Jeff Bezos: Not Even a Dime

Jeff Bezos: Not Even a Dime

Rick Simonson: “More than ever, it would then seem, it is time to publicly raise the question as to why Amazon has done nothing, absolutely…

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Anne Lamott Censored by Creighton

Anne Lamott Censored by Creighton

From Publishers Lunch: Fans of Anne Lamott in Omaha have rallied to secure an appearance by the author in the wake of an abrupt cancellation…

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“Human Smoke” Update

“Human Smoke” Update

Regarding Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke, I have calls and emails into various people at Simon & Schuster, and I have tracked down the book’s publicist….

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The Critical Elite Throws a Party

The Critical Elite Throws a Party

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Dustin Hoffman: Stiffest Dude on the Stage

Dustin Hoffman: Stiffest Dude on the Stage

Dr. Hook, Shel Silverstein, and Dustin Hoffman live. (via Sarah)

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Poetry Mashup

Poetry Mashup

T.S. Eliot vs. Portishead. (via MeFi)

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The Copyright Hypocrites at Viacom

The Copyright Hypocrites at Viacom

The Knight Shift: “So Viacom took a video that I had made for non-profit purposes and without trying to acquire my permission, used it in…

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Confessions of a Political Fraud

Confessions of a Political Fraud

More and more, I’m finding myself to be a political fraud. Here I am, ostensibly progressive, and yet silently buffeting a nation in which the…

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Roundup

Roundup

Darby Dixon reflects upon this business of fiction writing. No, you won’t completely understand it. But write every day. Do something every day. Keep some…

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DFW-Proust: The Literary Answer to WMD-Iraq?

DFW-Proust: The Literary Answer to WMD-Iraq?

The Rake asks what the connection is, exactly, between David Foster Wallace and Proust — other than their respective propensities for writing long novels.

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Personally, I’m Waiting for R. Crumb to Meet Michael Mollan

Personally, I’m Waiting for R. Crumb to Meet Michael Mollan

Harvey Pekar meets Anthony Bourdain.

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This Isn’t the Riverboat He Had in Mind

This Isn’t the Riverboat He Had in Mind

Philip Jose Farmer has a MySpace page. Now if he can only get his ass on Facebook! (via Locus)

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Those Who Asked for Teresa Weaver’s Job to Be Saved Are “Competitors”

Those Who Asked for Teresa Weaver’s Job to Be Saved Are “Competitors”

The September/October 2007 issue of Poets and Writers includes an interview with Teresa Weaver, in which she is asked about the future of book reviewing…

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Without Written Permission

Without Written Permission

Techcrunch’s Duncan Riley unearths this YouTube morsel (the irony here being that uploading such a clip to YouTube also requires written permission from the NFL)….

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Might the Blogosphere Meet the Bill?

Might the Blogosphere Meet the Bill?

“American creative energy has always teetered on the brink of insanity. ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and ‘The Night Chicago Died’ have, alas, common DNA, the DNA…

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Away for Now

Away for Now

I’m now juxtaposing many tasks against a slate of time that is currently incapable of bracing all of them. I hope to return in better…

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Hacking Radiohead

Hacking Radiohead

It would appear that if you play two copies of tracks from Radiohead’s Kid A in shifting intervals, the two tracks line up and complement…

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Lionel Shriver Attacks British Television

Lionel Shriver Attacks British Television

Scotsman: “And Shriver, 50, condemned game shows that ‘create cruelty and humiliation,’ endless reruns of Friends, weight-loss programmes, a ‘lunatic profusion of British property shows’…

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“Baker’s Dozen” is a Codeword for “Skillfully Executed Operation”

“Baker’s Dozen” is a Codeword for “Skillfully Executed Operation”

MSNBC: “Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare and…

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She Does Sing “Rehab” After All

She Does Sing “Rehab” After All

Amy Winehouse’s father-in-law is now leading a campaign to boycott Winehouse’s music until she seeks treatment for drug addiction. This is certainly an ethical dilemma…

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An Open Letter to Richard Kluger

An Open Letter to Richard Kluger

Dude: It’s just a review. Take a chill pill. Yours, Ed

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Roundup

Roundup

I’ve just learned that the Terre Haute bloggers are now planning a six-week symposium entitled How to Discourage Reading Through Soporific Lectures. They are currently…

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Please Get In Touch Off-Blog

Please Get In Touch Off-Blog

If there are any NY-based blog readers fluent in Japanese, please get in touch with Sarah off-blog. If there are any Japan-based blog readers fluent…

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When Johnny Mnemonic and the Matrix Stood Still

When Johnny Mnemonic and the Matrix Stood Still

Variety: “Twentieth Century Fox has set Keanu Reeves to star in ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ its re-imagining of the 1951 Robert Wise-directed sci-fi…

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Roundup

Roundup

It’s now an ungodly hour in the early morning and I’m currently more inclined to Lindy hop than sleep. Guess it’s time for a roundup!…

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New Book from Nicholson Baker!

New Book from Nicholson Baker!

Red alert! Months after I asked what had happened to the fantastic novelist Nicholson Baker, we now have an answer! Nicholson Baker is coming out…

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How to Make an Omelet

How to Make an Omelet

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Berkeley Breathed Returns to Rabble-Rousing?

Berkeley Breathed Returns to Rabble-Rousing?

Editor & Publisher: “At least 25 of the 200 or so “Opus” client newspapers might not run the Sunday-only comic’s next two episodes, which feature…

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Genovese Revisited

Genovese Revisited

Forbes: “A security video from an apartment hallway shows at least 10 witnesses ignored a woman’s cries for help for more than an hour as…

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New Review

New Review

My review of Rupert Thomson’s Death of a Murderer appears in this Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

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