December 29, 2004

...

  • 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 conclusion? Style over substance and an opportunity to play the "I knew Henry James and worked with him. You're no Henry James" card.
  • This should please (and probably not surprise) Sarah. Mysteries are the most sought after fiction by library patrons. Some patrons have tried wearing trenchcoats to stave off overdue fees, hoping that this sartorial hint might make some of the librarians smile. But the librarians have proven just as martinet-minded in their obsessions as the readers.
  • Not enough that, by all reports, Crichton's State of Fear is an outright bad novel, but it may very well be designed for the red states as well. So says George Will.
  • Christopher Hitchens weighs in on Sontag. Believe it or not, it's not a Mother Theresa style takedown piece at all, but a quite balanced article. Apparently, someone took the bottle away from Hitch just as he began writing.
  • What are the hot books for 2005? This is London says everyone will go ga-ga over 20 year old Helen Oyeyemi, whose debut novel The Icarus Girl comes out this year. Well, only if it has sex confessionals and Leon Wieseltier manages to get his hands on it.
  • Also, if you're interested in helping out the poor folks off the Indian Ocean, check out Tsunami Help, a blog devoted to philanthropy. (via Hurree
Posted by DrMabuse at December 29, 2004 10:10 AM
Comments

Fuck, that Hitchens piece just made me weep. Good for old Hitch; that's a rousing tribute.

Posted by: CAAF at December 29, 2004 10:44 AM

Carrie, I'm with you. I think CH hit so many
perfect high about this awesome person that it was thrilling and moving to read and reflect upon - and to see the hope in that there are people like Sontag and by the time he cashes it in, Hitchens also.

I think Edward will one day come to view Hitchens with more understanding and even love...

Posted by: birnbaum at December 29, 2004 11:42 AM

Robert: Actually, I love Hitch's literary offerings -- particularly the essays he turns out regularly for the Atlantic. It's the self-serving political stuff that bothers me, which isn't nearly as thought out or well-reasoned as Sontag's (and I have disagreed with Sontag on more than a few occasions). But when Hitch is equitable, as he is with this Sontag article, he's damn good.

Posted by: Ed at December 29, 2004 12:05 PM