CAAF: Afternoon coffee

• As mentioned yesterday, Ursula K Le Guin’s review of Rushdie’s latest, The Enchantress of Florence, was a ululation of praise, a hosanna of “howyoudoin'” (as they might say in the backwaters of bad Rushdie fanfic), but The Complete Review has begun rounding up critical opinion and so far the verdict’s mixed. Peter Kemp’s review is particularly scathing.
• Come play: Old Hag is hosting a contest for two books by New Yorker writer David Samuels. The challenge is to coin a word or phrase to describe when a reviewer leads off his or her review with a personal anecdote of “dubious relevance.” It’ll be tough to top “‘I’-gression” but you should try.