Book News, In Brief

Comedian, author George Carlin is dead at age 71. R.I.P.

A lock of Jane Austen's hair recently sold for £5,640. The buyer wishes to remain anonymous, probably cuz they're embarrassed about wearing a weave.

Ian McEwan said he despises militant Islamism for its homophobia and sup-par treatment of the hunnies. The newspapers caught wind of it, and this was the resulting headline: I Despise Islamism, Says Brit Award Winning Author. And they wonder why people prefer blogs.

Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gülen, has been voted the world's top intellectual in a poll to find the leading 100 thinkers. Gülen, the author of more than 60 books, won a landslide triumph after the survey - which is organized by the British magazine, Prospect, and Foreign Policy, a US publication. The top 10 thinkers were all Muslim.