Well, that’s it for us. Apologies for the political drivel, but we had to get in our yearly quota before midnight. Regularly literary coverage will…
I was very interested to see that Melville House has assembled a collection entitled What We Do Now. The book is a collection of essay…
OPTR has the goods on how to check out the first five chapters of Murakami’s latest, Kafka on the Shore. Carrie has done a fantastic…
Ricky Gervais is writing an episode of The Simpsons. (via J-Walk) Also TV-related: The great Dana Stevens pens a Jerry Orbach obit.
8:37 A.M. CST THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Laura and I were greatly inconvenienced by all this talk of generosity. You see, we could care less…
Just when you thought fan fiction couldn’t get any more specialized comes Perry Tales, devoted to fan fiction concerning “the greatest voice in music” —…
Carrie’s tackled the underappreciated and the disappointments of the year. I’d like to raise her with an oldie but goodie approach. What authors did you…
Ron points out how Laura Miller cannibalized a NYT piece for Salon. Colm Toibin covers Booker winner The Line of Beauty for the NYRoB. His…
Damn. Double damn. Some Sontag resources: WRITINGS: Susan Sontag’s famous essay on camp. “Against Interpretation” One of her last great essays, “Regarding the Torture of…
It’s slim pickens on the literary news front. For obvious reasons. But we’ll see what we can do: The latest addition to the bookstore? Day…
A recent New York survey found that Barnes & Noble was the best place to get a date. Together with the 98% Democratic PAC figures…
Apparently getting a $2 million advance involves “struggling.” Of course, back in February, they were “suffering” through a potential sophomore slump despite a revolving door…
If you’re interested in demographics, the most wished for books on Amazon (no link provided, due to this site’s policy) is: 1. America: The Book…
Wet, because that’s exactly what it is outside. Not nearly as bad as Sri Lanka, but still resolute weather for this town. The other wet…
If you’re still feeling generous, you may want to consider donating to the Sri Lanka Red Cross. Truly a horrible Xmas for many.
Carrie recently pointed to this Meghan O’Rourke essay. O’Rourke suggested that Munro’s purported realism “is more of O. Henry in Munro than her admirers tend…
I’m almost ashamed to confess it, but the Missed Connections section on Craig’s List fascinates me. What are these people thinking? Why are they spending…
Like Mark and Maud, we’ve completely obliterated Amazon as a purchasing option. No gifts or random packages sent from there anymore, thank you very much….
We can’t think of anything particularly compelling to say. And every time we open our mouths, it results in gardyloo. So we’re taking a sizable…
One 2004 book that seems to have been entirely overlooked by all the end-of-the-year listmakers is David Markson’s Vanishing Point. (Full confession: I’m just as…
“It’s saving humanity!” “It’s just like reading a book!” “It’s just like partying!” These and many other excuses can be found in Suzy Hansen’s amusing…
Carl Hiaasen acts nuts in the presence of Bob Shacochis and becomes my new hero. Among Hiaasen’s affronts: “because I’m making cell-phone calls in my…
Orson Scott Card is slated to get his panties in a bunch over Iron Man, penning a six issue miniseries. Iron Man will become a…
So let’s say you’re an enterprising young director by the name of Chris Weitz. You have a great literary property at your disposal: Philip Pullman’s…
The Thomas J. Cahill Courthouse, an edifice erected between 1958 and 1960 that houses the San Francisco Criminal Court, is a stark and, for the…
The big bombshell across the blogosphere comes from Dennis Loy Johnson, who points to the fact that 61% of Amazon’s PAC money goes to the…
Tomorrow, I head to the criminal courthouse. Part of me would like to invent a bevy of excuses to get out. Another part of me…
Slither slither slither went the mind. But the unborn son was what he had to forget about as he threw her into the otorhinolaryngological depths…
GalleyCat has one-upped Rex, crossing his tees by collating several major top ten lists, but referring (and rebirching and even ‘oking again) to each title…