Far be it for us to offer tips on how to do one’s job, but, well, we have to go there. We can’t sit back and watch folly. As you’re surely aware, now is the time of year for all manner of lists. A lot of “Best Of” stuff is happening, and a lot of earth-shattering approaches. Our friend Jim, for instance, put an old release (or two) on his round-up of last year’s best music. This after making fun of someone for putting an old record on her list last year. We will not name names (oops, we did), […]

Just as the Whitbread conglomerate pulls out of the annual Whitbread awards — apparently they don’t fit the current business model — announcements are made regarding this year’s winners. The British do love their book awards, and they love to draw out the process. You have your long lists, your short lists, your winners, and then your uber-winners. Ali Smith, winner of the Best Novel title, is now up against a slate of other bests to see who gets the big money. Also honor and bragging rights. This leads us to wonder, as is our nature, about the pronunciation of

As it turns out, the secret to Agatha Christie’s success was not compelling mystery nor enduring characters. This is good news for you — what made Christie’s work unputdownable* was her hypnotic writing style. Yes, the mother was hypnotized all those years. Somehow this puts a pall on our small childhood victories: did we argue persuasively or was she in Christie’s thrall? According to a study, Christie uses literary techniques mirroring those employed by hypnotherapists and psychologists, which have a mesmeric effect on readers. It could mean the structure of her novels creates physiochemical responses which cause people to seek