Book News, In Brief

Via MTV.com: What's beef? His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman disses fellow fantasy geeks C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I was going to make a very punny joke about Pullman's masturbatory self-praise and the dirty deed that is his last name, but in the spirit of fair play, I'm going to wait until he's been dead over thirty years to do so.

Via Japanese Review: Kodansha Limited, the largest publishing company in Japan and owner of several of the nation’s most popular manga magazines, will release exclusive manga content viewable on the internet for free starting Wednesday. But have no fear, countless bootleg manga websites featuring entire series scanned and uploaded for free and illegal online perusal. You're still needed. Kodansha's only giving away eight measly titles.

Via AFP: J.K. Rowling has completed her first book since the Potter finale -- and it's another Potter book! The up side: It's not another Scooby Doo-esque mystery whose villain is inevitably the new dark arts teacher ('And I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling wizards!'), but a collection of stories that "comes from that world." (Editor's note: The vagaries are all Rowling's.) The down side: There are only seven copies being made; six going to folks involved with the original Potter books, and the seventh to be auctioned off for more than anyone with the free time to read this blog will ever be able to afford. Oh, and Rowling provides all of the illustrations herself, but like I said, you're too poor to concern yourself with it anyways. (Editor's note: How much do you wanna bet that this thing gets published before 2010?)

Expect A Slew Of Self-Congratulatory Norma Ray Rip-Offs, Re-Makes and Unofficial Sequels In 2009

With Hollywood biting their nails over a possible writer's strike, should the literary world be expecting a windfall of oddly formatted, dialog-heavy submissions? Speaking for myself, I can only dreeeaaam of what a book by the writers of LOST would be like. Or a novel by Alan Thicke. Or a cookbook by the geniuses behind Desperate Housewives. On second thought, Hollywood...please don't strike.

Book News, In Brief

It's not just the kid that's missing -- tact and good taste have also been mysteriously abducted! Via The Telegraph.UK: "The first book on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is set to be published next week by one of Portugal’s best known crime reporters." Wowzers. First the OJ book and now this. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Rapper/producer/comedic actor Kanye West adds another adjective to his resume with the January 2008 release of Thank You and You're Welcome, a book (co-authored by J. Sakiya Sandifer) that he promises will feature "his personal message uncensored, without any five-second delay or media distortion."

Via Publisher's Weekly: Does it have to be e-books vs. paper & ink, or can the two live like Ebony & Ivory ('in perfect harmony')?

Related...


SNL Frank & Stevie - Ebony & Ivory - Watch the best video clips here

Because I'm Lazy...

Today's news is brought to you by the The Comics Reporter, and their post Five Positive Stories About Comics. Go, read.
(Tomorrow, I'll do better.)

Book News, In Brief

A second(?!) sequel to Gone With The Wind is set to go on sale this week, this time from Rhett's perspective. Frankly, folks, no one gives a damn.

Here's a new definition of irony for Wikipedia: Britney Spears' mom, Lynne Spears, is planning to write a book on parenting. The punchlines write themselves in situations such as these.

Cuz today's kids can't get enough of yesterday's old people, HarperCollins is set to release eight Agatha Christie novels...as comic books! Does this mean that some video game company is out there frantically working on a Murder, She Wrote rpg? I sure hope so.

Via GuardianUK: "In Iran, the trend of opening coffee shops inside bookstores has fallen foul of the authorities amid a general clampdown on social and intellectual freedoms...(The government justifies) the closures by declaring that the coffee shops constituted an illegal 'mixing of trades'. However, critics suspect the move is aimed at restricting the gathering of intellectuals and educated young people."
While that's truly appalling, the glass-is-half-full/veil-is-half-off optimist in me can't help but look at the bright side -- customers will no longer have to buy books stained by sticky buns. (We Americans have given up greater freedoms for less, no?)