Censorship, which we assumed went out with the 90’s, has returned with a vengeance. Not only did the week have Linda Ronstadt getting thrown out of a Vegas casino for, ahem, expressing her political views, but Whoopi Goldberg lost her Slim-Fast gig for the same reason. We’re thinking this is a disturbing trend. Not to mention (as we always do when this sort of thing arises) the resulting publicity from the reaction gives new life to a moment that would normally die, forgotten and lonely in a backroad motel room. Even library books, which enjoyed a brief respite from burnings

We suspect it’s the fear of every memoirist — just after the story ends, things in real life get all interesting. Such seems to be the problem for Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Iranians who have read the book say it’s good, but not reflective of life as it is now. Yeah…well, if you keep spinning out the end to capture the world as it changes, you’ll never finish the darned book. In fact, there’s an excellent chance you’ll die first. Such things have been known to happen. We appreciate the press looking for a new angle

David Thayer of Collected Miscellany discusses the writer at work — the solace he receives from knowing a major player works near his clothes closet, the frustration of word count (What? You only managed 497.5 words today? Slacker!), and fact that writing can never be truly represented on film. Though we do frequently crumple our rejected pages into paper balls — they make excellent cat toys. Someday, we’re going to real cleaning (as opposed to the pretend thing we currently practice) and dig all the abandoned balls from under the various pieces of furniture. The felines will think it’s Christmas

We are intrigued by the idea that Ms. Magazine is holding its first annual fiction contest. Other than the desire for fresh, original voices, the contest is pretty open (oops, there’s also a word count requirement). Postmark deadline for entries is August 1, 2004. Visit the Ms. site for details. Ms. Fiction Contest

As it turns out, our mental image of Geoffrey Chaucer was largely formed by Paul Bettany in A Knight’s Tale. Yeah, we’re the type who is perfectly comfortable picturing Chaucer naked. But, as they say, behind every good man is his scribe. Now we’re not sure Adam Pinkhurst would have ever considered himself anonymous — how was he to know The Canterbury Tales would survive through the ages — but now he’s been revealed as the scrivener of Chaucer (though, perhaps, not a perfect scribe, but who is, really?). Scribe Who Immortalized ‘Canterbury Tales’ Unmasked