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So, officially, JT Leroy isn’t JT Leroy. JT Leroy is actually a pseudonym for James Frey. Just kidding. JT Leroy is one Laura Albert, 40, a native New Yorker. As reported by the Associated Press, she came out in a story in the fall issue of the Paris Review. That JT Leroy is a made-up person [...]

I filed my reviews for Baghdad Burning and Mishima’s Sword this morning. I’m now reading Robert Stone’s Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties (HarperCollins). Note the brooding picture of Stone in the left-hand column–I wanted to use a book jacket but I couldn’t find one. Frankly, I like the photo better. about points loans advicelink mortgage loan add [...]

Michael Laser spent four years writing his novel Dark and Light: A Love Story. He received two reviews, both of them negative. “I’m confused,” he writes, “about my book, and about literary judgment in general.” He explored his feelings on Salon.com (“Kirkus Shrugged“). Right now, I just want an intelligent review that will second my good [...]

So timeliness isn’t my strong suit. Yesterday I meant to link to an item posted on Bookslut the day before. And I forgot. Anyway, Jessa Crispin linked to a Family News in Focus (a Web site published by Focus on the Family) article about Banned Books Week. Click here to read the article, then click [...]

From the Guardian Unlimited: Haruki Murakami has won the second Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, his third collection of short stories to be published in English. The €35,000 (£23,000) prize, which is awarded to new collections published in English during the last 12 months, is the world’s richest short [...]

While I observed the start of Banned Books Week by eating two donuts and watching my colleagues take part in a banned-books quiz, other people were doing much more productive things. (For example, organizing Banned Books Week.) Booklist reviewer Frank Sennett, who spared no cost in building a spacious walk-in closet to accommodate the many [...]

Well, my family leave is finally over and I’m back in the office. Spending twelve weeks at home with my second son was a moving and meaningful experience. I learned so much. For instance, I learned that every baby is different, and that some babies enjoy taking a ten-minute “looking around” break after every ounce [...]

Here are links to a selection of eye-opening passages from Riverbend’s Baghdad Burning II: More Girl Blog From Iraq, as they were first published on her blog. I’ve probably included too many, but I circled even more page numbers in the book. So many entries contained information I hadn’t known, or a viewpoint I hadn’t [...]

Two nights ago, I finished reading Baghdad Burning II: More Girl Blog From Iraq. I reviewed the first volume last year, and also conducted an e-mail interview of the author, Riverbend, so I was eager to find out what she has to say now. (Because everything she writes is published first in her blog, theoretically I [...]

Today the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced its 2006 Fellows–or as the public prefers to call them, The Genii. (Wait, is that the plural of genius or genie?) The 25 recipients included some writers: David Carroll, Atul Gawande, Adrian LeBlanc, David Macaulay, Sarah Ruhl, and George Saunders. I didn’t notice any bloggers, though, [...]