The sordid tell-all by Mackenzie Phillips and Sarah Palin's upcoming memoir bring us to the issue of ghost writing. Palin has been upfront from the beginning about her collaboration with Lynn Vincent, but Phillips doesn't list any co-author. Ghosting has a long tradition among celebrities and athletes (and speechifying politicians of all parties), and author Gail Farrelly, a frequent contributor to Read Street, gives us her view:

When I read about celebrity memoirs, my thoughts turn to ghostwriters, since it's rare for celebrities to write their own books. The concept of ghostwriting has always intrigued me, because it's hard for me to understand the willingness to let your own words, the product of your brain and imagination, be published under someone else's name. On the positive side, though, if you love to write and are good at it, maybe ghostwriting is not a bad gig. You earn a living at what you like to do, make good contacts, and see your work in print.

Ghostwriter Sandford Dody (he died this year on July 4 at the age of 90) was the subject of a recent article Ghostwriter Struggled With Life in Shadows in the Wall Street Journal. Celebrities such as Bette Davis, Helen Hayes, and Robert Merrill were among his subjects.

My favorite story in the article was the one about the book, First Person Plural, he ghosted for silent-screen star Dagmar Godowsky. The article quotes the opening sentences of her memoir: "It is my tragedy that the years have deprived me of my bad reputation. At one time my notoriety assured me of a marvelous evening. Now, Euclid would be fascinated to know, my circle has been squared." Terrific writing, no? Godowsky tried to convince the publisher that she had written the book herself. No dice. "They talked to her and realized she hadn't even read it," reports Granville McGee, Sandford Dody's partner.

In 1980 Dody published his own memoir, Giving Up the Ghost. Love the title. At that point (he somewhat softened his stance later), he was disgusted with celebrities and wrote, "The most suitable way to view stars is from a long way off.'' But in the 29 years since that comment was published, celebrities seem to be getting closer and closer. Right in our faces blabbing about their lives seems to be just where they want to be. Good grief! If they won't go away, couldn't they at least step back a little?

Although it seemed Dody didn't particularly like his ghostwriting job, one online commenter (Peter Parrott) to the Wall Street Journal article reported that his own dad, sportswriter and baseball executive Harold Parrott, a ghostwriter of many baseball books, was very proud of his work and "never seemed to think it diminished him." Interesting. But then Parrott also had (as his son describes) a very successful executive career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. In contrast, Sandford Dody was never a big success at the show business career he had once sought.

I wouldn't do well as a ghostwriter. No matter what the pay, I'd still be annoyed that the work wasn't acknowledged as mine. In addition, I'd be concerned that what I was writing wasn't true. I'm a compulsive fact checker; instead of getting on with the writing, I'd be out in the field checking and double checking. That wouldn't go over well with publishers these days!

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

The publishing world's on-again, off-again relationship with e-books continues, with Harper deciding to split the release of Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life." Palin fans can get the print version Nov. 17 at a list price of $28.99; the e-book won't be released untril Dec. 26. Brian Murray, CEO of HarperCollins, told the Wall Street Journal that it's too early to tell whether e-books are cannibalizing hardcover sales. "This is the first time we're trying this, and we'll see what we learn. The publishing plan is focused on maximizing velocity of the hardcover before Christmas, at a time when hardcover sales in the industry are down 15%."

Earlier this month, publishing's schizophrenic nature became clear as Ted Kennedy's memoir, "True Compass" was released in print, but not in an e-book. Meanwhile, Dan Brown's blockbuster "The Lost Symbol" came out in both versions simultaneously; the publisher later said that about 5 percent of sales in the first week were from e-books.

It's a time of great concern for publishers, as they try to judge the impact of $9.99 ebooks and preserve profits from print editions that generally sell for $20 and up. But considering the minimal production and distribution costs of e-books, there must be a way to "maximize velocity" (are they publishing books or building weapons?) and make them pay off -- even with piracy concerns.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

October will be a big month for events marking the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birth, so we've created an online gathering place to get all you need to know about Poe and Baltimore.

You'll find links to events, a map of Poe-related sites, a photo gallery and other information about the genius who lived here as a young man and died here. You can even see how The Sun noted Poe's death on Oct. 7, 1849 at Church Hospital.

Thanks to The Sun's Rebecca Hyler, for pulling it all together.

Artwork by Felix Vallotton courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When I wasn't attending Yom Kippur services over the past two days, I was speeding through "Have a Little Faith," from Mitch Albom, who also wrote "Tuesdays with Morrie." Albom's latest deals with faith, sin, repentance and the after-life, themes that meshed well with the holiday.

Synopsis: Albom intertwines real-life tales about a rabbi who is near death and a man who has become a Christian minister after a life of crime, using their words to re-examine his own life.

Review: Segments dealing with Rabbi Albert Lewis, based on periodic conversations with Albom about lives well-lived, are touching and reminiscent of "Tuesdays with Morrie." A little too reminiscent. Henry Covington's fall-and-rise was more dramatic, but the juxtaposition of the two men was sometimes jarring.

I actually liked Albom's own re-evaluation of his career -- sports writer, TV commentator, author -- as much as the others' reflections. He questions his decision to become a one-man media conglomerate: "I piled on accomplishments. I made money. I earned accolades. And the longer I went at it, the emptier I began to feel, like pumping air faster and faster into a torn tire." Albom notes that many friendships based on business connections have crumbled. I would have liked to hear more about his own life, and how he had changed since his conversations with Morrie, Albert and Henry.

Read it if you like: Books such as "The Last Lecture," pop explorations of the meaning of life.

Avoid this if: You're looking for a deep, metaphysical examination of issues of life and death.

For another view of Albom's latest, here's a story from USA Today.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

"The Great Gatsby," has been dissected by countless students and teachers. This week, during the 10th International F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference, skilled literary surgeons gathered in Baltimore will discuss that work and others. We asked author and Goucher College professor Madison Smartt Bell, who will deliver Thursday's keynote address, to give us a taste of Fitzgerald's influence and Baltimore connections. Luckily, Bell was able to squeeze it in among  deadlines and preparations for the release of his novel, "Devil's Dream," due out in November. Here's Bell:

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote something memorable, if not especially complimentary, about Baltimore: “I belong here, where everything is civilized and gay and rotted and polite.” Everybody has knows that bit, but…

Truth to tell, Fitzgerald never figured very large in my literary pantheon. I read "The Great Gatsby," voluntarily, in my early teens and didn’t like it much, and later on as a high school assignment and still didn’t like it much—I don’t know why not. I didn’t understand what the characters were all fussed up about, I think. I come from a handful of “old” Southern families, ruined once in the Civil War, ruined again in the Depression (the nineteen-thirties one I mean), and at the time of my two readings of Gatsby I was living on a working farm, mucking stalls and milking the cow, at the same time as attending a good prep school in Nashville, and social success as the kind of parvenu that Gatsby was didn’t seem that interesting a subject to me.

I don’t seriously mean my family’s old though, except that like yours it’s descended from Eve. I have a European friend who’s a seriously practicing anarchist, who can travel the circumference of the globe with luggage the size of a disco purse, and who knows the name of his ancestor who fought in the Crusades—now that’s an old family.

Another thing too, in my teens I read "A Moveable Feast," with more enthusiasm, and learned from Hemingway to despise Fitzgerald a little—for his weaknesses, real or alleged. The invidiousness of that I only understood much later, with a little help from Andrew Lytle.

The problem of inventing oneself, and persuading the audience your invention is real, was not being so successfully solved by the Fitzgeralds, Zelda and Scott, by the time they turned up in Baltimore, where they lived from 1932 to 1935. They came as consumers of mental health services. Zelda went straight to the Phipps Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Fitzgerald rented a house on the Turnbull Estate, north of Baltimore, for her eventually to be released to.

I pass La Paix Lane regularly as a commuter along York Road (which used to be an Indian trail, but that’s another story). I was always mildly curious about the name, for it seems an odd spot for an avenue commemorating any sort of international or national or local but Francophone Peace. In fact it must have been the driveway to the house Fitzgerald rented, also called La Paix. It dead-ends now at the edge of the Saint Joseph’s Hospital Grounds. But when the Fitzgeralds lived there they could have walked across the Turnbull estate all the way to Sheppard Pratt Hospital, where Zelda also logged some time.

They quarreled, during their sojourn in Baltimore, over using the history they shared to make fiction. Zelda wrote "Save Me The Waltz." Scott wrote "Tender is the Night." Between the two publications they fought, like a cat and a dog, more like two dogs really, over the right to write what they’d lived together. One of these arguments was refereed by a shrink and recorded by a stenographer, to a length of more than a hundred pages. For some reason I picture it taking place on a deep shady porch of the La Paix house, overlooking a vast sun-dappled greensward, but given the content it is more likely to have happened behind multiply closed doors.

This dialogue was a marital squabble as well as an artistic dispute. Some choice morsels:

Scott: Our sexual relations were very pleasant and all that until I got the idea you were ditching me. They were all very nice to then, weren’t they?

Zelda: Well, I am glad you considered them satisfactory.

And Z: I think the cause of it is your drinking.

S: … if I ever stop drinking her family and herself would always think that was an acknowledgement that I was the cause of her insanity, which is not so.

And then Z: What is the matter with Scott is that he has not written that book and if he will ever get it written, why, he won’t feel so miserable and suspicious and mean towards everybody else.

S: It has got to be unconditional surrender on her part. … it is necessary that she give up the idea of writing anything… the important point is that she must only write when under competent medical assistance I say that she can write.

Ugly stuff, as you get toward end, and this conversation marked, for all practical purposes, the end of the Fitzgeralds’ marriage. After Zelda’s return to Phipps in 1934 they never lived together again.

I read "Tender is the Night" for the first time recently, and…. And. Yes, I do think it was worth it. Though the cost was tremendously high.

Now here’s the whole passage: “Baltimore is warm, but pleasant—I love it more than I thought. It is so rich with memories. It is nice to look up the street and see the statue of my great-uncle [Francis Scott Key]. And to know that Poe is buried here and that many ancestors of mine have walked in the old town by the bay. I belong here, where everything is civilized and gay and rotted and polite. And I wouldn’t mind a bit if in a few years Zelda and I could snuggle up together under a stone in some graveyard here. That is a really happy thought and not melancholy at all.”  

Quotations from the Fitzgeralds’ conversation at La Paix are from "Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald," by Matthew J. Bruccoli (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981) pp 349-353.

Photo by Caryn Coyle

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I'm sure you all remember the Boston-area high school that was getting rid of all its books -- after all, the kids just didn't read them, anyway.

Well, maybe the students are learning from adults: A deli owner in Brookline has banned reading from his tiny restaurant, in the hopes of turning the tables over more quickly.

"When [Michael Sobelman] spots someone reading at a table while other customers are lined up for brisket or corned beef sandwiches, Sobelman has been known to shut off the lights to send a not-so-subtle message.

" 'Sometimes people think I’m really arrogant, and I’m not,' Sobelman said. 'I’m doing it for the customers and my business.' "

I don't think you're arrogant, Mr. Sobelman, but I definitely don't like your policy. If a restaurant makes it so clear that I should just get my food and clear out, I'm more like to just not show up in the first place.

Anybody have similar experiences in Baltimore? (For once, I hope no one comments.)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Miracle of miracles, the Baltimore Book Festival was not completely rained out this year! In fact, the precipitation held off until late afternoon Saturday, and Sunday turned out to give us gorgeous weather.

I'm sure those who attended had their own favorite moments from the weekend (and I'd love to hear about them!) but for those who didn't make it, here's a little taste of what you missed:

Authors Lizzie Skurnick and Laura Lippman defending graphic novels, but admitting that most modern YA literature just doesn't have the same appeal that Judy Blume, Lois Lenski and Laura Ingalls Wilder held for her growing up. "Kids are just so precocious now," Skurnick said. "I think they should just be free to do nothing," and have books that reflect the inner struggles they experience growing up, without the added supernatural themes, or murder mysteries.

The Tell-Tale Tent was a crowd-pleaser yet again. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is always terrifying when performed aloud, and "The Cask of Amontillado" was especially fun, with Fortunato in his jester's hat.

Buzz Aldrin is an American hero, and the crowds lined up for hours for a chance to meet him. His book was sold out by 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and he kept signing for hours after. 

The Readers Lounge was a nice respite from the festivities, if you were just looking for a place to begin reading one of your new books. I saw many people taking advantage of the quiet space, and even discussing recent panels.

We've got some amazing writers coming from area schools, including Towson and Loyola universities and Essex, Catonsville and Dundalk community colleges. If you get a chance to pick up any other works, for instance in Grub Street, I highly recommend it.

And finally, thanks to Ben Shaberman, Elissa Weissman, Lia Purpora and Mildred Muhammad for a fantastic panel, which spanned many genres and themes. I highly recommend their works to everyone, and especially Baltimore readers.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Conservative columnist and author of more than a dozen books, William Safire has died at a Rockville hospice.

The former Nixon speechwriter wrote about politics and the English language for more than 30 years, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for his commentary of the Carter administration.

Safire also wrote Spiro Agnew's famous utterance: "nattering nabobs of negativism." And you all know how much I love alliteration.

 For those uninitiated, the New York Times is kind enough to provide a few of Safire's "On Language" columns on their site. Enjoy!

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

"The Clinton Tapes," Taylor Branch's new book, will be released Tuesday, but here's a peek at the process of creation -- the years of after-hours interviews with Bill Clinton at the White House. Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun sat down with Branch, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, to talk about the book. Here's an excerpt from Sragow's story:

The amazing thing about “The Clinton Tapes” is that it reveals Clinton’s core idealism, as well as an intellectual and emotional complexity that escaped most of the journalists covering him and went far beyond the literate, seductive pop fantasy of “The West Wing.” In this account, Clinton’s all-out engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — “he knows every bus stop on the West Bank,” Branch quips — for once takes precedence over the empty sex and real-estate scandals and salacious theorizing that dominated press coverage of his presidency long before Monica Lewinsky. And Clinton becomes his own best defender of his domestic policies, including his routing of the national debt.

As Branch writes, “He told Grieder he had done things already that no other president would do. He had raised taxes on the rich and lowered them for the working poor. He had introduced the AmeriCorps national service program, which Rolling Stone campaigned for, and established it in law.

Branch’s resolute honesty about his diverse roles within the Clinton saga imbues the book with a prismatic perspective. He ended up serving as speech-writing consultant, reluctant political counselor and, astonishingly, international go-between. He shuttled messages to and from Haiti’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and, at one point, entered the impoverished country without a passport. (His only official ID was his driver’s license.)

Photo courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, who studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts, is getting some serious recognition, with the announcement that the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center will make his writings and other papers available for scholarly research next year.

Shakur came to prominence in the early 1990s as a rapper for Digital Underground and gained fame as an individual performer. He died at age 25, after being shot in a September 1996 drive-by attack in Las Vegas.

The Tupac Shakur Collection includes handwritten lyrics and track listings, personal notes, video and film concepts, fan correspondence,  and other items, according to the library and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation. The library, which serves Clark Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College and Spelman College, also houses collections related to Martin Luther King Jr. and Maynard Jackson.

That's pretty good company for a gangsta rapper from B'more.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

I made my bold prediction last week, and it came true: Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" tops the best seller lists this week. And it will probably occupy that space long enough for Brown to build an addition, deck and swimming pool. Publisher Doubleday said the book sold more 2 million English-language copies worldwide in its first week; about 5 percent were digital copies. If you're looking for reviews of "The Lost Symbol," here's my no-spoiler review and here's Nancy's.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It's almost weekend time! And this girl's pretty excited, because she got tickets to the Ravens game this weekend! Sure, they're nosebleeds, but it's a football game! Now I just have to dig out any and all my purple clothing to prepare for the big day.

Oh, but this is a blog about books. Right.

In preparation for this weekend's book festival, I've read Lizzie Skurnick's "Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading," and let me say: It's been a long time since I've found such a kindred spirit in an author. If there are any other "Ghosts I Have Been" fans out there, you'll want to pick up this book, too.

But it's time to give away that other book. So congratulations, Matt K., you've won Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol!" (And I have to say, you're completely correct about The Dresden Files. I'm a huge fan.)

Next up: Margaret Atwood's "The Year of the Flood," which I recently reviewed and loved. Interested? Just let us know what you're reading, and how you like it!

Posted by Nancy Knight at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Freebie Friday
        

I missed my chance Thursday, National Punctuation Day, to strike another blow against the Philistines who abuse our language with misplaced apostrophes, commas and colons. One target: Snoasis, a sno-ball shack at the corner of Falls and Joppa roads in Lutherville. The motto, emblazoned on the side of the shack: KID'S RULE. (Literally, my daughter notes, KID IS RULE.)

Taking aim at a sno-ball shack may seem unfair, because they're usually low-budget operations staffed by high school kids. But this is a gold-plated shack, recently upgraded  with fresh paint, an awning, picnic tables and security cameras. I wouldn't be surprised if its charter showed that it's (note the apostrophe usage) part of a international conglomerate.

Previous Read Street posts have lobbied for new punctuation marks, such as the Tentative Hyphen or the Fini. For more on the founder of National Puctuation Day, check out this column from The Washington Post.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Don't worry, I won't deluge you with Book Festival events, which span from tomorrow through Sunday, to the exclusion of all the other exciting happenings around here.

Having said that, let's start with all the Book Festival goodies.

Constellation Books has partnered up with our friend and fellow book blogger Heather Johnson to give you tips on improving your book club. So join them at the Creative Cafe Tent at noon on Saturday for some advice on how to get the most from your discussions.

Also on Saturday, I'll be moderating a couple of panels at the CityLit Tent: the first, "Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading" with author Lizzie Skurnick and special guest Laura Lippman, will give everyone a chance to reminisce about all those lovely -- and sometimes horrifyingly bad -- YA titles you read back in the day.

The second, "An Assortment of Authors" will feature Elissa Weissman, ("Standing for Socks"); Mildred Muhammad, ("Scared Silent"); Ben Shaberman, ("The Vegan Monologues"); and Lia Purpura, ("King Baby"). Having met both Elissa and Ben at past events, I can tell you they are both funny AND full of great information. I've no doubt Mildred and Lia will prove to be just as entertaining.

That evening, starting at 6:30, The Occasional is hosting a bookish tweetup at The Owl Bar, a former speakeasy known and loved by both Fitzgerald and Mencken. For those of you who love books AND your Twitter friends, it's a win-win.

Sunday at noon, Lois Lowry of "The Giver" fame will be at the Children's Bookstore stage will talk about her new picture book, "Crow Call," which relates how she became reacquainted with her father after his return from World War II.

Those who are looking for a different scene, the National Book Festival will be held in D.C. on Saturday on the National Mall.

But you don't want to bother with festivals at all? You're in luck! Atomic Books is hosting it's Small Press Expo pre-party, SPX-PLOSION 2 Friday night at 7 p.m., with plenty of small press authors for all. And the Maryland Writers Association will meet at Ukazoo Books at 7 p.m. on Monday.

And you're looking for more?!? Have at it, at the Read Street calendar.

Posted by Nancy Knight at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Book It
        

The world leaders in the Group of 20 who are meeting in Pittsburgh will spend most of their time in a sterile convention center, like those in any mid-sized city in America. But if they had a chance to roam the streets, they'd get a better feel for the real Pittsburgh, a city that looks and feels a lot like our Baltimore.

Brian O'Neill, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist and an old friend, could be their guide. He just wrote "The Paris of Appalachia," a collection of essays featuring folks like LaMonte Pruitt, a former railroad brakeman battling debts; the women of Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church, who meet regularly to make pierogies; and the Condelucis, who created a family enclave on one of the city's hills. And the rabid fans of a very good football team and a lousy baseball team.

Sound familiar?

O"Neill has a columnist's gift for fitting in. He grew up outside New York City, and when I met him at a newspaper in Virginia, he still had a thick Long Island accent. Yet when he worked the night shift and had to call sheriffs across southwestern Virginia, he spoke with a perfect twang. He's been in Pittsburgh for more than 20 years now, and his affection for the city shows through in his words.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Today in The Baltimore Sun, find out how a whim brought author James McBride to Maryland's Eastern Shore, and provided the spark of inspiration that led to "Song Yet Sung." McBride's latest (he also wrote the best-selling memoir "The Color of Water") is the 2009 selection for the statewide reading program called One Maryland One Book.

He'll appear at the Baltimore Book Festival on Sunday at noon (here's a photo gallery of some other festival authors), and at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia at 4 p.m. Here are some excerpts from Chris Kaltenbach's story, which describes the book as "a tale of slavery, freedom and hard-fought victories whose opportunities could still be squandered, set in the labyrinthine swamps, bogs and waterways of the Eastern Shore":

With the Eastern Shore as its pointedly idiosyncratic setting and “The [Underground Railway] Code” as a plot device relentlessly keeping readers on their toes, struggling to decipher the clues and keep pace with the narrative, “Song Yet Sung” flowed readily out of McBride’s imagination, the author says. Repeated visits to the region, including research at the Dorchester County Historical Society in Cambridge, helped the characters and events come to life.

“If you’re driving the back roads of the Eastern Shore, as soon as you pull your car over and start walking,

“The geography of the place really affected me strongly,” he says. “Just about any vantage point on the Eastern Shore, you’re not far from the water. You can smell it, you can feel it, you can feel it in the wind.”

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Ewwwwwww. Sometimes, I wish we hadn't invented the "tell-all" book (or at least the "explosive" sub-category). Mackenzie Phillips' new book, "High on Arrival," includes claims that she had sex with her father John, who gained fame as a member of the Mamas and the Papas. The sex, which began on the night before her wedding, turned into a consensual relationship, she writes.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey airing Wednesday, Phillips also says her father introduced her to the drug abuse she's battled for more than half her life. You can also read an excerpt of her book.

AP photo from 1981

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Who knew? Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, while promoting this weekend's Baltimore Book festival, said she's thinking about writing a book.

What could it be? Maybe a Dan Brown-like thriller, with the backdrop of our own Masonic Temple, botanic garden and Washington Monument. Or a Stephenie Meyer-ish tale of teenage vampires roaming the halls of Dunbar High School and Druid Hill Park. Or a Harlequin saga of a popular mayor embroiled in legal controversy because of a romance with a developer. (That one sounds familiar.)

Turns out, she has a more straightforward approach. "Believe it or not, one day real soon probably I'm going to hope to have a book," she said Tuesday at a news conference, adding that she has been keeping a journal and wants to give readers "a great insight" into her life and "the truth about life in this great city that I live in."

The festival, which runs Friday through Sunday, features authors such as James McBride ("The Color of Water" and "Song Yet Sung"), astronaut Buzz Aldrin ("Magnificent Desolation") and former "Brady Bunch" cast member Maureen McCormick ("Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice").

Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I know authors have a tough time getting noticed amid the waves of books released each week, but I had to bristle at a recent email touting a new book. The author, who shall remain nameless, wrote: "As a life-long upscale frugalista, I've managed to dress well, vacation in Italy, collect art, and eat out as often as possible without breaking the bank. … Please let me know if you agree that my Bargainista philosophy is a timely subject for your audience."

Frugalista? Bargainista? I thought we had reached the limit with barista and fashionista. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary notes that fashionista is related to the Spanish form denoting followers of a political party, as in Sandinista (I knew this was a CIA plot); barista was borrowed from the Italian. Checking the archives at The Baltimore Sun, I even found a reference to ninja-istas (which editor let that pass?)

I guess that little four-letter suffix is now seen as a way to add flair to any job or hobby. Just call me a blogista and weekend cyclista.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Are you ready for the annual invasion of authors, readers and books at Mount Vernon Place? Friday, Saturday and Sunday will feature all kinds of excitement, including Buzz Aldrin, Gwen Ifill, Lois Lowry, Ralph Nader, James McBride and The Electric Company?

How about some music with your food, courtesy of Johnny Mo, the Musical Chef?

And of course, there will be many, many books on sale for all to provide a good home.

That's not enough? Well, you drive a hard bargain, but how about some puppies?

That's right. Saturday at 2 p.m., the Central Library is hosting its latest children's event, PAWS to Read. The program encourages literacy by having children read aloud to certified Pets on Wheels pups.

"When it comes to reading, practice is a critical piece of the puzzle because practice improves fluency," said Ellen Riordan, Pratt's Children’s Services Coordinator, in a press release. "Reading to a dog is a fun way to practice. They never correct your pronunciation."

"We are very excited about this," added Roswell Encina, director of communications at the library. "We're probably going to have three dogs here." And Encina was kind enough to provide a few shots from a previous event.

If you can't made it to the festival, it doesn't mean you've missed out on man's best friend. The dogs return once a month at both the Central Library and the Southeast Anchor Library, beginning Saturday and Nov. 4th, respectively.

(Photo courtesy of Roswell Encina)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

It took nearly a week, but I finally finished Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." I would have read faster -- it's hard not to, considering Brown's breakneck pacing and three-page chapters -- but beautiful fall weather kept me outside over the weekend.

I'll say upfront that I enjoy the codes and puzzles that move the plot in Brown's books (a statement that might get me kicked out of the critics' union). I'm also a fan of historical novels, or those that draw heavily on historical information. And there is plenty of both -- puzzles and history -- in "The Lost Symbol." Professor Robert Langdon moves through some of Washington, D.C.'s most prominent buildings, including the Capitol and the U.S. Botanic Garden, as he pursues an ancient mystery -- and is pursued by a tattooed madman. At every step, he encounters encoded clues related to Freemasonry, a social order that has included many prominent Washingtonians, including Washington himself.

Brown is at his best when he simply focuses on plot: the madman's quest and the physical dangers faced by Langdon and mentor Peter Solomon, who heads the Smithsonian Institution. Or when Langdon confronts another ingenious puzzle. As in "The Da Vinci Code," the puzzles refer to distant religions, artists and scientists. Brown gives the book some depth by developing Solomon's family backstory -- we learn much more about Solomon's feelings than Langdon's, in fact. But that backstory and some drawn-out historical anecdotes periodically slowed the pace.

What the story really lacks is a powerful, over-arching conspiracy. The Masons seem a likely target, but Brown quickly explains away claims that they hold secret power over the government. The CIA, which interferes with Langdon's mission, is another convenient target for conspiracy theorists, but I was let down by the resolution of that conflict.

All in all, it seems to be a kinder, gentler Dan Brown, aiming for a more inspirational message.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

Takling a cue from reality TV, the folks behind the National Book Awards are asking readers to pick the best fiction winner over the past 60 years. The National Book Foundation has narrowed the list to six finalists: "The Stories of John Cheever" (1981 winner), Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" (1953), William Faulkner's "Collected Stories" (1951), "The Complete Stories" of Flannery O'Connor (1972), Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity Rainbow" (1974) and "The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty" (1983).

I can't help noticing that judging by the list, it's been a long, cold spell since the 1980s. Too bad for authors such as Alice McDermott, E. Annie Proulx, Jonathan Franzen, Alice Walker and Pete Dexter.

Starting this week, you can vote at the foundation's web site. The winner will be announced Nov. 18, and voters will be entered in a drawing for two tickets to the 60th National Book Awards in New York City, as well as two nights lodging.

My vote: Invisible Man, which was not only powerful literature, but a force in shaping social change.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

This is truly a parent's worst nightmare. In 2001, 18-month-old Josie King was taken to the nation's best hospital, Johns Hopkins, after she was severely scalded in the bathtub at home. A few weeks later, she was dead of complications from dehydration, due to a series of preventable medical errors.\

The Baltimore Sun chronicled Josie's plight -- and her mother's campaign to stomp out medical errors. Now the mother, Sorrel King, who still lives in Baltimore, has written her own account, "Josie's Story." Reporter Kelly Brewington interviewed King about the book and her crusade through the Josie King Foundation. It's interesting reading -- especially these days, when health care reform is dominating the news. Here's an excerpt:

Why did you decide to write this book? And can you explain the process you went through to do so.

I wrote it for the health care industry, to inspire them. I wrote it for a parent who lost a child. I wrote the book for my children. I wrote the book for the general public so it can be another tool in my toolbox to raise awareness on this issue that I don't think people quite get. The most important thread to me that I hope to get out to all these categories is the book is about loss. We are all going to suffer some kind of loss at some time in our lives - loss of a job, death, cancer, divorce. What do you do when something bad happens? I hope people learn to take it and learn how to make something good come out of it.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Just when you thought nothing good could come of your kids' antisocial obsession with their Nintendo DS*, here comes Scribblenauts.

With the tagline "Write Anything. Solve Everything," a bookworm will quickly learn to love this game. The premise is simple. You help Maxwell reach the "starite," or star, on each level by giving him the tools to get to it. You provide the tools by writing an object on the notepad, and then it appears in front of him.

So you have to save the kitty from the tree? You can write "ladder," allowing Maxwell to climb the ladder and pick up the starite. Or you could write in "lumberjack" and "axe." A bearded man appears, the tree comes down, and so does the cat. Or write in "mouse," and the cat will chase the rodent down the tree. Or ... you get the idea.

There are more than 200 levels, with plenty of opportunity to use your imagination. Of course, there are limits to the objects you can write into the game: Proper nouns and vulgarity are the biggest no-nos.

And so what if your spelling is slightly off? The game suggests what you might have been trying to spell, like a less-annoying version of Google's "did you mean ...". For kids who are struggling with spelling, or reading in general, this game could be a big boost. And if they like this game, you can suggest a few books they might like, as well ...

If you don't have kids? Trust me, the game is fun for adults, as well.

* Full disclosure: My boyfriend and I both have a DS, and have been known to sit within 6 inches, completely ignoring each other. Video games can do that to otherwise loving human beings.

Posted by Nancy Knight at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I feel bad for Nicholas Sparks, whose book "The Last Song" sits atop fiction best seller lists this week. He's about to get swept up by a tsunami called "The Lost Symbol."
Publisher Knopf Doubleday said Dan Brown's thriller had set a one-day sales record for global English-language adult fiction (the record was previously held by Thomas Harris for "Hannibal," according to the Guardian.) Another 600,000 copies were ordered up at the printer, adding to the initial draw of five million.
Sales of "The Lost Symbol" don't approach the level of young adult books such as the Harry Potter series or Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth of J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series, sold about 9 million copies in the U.S. and Great Britain in its first 24 hours.
Many will be scrutinizing sales figures for "The Lost Symbol" for another reason: to gauge the impact of e-books. It's the first blockbuster release since the Kindle and other e-readers have gained traction. And it arrives amid concern from some publishers that e-book sales will hurt profit margins. Knopf Doubleday hasn't released a breakdown of digital vs. print sales, but a report in The New York Times said that after the first day "a person familiar with the sales figures said far less than 5 percent were electronic book editions."

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

To mark the Jewish New Year, which begins at sundown (year 5,770 if you're keeping track), I'll be looking for an inspirational book. "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom may be my choice for the holidays. Albom, who wrote "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "Five People You Meet in Heaven," again explores the meaning of our lives. In this case, he examines issues related to faith in inter-woven tales about a rabbi and a minister. The book is scheduled for a Sept. 29 release, but I'll get a jump with a review copy.

Looking back on the past year, here are some selections that my book club enjoyed:

"My Father's Paradise" by Ariel Sabar. The tale of a poor Iraqi Jew who winds up as an Aramaic professor at UCLA -- and his sometimes-strained relationship with his son, the author.

"Fragile Branches" by James R. Ross. A look at groups of people in remote areas of Peru, Uganda and other countries who worship in non-traditional ways but seek acceptance among Jewish and Israeli authorities.

"A Pigeon and a Boy" by Meir Shalev. A somewhat fanciful tale that knits together romances in modern day Israel and during the war for independence, while exploring the meaning of "home."

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

The new pick for Oprah's Book Club appears to be "Say You're One of Them," Uwen Akpan's collection of short stories about the lives of African children. News reports in The Washington Post and other media provide a peek at the pick, which Oprah plans to announce later today on her show. (Update: Oprah has made the pick official.) It's been a while between picks -- the last one, about a year ago, was David Wroblewski's "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle." It became an instant best seller, of course.

Akpan's book should be a refreshing counterpoint to the frenzy over "The Lost Symbol." (I shudder to think what would have happened if Oprah had chosen Dan Brown's book for her club -- the resulting storm would have been like the earth and moon colliding.)

If you want to get a head start on Akpan's book, you can read two of the stories, "An Ex-Mas Feast" and "My Parents' Bedroom," on The New Yorker's website. And here's Akpan describing his collection, as it was being written: "I would like to see a book about how children are faring in these endless conflicts in Africa. I would like to really know how kids are dealing with the genocide in Darfur. What is the torment like for a child who went through the tsunami? I would like to get into the head of a kid soldier in Sierra Leone. It is scary and painful. And the world is not looking."

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Happy Friday, everybody!

I'm going to jump right in and congratulate Amanda, for winning "Her Fearful Symmetry," by Audrey Niffenegger. I hope you enjoy a good ghost story!

I don't know if any of you heard, but Dan Brown's latest, "The Lost Symbol," came out this week!

It's caused quite a stir, and while I didn't enjoy it myself, as you can see here, I know that I will probably be in the minority.

So this week, we're giving this blockbuster thriller away. But to win it, instead of telling us what you're reading, we'd like you to let us know what makes Dan Brown's historically based mysteries so popular, in your opinion.

Not that I'm going to say no to a few book reviews, either. Thanks to your own suggestions, I've read a lot of books that I wouldn't have found without your guidance -- which is one of my favorite parts of this weekly feature.

So give us your best shot, and good luck!

Posted by Nancy Knight at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Freebie Friday
        

By now all Dan Brown fanatics have sped through The Lost Symbol, leaving millions of other readers at risk of having the story spoiled with a few overheard words. I hate spoilers -- I still want to punch the guy who told me, "Rosebud's a sled" -- and when I go to the movies, I close my eyes and cover my ears for the previews. So here's my no-spoiler review (if you're looking for more, try this one from Nancy, my blogging partner) Update: here's a more serious no-spoiler review that I wrote:

The Lost Symbol is a mystery, set in a major city (I guess I can give away that it's Washington, since the U.S. Capitol is even on the cover of the U.K. version, shown here). The hero is a Waspy university professor, but he dabbles in topics more exotic than Elizabethan poetry, and that makes him a target of some bad guy(s). Danger ensues. And plot twists. And italics.

And more danger. And more plot twists. And even more italics.

All in bite-sized chapters that can be read at a red light or while brushing your teeth.

Langdon spends a lot of time in historic buildings, and the reader learns many, many facts about them. He also confronts a series of codes and riddles. At times, he doesn't know whom to trust. And he faces dangerous situations that threaten his life.

Does he solve the codes? Do the bad guys win? Does the hero survive for a sequel? If you want to find out, read this book!

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

James Patterson has a new book deal from Hachette, and its scope -- 17 books in three years! -- shows just what an astounding assembly line of best-sellers he has built.

Patterson, who can count his best sellers by the dozens (take that, Dan Brown), is the Henry Ford of the literary world. Known for popular series such as Maximum Ride and Alex Cross (who has a Ph.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins, by the way), he often writes with collaborators. As he told Time magazine, he delivers an outline, they write a first draft, and he polishes. His new deal calls for 10 thrillers, one non-fiction work and six novels for kids by 2012.

Patterson doesn't get a lot of respect for his work -- I've seen it referred to on LibraryThing as "Extruded James Patterson Product(TM)". I do give him credit for openly crediting his collaborators (even though it's clear form his website and marketing materials that his is the name that counts). And he certainlyt is a genius for figuring out what a large segment of readers want.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

You know in "24," where everything's happening in "real time," and you feel each dramatic, action-packed second (outside of commercial breaks)? "The Lost Symbol" is kinda like that, only without that pesky drama to deal with.

The plot of Dan Brown's latest thriller is paced over 12 hours in D.C. And you feel every. single. second. A walk down a hallway takes chapters. A lecture -- er, conversation -- about symbology (sigh) grinds down until you don't even care about what that circle thingie means, just get to the bloody stuff!

And "Symbol" has just as much gore as good history to tell. Having lived in the area for years now, I really appreciate the new perspective on the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and the Washington Monument that the book provides. If only Brown weren't so darn proud of himself for knowing this stuff all the time!

There are many wink wink, nudge nudge moments in the book. At one point, a woman approaches Robert Langdon in the airport, congratulating him on his cheeky controversial books that her book club members so love to discuss. Later in the book, another character laughs that the "Twitterati" are going to latch on to her research as soon as its published, excited to learn about Noetic science.

Uh-oh, Dan. I think your ego's showing again. Might want to put that away.

You may be interested in the plot. Well, see, there's this secret society, the Freemasons. Except Langdon knows everything about them, and explains that to everyone he meets, so I guess they're not so secret. And then there's this menacing, obsessive man with a certain outlandish physical appearance -- no albino this time, just a guy covered in tattoos. Anyway, Langdon has to save the not-so-secret society from the madman's rage, while uberpowerful billionaires stand by idly, seemingly incapable of helping in anyway, and the CIA is on his tail, foiling Langdon's investigation at every turn.

Brown's writing style, which has never been particuarly elegant, is hindered by a plot twist that he tries hard to hide through third-person narrative. So the twist ends up being obvious, while the reader ends up annoyed.

And that's how I hurt my wrist while reading "The Lost Symbol." About halfway through, I was so fed up with Brown's poor writing, that I set the book down for a little kickboxing action in my basement. I guess I hit hard when I'm angry, and man, that was a good workout. Exhaustion works wonders for easing the disappointment of a badly paced book.

The bright side? It turns out the sub-plot of "The Lost Symbol" is a Redskins game, which explains why the book didn't come out as a summer blockbuster. I won't ruin the suprise by telling you the outcome, but I can tell you that I certainly hope Skins fans are as loyal in real life as they are in Langdon's world.

Posted by Nancy Knight at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

Harry Potter fans will soon have a new way to relive his adventures: the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter," a theme park area opening in spring 2010 at Universal Orlando Resort. According to a webcast by Universal officials, the park will include a Hogwarts Castle and other landmarks of J.K. Rowling's books.

Rides will include the high-tech Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the Dragon Challenge twin roller coaster and the family roller coaster Flight of the Hippogriff, according to Universal. And what's a theme park without stores to unload your money? Don't worry, there will be plenty of Potter-themed merchandise, including chocolate frogs and "Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans," magic wands and Butterbeer.

It should look good. Park designers are consulting Rowling about their plans, and Universal is using experitise from the hit Potter movies, hiring production designer Stuart Craig and art director Alan Gilmore to help create the park.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

When Nancy writes "I'm sick of Dan Brown's latest blockbuster," what she really means is: "I'm sick of Dave writing about that book; doesn't he read anymore?" So to prove her wrong, I'm putting all thoughts of "The Lost Symbol" aside to review E.L. Doctorow's "Homer & Langley."

Synopsis: Doctorow, a master at reworking history (think "Ragtime" and "The March") tells the tale of a deadly plot hatched by a mystical society and -- oops, sorry, wrong book. Actually, this is a fictionalized account of the eccentric Collyers, wealthy brothers who became recluses in their Manhattan townhouse, loading it with all manner of junk. Doctorow reimagines their lives, and they way they would have interacted with social changes in America.

Review: Doctorow delivers an interesting character study, though blind, introspective Homer ("a person who had drifted through time lacking any capacity to step out of its stream") is crafted more clearly than his disaffected brother. Langley's manic mission -- to develop a newspaper reflecting his view that people and events are replicated through time -- is poignant. It reminds us of the cyclical nature of events the brothers witness: war, discrimination, social revolution.  

Read it if you like: A fanciful touch of history, told in simple, yet thoughtful, prose.

Avoid this if: You're a stickler for history. Doctorow adjusts the Collyers' actual life spans (they died in the 1940s) to include issues such as the Vietnam war and the 1960s counter-culture.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Reviews
        

Philadelphia, home of America's first library -- invented by Benjamin Franklin, naturally -- is about to lose its own public library system.

The Free Library of Philadelphia has announced that as of Oct. 2, all branches of the system will be closed indefinitely. That means no children's programs, computer classes, public meetings, story hours, GED programs ... the list goes on.

Everyone is aware of just how rough the economy has been lately, but I never imagined a state legislature would be forced to sacrifice a major library system. 

"Even as we remain hopeful that the State Legislature will act and pass the enabling funding legislation, we wanted to notify all of our customers of this very possible outcome,"  President and Director Siobhan Reardon, wrote on the library's Web site. "If you have questions about changes to City services, or if you want to be kept informed about this situation, we encourage you to contact Philly 311 by calling 3-1-1 between the hours of 8am and 8 pm Monday-Friday, and 9am-5pm Saturdays, e-mail philly311@phila.gov, or visit the City of Philadelphia website at

Let's hope the Pennsylvania government can come up with a better solution, and in a hurry.

Posted by Nancy Knight at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of Dan Brown's latest blockbuster, and it hasn't even been released yet. So if you're heading for the book store, here are a few options that have nothing to do with Freemasons, Robert Langdon or symbology. (Ugh, that word.)

"Homer & Langley," by E.L. Doctorow. The "City of God" author is back with the story of two New York City brothers, the eccentric Collyer brothers. Based on truth -- the hermit brothers were found dead in their apartment in the '40s -- Doctorow explores the limits of sanity. Dave's told me he's reading this one, so I look forward to his thoughts.

"Catching Fire," by Suzanne Collins. I mentioned this book earlier this year, and I can tell you it is fantastic. The second of the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire continues the story of Katniss Everdeen (I know, it's a silly name) in a dystopian United States. Forced to fight other teens to the death, Katniss became a hero, but the world has only gotten more dangerous since she won the bloody tournament. Don't be fooled by the YA designation: This is no children's tale.

"The Last Song," by Nicholas Sparks. Written first as a screenplay, and later adapted into novel form, Sparks' latest is his usual fare: A family torn apart, a new love, a question of faith -- all with that North Carolina backdrop. If you're looking for one more beach read before you give up on summer, pick this one up.

"Rampant," by Diana Peterfreund. Are you growing weary of vampires and zombies? Maybe you should try killer unicorns. Compared favorably to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this YA title is populated by strong women, including newly mined unicorn hunter Astrid, and some fascinating twists to the well-known myths. Sure, it's another coming-of-age tale. But angst is never quite as annoying when you've got plenty of butt-kicking action.

"True Compass," by Edward Kennedy. While this memoir has had its own marketing blitz, it hasn't been impossible to escape, which puts it on my safe list. While I doubt there will be many revelations, Kennedy's death brought an end to an era of American politics; reading his story will remind you of how far this country has come, how much it has lost, and how much we have yet to accomplish. If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.

So there are my suggestions. Got a few of your own? We'd love to hear it!

Posted by Nancy Knight at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

As midnight approached, I chatted with about a half-dozen Dan Brown fans who were browsing in the Lutherville Borders, waiting for sales to begin for "The Lost Symbol." Brian Wit of Lutherville, who admires Brown ability to weave science and history into his fiction, was there. He couldn't sleep so he stopped by to get the book, and planned to start reading on his lunch break today.

Barbara Geelhaar of Parkville had never been to a midnight release (neither had I), but she admires Brown's creativity, especially in "The Da Vinci Code." She recalled reading that book while attending a Christian school, where the pastor objected to it. "I kind of rebelled and kept reading it. It's fiction, not what I believe," she said. Brian Pugh of Lutherville also was among the first buyers. He recently re-read Brown's three big novels, and was eager to start "The Lost Symbol" when he got home. But he didn't plan to finish the 509-page book in a single sitting. "It won't be like a Harry Potter marathon. I have to work."

Until 12:01 a.m., the books stayed in their cardboard boxes, locked in a cage in the stockroom, General Manager Mark Diller said. But as soon as the release time arrived, the cash registers started ringing up sales at 40 percent off the list price -- that's $19.01 with tax. And Brown's fans slowly filed into the night, to start on the book's opening sentence: The secret is how to die.

For reviews of the book, try these from The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 1:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

The answer to the final Today Show question about locations in Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" is the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Va. Visitors can learn about Washington's involvement in the Freemasons, as well as lesser-known social orders such as the Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm.

And the anagram stands for Ark of the Covenant, which has been replicated in the Royal Arch Chapter Room. Shades of Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark!

(p.s. When you take the online tour, check out the menorah next to the Ark, Looks like a great place for this years Chanukah celebration.)

Photo courtesy of Virginia Tourism Corp.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

Don't reach for your Kindle to read Edward Kennedy's memoir "True Compass" when the book is released today. The publisher, Twelve, said last week that the e-book was on hold "indefinitely." Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Karp, said the delay was a "business decision," adding that the pictures and illustrations cannot be duplicated in e-book form, according to an AP report.

By contrast, another best-seller, Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" will be released in digital form Tuesday, the same day as the print edition. 

What's going on? Publishers are still trying to figure out how to handle e-books, which sell for much less than a hardback. They've seen how the digital age has sapped millions of dollars from newspapers and magazines, and they're worried about future profit margins on their own print product. Holding back on a digital "True Compass" may make sense, from a corporate perspective, because its audience is likely to be older -- and less dependent on e-books -- than that of "The Lost Symbol." For a publisher, it's better to risk the public's ire on a book like this instead of one with a very young audience, such as a Chuck Palahniuk release.

So Twelve and its parent, Hachette, may be waiting to assess the reaction. It's a calculated risk, and if I had spent a few hundred bucks on a Kindle, I'd be plenty ticked off. What's the point of having a digital reader if you can't get new releases? Are expensive e-readers destined to become like Netflix or HBO, offering limited first-run material? I bet many publishers would love that.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

I'm a bit disappointed in Matt Lauer, who's been dropping clues this week on the Today Show about locations in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. He started out with a tough question, but the clues got more obvious each day. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

If you've been following along, you probably figured out that Friday's clue pointed to the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C., the headquarters for the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in the Southern Jurisdiction. Add that to the U.S. Botanic Garden and the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Support Center in Suitland, Md., and you have three creepy spots for Dr. Robert Langdon to prowl around.

Just a few more days until we find out how they figure into Brown's story. In the meantime, if you want to read more about the Washington landmarks related to Freemasonry, check out this story in the Washington Post.

Sun photo of stained glass in Masonic temple in Baltimore

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

It appears that photographer Annie Leibovitz and her lenders have settled a dispute over a $24 milllion loan that jeopardized her control over her works and several properties. In a joint statement sent to the media minutes ago, representatives for Leibovitz and Art Capital Group said:

"The agreement will result in the withdrawal of the suit that Art Capital filed against Ms. Leibovitz on July 29, 2009 and extends the maturity date for the $24 million loan Art Capital provided Ms. Leibovitz, which was originally due on September 8, 2009. Ms. Leibovitz has also purchased from Art Capital its rights to act as exclusive agent in the sale of her real property and copyrights. Ms. Leibovitz will therefore retain control of those assets within the context of the loan agreement which shall prevail until satisfied."

I wouldn't expect to see Leibovitz starting to dine at Early Bird Specials or shopping at thrft stores, but let's hope her financial problems stabilize.

AP photo 

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Happy wet, dark and chillly Friday, everybody! Looks like autumn is creeping up on us.

I would like to thank Dave, who did a fantastic job covering for Freebie Friday. No vacation can get in the way of free stuff, right?

And so, the winner of "Song Yet Sung" is a parent! Looks like you'll get a headstart on our One Maryland One Book conversation next month. Or, you'll just get the chance to read a great book! Congrats!

Meanwhile, I just started "Murder at Longbourn," by Marylander Tracy Kiely. The Austen references are a bit too heavy-handed, even for a Janeite like me, but I'm enjoying the quirky characters. And I'm almost guaranteed a happy ending, if Kiely follows through with her "Pride and Prejudice" inspiration. I love it when things turn out A-OK.

What do we offer you today? How about Audrey Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmetry," a creepy ghost story set in London. Fans of "The Time Traveler's Wife" will enjoy the strong characterizations, and those who didn't enjoy Niffenegger the first time around can be assured that familial bonds, not true love, is the focus of this story. Also, the cover's all pretty and shiny.

If you're in the mood for fiction RIGHT NOW, tune to The Signal at noon and 7 p.m. today to hear local author Eric Goodman read "Futures." Of course, the podcast is also available for you anytime.

So, what are you reading?

ALERT! I completely forgot about the second book! Our second winner is Helen! Congratulations to you, as well! I hope you enjoy this beautifully written book.

Posted by Nancy Knight at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
Categories: Freebie Friday
        

Here's a get-well wish for Garrison Keillor, the folksy humorist who has done more for small town living than anyone since Mark Twain. Keillor, 67, has been hospitalized for several days after a mild stroke. He's scheduled to leave the Mayo Clinic on Friday.

The hospital hasn't slowed Keillor down. He intends to "get right back to work, record a new audiobook as planned, do some lecture engagements, a book tour" and the radio show's season opener September 26, according to CNN.

I'm a big fan of Keillor's work, especially "The Writer's Almanac," a wonderful slice of literary life. Of course, Keillor is a one-man multimedia conglomerate whose creativity and wit have sparked "A Prairie Home Companion" as well as 11 books.

His latest, "Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance," is scheduled for a Sept. 22 release.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Happy Thursday, everyone! There's nothing like a shortened work week (thanks, Labor Day) to brightened my outlook. And there are tons of great events coming up this week!

Tonight, Red Emma's will host Uri Gordon, an anarchist activist-scholar who is on his first U.S. tour to promote last year's "Anarchy Alive! Anti-authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory." As always, Red Emma's is providing events you won't find anywhere else in Baltimore. And on Sunday, they are officially opening their Baltimore Free School, which will feature classes on everything from tax preparation to music theory. The meet and mingle will begin at noon, and you should check out their calendar to see if there are any free classes you don't want to miss!

Saturday is H.L. Mencken Day, and this year's featured speaker is Dr. Michael Kazin, a professor of history at Georgetown University and author of "A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan." I'm sure Scopes Trial trivia will abound, so history buffs should head on over to the Pratt this weekend.

For those still fired up over the health care reform debate, you won't want to miss Sorrel King at The Ivy on Sunday. King's daughter Josie died after a series of medical errors, and she has since become a national patient safety advocate, with first-hand experience on how the industry works.

For those who want to get a little creative, Ukazoo will host its creative writing group Wednesday evening, in an effort to bring writers old and new together for some feedback. To RSVP, call 410-832-BOOK.

And there are plenty more events where that came from! Check out the Read Street calendar for more!

Posted by Nancy Knight at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

For those of you stumped by the Today show's first clue to a location in Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol," the answer is the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center in Suitland, Md. It's the main off-site conservation and collections facility for the National Museum of Natural History (which explains the trays full of deceased squid) and has more than 31 million objects.

So now onto Clue #2, part of Matt Lauer's week-long run-up to the book's release. Lauer was pictured in front of a large palm plant and threw out these anagrams, which represent three things at the new location:

CHOROID HUES

PERVADING REALM

ANTIPODAL PAN TAT

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

In the pantheon of time-wasters, motor vehicles agencies and doctors' offices must hold a special place. So whenever I'm headed to either one of those purgatories -- or to another place likely to have a long line -- I reach for Leo Rosten's "The Joys of Yiddish." It's a paperback that stays in my car in case of reading emergencies.

Everyone should have a book that acts as a security blanket -- one that can be read in short bits. Any time. Over and over again.

TJOY is perfect. It's sort of a dictionary of Yiddish terms, but most entries are punctuated with jokes or funny stories. Who would grow tired of re-reading definitions such as this one for chutzpah: "...that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and his father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan."

When I discussed this topic on LibraryThing, readers had lots of other suggestions for ready-when-you-are books. Among them: "Cryptonomicon," "Pride & Prejudice," "The Diary of a Provincial Lady," "The Assassin's Cloak" and "The Common Reader."

Oh, the joys of re-reading.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

I can't wait to read the real scene in "The Lost Symbol" -- especially if it involves a dead giant squid draped over some guy's face.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

The New York Times recently covered every Kindle owner's worst nightmare: Losing their Kindle (or, as mine is named, The Evil Book-eating Device, Vol. 2). And what's worse than leaving your Kindle behind, or having it stolen?

Amazon's policy on helping you get it back.

Let's say you lose your Kindle. You'd think, since the company has the device's serial number on record, it would be fairly easy for them to keep track of that number, and notify you if someone else starts downloading books to it from a different account. After all, they've proven themselves adept at finding out who's downloaded suddenly illegal copies of "1984" and erasing them from every Kindle in the world.

But actually, Amazon won't do anything beyond canceling the account on that particular device, so that any books downloaded to it won't be charged to you. Unless, of course, you convince a police officer to get a search warrant and question the company. It's like those horror stories cell phone reps would tell you to convince you to buy their exorbiant phone insurance plans.

On the one hand, the hands-off policy reflects recent popular opinion: People were rightly angry when the company went into their devices and took material off of them. And although Amazon has since apologized, it seems disingenuous for them to take the laissez-faire approach when it means that someone, somewhere will be able to buy books from Amazon on a device, even if they don't rightfully own it.

So which way would you rather Amazon takes it? Should they leave you to your own, ahem, devices? Or should you expect a little back up with your investment?

(AP photo)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Annie Leibovitz's striking, controversial images are icons of pop culture. A very pregnant, very naked Demi Moore. A very naked John Lennon hugging Yoko Ono. A nearly naked Miley Cyrus. Is there another photographer who can rival her as a cultural chronicler?

So it's disturbing that her artwork, frequently featured in Vanity Fair magazine, is being batted about by lawyers in a loan dispute. According to news reports, Leibovitz put up the rights to thousands of photographs (and three magnificant homes) in return for a $24 million loan from Art Capital Group. The lender sued her in July, claiming she had breached their agreement. Yesterday, a deadline in the dispute, both sides were said to be working on a potential settlement.

Let's hope they can find some middle ground, to keep her images from ending up in an auction house.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Fans of The Mobtown Shank and Eight-Stone Press are probably already aware, but for the rest of us, here's a new treat: the ultimate Charm City guide, with the best coffee shops, neighborhoods and blogs Bmore has to offer -- as decided by you.

There have been six questions so far, and in the next few weeks, there will be more. So send your two to three sentence response to wpt@eightstonepress.com, and if your answer is chosen, you'll receive a free copy of the directory when the issue is published.

 The more answers, the better the guide. And I, for one, am very interested in seeing Hamilton win the neighborhood poll. After a week on a cruise ship, I can tell you that coming home was fantastic. And a lot less lurch-y.

(Photo by nitewind24 on stockxchng)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Lost Symbol countdown has begun in earnest, with less than a week left before Dan Brown's new blockbuster is released. Based on the success of "The Da Viinci Code and "Angels and Demons," Brown hardly needs publicity these days. And despite those (including Jodi Picoult and Salman Rushdie) who have criticized Brown as a simplistic writer, his new book is sure to be multimillion best seller -- five million copies of “The Lost Symbol” will be shipped to stores and many more reader will order the e-book version.

Still, you can expect to hear a lot about Brown in the next week, including daily spots on the "Today" show, in which Matt Lauer will provide clues to locations in the book. Lauer was allowed to read “The Lost Symbol” in advance (after signing an agreement not to disclose the story), according to The New York Times. "Today" will broadcast Lauer's interview with Brown next Tuesday. "The Lost Symbol" focuses on the Masons organization and Washington, D.C. -- both the American and U.K. covers feature the Capital dome and Masonic symbols. Beyond that, it's all speculation.

 While you wait for Monday's release, take our Dan Brown quiz.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

Today is International Literacy Day -- the perfect time to recall some of the books that hooked you as a reader -- the ones that opened new worlds or new ways of expression. For me, the Laura Ingalls Wilder books such as Little House on the Prairie fed my love of adventure, and gave me a sense of the big world outside suburban Connecticut. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle did the same, while adding new dimensions in space. And to satisfy my baseball Jones, there was The Kid Who Batted 1.000 by Bob Allison.

Meanwhile, it's sobering to note the range in literacy rates around the world. Among the problem areas are poor countries such as Bangladesh (72% literacy rate), Chad (44%), Sierra Leone (54%) and Papua New Guinea (64%), according to the United Nations.

If you'd like to help improve literacy closer to home, consider such programs as Baltimore Reads, or the adult literacy and ESOL initiatives at the Greater Homewood Community Corp.

Cartoon courtesy of Ham

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Events marking the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birth take an artistic turn this fall. The Baltimore Museum of Art will open a show on Poe-inspired artwork, such as Edouard Manet's "The Raven" (shown here). The National Museum of Dentistry will host a performance of "Berenice," described as "one man’s maniacal obsession with his betrothed’s gleaming white teeth." Baltimore Theatre Project will have a one-man show called "Poe In Person." And a fanciful funeral for Poe will be held at Westminster Hall. So save the dates; for details on these -- and more -- Poe events, go to Nevermore2009.

-- Sept. 21 to Oct. 4, Poe in Person at Baltimore Theatre Project. Actor David Keltz presents his one-man show, described as a multi-character recreation of Poe’s tales of humor and horror, his poetry, and his literary criticism.

-- Sept. 25 Berenice at the National Museum of Dentistry. In addition to watching Poe’s horror story, visitors can see an exhibit about 19th century dentistry and take an after-hours tour of the museum.

-- Oct. 4 through Jan. 17, "Edgar Allan Poe: A Baltimore Icon" at the BMA. See prints, drawings and illustrated books inspired by Poe. Works, based on classics such as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven," will focus on the themes of love/loss, fear/terror, madness/obsession.

-- Oct. 7, Viewing of Poe's body at the Poe House and Museum.

-- Oct. 11, Poe's funeral at Westminster Hall. A horse-drawn hearse will bring Poe’s body from his home to Westminster Hall for burial services, which will include speakers such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Baudelaire and Jules Verne.

Illustration courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Edgar Allan Poe
        

Cushing Academy in Massachusetts is taking an unusual approach to reading: eliminating the printed word from its library. Administrators are getting rid of more than 20,000 volumes to make way for a "learning center" that includes flat-screen TVs to project data from the Internet and 18 e-book readers, according to The Boston Globe. (Where the reference desk was, the school is building a coffee shop with a $12,000 cappuccino machine).

 “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ headmaster James Tracy told the Globe. “This isn’t ‘Fahrenheit 451'. We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.’’

Sad that these preppies will never have the satisfaction of curling up with a well-worn paperback of "The Catcher in the Rye" (is there an inherent value in reading a book as Holden Caulfield would have?) or enjoying the creative heft of Shakespeare's complete works.

I realize that electronic textbooks and Internet research are rapidly changing the way our children learn, but it strikes me as too soon to abandon printed books. Then again, maybe we should be looking into ways to reuse the Enoch Pratt Free Library -- the center court would make one heckuva swimming pool.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Towson University English professor Diane Scharper recently reviewed three books whose authors have a Maryland connection: "A Question of Freedom" by R. Dwayne Betts, "The Arms Maker of Berlin" by Dan Fesperman and "‘The Wolf in the Parlor" by Jon Franklin. Here are her reviews, written for The Baltimore Sun. Note: You can attend a reading by Betts Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt on Cathedral Street.

"A Question of Freedom," (Avery Publishers, 240 pages, $23) A voracious reader, Betts grew up with books — thanks to his mother, a single parent who encouraged her son to excel in school. Then on a fateful night in December 1996, he tapped on a car window with a gun and unleashed a nightmare that lasted eight years. His memoir, “A Question of Freedom,” chronicles Betts’ experiences during those years: from being shuffled (in handcuffs and shackles) among Virginia’s worst prisons; to witnessing the insanity of correctional officers using shotguns to break up arguments; to musing on society’s ill-conceived notion that incarceration rehabilitates people by treating them inhumanely. Long on literary devices and somewhat short on logical connections, the poetically written account describes Betts’ coming of age in jail. The story begins as 16-year-old Betts, who grew up in Suitland, is arrested for attempted carjacking with a deadly weapon. It ends 13 years later as he Betts, a published poet and graduate of the University of Maryland, reflects on the events that culminated in his jail time but eventually led to his considerable accomplishments. Ultimately, Betts’ success has little to do with prison rehabilitation and more to do with his love for reading, an inspiration that helped him escape what he aptly calls an adult version of “Lord of the Flies.”

-- "The Arms Maker of Berlin"’ (Alfred A. Knopf, 384 pages, $24.95) A connection exists between retired professor Gordon Wolfe and an anti-Nazi group code-named the White Rose. the historic White Rose group was ANTI-Nazi; should this be cleared up? Nat Turnbull’s job is to find out what it is before more people get hurt. The hero of Fesperman’s latest thriller, “The Arms Maker of Berlin,” Turnbull travels from Pennsylvania to New York to Berlin as he follows the trail of archival materials that Wolfe supposedly stole.

The novel begins as Wolfe, Turnbull’s mentor, is arrested and Turnbull, a professor of history at a sleepy Pennsylvania college, is taken by the FBI from his library study carrel. After Wolfe dies in prison, seemingly from a heart attack, Turnbull tries to understand the older man’s cryptic last words. Moving the plot from present to past and from the U.S. to Germany, Fesperman combines several stories to make up this busy, multilayered narrative. A former foreign correspondent for The Baltimore Sun and winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, Fesperman has written five previous novels set in world hot spots. With compelling plot twists, the nonstop action in this new book involves theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer as well as two mysterious German women who may be related — one from the 1940s and the other from 2007. As the two women appear and disappear, Turnbull must find them and learn how they connect to the rest of the sometimes maddening puzzle.

-- "The Wolf in the Parlor," (Henry Holt and Co. Publishers, 304 pages, $25) A discursive account of the human-dog connection, Franklin’s “The Wolf in the Parlor” is part story of his attachment to a poodle named Charlie, part musing on topics ranging from writing to teaching to studying, and part summary of the information Franklin gleaned from the few facts known about the evolution of dogs. According to Franklin (a Pulitzer Prize winner and former Evening Sun reporter), very little has been written about that evolution because almost no one has allocated funds to study it. Franklin, who wasn’t a dog fan until Charlie entered his life, says women — not men — were responsible for domesticating the wolf. Women cooked the food and disposed of any scraps, which enticed “follower wolves” to stay near humans. Women also chose those wolf cubs that might be used to entertain young children as well as those that would end up as dinner. Over time, these wolves became gentler than their wild cousins. Their brains, jaws and teeth became smaller. As Franklin sees it, these wolves evolved into dogs over eons as they formed a partnership with people. Dogs relied on humans to think for them while humans relied on dogs because they connected us to our feelings. Wishful thinking? Perhaps. The book contains little solid evidence, but Franklin offers a thought-provoking argument for more research.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Marylandia
        

I'm a bit nervous about this post -- this is the first time Nancy has let me run Freebie Friday. But since she's probably in a pina colada-induced haze while vacationing, she won't notice if I screw it up.

First, the winner from last week: Gail Farrelly, a frequent guest poster on Read Street. She gets a copy of "Graffiti World" by Nicholas Ganz. It has photos of amazing street art -- some of which Gail has probably seen around New York.

Our giveaway this week is two copies of "Song Yet Sung" by James McBride, who also wrote the bookclub staple, "The Color of Water." His latest, a novel about runaway slaves on Maryland's Eastern Shore, raises questions about identity and freedom. It has been chosen for this fall's One Maryland One Book statewide reading program, so you'll have plenty of company if you win. In coordination with that program, Nancy and I will lead an online discussion about "Song Yet Sung" on Read Street in late September or early October -- we hope you'll join in.

So let us know what you're reading this week. I'm on the last chapters of "The City and The City" by China Mieville, a sci-fi mystery that explores the way we relate to people outside our social circle.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Freebie Friday
        

Catch "My One and Only," the new movie with Renee Zellweger, Kevin Bacon and Logan Lerman, and you'll glimpse a cameo by a Baltimore library. The former Highlandtown Branch was converted into a paint store for filming -- the entire area must have been the perfect backdrop for a movie set in the early 1950's. Formstone and fins, anyone? The branch closed in 2007 to make way for the Southeast Anchor Library nearby.

As for the movie, The Baltimore Sun's Michael Sragow gives it three stars. He says: "With any luck, "My One and Only" will draw the same crowds that have made "Julie & Julia" a holdover hit. It's affable entertainment -- a road movie with a smart map and characters who are unpredictable human beings, not just billboard attractions."

Photo courtesy of Runaway Home Productions

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Marylandia
        

The New York Times today offered the first peek at Edward Kennedy's memoir, "True Compass," which goes on sale to the public Sept. 14. Among the highlights noted by the Times:

-- Kennedy called his behavior after the 1969 car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne “inexcusable” and said the events might have shortened the life of his ailing father, Joseph P. Kennedy.

-- He said his father had encouraged intensive competition among his children, especially his sons, which fed his recurrent feelings of inadequacy after the death of his three brothers, all of them older.

Overall, the Times story indicates that he did not open up dramatically about the Chappaquiddick incident or his general reputation for carousing. But he does provide a lot of behind-the-scenes action from Washington, including his relationships with presidents over nearly a half-century as a senator. 

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

September promises some great events for Baltimore-area book lovers, and now is a good time to mark your calendar. Here are some highlights:

-- The Baltimore Book Festival takes place in Mount Vernon on the weekend of Sept. 25-27, with authors such as James McBride (shown here), who wrote "The Color of Water" and "Song Yet Sung" -- the choice for this fall's One Maryland One Book statewide reading program. Other authors include Buzz Aldrin, Gwen Ifill, Amiri Baraka and Farai Chideya.

-- The annual Mencken Day event at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Sept. 12 includes a lecture on "Bryan Debates Mencken: The Confrontation We Missed," by Dr. Michael Kazin, professor of history at Georgetown University and author of "A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan."

-- As part of the George Peabody Library's ongoing exhibition, “A View of the Parade: H. L. Mencken and American Magazines,” Mencken scholar Richard Schrader will deliver the keynote address at a reception held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sept 12. Schrader, a professor in the English Department at Boston College, wrote "H. L. Mencken: A Descriptive Bibliography" and "H. L. Mencken: A Documentary Volume". RSVP to Stacie Spence at libraryfriends@jhu.edu or 410.516.7943.

-- Also on Sept. 12, at the Barnes & Noble in Towson, 20 authors from the Baltimore area will meet the public and sign copies of books on subjects and genres from fiction to sports to history to children’s books. Steve Luxenberg, author of the “Annie’s Ghost”, best-selling historical romance writer Mary Jo Putney, photographer Roger Miller, and P. M. Forni, author of a very popular series on civility will be there. (For information on when a particular author will appear, call 410-296-7021.)

-- The Library of Congress' National Book Festival will be held Sept. 26 in Washington. Authors in the star-studded lineup include: John Irving, Marilynne Robinson, John Grisham, Junot Diaz, Judy Blume, Jodi Picoult and Sue Monk Kidd.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Book It
        

Hard to imagine that a skinny, innocent-looking Belgian kid could spark an international furor over racial profiling, but that's what has happened to Tintin. Anyone who ever took French knows him as the cartoon character who helped you learn to conjugate verbs such as aller and vivre.

But "Tintin in the Congo," which chronicles his travels in a former Belgian colony, has sullied his reputation (and that of creator George Remi, known as Herge). The Congolese come off as buffoons in the 1931 book, and that has triggered crtiticism. The Brooklyn library recently pulled the book from the open shelves. And back in Belgium -- a country that treats comics as an art form and that also brought us the Smurfs -- the controversy has simmered for years.

I can understand pulling the book from shelves in the children's section (as some bookstores have already done). There's a danger in exposing kids to a book like this -- they don't understand the historical context. But we can't completely censor such books, or we'll lose "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Gone with the Wind" as well.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Margaret Atwood has always derived her strength from looking to the future. Just peek at novels such as "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Oryx and Crake." So it's fitting that she is among the authors experimenting with social media as a way to enhance the impact of a book.

The Globe and Mail describes the tour for her new book, "The Year of the Flood," as a theatrical extravaganza, complete with singing, YouTube tie-ins, t-shirts and ring-tones. Sounds more like a tour by a rock band than an author who turns 70 this year.

But if the publishing world is going to adapt to the Digital Age, it will have to reduce its reliance on printed books and capitalize on the celebrity of authors and the social-ness of reading. Book clubs were a first step; blogs such as Read Street are another; events such as CityLit Festival and the Baltimore Book Festival are yet another.

In the same way that Starbucks turned a cup of coffee into an experience, publishers must capitalize on the power of creativity that is bound within a book -- if they are to thrive in the new world.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The growing popularity of e-books has complicated some major decisions for publishers: setting a book's price and release date. The first big test was the upcoming release of Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." Read Streeter and author Gail Farrelly, wrote this guest post on the topic:

Communications guru Marshall McLuhan died in 1980, but his mantra, "The medium is the message," discussed in Understanding Media (1964) lives on. That phrase popped into my head recently when I read that publishers were thinking that perhaps the lower price tag for an ebook warranted a delayed release date.

What? No way. Don't publishers know that "the medium is still the message"? The medium of ebooks is one that emphasizes the immediate. Instant gratification is the name of the ebook game. Do publishers really think that ebook owners, having shelled out quite a few dollars for an electronic device, will now be eager to buy expensive hardcovers because the ebooks are not available in a timely fashion?

I don't think so. Nor will these customers wait passively for dated ebooks to be released. More likely, they will simply move on to the wares of publishers who make ebooks available at the same time as the printed ones.

 In July, The New York Times reported, "No topic is more hotly debated in book circles at the moment than the timing, pricing and ultimate impact of e-books on the financial health of publishers and retailers." When that article was published, the release date for the "The Lost Symbol" ebook had not yet been announced. Security as well as pricing concerns were at issue, according to Suzanne Herz, a spokeswoman for Knopf Doubleday, the book's publisher.

By August 13, Knopf Doubleday had made it's decision, announcing that "The Lost Symbol" ebook will be released on Sept. 15, the same day as the hardcover. The Amazon Kindle price will be $9.99, the standard Kindle price for a bestseller. Whew! Score one for ebook readers.

This issue shows that publishers and a bookseller like Amazon are dependent on each other. Who wants a Kindle if it doesn't give you immediate access to the latest books? To choose to buy a print book is one thing. To be pressured into it because the ebook simply isn't available is another. By the same token, if most bestsellers are available "instantly" on the Kindle, who needs to buy the works of a publisher withholding such books until they are yesterday's news?

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 1:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Dan Brown
        

For cooks of a certain age, "The Silver Palate Cookbook" was a kitchen staple, as much as sugar and salt. So it is with much sadness that we report that co-author Sheila Lukins, has died of brain cancer at age 66. Lukins wrote "Silver Palate" with Julee Rosso in 1982, and it has sold more than two and a half million copies, according to Publishers Weekly. The cookbook introduced readers to dishes like Chicken Marbella, which, in classic Silver Palate style, used everyday ingredients—capers, olives and prunes—to add new, refined flavors to a dish, PW said.

Workman editor Suzanne Rafer called Lukins "a woman who changed the way the home cook cooks," noting that Lukins excelled at "taking what restaurant cooks were starting to do, and picking up on the new flavors that people were starting to enjoy in restaurants, and translating them into vibrant, interesting, easy to make dishes. This is a woman who glorified the noble prune and had us all eating Chicken Marbella—still."

That's a dish I know well -- my wife makes it all the time, and it's delicious. I asked for her perspective on Lukins and she wrote: "I follow that [Choicken Marbella] recipe exactly (with the possible exception of increasing the quantity of prunes) and have made other yummy things from the original Silvar Palate cookbook. ... The "Comforting Conclusion" section is among my favorites with a bread pudding recipe that is the best ever and so simple to make -- also follow that one exactly with fool-proof results."

Here's more from the New York Times obit.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Obituaries
        

Just in time for the opening of Baltimore Ravens season, former coach Brian Billick has written “More Than a Game: The Glorious Present and Uncertain Future of the NFL.” Sun colleague Peter Schmuck says it provides an interesting perspective on the NFL and the demands of coaching, but delivers little behind-the-scenes info about controversies during his time as coach. Here's an excerpt from Peter's review, which is posted on his blog, The Schmuck Stops Here:

"In the course of the 250-or-so pages, he travels across the football spectrum, explaining the Cover 2 defense in one chapter and the intricacies of the NFL Network’s various cable and satellite deals in another.

 "What he doesn’t do is what most readers in Ravenland probably will wish he had. He does not dish on the Ravens front office and Bisciotti. He has very little to say about the dynamic players who helped him win a Super Bowl. There is the occasional rationale for the way he handled a certain situation – the ill-fated attempt to develop Kyle Boller into a franchise quarterback comes to mind-- but the book is really not about the Ravens.

"It’s more about Billick expanding his image as a major player on the NFL scene, which should be helpful in his new career as a television analyst and won’t be hurtful to any future opportunity to coach another NFL team.

"I don’t know if he was consciously playing it safe for future employment reasons, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I mean, I’ve seen the guy punt on fourth and short inside the 35 yard line. What I do know is that Billick is not interested in fading out of the NFL picture, and this book allows him to project himself more as a football statesman than just somebody manning the Telestrator in the FOX broadcast booth."

I give Billick credit for coaching a Super Bowl champion. But as a fan, I was frustrated by his play-it-safe style. And as an editor, I got lots of laughs from post-game news conferences, when his sentences seemed to rush forward, fake left, veer right, stutter-step and then fade away, like a wide receiver's complex route. I was hoping "More Than a Game" would provide more insight on Billick and the Ravens.   

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Today's the official release date for Homer & Langley, E.L. Doctorow's fictional retelling of the story of the eccentric Collyer brothers. The pair were compulsive collectors/pack rats who filled a New York City townhouse with the detritus of American commercialism -- and died very tragically as a result.

I won't give away more of the story here (I'll do a more detailed review later this week), but I did want to note Random House's creative publicity campaign. It includes a Facebook group called "I have more books than Facebook friends" -- really, who doesn't? -- and asks members to submit photos of their own book clutter. The prize: a copy of the book, signed by Doctorow.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)