The Devilish Details

I find it very humorous that anyone would want to know what an author's personal likes or dislikes might be. But then, on the other hand, I'd rather read about Susan Sontag's distaste for Coca-Cola then to hear one more word about Kim Kardashian.
If we're going to have an unhealthy celebrity-obsessed culture, let's at least fixate on someone who has something to say. Am I right?
Buzzfeed fills the void that we didn't know we had, giving us the details of 12 authors and the things they hate. If you want to see what Stephen King detests, click here. It will also help make sense of the cartoon to the left.
Editorial comment: And you go, Toni Morrison!

Stamp of Approval

What you see on this page is the newest postage stamp for Ireland, featuring a 224-word short story. Developed as part of a program to celebrate Dublin's selection as a UNESCO City of Literature, the short story was written in 2010 by Eoin Moore.
Moore said his story was designed to capture what Dublin is all about, and it truly does.
You know I love anything that celebrates the arts, and literature in particular. If you've received any snail mail from me in the last month or two, you've seen my favorite stamp featuring O.Henry, a native of my hometown.
The only thing about this stamp I think needed some tweaking is the design. Couldn't the words spiral around a center? Or could it be in old Gaelic, which at least looks more interesting? But I'm quibbling here, it's a huge milestone just to have writing recognized this way at all.
To see more about the Ireland stamp, and to learn about the young author, click here.

A Trio of Missing Links

I've told you before how much I love to read when I travel (to see that post, click here). Last week I flew to and from Arkansas, which gave me plenty of time to finish three books I've been looking forward to reading.
When I selected them, I didn't realize there was a link between them. But there is – or rather there is a missing link among them. You wouldn't think that was the case when you see that the list includes a nonfiction book, a modern fairy tale, and a young adult selection. Read on to discover more.

After Visiting Friends

by Michael Hainey
Maybe it's the fact that Michael Hainey is a journalist. Maybe it's just a son wanting to know more about his father. But whatever it was that caused Hainey to investigate the death of his father, he got much more than he bargained for. When he was six, Hainey's uncle had the unfortunate task of telling him that his father had died. A 35-year-old assistant copy desk chief at the Chicago Sun-Times, Bob Hainey's obituary said he had died "after visiting friends." Who were those "friends"? And why was his father there in the early dawn hours? Those questions haunted Michael Hainey from his youth. Once he reached the age his father had been when he died, Hainey decided to finally discover the missing link: the truth. This real-life mystery shines a light on the world of hard-core news journalists, on a young widow trying to cope after the death of her husband, and on a young boy who needs to find his father.

Some Kind of Fairy Tale

by Graham Joyce
When Tara Martin reappears on her parents' doorstep on Christmas Day, it's more than a holiday miracle. Although she's been missing for over 20 years, Tara looks exactly like the teenager she was when she disappeared. Her parents are overjoyed, but her brother is suspicious. How can Tara still be 16 when everyone else has aged? Tara's story doesn't help allay his fears – she insists that she's only been gone six months, and that she was stolen by fairies. Determined to prove that she's telling the truth, Tara agrees to see a psychiatrist, to undergo physical tests, and to make amends to those she left behind. Everything seems to back up her assertion that she had been captive in another world, particularly when something seems to have followed her back.

Code Name Verity

by Elizabeth Wein
A plane piloted by a young WAC crashes into the French countryside in 1943, separating Maddie from her passenger, her best friend who has the code name of Verity. Verity is captured by the Gestapo and is tortured to reveal everything she can remember about British codes, the gathering Allied forces, and the sites of landing fields in England. No one would blame Verity for telling all she knows under the dire conditions she faces, and very few would be able to withstand the pain and the loneliness. But as she barters for her life with all of her secrets, Verity also reveals her friendship with Maddie and their life together in war-time England. Full of surprising twists and turns, this one kept me reading far into the night.

Feed the Beast, Seymour

I used to think that journalism was a dying trade, killed off by the Internet. But you know what? I've decided that the Interwebs need writers now more than ever. It's like a new era of pulp fiction.
As I recently discovered, pulp fiction got its name from the extremely low-rent paper used to print the penny magazines and scandalous tabloid newspapers in the early part of the 20th century.
More importantly, the appetite for these publications was voracious and to fill each magazine required 65,000 words per issue. So if there were 150 or so of those mags printed weekly, biweekly, or monthly, the math would add up to over 195 million words needed each year just to keep the public happy. Know who used to feed that beast in the Depression? Ernest Hemingway.
Now take a spin around your favorite websites. Would you go back if they weren't updated regularly? Of course not. There's a new form of pulp fiction in town. It's a beast that continually needs to be fed, and it will take a lot more than 195 million words to keep this monster happy.
The only problem is, you get paid peanuts for online work. Because anyone with a keyboard and a blog is now seen as a serious journalist, writers are a dime a dozen. The value of the written word has been taken down to the lowest common denominator.
As the monster Internet keeps growing, my only hope is that better writing will still stand out, and that the best among the writers will be valued for their talent. After all, not every painter is a Picasso, and not every singer is a Cee Lo.
Meanwhile, I'll keep feeding the beast along with my fellow former journalists. Brother, can you spare a dime?

Pack Your (Book) Bags for Vacation

It's been so chilly where I am this spring that summer seems very far away and one warm day can make me act giddy.
We're thisclose to Memorial Day and summer vacation, so let's pack up the woolies and start planning our reading list.
I guarantee you'll have trouble deciding among all of the great books coming out this summer. Here are just a few of the ones I'm looking forward to:

  • Big Girl Panties, by Stephanie Evanovich
    You'll almost want to buy this for the title alone, but I predict this will be the frothy beach book that everyone will read this summer. It's an escapist tale of a "fluffy girl" named Holly who found solace in food while taking care of her dying husband. Trying to find her way back to the land of the living, Holly meets a trainer who finds her to be quite a challenge. And then the sparks fly. (July 9 from HarperCollins)
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman
    I've been waiting for a new novel from Gaiman for a long time, and this "fairy tale for adults" promises to bewitch readers. It's described by the publisher as a "harrowing tale of mystery and survival, memory and magic." Yes, please. Also, as an aside, if you aren't following Gaiman on Twitter (@neilhimself), you're missing some very witty writing. (June 18 from HarperCollins)
  • The Redeemer, by Jo Nesbo
    If you want to know what I'm doing for the Memorial Day holiday, here it is. I've told you many many times how gripping and thrilling Nesbo's books are, and this one promises to keep up the exciting pace. Infamous policeman Harry Hole is once again on the trail of a killer, this time a professional assassin who doesn't plan to be caught. (May 21 from Knopf Doubleday)
  • Steal the Menu, by Raymond Sokolov
    The former New York Times food editor, Sokolov has seen it all, eaten it all, and is now writing about it all. In the vein of Ruth Reichl at her best, he gives us inside stories of a 40-year career that many of us would envy. (May 14 from Knopf Doubleday)
  • Lookaway, Lookaway, by Wilton Barnhardt
    I'm almost rubbing my hands in glee over this one, since it takes place practically in my backyard. This is a satirical look at the moneyed class in Charlotte, N.C., featuring the banking world, the Junior League set, and even my beloved Mint Museum. Can. Not. Wait.  (Aug. 20 from St. Martin's Press)
  • The Truth, by Michael Palin
    I'm convinced there is no end to Palin's talents - Monty Python-ite, accomplished travel guide, novelist. His latest book combines a bit of all three, as he writes about an author on a journey to discover the truth about his latest topic, a humanitarian in India that may just be too good to be...well, you get it. (Aug. 13 from St. Martin's Press)
  • Shorecliff, by Ursula DeYoung
    If you think family vacations can be trying, wait until you read about this family's summer-long getaway in 1928 at Shorecliff, a Maine mansion. Cousins, uncles, and aunts intrigue, plot, scheme, and argue their way through the dog days. (July 23 from Little, Brown & Company)
  • Snow Hunters, by Paul Yoon
    I do have a fascination with North Korea, as you may have guessed from two recent reviews. So I am anticipating this novel of a North Korean defector who, rather than taking the normal path to the south or to China, decides to move to a small coastal town in Brazil. The people he meets, and the second chance he is given, change him even more than he anticipated. (Aug. 6 from Simon & Schuster)
  • The Gravity of Birds, by Tracy Guzeman
    Two people are hired to price and sell a painting by a famous reclusive artist. As they work on the project, they discover dark secrets about the two sisters in the painting, and how the artist himself kept the sisters apart, while also drawing them together. (Aug. 6 by Simon & Schuster)
  • Freud's Mistress, by Karen Mack
    Minna Bernays is a former lady's companion who is looking for work, unsuccessfully, in Vienna. Frustrated in her search, she ends up living with her sister Martha and her husband, Sigmund Freud. Martha declares Freud's work to be disgusting and embarrassing, but Minna finds it to be fascinating. In this fictionalized account of an actual event, Minna becomes Freud's mistress, and finds herself caught up in more than just a betrayal of her sister. (July 9 from Amy Einhorn)