Booksquare

Sometimes, we think that the Los Angeles Times believes that pop music isn’t real music. After all, there are sections called “Music” and “Pop Music”; jazz doesn’t really get its own section, per se, but sort of tags on the end of pop. This has always been confusing. In the wake of tragedy, Charlotte Church […]

We have to admire those who put themselves out there. We prefer to hide our embarrassments, but, according to those nice folks who invented the Meyers-Briggs test (we presume they came from the fine Meyers and Briggs families, though we’re not entirely sure have our information straight), it’s not our fault. Thus we live vicariously […]

Author Chris Cleave has a problem, one that ties in to one of our earlier posts. Cleave’s novel, Incendiary, had the misfortune of being released on the day of the London bombings. In a second setback, the subject matter just happened to deal with the idea of bombings in London. The publisher reacted appropriately: All […]

For further proof that getting an entire species to behave in accordance with a single set of rules, we point to a recent mistake by a grocery store in Canada (names, except Canada’s and one judge who’s due for her fifteen minutes are excluded to protect the innocent). Yes, it appears that someone accidentally shelved […]

If you’ve been paying attention to the news recently, you’ve noticed two major stories: Shrek2 and The Incredibles were victims of stronger-than-expected DVD returns. There are all kinds of questions being asked of the studios behind these films, but, oddly, nobody’s asking about overproduction. Nobody’s asking why the system isn’t more efficient. Hollywood is lucky […]

There is, if you can believe it, a debate that rages long and loud: to New York agent or not to New York agent. The crowd on the left believes proximity makes for good agenting. The crowd on the rights notes new technologies like airplanes, telephones, and even something we hear is called “electronic mail.” […]

Here’s one we missed — an agency looking for a wide range of projects, including (yes, kids, it’s true) children’s and young adult fiction. Jennifer DeChiara and Stephen Fraser are incredibly picky, but if they like your work, expect lots of loving care from the agency. Vitals: The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency, 254 Park Avenue […]

The authors behind The Lipstick Chronicles (Susan McBride, Sarah Strohmeyer, Harley Jane Kozak, Nancy Martin’s) take a look at the idea of a girl ghetto in crime fiction. The discussion features Laura Lippman, David Montgomery, Sarah Weinman, and Harlan Coben, each of whom addresses the idea that women are pushed to the edges of this […]

If we were to say, oh, literary fiction sales suck because all literary fiction sucks, not only would people scream, but we’d have to admit to a slight exaggeration. Only some literary fiction sucks — the law of averages prevents all books of any genre from being the best ever. There is excellent literary fiction […]

Recently, we posted a short piece where we read too much into a few words. Most of our enlightened readers got the point immediately. A few chastised us for, well, overreading a few words (which we’d stated up front, so that ship had sailed) and went off on another tangent entirely. Which was fine, but […]