• The New York Times turns into Salon. Love! Valour! Lack of innovation! Go team!
• Daniel Green reviews Gilbert Sorrentino’s latest.
• Reading Middlemarch is still very much active.
• I didn’t realize that Mark Sarvas actually authored Home Land (you’d think that the Morning News people would double-check the text), but it’s still a brave and interesting win for the Tournament of Books.
• Black Swan Green‘s inspiration: The Mona Lisa, of all things.
• Sven Birkets on the Walter Kirn serial. (via MAO)
• Vikram Doctor on Rushdie’s Bombay. (via Kitabkhana)
• Who the fuck is Maddox?
• Apparently, Newsday didn’t get the memo that McGahern kicked the bucket. Granted, there’s an editor’s note near the end. But would it have killed the folks there to edit the article a bit? The headline “Talking with John McGahren” reads as if the journalist were channeling McGahren’s spirit from beyond the grave or something.
• The Age talks with Helen Dale, the J.T. Leroy of Australia.
• Time finally recognizes Peter Carey — in all likelihood because Lev Grossman, confessing to his editor that “there were too many big words,” didn’t write the article.
• George Saunders’ “Nostalgia.”
• Tod Goldberg gives a jejune Parade article far more deconstruction than it’s worth.
• Yo, Teachout, go easy on yourself or I’m going to come to NYC and kick your ass.
• Fantasybookspot talks with Jeff VanderMeer. I’ve been greatly enjoying City of Saints and Madmen (think Mieville/Peake meets Jack Benny, with a bit of J. Conrad and Borges thrown in; fun shit, yo) and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into Shriek.
• And this is just plain goofy.
• One other thing: I owe many of you emails. I’m hoping I can catch up in a few days. If you’ve sent me something in the past two weeks, I apologize. It’s been hectic to say the least.

© 2006, Edward Champion. All rights reserved.