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Wednesday
February 28
-
MAKING
HIS OWN STATEMENT: When Gao Xingjian was awarded the
Nobel Prize for literature last fall, it was widely viewed
by the English-speaking press as a political slap in the
face of Beijing's repressive rulers, who had banned Gao's
work. But this is one author who does not believe in using
the power of his pen to effect change in the physical world.
Instead, he calls for a "cold literature" to rise
above all. The Globe & Mail
(Toronto) 02/28/01
- SO
IS ARTSJOURNAL JUST A BLOG? It seems that the latest craze
in personalized online news is the "blog." Blogs are
half online diary, half news clipping service, and many online
addicts are forgoing the daily paper in favor of a few well-chosen
blogs. Blogs is also a ridiculously fun word to say and type.
Blogs blogs blogs. San Francisco Chronicle
02/28/01
Tuesday
February 27
- NOTES
FROM THE UNDERGOUND: A publisher has set up vending machines
in the London Underground to sell paperback books. "The imprint's
crisply printed leaflets, colour-coded into series that include
romance, crime and adventure, focus on authors such as Arthur
Conan Doyle, P G Wodehouse, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh. We're
unashamedly setting out to make people feel reading these stories
will be an improving experience." Sydney
Morning Herald 02/27/01
- THE
INDIES ARE BACK: Independent bookstores have been in crisis
since the advent of megastores like Borders, and online warehouse
services like Amazon.com. But now, many independents are reporting
a resurgence, as measured in both walk-in and online clientele.
Wired Radio 02/27/01
(Streaming audio file)
- E-BOOKS
GO OLD-SCHOOL: An online book publisher is running an
experiment with four independent booksellers to see if old-fashioned,
print-based readers will purchase an electronic version of
their favorite new title. In addition to promoting the new
technology, the publisher hopes the partnership will bring
to light new methods of cross-promotion. Wired
02/27/01
Monday
February 26
-
WALKER’S
LAST WORDS? Alice Walker revealed in a recent
interview that her latest book, "The Way Forward Is With
a Broken Heart," may in fact be her last. "I may
want to do something else with the rest of my life." The Observer (London) 2/25/01
- GIVE
ME THREE: Name your three favorite female
Scottish writers. Can’t do it? Well, neither could the creators
of a new poster honoring "100 great Scottish writers"
in which only one woman, Muriel Spark, was included. The omission
has caused a stir at the Scottish Women's committee of International
Pen, which immediately produced a more inclusive poster. The Herald (Glasgow) 2/26/01
Friday
February 23
- LITERATURE
IN CHINA: Last year Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize for his
novel about life in China; the year before, Ha Jin won the National
Book Award for a similar work. But what are the Chinese themselves
reading? Apparently, anything they can get their hands on. "[I]magine
living in a dark room with all the shades drawn. If one shade
goes up - just a crack - the light that enters is suddenly very
interesting. Everyone will rush to look. People in a normally
lit room would find the same ray of light unremarkable."
New York Review of Books 03/08/01
- BEING
POPULAR ISN'T EVERYTHING: Harry Potter may be the biggest-selling
phenomenon of the past year, but his creator, JK Rowling, lost
out as author of the year at this year's British Book Awards.
First place went to Nigella Lawson, who wrote a cookbook titled
"How to be a Domestic Goddess." Rowling didn't even
get the award for the best children's book; that went to Philip
Pullman's "The Amber Spyglass."
BBC 02/23/01
Thursday
February 22
- DOWN
WITH THE CROWN: Crown Books, which was once the third-largest
bookstore chain in the US, filed for bankruptcy. "Best known
as a discounter, Crown is no stranger to bankruptcy. It filed
for Chapter 11 in 1998, and emerged in November 1999. In its filing
in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, the company said it had
assets of $75.2 million and debts of $58.9 million. Crown has
more than 1,000 creditors, according to its filing."
Publishers Weekly 02/20/01
- SO
MUCH FOR BEDTIME STORIES: A publisher puts out a new e-book
version of "Alice in Wonderland." One catch, though.
The list of overreaching restrictions on what you can do with
your copy is pretty onerous. Among them, admonitions that "This
book cannot be given to someone else. This book cannot be read
aloud." Inside.com 02/21/01
Wednesday
February 21
- GUARDING
THE WAY IT WAS: "Wolfenbüttel, Germany is truly a small
town, but it has a giant reputation in the world of humanities.
Researchers gather there and come from all over the world, drawn
in particular by the 17th-century collections and a remarkable
library." But when the town recently decided to add a modern
extension to the library, scholars were up in arms. Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 02/21/01
- GAO
AND OATES IN THE E-WORLD: Harper Collins wades forcefully
in to e-waters, starting an electronic book imprint that will
publish works by literary stars Nobel-winner Gao Xingjian and
Joyce Carol Oates." allNetDevices
02/21/01
- ADS
IN MAD: There used to be two major ad-free US publications
- Consumer Reports and Mad. Now there's only one. Facing a 90
percent dip in circulation, Mad has started running the ads it
once satirized. The Boston Globe
02/20/01
Tuesday
February 20
- STUFFY AND OUT OF TOUCH WAS HOW WE
LIKED IT:
Last week’s much-anticipated launch of the "New Yorker"
online (www.newyorker.com) doesn’t have everyone cheering. Oddly enough, it’s the internet-media
enthusiasts who are railing the loudest. "When historians
look back on the Internet Bubble, they'll mark February 2001 as
the End of Web Publishing. That's because the Web-wary New Yorker
has timed the debut of its hideous online edition to coincide
with the total collapse of not just the business, but the very
idea, of online journalism." Online Journalism Review
2/16/01
- REMNICK DEFENDS THE SITE: "New Yorker" Editor David
Remnick admits the magazine’s lengthy features will strain
the patience of even veteran web readers, but "to not
have a Web site is, at this point, a statement that I didn't
want to make." New York Times 2/20/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
- DOES
OPRAH KNOW? "McCall's" magazine, which ceased publication
with the March 2001 issue, will return to newsstands as "Rosie,"
edited by, you guessed it, talk-show host and actress Rosie O'Donnell.
Details are vague, but the magazine will likely attempt to make
itself more distinguishable from the dozens of other similar monthlies
on the rack. Less likely is the prospect of a return to "McCall's"
literary glory days in the 1920s. Washington
Post 02/20/01
- SEARCHING...
Remember when you had to actually go to the library or bookstore
to look up an author? It's so much easier now with search engines.
Why you can slide on over to Amazon, type in the name you want
and... okay, so maybe it's not always foolproof. The
Idler 02/20/01
Monday
February 19
- MORRISON
AT 70: Writer Toni Morrison turns 70 and her friend turn up
for a party. "Even at 70, Morrison continues to astonish
her readers with a lyrical agility and a grasp of imagery so keen
they seem to constitute a language of their own."
Washington Post 02/19/01
Friday
February 16
- ADULTS
PREFER SINNING: The Harry Potter books might be monster hits
with children (three of the books sit atop the most-borrowed-by-kids
list at British libraries). But adults prefer the late Catherine
Cookson, the most borrowed author for 18 years in a row. Her "Solace
of Sin" is twice as popular as Rowling's "Harry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone." BBC 02/16/01
- POETS
NAMED BOB: What does it take to be named Poet Laureate of
the United States? Some of the poets who have held the job: Robert
Frost, Robert Lowell, Robert Penn Warren, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert
Hayden, and, of course, most recently Robert Pinsky. We're sensing
conspiracy here. But seriously, how is a Poet Laureate made? (crowned?)
The Idler 02/16/01
- THE
ENDURING DANTE: In the last 20-30 years there has been an
explosion of translations of Dante. Why the enduring appeal? "His
comprehensive outlook is something for which, in our fragmented
and rootless modernity, many of us yearn. Yet we also identify
with Dante the realist, who speaks with such unencumbered directness
to us of love and loss, violence and greed, hope and injustice—and
in language that is at once high and low." The
Economist 02/15/01
Wednesday
February 14
- WHAT MAKES A PUBLISHER? Publishing insiders are trying to figure out the implications
of last month's firing of a Little, Bown publisher. Another sign
of the creeping bottom line? Maybe not. "You see, the trick
in glass-tower publishing isn't just choosing good books, or even
vibrating to popular tastes, though that's surely important. It's
not enough to be right. You have to be able to work the system."
New York Magazine 02/12/01
- AMBIVALENCE
OF SUCCESS: Dave Eggers' book "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius" is about to be released in paperback. It's been acclaimed
and much pondered since its release last year. But "he dreaded
returning to it, he writes, 'like one dreads seeing a bad-smelling
distant elderly relative lying prone in a rank and wrong nursing
home.' Just weeks before the paperback's publication yesterday,
he half seriously asked his editors at Vintage Books if they could
call the whole thing off." The
New York Times 02/14/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
- INVALID
VALEDICTORY: You may have seen a poem identified as the "farewell
letter" of Gabriel García Márquez circulating on the Internet.
It's poignant, because García Márquez has lymphatic cancer. It's
galling, because he didn't write it. "[N]ot once during his
long and distinguished literary career has Gabriel García Márquez
ever written poetry." Brill's Content 02/09/01
- RUSHDIE STILL
THREATENED: The edict threatening the life of Salman Rushdie
seemed to fade for a few years. Now a hardline Iranian newspaper
is again calling for Rushdie's murder. "The daily said in
an editorial that Rushdie's move to the United States would make
his killing easier.... [T]he country's main military force issued
a statement saying the death sentence against Rushdie still stands."
Salon (AP) 01/13/01
- THE
[ONLINE] NEW YORKER: It wasn't the same under Tina Brown as
it was under Harold Ross, but The New Yorker has often been regarded
as the best magazine around. The best print magazine, that is.
How will it stack up against the competition on the Internet?
It's finally here. Take a look. The
New Yorker 02/14/01
Tuesday
February 13
- XPUNGING
XCESS AT XLIBRIS: The self-publisher Xlibris promised the
future of publishing - the ability for anyone who wrote a book
to get it published professionally - publishing on demand. But
layoffs are expected early next week, and the Random House imprint
will also restructure its business plan, scrapping plans to expand
to Europe. Inside.com 02/12/01
Monday
February 12
- 300
BOOKS: Being a judge for the National Book Awards is an honor.
But also a chore when the 300 books arrive at your door. "To
keep up with the grueling schedule the judges had been set, I
read nonstop, pausing only to jot down notes and questions before
picking up a new book. I'd immerse myself in the worlds of the
novels until words ran together. When I closed a book, sometimes
it took me a moment to remember where I was. It was a reading
experience unlike any I'd ever undertaken, even during graduate
school at Berkeley." The New
York Times 02/12/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
Friday
February 9
- REPORTING
OUR HISTORY: Random House has hired a couple of reporters
to dig into the publisher's history and interview its employees.
''We have a strong feeling that we've got a rich tradition to
recount that will be of interest and maybe of practical instruction
for ourselves and maybe a wider universe of people.'' Inside.com
02/08/01
- GIVING VOICE:
Minneapolis and St. Paul are home to the nation's largest Hmong
population, most of whom settled in Minnesota in the aftermath
of the Vietnam War. Largely ignored until recently, Hmong artists
are beginning to be featured prominently, and a local arts journal
is leading the charge.
St. Paul Pioneer Press
02/09/01
Thursday
February 8
- WHO
COULD SCARE A PUBLISHER? A LIBRARIAN, OF COURSE: Publishers
sell books. Their natural enemies are librarians. With images
of Napster clouding the bottom-line, publishers have hired a new
white knight, former US Congressperson Pat Schroeder. "They're
terrified," she says of publishers. "Technology people
never gave their stuff away. But now folks are saying, 'You mean
the New England Journal of Medicine is charging people?' " Washington
Post 02/07/01
Wednesday
February 7
- ONLINE
KING: Stephen King stopped writing his on-line novel "The
Plant" because not enough people were paying for it. Or because
he was too busy with other projects. Or because the six completed
parts can stand alone. "In my view, 'The Plant' has been quite
successful," he said, revealing it had netted him $463,832.27.
The Ottawa Citizen (CP) 02/07/01
- DO
WE NEED ELASTIC NOVELS, OR FLEXIBLE CRITICS? A lot of critics
thought Don DeLillo's "Underworld" was too long. Not John Leonard.
"All DeLillo did was to dream the whole repressed history of American
cold war culture, from J. Edgar Hoover to AIDS. If you are too
lazy for nomadic wandering in such a brilliant maze, stick to
stock quotations." DeLillo's back with another, shorter novel,
and Leonard's here again to defend him. New
York Review of Books 02/22/01
Tuesday
February 6
- AN URBAN AFFAIR: A new book on the 21st-century
city by professor Joseph Rykwer explores just what makes the world’s
best cities so seductive, and the worst so unlivable. "[Rykwer]
makes the same point as the Seattle rioters in a rather gentler
and more erudite way. His civilised anger is directed against
traffic engineers and planners who, in seeing a city merely as
a set of functional problems, ignore its poetic nature. Their
exercise is ultimately self-defeating as, if cities lose their
emotional raison d'être, it's irrelevant how smoothly the
traffic flows." London
Evening Standard 2/05/01
Monday
February 5
- THE
BIG WHIFF: "Almost any substantial work of fiction or
nonfiction that doesn't become a bestseller qualifies as a midlist
book, one that doesn't make the 'front' of a publisher's seasonal
list of upcoming titles. It probably sells somewhere between 5,000
and 7,000 hardcover copies (writers whose sales sink below that
may have trouble finding commercial publishers) and a high of
20,000 to 25,000. Beyond the numbers, however, the word 'midlist'
has acquired a stigma, an unnerving whiff of low sales expectations."
Washington Post 02/04/01
- A
MATTER OF AUTHORSHIP: Nega Mezlekia, an engineer living in
Toronto, ought to have been flying high after his memoir "Notes
From the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood," was cheered by
critics and won a prominent Canadian literary award. But another
writer has come forward to say that she wrote much of the book
and wants some of the credit. Lawsuits are flying. The
New York Times 02/05/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
- E-BOOK EVOLUTION:
Last week, Random House launched its e-book imprint, with several
high-profile authors contributing new electronic-only titles.
Now, several veteran publishing figures have announced the impending
arrival of Rosetta Books, an online e-publisher of backlisted
literature.
Publishers' Weekly 02/05/01
Sunday
February 4
- YOUNG
LIABILITY: Literary prizes shed only a vague light on what
constitutes enduring talent. What is it that lit prizes have against
young writers? The Telegraph (London)
02/03/01
- SAVED
BY THE PRIZE: Matthew Kneale was struggling as a writer before
he won the Whitbread awrd last week. "If the novel had sunk
without trace, it would have been a body blow, both financial
and psychological, from which he might never have recovered. Now
suddenly he is soaring. On such happy accidents - or bold gambles,
depending which way you look at it - careers turn."
The Telegraph (London) 02/03/01
Friday
February 2
- NEXT
CHAPTER(S)? Who's going to buy Canadian book superstore Chapters?
And why do they want the money-losing chain? The tender offers
are being mailed out. CBC 02/01/01
- RANDOM
HOUSE TAKES THE E-PLUNGE: Random House has become the first
publisher to officially launch an E-books-only imprint. "At
Random" will publish 20 original titles to start with, ranging
from writing collections to celebrity biographies to serious fiction.
The titles will also be available as "print-on-demand"
paperbacks, but will not be sold in traditional bookstores.
CBC 02/02/01
Thursday
February 1
- QUALITY
IS OVERRATED: An Oakland-based web site
is pushing the notion that anyone can write a book, and is sponsoring
periodic "National Novel Writing Months" with an eye
towards churning out as many full-length narratives as possible.
Anyone can participate, and anyone who reaches a 50,000 word count
is judged a "winner." One past winner advises, "Write
as if nobody will read it, ever." San Francisco Bay Guardian, 01/31/01
- NEW
CLASSICS: New translations of literary classics
come out every year, and it can be hard to remember just why we
need them. "Well, why do we need another recording of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony? The thing to remember about the classics is that
different aspects of a work emerge as important at different times,
so there's never going to be one translation that stops everyone
in their tracks and says, ‘This is it.’" New
York Times 2/01/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
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