Friday September
28
FIGHTING
BACK TEARS WITH BELLY LAUGHS: Ever since the attacks of September
11, comedians of all stripes have been walking on eggshells. Some
offer deadly serious messages of condolence, some skirt the subject
entirely, but no one has tried to make comedic hay from the tragedy.
Then, this week, the latest issue of the satirical newspaper The
Onion hit newsstands, with content devoted entirely to the
fallout from the attacks. Daring? Yes. In poor taste? Perhaps.
But very, very funny. Wired 09/27/01
IN
GOOD COMPANY: The American Library Association has issued
its latest list of books that have been yanked from shelves or
challenged for their "suitability." J.K. Rowling's Harry
Potter series tops the list with numerous claims that the
books promote satanism, presumably in the same way the Mark Twain
promoted racism and John Steinbeck promoted the beating of people
from Oklahoma. BBC 09/28/01
Wednesday September
26
AUSSIE
BOOK GLUT? Is Australia's book industry publishing too many
books? Some say yes - the 200 or so Australian novels published
this year were almost double the number published 10 years ago.
"This glut on the market has created a 'literary logjam'
that was 'suffocating' readers and cutting into authors' incomes,
while the proliferation of creative writing courses has created
a climate of unrealistic expectations and a 'false sense of reality'
among aspiring writers. More and more novels are then being published
and the infrastructure of reviewing, media attention and bookshop
space is not coping." Sydney
Morning Herald 09/26/01
EDITH
WHARTON COMES INTO HER OWN: For forty years she was dismissed
as "a reactionary, an antimodernist, a rich old-school genteel
snob, and a minor female version of Henry James." Now it's
Henry James who is being overlooked, and Edith Wharton "no
longer has to be judged by his standards."
New York Review of Books 10/04/01
Monday September
24
HARRY
GOES PLATINUM: JK Rowling has won four platinum awards for
her Harry Potter books. "The British book industry created
the prizes, modeled after the music industry's gold and platinum
records. The awards are based on sales in bookstores, supermarkets
and over the Internet. Platinum awards recognize sales of more
than a million books. Rowling is believed to have sold more than
100 million books worldwide." Raleigh
News & Observer (AP) 09/23/01
Sunday September
23
NO
MORE SATURDAY NIGHTS: Saturday Night, created in 1887
and Canada's oldest magazine, has been put out of its misery.
The magazine was shut down last week by new owners. It hadn't
made money in 60 years. "The reason, say industry experts,
is that a series of desperate publishers and editors squandered
the franchise's name and loyal readership base. Projected losses
ranged from $10-million to $12-million dollars for the magazine
for this calendar year alone." The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/22/01
COMFORT(?)
IN NOSTRADAMUS? "Within hours of the suicide missions
that toppled the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York
on Sept. 11, there was a rush in Toronto's libraries on a single
book - not on the Qur'an, not on the Bible, not on any historical
study of the ancient struggle between followers of Islam and Christ.
The book everyone wanted contains the prophetic quatrains of 16th-century
visionary Nostradamus, who, according to rumours burning up the
Internet, had predicted the tragedy with stunning accuracy. The
prediction was later disproved." Toronto
Star 09/22/01
Friday September
21
ALL OF PUSHKIN
IN ENGLISH, AT LAST: Of major Russian literary figures, Alexander
Pushkin is the least read outside his home country. The problem
is that he is so difficult to translate. Now, after years of editorial
wrangling and politicking, the final volumes are ready in the
first complete edition of Pushkin's works in English. The
Moscow Times 09/21/01
Thursday September
20
THE
DUTY OF THE WRITER IN TIME OF CRISIS: Is
it irrelevant, in a time of tragedy and horror, to try to write
a novel? Many writers - John Updike, Rosellen Brown, Tim O'Brien,
Joan Didion, Ward Just, Robert Stone, and Joyce Carol Oates -
have been asking themselves that question. "While many temporarily
questioned their work, they ended up affirming to themselves the
value and purpose of what they do." The
New York Times 09/20/01 (one-time registration
required for access)
Wednesday September
19
BERYL
BOMBS OUT OF BOOKER: Beryl Bainbridge has been the odds-on
favorite to win this year's Booker Prize after she was listed
on the prize's longlist. But the shortlist is now out and she
didn't make it. Finalists include Peter Carey, Ian McEwan, Rachel
Seiffert, Ali Smith, Andrew Miller, and David Mitchell made the
cut. This is the first year that judges revealed the 24 books
on the longlist. The Guardian (UK)
09/18/01
- IS
THE BOOKER FIXED? "There is
a well-established London literary community. Rushdie doesn't
get shortlisted now because he has attacked that community.
That is not a good game plan if you want to win the Booker.
Norman Mailer has found the same thing in the US - you have
to 'be a citizen' if you want to win prizes. The real scandal
is that Martin Amis has never won the prize. In fact, he has
only been shortlisted once and that was for Time's Arrow,
which was not one of his strongest books. That really is suspicious.
He pissed people off with Dead Babies and that gets lodged
in the culture. There is also the feeling that he has always
looked towards America." The Guardian
(UK) 09/18/01
Monday September
17
BOOK-BOUND:
Fall is usually packed in the publishing business. But this fall
will be different as publishers postpone releases. "Not just
personally but professionally, everyone in the business has felt
repercussions from Tuesday's mayhem. Nobody would dare complain
at a time like this, but sales will probably suffer as readers
focus on other things for a while - among them reading's old nemesis,
television. Where people are finding time to buy and read books,
nonfiction is predominating, as people struggle to learn more
about how this could have happened." San
Francisco Chronicle 09/17/01
SHORT
SHRIFT: "Canada must produce more short stories per capita
than any other literary outpost in the galaxy, and the book reviewers
of the nation are trembling under the weight." So enough.
Enough. Let's call a ban on the genre. "The fact is our literature
is at risk of becoming so small-boned, so petite, so lacking in
ambition that it disappears up its own exquisite backside."
Saturday Night (Canada) 09/17/01
WHAT
MEMORY BRINGS: Lily Brett is a writer with an international
reputation based on her writing about a screwed up childhood.
Her sister, writer Doris Brett, has just published a book disputing
that childhood. "Is this a case of terminal sibling rivalry?
A Helen Garner-like row over a writer exposing one side of shared
private moments to the public gaze? A reflection of the way some
children of survivors end up with their parents' experience as
a big part of their identity, and others don't? Or an object lesson
in the way truth is never absolute, and memory is at best a fuzzy
reconstruction?" The Age (Melbourne)
09/17/01
Friday September
14
THE
APPROPRIATE MOMENT: There are many books about the World Trade
Center or terrorism. "The question, with books that might be applicable
to the recent situation, is whether you pull them forward. Which
books should you delay, and which books might have an opportunity
because of what happened. It's a question of finding the right
and appropriate moment." Inside.com
09/13/01
CRITICISM
FOR TOO MUCH AND TOO GOOD: Joyce Carol Oates has just published
her 94th book. "Her recent Oprah pick, We Were the Mulvaneys,
was the author’s first No. 1 best seller and has sold 10 times
more than any other book she’s written." Yet she's criticized
by some for her prolific output. Newsweek
09/17/01
Thursday September
13
RETHINKING
ONLINE BOOK-SELLING: Canadian book super-seller Chapters had
150,000 customers with $5 million worth of orders unfilled when
the company decided to rethink its online selling operation. Now
the site is relaunching. The biggest change? Axing online book
reviews. "Buying independent reviews is costly and not helpful
to customers - they are not responding. We don't see additional
activity. In fiction it's perhaps useful to have a snippet of
what the basic novel is about." Toronto
Star 09/12/01
FRENCH
COURT RULES LES MIZ SEQUEL IS OK: "A French court
denied a request by descendants of Victor Hugo to have a newly
published sequel to Les Miserables pulled from bookstores
on the grounds that it betrayed the spirit of the 19th-century
classic. In its ruling, the Paris court said that Hugo, in his
lifetime, had not wanted his descendants to exercise control over
his literary legacy. The court cited Hugo as once saying he did
not agree with the premise that 'descendants by blood were also
the heirs of the spirit'." Nando
Times 09/12/01
HIGH
ON HIGH ART: The New Criterion is 20 years old. "It remains
one of the liveliest and most controversial cultural journals
in North America. To its many admirers, the monthly magazine is
a brave defender of the beleaguered values of high art in a cultural
environment poisoned by political correctness. To an equally large
number of detractors, The New Criterion is the dour and dyspeptic
voice of cultural reactionaries who inflexibly reject new developments
in art." National Post (Canada)
09/13/01
Wednesday September
12
STANDING
IN FOR TWAIN: One thing all authors can agree on: book tours
are no fun. So what to do about publicity when the author has
been deceased for decades? In the case of the new Mark Twain story
published recently by The Atlantic, humorist Roy Blount,
Jr. has agreed to stand in for the author on the PR blitz.
Boston Globe 09/12/01
PINNING
DOWN WILDE: Oscar Wilde's wide-ranging body of work has always
defied attempts to pigeonhole the author's legacy. Last year,
the British Library presented an exhibition that attempted to
capture the many faces of Wilde through manuscripts, letters,
and critiques. A somewhat-revised version of "Oscar Wilde:
A Life in Six Acts" is scheduled to open in New York this
weekend. The New York Times 09/12/01
(one-time registration required
for access)
Tuesday September
11
BOOK
COLLECTING AND THE ART OF INTERNET: Second-hand booksellers
aren't exactly hurting these days - if - they're willing to adapt.
The internet has radically changed the way book collectors collect.
"It's close to revolutionised what we do - not necessarily for
the best." The Age (Melbourne) 09/11/01
SEX
AND THE BESTSELLER LIST: Michel Houellebecq's books are nearly
automatic bestsellers in France, full of graphic sexual imagery
and scandalous exploits. But is it just the pornographic aspects
that attract the public (even as critics and crusaders scream
about degeneracy and smut,) or does Hoellebecq's work have a higher
value? The New York Times 09/11/01
(one-time registration required
for access)
Monday September
10
CELEBRATING
READING: US First Lady Laura Bush hosts the first National
Book Festival in Washington. "Throughout Saturday's free
event some 25,000 folks moved from book signings to author presentations
to readings by professional basketball players to booths on literacy
programs to musical performances to misting machines to food stands
to the library itself, across the East Lawn, for self-guided tours
of its Great Hall." Washington
Post 09/10/01
GIVING
IT AWAY INCREASES BOOK SALES: Most publishers are worried
that online distribution of their books will kill their sales.
But one publisher that has put everything it prints on the web
finds that sales have actually increased. Why? "From our
perspective, the Web is already the best dissemination engine
ever, which has the side benefit of providing vast new markets
and audiences for our work." Chronicle
of Higher Eductaion 09/14/01
PLACING
PRODUCT: So why all the fuss over B-list novelist Fay Weldon's
product-placement deal in her latest book? "It's much ado
about absolutely nothing. The 'sacred name of literature' - whatever
in God's name that may be - hardly has been besmirched by Weldon's
little caper, nor has the 'freedom of the writer to do as he pleases'
been compromised. Literature is a lot bigger than all the little
people who claim to labor in its name, and it will survive the
petty transgressions of them all." Washington
Post 09/10/01
NAME
THAT CHARACTER: To raise money for a foundation that helps
provide medical care for victims of torture, a group of writers
is auctioning off literary immortality. "Writers Margaret
Atwood, Pat Barker, Ken Follett, Robert Harris, David Lodge, Ian
McEwan, Terry Pratchett and Zadie Smith have all agreed to name
a character in their forthcoming books after those prepared to
pay most for the privilege." BBC
09/10/01
COMMON
READ: With citizens of Chicago all reading the same book (To
Kill a Mockingbird) together (at least that's the claim),
other cities are trying to choose books of their own to read.
Taste being what it is, agreeing on a book isn't so easy. Toronto
Star 09/09/01
Friday September
7
THE
ART OF A BESTSELLER: A book review editor is reading an advance
copy of a new book, when he notices the book has already scaled
the Bestseller lists. How can this be? It's all in the art of
advance marketing a hot property. Christian
Science Monitor 09/06/01
FIVE
BOOKS SHORT-LISTED FOR GELBER PRIZE: Three biographies, a
memoir of Russia, and a study of money are finalists for the Lionel
Gelber Prize. The $50,000 prize - world's largest juried prize
for non-fiction - was established "to promote the study of
international affairs and to increase popular interest in foreign
policy and politics." CBC
09/06/01
Thursday September
6
REPEALING
HOMEGROWN: For 20 years the British Columbia government had
bought up to $150,000 worth of books by homegrown BC writers for
each school in the province. Now the new Liberal government, looking
for ways to save money, has canceled the program. CBC
09/05/01
WILL
ANYONE USE A GREAT LIBRARY? Alexandria Egypt has spent the
better part of two decades and $200 million building a library
reminiscent of the city's ancient fabled library. "But while
no expense has been spared, the library's cultural significance,
and indeed its political prestige, appears lost on the vast majority
of Egyptians, who have little interest in their country's pre-Islamic
past. The likelihood of their ever being able to use it seems,
in spite of refutation, undeniably slim." New
Statesman 09/03/01
IRISH
TIMES BOOK AWARDS: Ha Jin, Philip Roth, Denis Johnson, and
Michael Ondaatje are on the short list for this year's Irish Times
International Fiction Prize, worth £7,500. The competition also
has awards of £5,000 in each of four categories of Irish Literature.
Winners will be announced in October. The Irish Times 09/06/01
ANOTHER
MIDDLEMAN IN THE AUTHOR-TO-READER CHAIN: Not very many people
seem to be buying e-books, but more and more people are getting
ready to sell them. Latest to join the marketplace is Yahoo! Inc,
which has signed contracts with Penguin Putnam, Simon & Schuster,
Random House, and HarperCollins. Yahoo officials say it gives
"publishers a neutral ground, so to speak, in which to sell
their books, and allows them some direct contact with online buyers."
atnewyork.com 09/06/01
Wednesday September
5
ADOPT-A-BOOK:
Do you long for the days when artists and writers were supported
by their own personal impresarios, benevolent moneymen who bankrolled
every new play, treatise, and opera that ever flowed from a visionary's
pen? Well, you're in luck: "For amounts ranging from $250
to $50,000, book lovers can become art patrons -- patrons of the
art of literature. They can adopt a particular book by a particular
favorite writer and guarantee that it will always stay in print.
Or, like a literary Santa Claus, they can donate an entire set
of great works at cut-rate prices to a school or library."
Chicago Tribune 09/05/01
Tuesday September
4
YOUR
AD HERE: They do it in movies - why not in books? Product
placement, that is. Why should it be just a plain jewelry store
when it could be a Bulgari jewelry store? International
Herald Tribune 09/04/01
FINALLY,
A FOOT IN THE DOOR: The self-publishing boom has had an unexpected
side benefit for one group of writers long underserved by the
industry: "Random House, Ballantine, HarperCollins, Doubleday
and Warner have all launched African-American imprints in the
past couple of years, and dozens of the titles that they are issuing
this fall were originally self-published." Wired
09/04/01
GREAT
EXPECTATIONS: Expectations couldn't be higher for James Franzen's
new novel. So how are the reviews? "Though often self-indulgent
and long- winded, the novel leaves the reader with both a devastating
family portrait and a harrowing portrait of America in the late
1990's — an America deep in the grip of that decade's money madness
and sick with envy, resentment, greed, acquisitiveness and self-delusion,
an America committed to the quick-fix solution and determined
to try to medicate its problems away. The
New York Times 09/04/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
WRITING
FASTER THAN YOU CAN READ: A Vancouver publisher is sponsoring
a writing competition, with the winner having her/his work published
nationwide. The catch? All works submitted (and they must be full-length
novels) must be written entirely in a single three-day period.
National Post (Canada) 09/04/01
HOME
|