books

Reading About Reading: Self-Righteous Elves Take on Boobies

Jessica · 07/26/05 12:29PM

The Times Book Review sure is on a roll: After last week's vagtastic review of all things mildly inappropriate, editor Tannenhaus keeps us drenched in intellectual salsa by taking on fatties, sex, and the worth of rock critics. Intern Alexis could barely keep her bladder in one piece. Her weekly review follows.

Remainders: A.J. Jacobs' Future Certainly Looks Bright

Jessica · 07/19/05 05:30PM

• Sadly, the thought of do-anything writer A.J. Jacobs' penning something entitled The Ark Project: How many pairs of animals can I fill my house with before my wife divorces me? isn't too far-fetched. [Zulkey]
• No hand-eye coordination? You're so, so gay. [Salon]
• TV news seems to think the internet may save them. Also, it's Opposite Day! [WSJ]
• You know what we need? Another cheesy, thematic nightclub. Something like Roulette sounds like a good start. [Joonblog]
• Another 7-11 plans an UES invasion. Time for last rites of the cheap-ass bodega. [Jossip]

Reading About Reading: Late Because of the Hymen Stuff

Jessica · 07/19/05 12:39PM

This week's coverage of the Times Book Review is a day late, but hardly a dollar short. Intern Alexis got so wrapped up in the wild world of John Irving's penis and Julianne Moore's vaginal endorsements, she barely had the wherewithal to tackle a sidelined Christopher Hitchens and the shape of gay literature. So, to recap, after the jump you've got genitalia, Hitch, and The Gays. If that's not the best book review ever, we don't know what is.

Blind(ish) Item Revealed!

Jesse · 07/11/05 03:27PM

Aw, shucks. Sometimes — and, we should admit, only rarely — we love you guys. This is one of those times.

Ed-Klein's-Alleged-Clinton-Mouth-Kissing-Photo-Gate: 'New York' Breaks It Wide Open

Jesse · 06/22/05 12:02PM

• A special report from New York's Greg Sargent: "The photographer who took the picture in Edward Klein's new book, The Truth About Hillary, catching Bill Clinton in a moment of P.D.A. with someone other than his wife, says that the book's use of the photo is a 'huge misrepresentation of the event.'" [NY Mag]
• Still, The Truth About Hillary is a huge big deal: "The furor over the new book could eventually make Sen. John Kerry's swift-boat veterans nightmare last summer look as inconsequential as Saddam Hussein's junk-food menu," says Jon Friedman. [Market Watch]
• Unless it's not a big deal at all: "[I]t will not, as has been hoped or feared, do for any Clinton presidential campaign what Unfit For Command did for the Kerry one. This clip+paste job by a former editor of the New York Times magazine is unlikely to change a single mind, let alone vote," says Sara Nelson. [Publishers Weekly]
• Plus, the reviews suck: "The super-hyped new book aimed at derailing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's hopes for the White House has been widely panned by independent reviews," note the Post. [NYP]

Amazon.com to Sell Bezos' Book and Only Bezos' Book

Jessica · 06/10/05 02:02PM

A lot of women marry for money, but if they're truly wise they'll marry for money and direct access to an industry of interest. Take, for instance, MacKenzie Bezos, wife of online book behemoth Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos:

Random House Editor Bolts

Leitch · 06/09/05 08:16AM


We sometimes wonder if the real question is not why people leave the leave the book industry, but why anyone even stays. The most recent casuality is Jonathan Karp, former editor-in-chief of Random House, who unexpectedly resigned yesterday. He had worked there for 16 years and, as the story says, was "once considered a wunderkind." (Before, you mean, he got so damned old.) His biggest recent hits were Seabiscuit and Shadow Divers.

Fun With Book Expo!

Leitch · 06/07/05 01:59PM

When we were in college and having delusions of literary greatness, we imagined that that a "Book Expo" in New York City, the Greatest City In The World, would feature all the great authors sitting at a big desk and discussing their craft. Richard Ford. Kurt Vonnegut. Charles Bukowski. Douglas Coupland. Don DeLillo. Maybe Salinger would shock everyone and drop by. It was our fantasy. Let us have it.

The Miramax Book Club

Jessica · 05/23/05 02:20PM

Tomorrow isn't just Radar's official debut; it's also the release of Rachel Pine's first novel, The Twins of Tribeca. (We're guessing you may find the latter much more interesting, so bear with us.) The novel is about a young publicist at Glorious Pictures, an edgy movie company started by two brothers, Phil and Tony Waxman. None too coinidentally, Pine was once a slave at Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Miramax shirtwaist factory, and now she's gone and sold her roman
clef to — pregnant pause — Miramax Books. Weirdly meta for Pine, and a viciously smart business move for the Miramax boys.