The making of a blockbuster Salon exclusive: The behind-the-scenes story of the readers and booksellers who launched the Hunger Games franchise Laura Miller’s commentary: The Hunger Games franchise, with Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence in the starring role, aims for a spot in a select but very sweet pantheon: movie adaptations of bestselling children’s book series […]
Monday Miscellany: Big- & Small-Screen Edition Read More »
11 Literary Friendships We Can Learn From Although from a somewhat unorthodox source (accreditedonlinecolleges.com), this article presents fascinating information on the following literary friendships: Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus George Sand and Gustave
The private lives of great writers What would we do without literary criticism wars? Just how relevant is an author’s private life to our appreciation or understanding of his or her work? Many would argue that we should disregard it entirely. Others (myself included) might point out that while you can thoroughly enjoy a novel
Because I was sick for much of last week, this week’s entry is short. Stories don’t need morals or messages Salon’s Laura Miller caused a flurry of comments recently with this article about a post on the New York Times education blog. In that post the parents of twins talked about taking their kids’ third-grade
Print Books vs. Ebooks Debate (cont., ad nauseam) Never one to shy away from controversy, Jonathan Franzen recently condemned ebooks as the harbingers of the fall of civilization: “I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this
How the literary female detective has changed In The Christian Science Monitor Randy Dotinga says of Scottish mystery writer Denise Mina: [she] has become one of the finest mystery writers of the 21st century. Her deeply perceptive grasp on the inner lives of crooks, cops, journalists, and their families has allowed her books to transcend
Steve Jobs Biography and Other Hot Titles Bookstore Lures – NYTimes.com the initial weeks of Christmas shopping, a boom time for the book business, have yielded surprisingly strong sales for many bookstores, which report that they have been lifted by an unusually vibrant selection; customers who seem undeterred by pricier titles; and new business from
Steve Jobs Biography and Other Hot Titles Bookstore Lures Read More »
The fiction of literary friendship Writing in the Guardian, Wayne Gooderham concludes: “Judging by the stories that have been written about it, writers do not make the best of friends.” 10 Most Reclusive Literary Geniuses in History The world’s greatest writers use their literary genius to illustrate and comment on the human condition. And yet,
Publishing Words: The Future of Books Writing in The Harvard Crimson, Sofie C. Brooks discusses how the rise of ebooks may change the publishing industry: What the publishing industry faces right now is a customer base that demands a digital product even as the technology that makes these products possible is still in its early
Amazon Unveils Its Tablet, The Kindle Fire: Can It Compete? : Monkey See : NPR NPR offers an extensive review of Amazon’s new Kindle offerings, including a direct comparison between the Kindle Fire and Apple’s iPad: A supercharged Kindle or an underpowered iPad? For the Fire to catch on, Amazon probably needs it to be
Amazon Unveils Its Tablet, The Kindle Fire: Can It Compete? : Monkey See : NPR Read More »
