Books/Mags/Blogs

When we go into a library, we usually spend a few minutes in the children’s book section, looking for old favorites. There is some comfort in knowing that another generation is puzzling over the (rather tame) antics of Beany Malone. That the Boxcar Children haven’t aged. That Margaret is still talking to God. That on any aisle in any library, we can find a book that changed our little world (look under Laura Ingalls Wilder, and you will discover the summer we captained an expedition to build a cave to protect our gang from the wild tornadoes of California’s Central […]

We admit it, we have far too much fun making fun of the media for our recently announced retirement to last (we suspect this is the only thing we’ll ever have in common with Michael Jordan). Our problem today arises from what appears to be a general lack of, well, knowledge on the part of The New York Post’s Sara Nelson. In writing about the so-called porn star catfight (please tell us she didn’t choose the headline, otherwise our estimation of her will drop a further notch), she seems to think that Jenna Jameson’s new book (How To Make Love

During a recent exercise, we took a favorite book (Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married) and broke down the elements. It was a bit surprising to discover a) from a writer’s perspective, it wasn’t all that well done, and b) that didn’t matter to us because the parts we adored the first time, we adored the tenth time. That’s the way it goes for us — we have a long list of favorite novels, but an even longer list of favorite sentences and paragraphs. Yes, we keep books simply so we can revisit that one line on page 67. Picking a

We learned a valuable lesson about long books the year our friend Tim tackled Shogun. We say the year because it took him about that to read the thing. As he pointed out, there were a lot of words. On the other hand, our friend Jim is taking the first two books of the Baroque Cycle to New York with him and planning to buy the final installment while there (when we say taking, we mean he will be hauling the books as part of his carry on material). He understands the flight is only five hours — he’s preparing

When we were six, a rather bizarre mixture of rye bread and a mystery illness struck. To this day, we cannot smell rye bread without growing nauseous. It is telling that we would rather starve than risk inhaling the faintest odor of seed. Other scents evoke memories, and despite our omnipresent allergies, we rely upon scent often enough to believe it is truly the most evocative sense. But does it make for a good promotional trick? Will the sweet, astingent odor of lavendar make people rush to the shelves, eager to purchase a favorite book? Do scents described in novels

This writing thing we do, for most, comes with a goal. Have you considered it? Yes, yes, we know you want to be published, but that’s a step toward the goal. The winning moment comes when someone reads you. Picks up your books, drags out a twenty or two from a crowded wallet, and walks away, saying cheerfully, “I don’t need a bag. I’m starting this one right now.” MJ Rose’s blog at Publisher’s Marketplace, Buzz, Balls & Hype, focuses on publicity and writing. Earlier this week (last week — we can never be sure what with the dates changing

After having our fun at the expense of fine young men trying to find their literary niche, we must balance our karma a bit. Not a lot — we stopped and let a group of pedestrians cross the street this morning. Thus, we share with you an excerpt from the upcoming book Lads. For those hoping to peer inside the male soul, this particular section won’t do it for you. For those who’ve always wanted to know how magazines really come together, we suspect your suspicions will be validated. Excerpt: Lads – A former Maxim editor’s memoir recalls the frenzied,

There are days we could waste by making fun of news. Headlines, articles, even photos — there is so much fodder for our sharp fingers, we simply can’t address it all. But we try, we try. For example, this headline hinting that the next J.K. Rowling has been discovered caught our imagination mid-caffeine infusion. While we don’t deal with facts too often (see previous re: lazy), we feel compelled to make a point. The Harry Potter books were not a success because publishers salivated over the rights during an auction. The success came (and we feel this is a key

For those who can’t get enough, the new Edward Wyatt article is in the New York Times. Wyatt, whose work we’ve discussed in grand detail, offers up another thrilling look at the publishing industry. Please take a moment to read along with us. Hmm, on first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much to work with. He takes the “why” of conservative authors’ complaints and debunks it with numbers (yes, Virginia, all that matters is whether or not the publisher can make money). That’s no fun. Okay, maybe we’d like to see him challenge the complaints with the facts and

It is with great sadness and regret that we come to yet another confession: four years of high school French, one year of college French, and all we got out of it was the ability to speak Spanish to our Paris taxi driver. So while we couldn’t puzzle out every word in The International Tribune’s article on the back-to-the-real-world book rush in France, we think we got the gist: lots of books in stores, too many to read, readers rely on awards to guide them, still far too many books, but that’s okay, it’s all about the glory. Your translation