Year / 2004

by DrMabuse

Northern California Book Award Winners

Novel: Old School
Short Story Collection: How to Breathe Underwater
Poetry: Notes from the Divided Country
Non-Fiction: River of Shadows
Children’s Literature: The Day the Babies Crawled Away
Translation: Head Above Water

Detailed report to follow tomorrow morning.

The biggest surprise was Orringer beating out Packer. Also, it was probably a mistake to introduce myself to Waldman and say, “Hey. How’s it going?” There were reasons for this — among them, a bad memory. More tales of inept literary adventures tomorrow.

by DrMabuse

Raines Speaks His Mind

Shocking allegations from Howell Raines will soon appear in the Atlantic — part of a planned memoir called I Was Master of the House, But Jayson Kept Playing With the Zippo. Among some of the highlights:

1. Raines secretly coveted the drugs and alcohol, and kept Jayson Blair on the payroll so that he could “relive his twenties again.”

2. Not once did Raines call Jayson Blair “boy.”

3. Raines once asked Blair to sit on his lap. Blair declined. Raines claims there was nothing sexual involved. The lap-sitting incident was all part of a great Raines family tradition dating back to 1872.

4. When fishing with John McPhee on the Delaware River, Raines promised McPhee that he would only name-drop upon publication of a memoir. McPhee gave Raines his blessing, but only after delivering a six-hour lecture on geography.

5. The one thing Raines would have done differently: casual Fridays.

(via Maud)