Trends Happy Mother’s Day, Michel Houellebecq! By Glynnis on May. 9, 2008 - 11:59 AM As far as nascent literary subgenres go, there may be none sadder than the maternal counter-memoir. As we wait for Augusten Burroughs‘ mom to come out with her version of the truth, we can — if we’re French– ...
Book Biz ‘Snuff’ Marketing Campaign Is The Chuck Palahniuk Team’s Most Shocking Yet! Yawn. By Glynnis on May. 8, 2008 - 7:32 AM The ‘Fight Club’ author’s latest, which PW says “reads like a cross between the Spice Channel and Days of Our Lives,” is about the guys waiting in line at an aging pornstar’s career-ending 600-d ...
Sponsored Content ‘The Score’ Explains The Science Behind ‘The Game’ By Glynnis on May. 7, 2008 - 1:28 PM In June, Avery will publish Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Faye Flam‘s book about “how the quest for sex has shaped the modern man,” which is the latest entry in a field that’s almost becoming a genre unto ...
Publishing Who Knew? Eliminating Returns Reduces The Book Business’s Carbon Footprint By Glynnis on May. 6, 2008 - 2:46 PM In 2005, 31% of the roughly 1.5 billion books printed in the US were returned to publishers. Guess what: that not only doesn’t make sense for anyone’s bottom line — people don’t buy more books because they ...
Publishing Putting The Bestseller List In Perspective, Or Something By Glynnis on May. 6, 2008 - 11:53 AM There are no ‘Harry Potter’ titles on the Times bestseller list for the first time in 10 years. Tucker Max‘s ‘I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell’ is still on there, though — and it has been for thre ...
Publishing The Barbara Walters Memoir ‘Embargo’ Was Even More Meaningless Than Most By Glynnis on May. 6, 2008 - 10:40 AM On her Tumblr, which is obviously where I get most of my news, the Observer‘s Doree Shafrir bitches that the Times ran their review of Barbara Walters‘ memoir ‘Audition’ yesterday despite Knopf’s expl ...
Reviews Book Blogger’s Debut Novel Gets A ‘Times’ Teardown By Glynnis on May. 5, 2008 - 9:58 AM Sometimes we must try to puzzle out for ourselves why the New York Times Book Review has chosen to review a book. In his review of Mark Sarvas‘s debut, ‘Harry Revised,’ Troy Patterson connects the dots for us: &# ...
Book Biz Is Strand Management Not Just Crappy But Also Sorta Racist? By Glynnis on May. 1, 2008 - 3:40 PM This week’s New York Press cover story alleges that black female employees of New York’s venerable used bookstore have been unfairly discriminated against — three in the last 18 months have felt “the wrath ...
Reviews Is Augusten Burroughs’ Life “Milked Dry”? By Glynnis on May. 1, 2008 - 12:04 PM In a polygraphish New York profile, Sam Anderson got Augusten Burroughs to admit that he might, 5 memoirs in, be running out of life-experience to mine: “He says he might be done. He wants to go back to fiction, which he say ...
Book Biz Rick Moody Hit Dale Peck Pretty Hard In The Face With That Pie By Glynnis on May. 1, 2008 - 11:00 AM At a fundraiser for writers’ retreat Sangam House, Rick Moody got cold, whipped-creamy revenge for the 2002 review in which Dale Peck called him “the worst writer of his generation.” Moody didn’t pie Peck g ...