- Jason Pinter has landed a new gig. This augurs well for St. Martin’s.
- Susan Henderson has kicked off an interesting discussion about writing style. Me? I’d define mine as “thuggish intellectual,” and I’m quite happy with that niche. (via The Publishing Spot)
- I’m not sure what The Nervous Breakdown is exactly, but anything involving Elizabeth Crane can’t be bad.
- Ian Hocking has a step-by-step guide on how to interview David Mitchell. It reminds me very much of the inauspicious debut of The Bat Segundo Show. Thankfully, the interviewing deficiencies were improved upon fifty shows later. (It also helps that Mitchell’s a very nice guy.) (via Splinters)
- Dan Green has an interesting post on how critics misperceived John Updike’s Terrorist. I would agree that Terrorist isn’t one of Updike’s best, but I was equally surprised by the manner in which Updike’s imagery was dismissed by many critics. Is this the grimy underbelly of a critical community more content with psychological realism than an author’s ability to use language to connote mood and feeling?
- Bella Stander has a first-hand account of the NBCC reading.
- A new audio interview with George Saunders.
- Elizabeth Dewberry offers a contrarian take on AWP.
- Sweet Jesus. Tony Pierce is covering SXSW like a madman. (via Pinky’s Paperhaus)
- Should people read speculative fiction because of its predictive powers? Matt Cheney on the subject.
- Gideon Lewis-Kraus talks with Banville. I’m surprised again that
Mr. Sarvas is asleep at the wheel on this one, even if he did only just come back from across the Atlantic. It turns out that I’m the one asleep at the wheel. (via Jenny D) - V.S. Naipaul on collecting other people’s stories. What does that make him? A venture nonfictionalist? (via James Tata)
- Man, when it rains, it pours. The Union Square Cody’s store may be closing. (via Frances)
- Bill Peschel summarizes Scalzi’s book on writing.
- Another year, another Blooker.
© 2007, Edward Champion. All rights reserved.
The news about the Union Square Cody’s is depressing. I go in almost every day because it’s across the street from my office. Sadly, it’s a ghost town even during lunch hours and not fully staffed as it once was. Also, I noticed yesterday that as far as I could tell they didn’t have any current magazine issues, which is telling.
I should point out that gerbils are not *strictly* necessary, though they can serve as moral support during tricky moments where you’re not sure whether to broach the subject of Murakami.