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Harvey Pekar, one of the founding fathers of underground comics, died this morning in his Cleveland home at the age of 70. His ongoing autobiography, American Splendor, is among the finest examples of what I internally refer to as neurotic comics curmudgeonliness, but more than that proved that the map of what comics can tackle, [...]

As you may be aware, Gary Oldman is set to reprise an iconic role originated by Alec Guinness. No, not Obi-Wan Kenobi (but wouldn’t that be awesome?).  According to this article at the Guardian’s website, he’s going to play George Smiley, John Le Carre’s fictional spy, in a big-screen adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. [...]

It’s been so long since I wrote a Weeklings that this is really a Monthlings–and that’s being charitable. Here are a few of the things I’ve read recently that have lodged in my brain…due to the length of this post, I have introduced subject headings. First Editions Much as I covet first editions, I only [...]

I had a great time moderating “Everyone’s a Critic: The Future of Book Reviewing” at ALA’s annual conference in Washington, DC. I don’t need to issue a spoiler alert before telling you that we neither solved all the problems facing book reviewers, nor can we possibly have predicted the future of book reviewing with perfect accuracy. [...]

M.T. Anderson, that titan of YA lit behind Feed (2002) and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (2006), is a pretty engaging speaker. Perhaps you saw his Printz Honor speech from 2009? So when he embarks on a video tour of his Vermont homeland (the setting for his new book The [...]

According to a story on the Los Angeles Times website, Ray Bradbury’s classic 1950 short story collection The Martian Chronicles is being turned into a movie.  Apparently producer John Davis has optioned the rights to the book. Davis produced 2004′s I, Robot, based on Isaac Asimov’s short story collection by the same name, and that [...]

Comingsoon.net reports that Leonardo DiCaprio will be playing J. Edgar Hoover in an upcoming biographical movie directed by Clint Eastwood. DiCaprio won’t be the first actor to play the controversial FBI director on the big screen — in fact, by rough count, he’ll be the 1,897th. Give or take. But I think he’ll do an [...]

William Stanley Merwin’s poems are fully meshed in nature, and he lives his passion for the verdant world in Hawaii, where he cultivates endangered plants. The profound connection between green entities and the poet is indicated in the title of the first collection of Merwin’s I reviewed, Flower & Hand. This launched my apprenticeship to this exemplary observer of [...]