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microfeuds
books
Rupert Murdoch Inspires Yet Another Evil Mogul
A deliciously bitter ex-NYT reporter named John Darnton, who worked at the paper for more than 30 years, has a book coming out called Black and White and Dead All Over, which is murder mystery set at a thinly veiled version of the Times. The terribly-titled (but maybe well-written!) volume features a bunch of obvious allusions to real Times people, including a standards editor who gets murdered (take that, standards). Droopy-faced News Corp. overlord Rupert Murdoch figures prominently as an ominous character named "Lester Moloch." But this isn't the first time Murdoch has been flogged in fictional works. Oh no! More »
books
Men And Their Middle-Aged Memoirs
Women have long complained that the aging process is unfair to them whereas even the homeliest boy can expect to have the adjective "distinguished" applied to his appearance later in life. The feminine compensation for this trick of cruel nature is that men may get better looking as they get older, but they also get maudlin, verbose, and cranky. Claire Armistead considers the literary genre of the mid-life crisis in the Guardian and concludes “it does seem to be an exclusively male genre. Perhaps this is because 42-year-old women tend to be too busy grappling with ageing parents or troubled teenagers to indulge in thoughts of their own mortality. Or perhaps there's an emerging female equivalent - the memoir mourning the loss of fertility, like Hilary Mantel's haunting Giving Up the Ghost.” More »
books
Books Best Used as Hiding Place for Homemade Porn
A book blogger bought a sackful of old books from a lady at Goodwill whose husband had recently died. Upon taking them home and opening them up, however... uh-oh! Turns out many of the books had been hollowed out and turned into stash-boxes for a collection of homemade porn. (Un-blurred pic after the jump.) More »
books
Accused "Scam" Literary Agent Sues Entire Internet
New Jersey lit agent Barbara Bauer is mad about being repeatedly called a scam agent on "the blogs"—so she's suing 19 websites and bloggers, including Wikipedia and YouTube bloggers! Believe it or not, there are dishonest and fraudulent literary agents out there in the media jungle. Only they're barely "real" agents and are easy to spot: a scam agent always want money from you up front, or charges a "reading fee." (Real agents work on commission—if they sell your book to a publisher they get 15%; otherwise they eat it.) More »
books
Emily Gould's Memoirs Sold for "Low Six Figures"
The former Gawker editor, NYT Magazine covergirl, and admitted oversharer has sold her memoir, And the Heart Says... Whatever (organized by her tattoos!), for something in the "low six figures." Publishers Weekly reports it'll "weave a picture of what it’s like to be a young person in New York City in the early 2000s through a series of 'honest, searching and wry' recollections." Galleycat thinks the figure was something around $350,000—a very high price, yet much more realistic than the earlier-rumored $1 mil. Bought by Free Press in a pre-empt, it'll be out around 2010. (There will be new Gawker editors to cover the inevitable leaked excerpts by that time.)
correction of the day
Grizzly Murders!
Hey, what's the new Robert Crais novel, Chasing Darkness, about? According to a full-page ad in yesterday's New York Times, it concerns a man linked to a "series of grizzly deaths." No, grizzly bears aren't being murdered left and right—we think they meant "grisly deaths." (Click to see.)
books
Britney's Mom's Memoir Apparently Riveting
Publishing insiders are all a-twitter about Lynne Spears's memoir about her troubled pop-star daughter Britney. CEO Michael Hyatt, of Christian publisher Thomas Nelson, microblogs: "I'm reading through the second draft of the Lynne Spears manuscript tonight. I am hoping to be able to approve it tomorrow. It's totally compelling." A few minutes later: " I can't put it down—and I'm not even the market!" One hour later: "Wow. People are going to be surprised. The media have it so wrong." Teach us, Lynne. [Michael Hyatt's Twitter]
breaking
Some Suckers Will Buy Cow, Despite Free Milk
Last week, after we pondered, "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"—referring to both one-night stands and blog-to-book deals, naturally—a tipster informed us that not only will some people buy the cow anyway, but there's actually a new book written on the subject: More »
the blinking point
Please Welcome the Malcolm Gladwell Backlash
Malcolm Gladwell, blogger, New Yorker contributor, and poofy haired airport bookstore genius-in-residence, is finishing up his latest book just in time for the nascent backlash against him to reach full force. Gladwell's book The Tipping Point introduced his now-famous style: gleefully retold anecdotes arranged and analyzed to support some slightly unlikely sounding thesis. Blink took this style even further, presenting even more disparate stories manipulated to 'prove' some pseudo-scientific CEO self-help method for improving your decision-making skills. But both books sold zillions of copies and even embittered east coast writerly types still seemed to like him. Now, on the eve of his next book's publication, the cracks are starting to show. More »
books
In Which Gawker Infiltrates Candace Bushnell's New Novel
Sex and the City author and former Observer columnist Candace Bushnell has a new novel coming out, called One Fifth Avenue. It concerns the various doyennes and bratty socials who live at One Fifth Avenue—the most important Manhattan apartment building of our time. (It has "thick, pre-war walls"!) Gawker.com is mentioned by name throughout the book, as one of its writers makes life hell for its residents: More »
classic rumors
Wintour's Alleged Tryst With Conde Nast Boss
It's Anna Wintour's 20th anniversary as editor of Vogue, and the be-bobbed one has certainly earned her title as one of the most feared figures in fashion. But it's worth remembering that she hasn't had a smooth ride. In fact, Wintour was beset by a salacious—and probably false—sex scandal rumor as soon as she took her job. Here, from the pages of Jerry Oppenheimer's biography Front Row, is the story of the alleged Wintour love connection with her boss, Si Newhouse—and how Wintour's reaction became a rare and fleeting moment of feminist pride inside Conde Nast: More »
books
"Grand Theft Auto" Addiction Need Not Keep You from Winning Pulitzer
Oh, so you can have it both ways! Pulitzer-winning author Junot Diaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) writes in the Wall Street Journal today of his love affair with the time-sucking video game Grand Theft Auto. He's also willing to admit to the lowbrow fun that it actually is (let's not dress it up with Godfather-referencing praise, people!)More »
blind item guessing game
Which "Well Known Author" is Seeking an Assistant?
This Craigslist-ad placer and "bestselling" author has been on the Tyra Banks Show, is willing to pay you $12 an hour (after you pay your own taxes), and just in case you didn't know what an assistant to a "well known author" does: "Did you see Sex in the City? Did you remember the role played by Jennifer Hudson where she's Carrie's assistant? Well, that's what I'm looking for." Oh, and don't reply if you are too good for "occasional light housework." (Even Louise from St. Louis organized Carrie Bradshaw's apartment!) Um, what else? More »
slate
'Slate' Has a New O-book-a!! (LOL)
Oh, honestly. Slate and editor Jacob Weisberg stumbled onto a great thing back in 2000 when they began collecting George W. Bush's various verbal slip-ups and mistakes. The complete "Bushisms" was not only a great writes-itself regular feature for the site, it also made a nice book. But now, the Bush era is drawing to a close. How shall they replace their beloved Bushisms? With some bullshit that still makes no sense to us at all, months after they introduced it. Obamaisms. Which are not actually things Barack Obama has said (or even things that anyone, anywhere has said), but... words and phrases that Slate writers have clumsily wedged the candidate's oh-so-funny name into. For no reason. It upset us when it launched in February, and now they are pimping the book. Lord save us, this is the first time we've prayed for a McCain presidency. We're going to re-embed the "widget" below so you can see how mind-bogglingly pointless it is for yourself! More »
literature
Daily Show Scribe Writes Book, Makes Video
As a savvy media person, writer Rob Kutner knows that you can't sell books anymore without making some funny YouTube vids to promote it. Lucky for Kutner, he writes for The Daily Show, so he was able to get the program's Aasif Mandi and Kristen Schaal (who is lovely!) to work on it for him. Oh yeah, the book is called Apocalypse How, and the apocalyptic video is after the jump. More »
q&a
My Interview With Michael Ian Black
Last week, comedian/author/VH1 dude Michael Ian Black started a feud with memoirist David Sedaris in preparation for the release of his own book, My Custom Van: And 50 Other Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face. I decided to ask him about that, and a bunch of other things, at around the time of night when I used to watch Battlestar Galactica. The deeply insightful results after the jump. More »
books
