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On Galleycat, Ron Hogan is continuing his campaign to get the New York Times Book Review to replace Dave Itzkoff. Itzkoff recently made the following jaw-dropping statement (“Across the Universe: Elsewhere’s Children“): I sometimes wonder how any self-respecting author of speculative fiction can find fulfillment in writing novels for young readers. I suppose J. K. [...]

In the Los Angeles Times (“A classic, or a fraud?“), Philip L. Fradkin keeps alive the ghost of Wallace Stegner’s sins, reexamining the curious case of Angle of Repose. Fradkin borrows from–but doesn’t plagiarize–Jonathan Lethem. (Although he plagiarizes other writers. Read it, you’ll see what I mean. Lethem did it better.) Criticism of Stegner’s use of Foote’s [...]

I’m a little slow getting around to this story (“Editing of Frost Notebooks in Dispute,” by Motoko Rich, New York Times), but I can’t resist it: last January, Harvard University Press published The Notebooks of Robert Frost, by Robert Faggen (not to be confused with Mr. Dickens’ Mr. Fagin). The hefty tome, which provided transcriptions of 47 notebooks [...]

I’ve been enjoying the posts at Book Group Buzz. Yesterday, Misha Stone’s “When Fiction and Reality Collide” addressed–well, you’re probably one step ahead of me on that one. Says Stone: As a Fiction Librarian, I often get a little annoyed when patrons distinguish the difference between fiction and non-fiction as "fake" versus "real." As a [...]

A mere week after hearing that Judith Regan wants out of the spotlight (“I want my life to get smaller, not bigger”), we learn that she’s coming back to the spotlight in a big, big way. From the Associated Press (“Regan Files $100M Suit Against Publisher,” by Samuel Maull): NEW YORK (AP) – One-time book publishing powerhouse Judith [...]

If the allegations are true, then I must say that I am shocked–shocked!–that a conservative book publisher would underpay its authors. Why, that would be like a conservative clothing manufacturer underpaying the workers who sew the shirts and pants. Never happen! From the New York Times (“Conservative Authors Sue Publisher,” by Motoko Rich): Five authors have sued [...]

Anita Thompson doesn’t like Jann Wenner’s book about her late husband, Hunter S. Thompson. (Booklist‘s Donna Seaman did like the book, quite a bit.) From The New York Daily News (“Widow’s fear & loathing over Hunter S. Thompson bio,” Rush & Molloy): “There are beautiful parts in [Wenner's] book, but it sensationalizes Hunter unecessarily. It’s [...]