Book News, In Brief

It's a mini-merger interesting only to indie bookstore folk and, apparently, Patti Smith: Vroman's is buying Book Soup.


This news is four weeks too late for 'Talk Like A Pirate Day,' and yet sadly still apt: Booksprung's How Publishers Encourage Piracy.


Sarah Palin's editor has written an anti-Palin gag book. While the book sounds (mildly) funny, it does raise an ethical question: How long are whores supposed to wait before speaking out against their Johns?


More Palin book news! According to EW, the Wassila wildcat's upcoming memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, is just one of waaay too many recent releases to use the flag-waving subtitle. Thanks, 9/11 -- first you gave us jingoistic ribbon magnets, and now this!


Playboy CEO Scott Flanders says that they are putting Marge Simpson on the cover of the November issue in an effort to attract younger readers. This immediately brought two things to mind: 1. Didn't Camel Cigarettes catch hell for using cartoon imagery in their ads for an equally 18+ product? 2. Since when do kids prefer cartoon porn?