The Weekend Update is a Scorcher

NYTBR: Michiko Kakutani offers a heartfelt tribute to David Foster Wallace; Bruce Jay Friedman on Al Silverman's oral history of publishing's Golden Age, which I MUST get a copy of ASAP; Mick Sussman looks at used bookstores with a big box mentality; Alex Berenson can't quite get a handle on THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO; and Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime offerings from Ian Rankin, Michael Koryta, Amy McKinnon and Dick & Felix Francis.

And in the Magazine, I'm a bit taken aback that Katie "Jordan" Price gets so much ink, but then again, why the hell not? Americans ought to understand her, or make some weird effort to....

WaPo Book World: Ron Charles has his curiosity piqued with INDIGNATION; Michael Dirda falls in love with THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG; and Elizabeth Hand travels to the ends of the earth with Kira Salak.

LA Times: David Ulin's DFW tribute is, simply, a must-read; James Marcus sits down with Philip Roth to talk of writers past and present; Richard Rayner revisits the Parker novels reissued by the University of Chicago Press; and Carolyn Kellogg talks to editors of and contributors to STATE BY STATE.

G&M: John Metcalf covers the recent dustup about Canadian short stories; Martin Levin probes the high-concept nature of THE 39 CLUES; and Bob Coghill is intrigued by the second installment of a "Young Sherlock Holmes" series by Shane Peacock.

Guardian Review: Ruth Rendell explains the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes; Sarah Churchwell is unsettled by Howard Jacobson's skewed romantic vision; and Laura Wilson offers her take on new crime fiction by Lin Anderson, Alex Scarrow, Bill James and Dick & Felix Francis.

Observer: Viv Groskop hopes THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG finds a wide English readership; Ruth Sutherland looks at a study of the growing gap between rich and poor; and Olivia Laing looks at the Booker Prize winners that never were.

The Times: Michael Gove explores the world of Swedish bookshops; John Le Carre explains his near-defection to the Soviet Union; Nathan Englander (!) gets fanboy-like over David Simon; Tom Cox tries to craft a bestseller; and Robert Crampton chats with ex-SAS man and thriller writer Andy McNab.

The Scotsman: Zoe Heller talks about her new novel; Stuart Kelly is impressed with Ian Rankin's post-Rebus project (of sorts); and Gerald Kaufman rounds up crime fiction by GM Ford, Garry Disher, David Ellis, Stuart MacBride and Simon Hall.

The Telegraph: Alexander McCall Smith unveils his newest serial project; Sam Leith finds out about Zoe Heller's long-awaited new novel, THE BELIEVERS; and Susanna Yager has her say on crime novels by James Lee Burke and Lin Anderson.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill extols the merits of Ian Rankin's EXIT MUSIC.

Paul Goat Allen reviews the latest in crime by Julie Kramer, Michael Walters, J.D. Rhoades and Michael Beres.

The Seattle Times sits down with Tom Robbins to talk about the stage version of EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES, while Patrick McDonald has a lengthy appreciation of the author. 

Also in the paper, Adam Woog's crime fiction column surveys new releases by Chelsea Cain, Anne Littlewood, John Harvey, Ian Rankin, Larry Beinhart, and Dick & Felix Francis.

The WSJ's Jeff Trachtenberg talks with Philip Roth about INDIGNATION, old literary magazines and new technologies.

The Sydney Morning Herald profiles Michael Cox and his newest novel of Victoriana.

Suzi Feay at the Independent on Sunday wonders what tomorrow's bestsellers will be in multiple categories.

With regards to SNL, what Jaime said.

And finally, this seems a tad on the late side.

Comments

[Jason Pinter]

My biggest problem with SNL is that the men are for the most part worthless. Hader is only funny in Apatow movies, Sudeikis plays the straight man on a show where there should be no straight men, Will Forte is a big tub of blah (the McGruber sketches got old after the first one), Andy Samberg has been all downhill since "Lazy Sunday" (my word was "Space Olympics" horrible), Kenan Thompson has as much edge as a doughnut, Fred Armisen thinks making googly eyes is all you need (how hard is it to find somebody FUNNY to play Barack Obama who doesn't need to wear blackface?), and Darrell Hammond will be doing Bill Clinton and Ted Koppel until he dies on stage.

The woman, however, are fantastic. Kristen Wiig is the female Will Ferrell--she literally makes every sketch she's in funnier just by force of personality. Poehler is always funny if not dependable and Casey Wilson has promise. But man, the men just drag everything down. Even Jimmy Fallon--I'm going to hate myself for saying this--brought more to the table.

[Patrick Balester]

I recently went back and re-read Rankin's first novel, Knots and Crosses. An excellent story. But that's the only reason not why I did. More likely to forestall the inevitable suspicion that this might really be the last appearance of John Rebus.