News Bits, In Brief

Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) writes about fairy tales for the GuardianUK. This should excite fans of Gaiman's, but surprise no one. Not only is Gaiman a master of fairy tale writing himself, he's also got a movie based on his and Charles Vess' Stardust to promote.

Another GuardianUK plug, this one having to do with Richard T Kelly's Ten Bad Dates with De Niro: A Book of Alternative Movie Lists. So what do they offer? A review? A interview with the author? Better: excerpts. Reprinted are Joel and Ethan Coen's Five Films We'd Like To See, Steven Soderbergh's re-evaluation of Chinatown, Mike Figgis' Five Films With Great Sex Scenes and Ryan Gilbey's Five Great Drag Acts.

This week's award for Non-Committal in Book Review Form goes to Marcel Theroux and The New York Times, for their review of Douglas Coupeland's The Gum Thief. What did they think of it? Well, it's good...except when it's not. It boldly attempts to push the narrative boundaries of fiction, but doesn't, not really. It's profound, yet conventional. It satisfies in the '84, Charing Cross Road'-meets-'Ikea furniture' way, and still, 'you’re left with a tinge of regret' that the book didn't deliver on its 'promise'.
Congratulations, M.T. & NYT -- you've written a review of distinct indecision.

Bonus!
The free prize at the bottom of today's blog post is a link to Douglas Coupland's Time Capsules mini-features for the aforementioned/maligned NYTimes. Enjoy.