The Literary Scene

Stories

18 Stories

November 2008
- Their Book Deals Snag Big $$$
  
  New York Observer | Nov 17, 08 5:47 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Literary agent Dan Strone oversaw two multimillion-dollar celebrity book deals last week, stunning the publishing industry, the New York Observer reports. He scored $2.5 million for a Sarah Silverman book and drew bids topping $7 million for a Jerry Seinfeld title. Both were auctioned without a proposal. “I don’t make people spend the money,” said Strone, who did not understand why industry figures "should be horrified." More »
- Silverman Will Get $2.5M for Book
  
  New York Observer | Nov 13, 08 8:47 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Funny girl Sarah Silverman will be paid $2.5 million by HarperCollins to write a collection of comic essays, the New York Observer reports.The bankable big- and small-screen star set off a spirited bidding war among publishers, though she will fall short of the reported $6 million that fellow comedian Tina Fey will get from Little, Brown for a similar venture. More »
- Widow Opens Up About 'Ratty' Dahl
  
  Guardian (UK) | Nov 9, 08 6:14 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Tears reach Felicity Dahl's eyes as she walks to the work hut of her famous ex-husband, Roald. She's not alone, either: Director Tim Burton burst out crying when he saw it. "People have strong reactions to this house," said the widow of the acerbic scribe who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . "It's hell" living without him, she tells the Observer , in a rare interview to promote this week’s inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize. More »
- Critic John Leonard Dead at 69
  
  Salon | Nov 6, 08 4:15 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Critic and author John Leonard died last night after a long battle with cancer. Leonard, whom Kurt Vonnegut once called "the smartest man who ever lived," was 69. A brilliant but not flashy stylist, an unapologetic liberal, and a mentor to countless younger writers, Leonard worked at various times for a wide range of publications but was best known as New York magazine's TV critic and a commentator for CBS Sunday Morning. More »
- Ridicule of BBC Host Makes Vidal a YouTube Hit
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Nov 6, 08 3:21 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Gore Vidal is a YouTube sensation thanks to his election-night interview by David Dimbleby of the BBC, whom the famously contentious American author mocked mercilessly, the Telegraph reports. Vidal started by saying that he didn’t expect Barack Obama to win so easily, because the Republican Party is desperate to cling to power through “various operatives.” Dimbleby asked if Vidal thought the GOP would try to fix the election. More »
- Crichton Was Master Craftsman
  
  New York Times | Nov 5, 08 5:30 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Michael Crichton's seemingly endless output may not be literature (a statement the late Crichton himself might take issue with), but don't discount the "fine craftsmanship" they entailed, writes Charles McGrath in the New York Times . From Andromeda Strain to Jurassic Park , his "intricately engineered entertainment systems" relied on a simple formula—usually a sinister aspect of science run amok—and well researched detail. "Very few readers who started a Crichton novel ever put it down." More »
October 2008
- Indian Author Adiga Wins Booker Prize for White Tiger
  
  Guardian (UK) | Oct 14, 08 7:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Indian author Aravind Adiga has won the UK's prestigious Man Booker Prize for his debut novel the White Tiger , the Guardian reports. Adiga's novel explores the darker side of India's rise to prosperity through its narrator, the son of a rickshaw puller who escapes crushing poverty. "In many ways it was the perfect novel," said the chairman of the judges' panel. More »
- French Writer Le Clézio Wins Nobel
  
  Associated Press | Oct 9, 08 7:01 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - This year's Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, reports the AP, a novelist often called France's greatest living writer. The Swedish Academy praised him as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure, and sensual ecstasy." The 68-year-old, who lives part of the year in New Mexico, is the first French author to win the $1.4 million prize since 1985. More »
- Mohammad Child Bride Book Hits US Early
  
  Reuters | Oct 7, 08 2:08 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A controversial novel tracing the life of the Prophet Mohammed's child bride has been rushed out early by its US publisher, Reuters reports. The Jewel of Medina 's British release was suspended after its London publisher's headquarters was firebombed. Beaufort Books—which took the project after Random House dropped it amid fears of attacks—said it has not received threats, but hoped attention will shift to the book's merits. More »
- 10 Writers Who Turn Books Into Bucks
  
  Forbes | Oct 4, 08 2:43 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - So you think people don't read books anymore? Tell that to JK Rowling, No. 1 on Forbes ' list of top-earning authors. The woman behind the Harry Potter juggernaut raked in $300 million in the past year, thanks in part to the movies based on her books—which have sold 375 million copies worldwide. The prolific James Patterson came in second, with $50 million. More »
September 2008
- Death of Reading Greatly Exaggerated
  
  Esquire | Sep 29, 08 4:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Our bleak outlook on the future of reading owes itself to a doomsday reflex, the pervasive belief that things are bound to get worse, author Dave Eggers writes in Esquire . "It must be true, we think—just yesterday I saw some kid on the bus, and he wasn't reading a book!" But "few if any of these dire assumptions … are born out by any proof whatsoever." More »
- To Blurb or Not to Blurb
  
  Guardian (UK) | Sep 24, 08 3:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Despite a reputation for being over the top, book blurbs are more meaningful than not, writes William Leith in the Guardian. The blurber, as a rule, cannot expect endorsement in return, but he "is flattered to be asked, and wants to score a tiny ad for himself on the blurbee's book." So the book must be worthy, not embarrassing. More »
August 2008
- Put Catcher to Rest Already
  
  Good Magazine | Aug 28, 08 7:16 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye may have once been edgy, coming-of-age literature, but does it deserve a place in today's curricula? It's time to retire Holden Caulfield, argues Anne Trubek in Good magazine. "Salinger’s novel lacks the currency or shock value it once had," she says. "But it is still ubiquitously taught even though many newer novels of adolescence are available." More »
- A 'Prose Guy' Explores the Comics Boom
  
  Washington Post | Aug 23, 08 3:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Bob Thompson is a self-professed “prose guy,” but still can’t ignore the biggest trend in publishing: graphic novels. Thompson sets out for the Washington Post to discover how literature that uses word balloons can be book world's sole growing sector. He discovers that many “little see-saws” tipped at once to start the revolution—most notably, in comic theoretician Scott McCloud’s words, “Comics. Got. Better.” More »
- Unreleased Kafka Materials May See Light
  
  New York Times | Aug 18, 08 11:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Franz Kafka, who died in 1924, is in the news because of the actions of his disobedient literary executor. Max Brod, who fled Prague in 1939, left a valuable collection of the Czech existentialist's papers with his secretary. She died last year at 101, and her daughters may be keeping the materials in a Tel Aviv apartment overrun with cats, the New York Times reports. More »
- Porn Claim Riles Kafka Scholars
  
  Guardian (UK) | Aug 15, 08 10:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Literary circles are in an uproar over a new biography of Franz Kafka that says the existentialist author had a penchant for porn, the Guardian reports. Kafka expert James Hawes, who says he unearthed some of the not-exactly-mainstream magazines the author enjoyed, makes the claim in a new book and says he was "genuinely shocked when I first saw it." Other Kafka scholars are outraged. More »
- Aspiring Novelist? Read This
  
  Boston Globe | Aug 11, 08 2:15 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - “I’ve always wanted to write” is something novelist Allegra Goodman hears a lot, so she lays out some advice in the Boston Globe for the doctors, venture capitalists, and lactation consultants with stories to tell: “To begin, don’t write about yourself.” Writing is about imagining and understanding other people’s lives. Observe people and “replay their conversation in your mind.” More »
- The Question of Authorship: Standard Operating Procedure by Philip Gourevitch and Errol M
  
  bookslut.com | Aug 1, 08
  
  Philip Gourevitch is an accomplished journalist, so it’s no surprise that he is able to weave the different accounts of what happened at Abu Ghraib prison into a complex moral tale. The characters are rich and dramatic. The themes of Standard Operating Procedure emerge organically and twine around one another in surprising ways, aided by the expert structure. And yet, it feels like a shadow of the real thing -- in this case the hundreds of hours of interviews (or millions of words of transcripts) from Errol Morris’s documentary of the same name.