Square Pegs

We’re not going to suggest that authors shouldn’t give readings (though we will suggest that some authors aren’t very good at it), but the author as a performance artist? We can’t get behind that, Neal Pollack excepted. We continue to blame MTV for our country’s inability to appreciate art without lights and flashing and, well, dirty dancing. Oh, we do so hope the authors we know don’t take that up… Authors, Get Out There and Break a Leg The Neal Pollack Invasion

We admit it: we believe the celebrity memoir/novel to be a farce, Steve Martin excepted. We also find it a bit sad that there’s no good way to fade gracefully from the public eye. Once a celebrity, you are doomed to the sadism that is the entertainment press. Young Macaulay Culkin has the book world, well, Miramax, buzzing over his upcoming novel Junior. We, of course, wish him the best as he tries to achieve the heady heights of literary stardom predicted by his publisher. Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown, 5/10/2004

We admit it — we love it when artists tell the truth. We yawn at puff pieces designed to sell more books (we also sneer at the site of yet another actress appearing on a magazine cover to promote a new movie…because the accompanying article is something only a PR maven can love). Tribnet makes us smile with this profile of Marian Keyes. Not that Keyes says anything shocking, but that she’s so forthright and honest. Keyes surmounted the tortured artist myth, going on to write some of the greatest (and funniest) chicklit novels of the genre’s short-lived life. Literary

On the surface, this Reuters article doesn’t appear to affect the book world, but any time Congress starts playing with copyright law, we should pay attention. Lawmakers Examine Film Smoking, Copyright Act

Have we mentioned our love of lists recently? Technorati is beta testing a new kind of list. Using the same sleuthing skills they use to track what’s hot on blogs, they track what books are being discussed. And they helpfully link back to the discussions. Because authors don’t have enough obsessions in life. Technorati BookTalk

We know a few stalkers. The good kind, not the scary kind. Though, we suspect if we think long and hard, we could come up with a few of the latter as well. Our acquaintance is varied. So we enjoyed this article about a writer who fixed upon bestselling author Claire Cook (Must Love Dogs) as a mentor. As in all good stalker relationships, Cook had no clue she was a role model and guide for our heroine. Probably for the best — being admired makes one so self-conscious. Commentary: Quest for the literary life can be fraught with doubt

In San Francisco this weekend? Looking for a little excitement? After all, you can only ride the cable cars so often. The San Francisco Area Romance Writers of America (yes, it really is the mouthful it seems) are hosting A Morning With Susan Grimshaw. The behind-the-scenes-with-a-bookseller event is sure to shed light on all sort of interesting topics, including the ever-elusive “what’s selling now” discussion. Saturday, May 8, 2004. See website for details. San Francisco Area Romance Writers of America

We’ve never made a secret of the fact that we were born to be kept. Or rich, we’re not picky. Life didn’t work out that way, of course, and then we went and chose a career (or rather it chose us) that, on some level, involves suffering and such for our art. In the distant past, that murky time we skim over in our history books, artists were patronized. That whole Sistine Chapel thing? Subsidized. British author Carole Matthews is, we believe, akin to a modern day Michelangelo. Except she probably doesn’t lie on her back while working. We can’t

MediaBistro continues to offer interesting events (check out the website after following the link below — we like the insurance events. Actually, we just like cocktail parties.). For a chance to stand behind a microphone, knees knocking and voice shaking while pitching your brilliant idea to an agent, check out the event below. May 19, 2004, 7 p.m., New York, details on the site. mediabistro.com’s How to Get a Literary Agent + Pitch Slam

As it turns out, writers are not the most fun people in the world to live with. Something about selfish, distracted, prone to forget to take out the trash…but we’ll stop now as we’re hitting a little too close to home. The Guardian discusses Judy Carver’s upcoming Living With A Writer. If any of the revelations found in the article surprise you, you are clearly not doing your job right (or you have a talent for self-deception we find quite enviable). Vain, self-pitying, arrogant: now the truth about writers