Salman Rushdie is pure fodder for paparazzi: He participates in literary squabbles, fights the fatwa, engages in juvenile dick-wars about book-signing records, schmoozes around the world looking for a fifth wife, and now sues (on the basis of libel) the security guard coming out with a tell-all memoir about Rushdie’s time spent under police protection. […]
After finishing the article by Lissa Warren in the Huffington Post, which practically recited verbatim the canard about the problems of the shrinking newspaper coverage of books and the failure of blogs to pick up the slack, I read Edward Champion’s and Michael Orthofer’s replies. Their replies, in short, demolish her argument. Demolish: a thorough, […]
Good on Barnes & Noble for inserting video into the literary realm. Literature needs more videos suited for the internet — by which I mean relatively short, with snappy edits, a Youtube video rather than a C-Span books segment (think mixing Current with CNN and you’ll get the idea). Some nice B-roll going on here, […]
So it's been nearly two hours after the earthquake here in California. It registered at 5.6 (or 5.4 or 5.8, depending on the report), and hit in Chino Hills, which is about six miles from where I live. I was writing a short story (predictably enough) and when it hit, I saw and heard Mrs. […]
There’s been such an onslaught of opinions and articles about reading online that I’m almost hesitant to comment further on the subject, but after reading the latest NY Times article I have to make two points. First, the difference between online reading and print reading has been described in many ways, but at least one […]
The poetic sensibilities of Jim Crace’s fiction. (And yes, my advice is to get over the anti-Jesus bit and read Quarantine). If you haven’t yet gone to Time to ask Haruki Murakami a question, then do so before time runs out, because given the frequency of his interview-giving, you won’t get a second chance. Also, […]
Afraid I’m down with a bit of carpal tunnel syndrome, probably from the blogging combined with all my fiction writing, plus some unergonomic chairs/desks/keyboards. When your wrists hurt so badly that you have to take Advil, you know it’s time to do something about it. But I’ve made an IKEA run, set myself up with […]
The title of this post might be overstated. The Los Angeles Times book review isn’t deep sixed, it’s just shrinking by a huge margin. But in three days, on July 27, the LA Times will issue its final standalone book review section. The loss of a standalone section is a huge blow to Los Angeles’ […]
Small Beer Press has been earning my respect. After reading a couple of their short story collections, including, recently, “The Ant King,” it seems they’ve latched onto a very particular aesthetic. It’s a flavor that no one else seems to be publishing, so they’ve established a niche. The mission statement on their website claims, “We […]
The Triumphant Return of Choose Your Own Adventure Stories. Ah, doesn’t it bring back the sweet smell of childhood and terrible books that were oh so much fun? Callie interviews Nam Le and asks all the questions that you’re not supposed to ask, but all the questions that those interested in short stories really want […]
