Book News, In Brief

An untitled Michael Crichton novel was scheduled to be released in May, only to have its Amazon.com listing mysteriously removed a few days after his death. This has lead many to speculate that the book has been canceled by publisher HarperCollins. Not a chance. My guess: They're pulling it temporarily, but only so's they can build up the hype.

If you're counting our current economy, this makes two good reasons to go dumpster diving. Via BBC News: A mystery donor has left four 18th Century volumes described by experts as incredibly rare in a charity book bin. The books, in gold-tooled calf binding, were given to Stirling's Oxfam bookshop and form part of Clarendon's 1731 six-part History of the Rebellion.

Sure, this lawsuit has to do with the Batman movie and not the comic, but it seemed ridiculous enough to include here. From Variety (the Publishers Weekly of the movie biz): The mayor of an oil-producing city in southeastern Turkey, which has the same name as the Caped Crusader, is suing helmer Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. for royalties from mega-grosser The Dark Knight. Huseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of Batman, has accused The Dark Knight producers of using the city's name without permission. "There is only one Batman in the world," Kalkan said. "The American producers used the name of our city without informing us."