Category: Literary News

  • Tertulia Review (Book Recommendation App) image of tag icon

    I learned about Tertulia, the book recommendation app, from the New York Times article. So I decided to try it out. When I downloaded the app, it said there was a waiting list (uh, oh). But when I signed up, I immediately got an invite (although it went to my spam folder, so I didn’t […]

    June 10, 2022

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  • Short Roundup image of tag icon

    Dan over at Emerging Writers Network points out a new trend among literary journals, such as Fence and American Short Fiction, to “pay what you can” for a subscription to their journal. A smart move, I believe. Journals need some kind of marketing to jumpstart their subscription base. How literary journal rejections that take over […]

    April 9, 2008

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  • LA Writing is Dead? image of tag icon

    Over at the Guardian they have an article about the absence of LA literature. Yes, I agree that the screenwriters often overshadow the novelists (and yes, I have to justify myself at parties as well) but I have to disagree with the main point: In retrospect, the years from the late 1930s to the early […]

    December 11, 2007

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  • Litblog Co-op: New Book Chosen image of tag icon

    I’m happy to report that they’ve selected a new book for the Winter 2007 Read This! title at the Litblog Co-op. I was worried a week or so ago that things had seemed slow this quarter, but it’s nice to see this new book, selected by the venerable Dan Wickett at Emerging Writers Network. And […]

    December 4, 2007

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  • Judith Freeman on Raymond Chandler image of tag icon

    High, high praise for Judith Freeman’s new biography of Raymond Chandler – “The Long Embrace” – in the new LA Times Book Review: Frank MacShane published the standard Chandler biography more than 30 years ago, and until now, no other book has made us view this great American writer afresh. “The Long Embrace” does. The […]

    November 3, 2007

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  • Writers’ Pay image of tag icon

    So the LA Times has an update on how the talks are progressing for the potential screenwriter’s strike: “The union is demanding greater compensation for writers whose work is distributed through the Internet and other digital platforms. The studios want to overhaul the system to withhold residuals of any kind until after production, development, distribution […]

    October 10, 2007

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  • New York Times vs. Cult of the Amateur image of tag icon

    Even though I’m a couple weeks late with talking about the New York Times decision to end the Premium paid content section (TimesSelect), it’s very worth noting. If you remember Andrew Keen, and the blogger discussion at the UCLA festival of books, and the debate sparked from his book “The Cult of the Amateur”, you […]

    October 1, 2007

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  • Latest E-book Push image of tag icon

    So Amazon and Google are wading into the rather stagnant waters of the E-book, hoping to get something roiling. New York Times has the article, which chronicles a bit of the history of the E-book, which everyone keeps on saying will take off but it hasn’t quite yet. The obvious comparison is to the success […]

    September 10, 2007

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  • Upcoming Literary Books image of tag icon

    Here is an eclectic selection of forthcoming literary novels, completely limited by my own tastes and knowledge, for which I am unapologetic. Most of these are coming out in the next month or two, so ice up your poor, blurry, tired eyes and get to work. Other Colors: Essays and a Story by Orhan Pamuk […]

    August 30, 2007

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  • “Blindness” Made Visible image of tag icon

    One of my favorite novels, “Blindness” by the Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, is being made into a movie. The director is one I respect – the Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, who’s created both “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener.” IMDB lists the shooting date for “Blindness” in 2008. What is interesting and particularly fascinating […]

    August 28, 2007

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