Book News, In Brief

Sherry Jones, author of last year's controversial novel, The Jewel of Medina, has found a unique excuse for why her book bombed: She picked the wrong person to pen her blurb.

For years, folks caught with a copy of Playboy under their mattress have used the excuse, "I only read it for the articles." Still, it's surprising to hear Hugh Hefner claim he only published it for the cartoons.

Pop Quiz! What part of a book's publication causes the most conflict? (Go on, take a guess.) If you said, 'the editing,' you're WRONG! But if you said, 'designing the book jacket,' pat yourself on the back, then head on over to AlanRinzler.com for an insider's look at the contentious world of cover art creation.

First there was The Buena Vista Social Club, then Guantanamo Bay. Now there's a third reason to visit sunny, commie Cuba: Thousands of digitized documents, photographs and books that belonged to writer Ernest Hemingway have been made available to scholars and snoops alike. Oh, and unlike Florida's Hemingway archives, this one doesn't smell like cat pee!