Cover by: Chris Ware
Publishers Weekly has announced their Top 10 Books of 2009, and guess what? It's a sausage party!
In his new autobiography, Open, tennis legend Andre Agassi admits to using crystal meth, but remains suspiciously silent regarding his 80s hair.
Remember when I linked to that 
And another update: Remember when I posted that link to the online petition urging Scholastic to include gay-friendly books in their school book fairs? Well, they've agreed -- to one book.
I hope you left some space in your Sarah Palin window display. A former aide to the Alaskan A-lister is rushing to write an anti-Palin tell-all, and you'd better believe that there are more in the pipeline.
An extended trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has hit the net. You can watch it here.
When you're through with that, head on over to CHUD.com for the new trailer to Martin Scorsese's film of Dennis Lehane's novel, Shutter Island.
While you're at CHUD, you might as well check out their Life of Pi adaptation update. A promising tease: It involves Ang Lee and a completed first draft screenplay.
Having already ripped off writer Harlan Ellison (for The Terminator), IO9 did a little digging around to find out which author James Cameron is cribbing for his newest sci-fi film, Avatar.
Jonathan Demme is planning to make an animated feature of Zeitoun, the best-selling Dave Eggers book about "a man’s true-life experiences in post-Katrina New Orleans." And I thought Shrek was depressing...
The Guardian UK takes Wes Anderson to task for marketing The Fantastic Mr. Fox with McDonald's tie-in toys. (My take: Well, what did you expect? It's not like kids are gonna order Happy Meals for books.)
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
10. Half the participants are lonely old women, the other half are just there for the wine.
Angels are the new vampires! At least that's what the angel-obsessed Anne Rice thinks.
SFW! The title of this piece may sound like an episode of To Catch a Predator, but Erin Keane's Teen Books Lure Grown-Up Eyes is actually a fascinating look at the modern reader's Forever 21 mindset. (Via.)
WTF?! Also akin to an episode of To Catch a Predator, Reuters reports that a mob of paranoid parents in Beijing lynched a traveling book salesman after rumors spread that he was part of a human smuggling ring. Needless to say, he wasn't.
Controversy alert! Change.org has posted an online petition asking Scholastic to include gay-friendly books at book fairs. If it's a question of available space (note: it's not), they could make room by getting rid of some toys. (Via.)
Diva alert! Maybe it's just The Guardian UK's negative review of his new book causing him to lash out, or maybe Philip Roth really believes that the novel "will dwindle to a 'cultic' minority enthusiasm within 25 years." Whichever, he comes off like a whiny b*tch.
Classic comics curious? Robot 6 recently put together a Jack Kirby Primer.
Got a bibliosoph on your holiday shopping list? 100 Scope Notes has 10 Things Librarians Fancy.
Own one of those limited edition, H.P. Lovecraft Ouija Boards? IO9 has 12 Unfinished SF Novels We Wish We Could Read.
Considering a job in the book industry? The Intern has compiled the Top 10 Things She Learned About Publishing.
Got a hankering for tentacled toffees? Check out McSweeney's Selections from H.P. Lovecraft's brief tenure as a Whitman's Sampler copywriter.
Looking for good books by great authors that were credited to non-writing no-names? Abe Books has the Top 10 Ghostwritten Books.
Want to drop $50 on comics in less than 5 minutes? Then read The Comics Reporter's David Welsh and a Few Friends on Recommended Spooky, Scary and Supernatural Manga.
"Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil - but there is no way around them." -- Isaac Asimov
I'm partial to the 2nd of Annie Dillard's 12 keys to stronger writing: Don’t ever use the word 'soul,' if possible. (Via)
I was mildly bemused while I quickly perused Cracked's 9 words that don't mean what you think they mean.
BookEnds, LLC is a literary agency. (Go on. I'll wait until you're done Googling their email address so you can send 'em your query letter. Done? Okay.) Here's their advice re: deadlines.
Article Writing Tips has 5 things you should and shouldn't say to an editor. (Or, for head-game kicks, you can use all 10 and really throw 'em off balance. This is often referred to in women's magazines as 'giving off mixed signals,' and usually results in making women of low self-esteem want you all the more.)
One of Maurice Sendak's many Wild Things.
Worried that the Amazon/Wal-Mart/Target price wars will prove a death knell to many indie booksellers, the ABA has announced, "No fair! I'm tellin'!"
Scared that the many e-readers flooding the market this year will curb the current, unsubstantiated 'success' of their Kindle, Amazon will soon be offering free software apps for both PCs and Macs.
Nervous that their combination ostrich approach/let's think positive PR was no longer cutting it in the real world, the publishing industry has decided to try and go for the public's pity when dealing with e-books and e-book piracy. Hence, analysts and their analysis.
Frightened that a small breach in copyright will open the floodgates to, say, an unauthorized lexicon, the lawyers in charge of protecting the Harry Potter(c) brand have put the kibosh on a "one-off" (and yet twice a year for the past few years) Harry Potter(c)-themed Halloween dinner party.
Park Slope's in a panic! Their chief news source has labeled their literary wunderkind's latest, Chronic City, tedious, maddening and aimless.
The Guardian UK uses their patented British tact, hiding their displeasure with Philip Roth's The Humbling behind the vague phrase, "an embarrassing failure."
The NYTimes disses Piers Dudgeon's J. M. Barrie biography, Neverland, calling it a "crowded and frustrating book" that "blends scholarship, name-dropping and scandal-seeking heavy breathing." And that's just the pull-quote!
Last but most meta, Jessica Mann, "an award-winning author who reviews crime fiction for the Literary Review," has announced that she is through writing reviews of crime fiction due its disproportionately large amount of violence aimed at women. She backs this stance up quite nicely with a couple of truly f**ked anecdotes.