Book News, In Brief

Donald Trump may be an arrogant and questionably intelligent pseudo-businessman, but he sure knows how to promote a book signing in a way that appeals to non-readers and cheap sonuvab**ches everywhere. This past week, in an effort to garner headlines/promote his new book, Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life, Trump offered New York's huddled masses yearning to receive something for free varying amounts of cold, hard cash if they would just show up. According to TheTimes.co, the first 100 people in line were given a $100 bill. The next 200 people got $50 each, and the next 1000 people got $10 each. A total of $30,000 given away. What sort of idiot stands in line for (a.) the chance to 'meet' Donald Trump or (b.) ten lousy bucks?

After stealing a page or two from the Micheal Jackson Book of Promotional Touring , J.K. Rowling managed to top her recent controversies by announcing that the fictitious wizard Dumbledore is fictitiously gay. (In related news, Jackson continues to deny similar accusations, while the gay community continues to decry the moral values of the straights for allowing a wacko such as Jacko to claim membership in their ranks.)

Jonathan Demme, the film director who outfitted David Byrne in the giant, white suit and served Hannibal Lechter a dinner of brains 'with fava beans and a nice Chianti,' is now helping Jimmy Carter to translate his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, into a movie. Link

The Comics Reporter has posted a great interview that they did with Charles Brownstein regarding the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (it's the ACLU for funny page folk). Recently, the CBLDF changed the line up of their board of directors to include a number of names that once were associated with, if not outright censorship, at least a stance that was not wholly on the side of unencumbered artistic expression. Interesting stuff.