The results are in, and for the big retailers in London, this past Christmas season, well, sucked bigtime, dubbed "the worst in years."
The Guardian has way more on yesterday's big story about Joe Gordon, the Waterstone's staffer who was fired for making snarky comments about his employer on his blog.
I never got the whole Germaine Greer on Celebrity Big Brother, but just as I was about to get used to it she calmly packs her bags and walks out on the program. What the hell did you expect, Ms. Greer? That it would be all a bed of roses or something? Strange. Oh yeah, and what's with this photo here?
AP meets up with Stella Rimington, the former chief of MI5 who is now making waves on both sides of the Atlantic with her debut novel, AT RISK.
The Charlotte Observer interviews James Hall, who reveals why summer camps and his wife's carjacking contributed to the writing of his new standalone, FORESTS OF THE NIGHT.
This new book by Julius Lester intrigues the hell out of me: an anthromorphic version of God dressed up in Hitler costumes? Okaaaayyy....but the Washington Post has several pointed reservations about this novel.
The Arizona Republic profiles the Desert Sleuths, the local chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Curtis Sittenfeld's PREP--a book I am really looking forward to reading after being blown away by her award-winning story at the Mississippi Review a few years ago--gets the treatment by Daniel Asa Rose at the NY Observer. Very oddly written review, if you ask me....
And finally, meet a very special crime fiction reader. Recognize some of the books on the shelf? And oh yeah, it's rather NSFW. (Thanks to AK and Grog for the link)
Great link there, Sarah ("a very special crime fiction reader"). Just wish my boss hadn't been passing behind me at the time.
Posted by: Charlie Williams | January 12, 2005 at 09:40 AM
Thanks a lot, Sarah. I wish I had made the connection with NSFW and "Not Safe For Work" before I hit that link. I'll let you know if my boss comes looking for me.
Posted by: Dave Zeltserman | January 12, 2005 at 10:13 AM
Yeah, I didn't make the connection either Dave. Yikes. Now I just want to know why it called me a "VIP Member" when I clicked the link. I havent been a member of that site since...I mean, I've never done anything like that.
Posted by: Bryon | January 12, 2005 at 10:22 AM
I just wish the "very special crime fiction reader" would move a bit to the right so I could read the other titles.
Posted by: Duane | January 12, 2005 at 11:27 AM
I thought NSFW was a football league or something, but then because I don't work and never had, there is no boss, so who gives a damn. Most interesting to me is that she has Dr Atkins diet book on the top shelf.
Posted by: Kevin Wignall | January 12, 2005 at 11:59 AM
Come on chaps, NWS and NSFW are pretty common acronyms these days. Or maybe I just hang out on the bad kind of bulletin board... :-D
The link was oddly nostalgic for me as well. I seem to remember the "Karup's" name from one of the very first places I used to get porn in my university days. Ah, life as a student with free and unlimited net access. It was a novelty back then, I can tell you. Netscape 2.0 had just arrived, these weird 'frames' were starting to be used on webpages...
Posted by: John Rickards | January 12, 2005 at 02:33 PM
But I doubt it's likely that "so, what kind of porn do you download" will replace "where do you get your ideas" and "if your book was made into a movie, who'd play your lead character" as a frequently asked question for crime writers...
Posted by: Sarah | January 12, 2005 at 02:37 PM
Luckily I have my own office, so it doesn't matter what I am doing in here. Not that I do anything bad mind you.
Sarah, have you read Stella Remington's book? And if you have, what did you think? I read a few months back, but frankly wasn't that impressed.
Posted by: bookdwarf | January 12, 2005 at 03:12 PM
NSFW - I like my guess better than the real thing. I guessed "Not So Fucking Weird" before I looked it up.
there are days I'm really sorry the internet exists
Posted by: Andi | January 12, 2005 at 05:44 PM
Started Prep last night. (Just finished Drama City, which I thought was amazing.) I figured my take on adolescence is more or less out of my hands, let's see what someone else has to say.
About 100 pages in, it occurred to me: If history is written by the winners, then a lot of literature is written by the losers. Not excluding myself, of course. But maybe we should try getting over it? Prep is terribly depressing. Beautifully written, but I'm trying to figure out a reason to go forward. The only thing that was keeping me going was the mystery of the strange smell and that has now been revealed. No blow jobs yet, although there has been some discussion of them. I think I'm too old for this.
That said, I loved my friend Joe Weisberg's take on high school in "Tenth Grade," which was exuberant and funny. All the usual angst, but also lots of optimism.
Posted by: Laura | January 13, 2005 at 11:17 AM