle Steel Aide 'Fesses to $400K Ripoff

Author claims assistant stole $2.7M

(Newser) - A long-time assistant has pleaded guilty to embezzling $400,000 from best-selling romance queen Danielle Steel. Kristy Watts admitted depositing checks for Steel into her own bank account and using the author's credit card points to obtain gifts and airline tickets. Steel, who has written 76 best-selling novels, claims Watts...

Modern Novels' Shift: We Can Understand Them

Literary writers are re-embracing idea of a good plot

(Newser) - The 21st-century novel is being reacquainted with an old friend: the plot. Today's best writers are abandoning the notion that literary novels need to be all but impenetrable to readers without advanced degrees, writes Lev Grossman in the Wall Street Journal. "The revolution is under way," he says....

A Supermodel's Summer Reads
 A Supermodel's 
 Summer Reads 

A Supermodel's Summer Reads

You can look smart, but still get your fill of juicy sex

(Newser) - Paulina Porizkova “quit school at 15 to live off of my looks,” but she’s also a lifelong bookworm, she writes for Modelinia. Because she feels “the need to constantly prove I’m not some dumb model,” she offers up her “summer reading for folks...

Ya-Ya Sisterhoods Stab You in the Back
 Ya-Ya Sisterhoods 
 Stab You in the Back 
interview

Ya-Ya Sisterhoods Stab You in the Back

Author discusses the trials of adult female friendship

(Newser) - According to today’s “Sex and the City ethos,” friends are there when romance falters. But in truth, female friendships “are just as complicated as marriages,” author Lucinda Rosenfeld tells Salon. That’s particularly true when it comes to envy, a theme of Rosenfeld’s new...

Novel About Corruption May Be Kremlin Official's Work

Close to Zero portrays bribes, fraud as commonplace in contemporary Russia

(Newser) - A novel about a publisher navigating Russia’s complex web of political favors and payoffs may have been written by a top Kremlin official, the Moscow Times reports. Sources at Russky Pioner magazine, which published excerpts of Close to Zero before its release last month, say Vladislav Surkov, a powerful...

James Frey's Latest Creation: Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay Jesus

Once Oprah's enemy, now Christians'?

(Newser) - James Frey pissed off a lot of people—including Oprah—when his “memoir” A Million Little Pieces was exposed as fictional—but his new book might spark even more ire. Illumination: The Final Testament of the Holy Bible features a Messiah who marries gays, impregnates a teen, and later...

Black, Gay Lit Trailblazer E. Lynn Harris Dead at 54

(Newser) - Author E. Lynn Harris, who offered a glimpse into the secret lives of closeted gay black men, died last night at 54, the AP reports. His publicist says the cause is unknown, and that Harris suddenly took ill just days ago. An autopsy will be performed next week. Harris was...

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