Damn. Double damn.

Some Sontag resources:

WRITINGS:

• Susan Sontag’s famous essay on camp.
• “Against Interpretation”
• One of her last great essays, “Regarding the Torture of Others.”
• “Real Battles and Empty Metaphors”
• Excerpt from Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors.

INTERVIEWS:

• Interview with Elizabeth Farnsworth.
• Sontag & Moyers.
• Audio interview with BBC Four.
• Against Postmodernism: an 2000 interview.
• Australian radio interview. (2/6/2000)

OTHER WORDS/LECTURES:

• Her words after 9/11.
• Lecture, April 24, 1989
• “Literature is Freedom”, October 28, 2003 speech.
• “The Power of Principle” speech (2003)
• Overview with emphasis on early days.

It’s slim pickens on the literary news front. For obvious reasons. But we’ll see what we can do:

• The latest addition to the bookstore? Day care.
• Birmingham, AL is more literate than New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Alas, not even Birmingham could beat San Francisco. For those who missed the survey, here are the results.
• Apparently, it was a good year for Canadian writers. Perhaps a little of that edumucation and social program stuff up north might have something to do with it?
• There’s also a books quiz at the Observer, for those interested.
• Gray Lady. Manga! Gray Lady.
• Christianity Today names the best books of the year. Believe it or not, Markson made the list.
• NPR remembers the writers who passed on this year.
• And yes, folks, it’s official. Sales of consumer electronics surpassed book sales for the first time.

A recent New York survey found that Barnes & Noble was the best place to get a date. Together with the 98% Democratic PAC figures and expanded wi-fi access, it looks like B&N is on its way to becoming the new black. At least as chain store behemoths go. The big question here is how can indie book stores compete on the, er, hooking up angle.

(via GalleyCat)

Apparently getting a $2 million advance involves “struggling.” Of course, back in February, they were “suffering” through a potential sophomore slump despite a revolving door of editors and agents, many of them fired, hired or retired. And let’s not forget how the two labored to cut a deal whereby they demanded hair and makeup services for all of their promotional appearances.

Yes, it’s those bright young Nanny things again: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. And this time, the nouveau riche duo of the publishing world are claiming that critics are “dismissing the feminist aspects” of their new book, Citizen Girl. Well if Tom Wolfe can spin his bad sex as “ironic,” then I suppose it’s plausible to claim that women in the bathroom ogling over “Pam’s purple clogs” and other accoutrements came straight from bell hooks.

If you’re interested in demographics, the most wished for books on Amazon (no link provided, due to this site’s policy) is:

1. America: The Book by Jon Stewart
2. State of Fear by Michael Crichton
3. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
4. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
5. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
6. He’s Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
7. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
8. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
9. Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan
10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
11. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
12. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
13. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
14. I Am a Cheesy Protagonist Who Engages in Ironic Bad Sex (title recently changed) by Tom Wolfe
15. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
16. The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson
17. Mind Hacks by Tom Stafford, Matt Webb
18. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
19. When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin
20. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
21. Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt
22. The Da Vinci Code: Illustrated Edition by Dan Brown
23. Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Meals: Cooking ‘Round the Clock
24. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
25. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson