Book News, In Brief

Well, there's one Obama themed book that is not topping the sales charts: A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win. Author Shelby Steele defends his tome -- but not its subtitle -- in the NYTimes.

Here's a disturbing new trend: schools selling off their libraries to pay for repairs. What's worse, it's a worldwide trend. Here's an article about it happening in Florida, and another article about a rare books sale going on at a New Zealand university. (This is why tax increases are sometimes necessary, folks!)

I'm not speaking to the NYTimes. They went and told the whole world our secret fears in yesterday's paper: Booksellers and Publishers Nervous as Holiday Season Approaches. Oh, sure, they tried to cover for it with this bit of wishful b.s.: "I think that people have not been reading for the past year because they’ve been checking political blogs every 20 minutes," said Larry Weissman, a literary agent. "At some point I think people are going to say, 'You know what, this is not nourishing.'" But still...