Puzzled about whether to serve edamame to a pescatarian? Not sure how to spot the fanboy by the infinity pool?
Fear not, because you can now look up the meanings of those terms and about 100 other new words in the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.
The author Amanda Foreman is being accused of turning the genteel world of historical biography into a playground for glamorous young female writers trying to make a quick killing in the bestseller lists.
Well, perhaps taking off your clothes to sell your book could be construed as cheapening the genre. Who needs talent when you’ve got tits?
Submitted by SadOatcakes on Sat, 2008-07-05 12:56.
Indiana highschool teacher Connie Heermann has been suspended for teaching The Freedom Writers Diary, despite having written permission from 150 parents to let students read the book. Apparently a single board member objected to strong language in the text, and convinced the rest of the board to ban the book.
The 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy has raked in billions for others, but for the heirs of beloved author and creator J.R.R. Tolkien, nothing.
"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-Lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne." And not one ducat for the guy who created it all. Stinks.
More glorious stupidity from those who should know better:
“An Indiana teacher who used a much lauded bestseller, The Freedom Writers Diary, to try to inspire under-performing high-school students has been suspended from her job without pay for 18 months.”
Literary agent Barbara Bauer is suing 19 bloggers and websites, including Wikipedia, YouTube and AbsoluteWrite.com, claiming they are ruining her reputation. Online critics call Bauer one of publishing’s “20 Worst Literary Agents,” claiming she charges clients high fees for little work, and is a “scam agent.”
Hrumph, don’t they know you can’t just go around saying what you think?
…last night Nikita Lalwani's Gifted, an ambitious and widely acclaimed debut novel about immigration and the perils of a precocious childhood…[carried]off the inaugural Desmond Elliott prize. But Lalwani will not be carrying home the £10,000 winner's cheque, and plans to donate it instead to human rights campaigners Liberty.
Spain has named writer Margaret Atwood winner of one of the country's most distinguished arts prizes, sometimes likened to the European country's version of the Nobel Prize. The Canadian literary icon was named winner Wednesday of the Prince of Asturias Prize for Letters.
A first edition of the Nicolaus Copernicus book that puts forth the theory that the sun — not the earth — is at the center of the universe has fetched more than $2.2 million at an auction, nearly double the expected price.
Not so surprising, considering an 1887 New Haven, Conn. telephone book in the same auction brought in $170,500.
Indra Sinha, author of a Booker-shortlisted novel about the impact of a loosely fictionalised version of the Bhopal chemical disaster, has begun an indefinite hunger strike in support of survivors still suffering from the effects of the devastating 1984 chemical leak.
Thousands dead, thousands injured, and now it has to come to this.
When the housing market was white-hot, publishers were tripping over themselves to pump out titles about buying property and making money in the real estate business. Now that the bottom has fallen out of the housing market publishers are rushing out newly acquired manuscripts to advise consumers who may have stumbled in the housing game.
Not many literary readings are restricted to an over-18 audience. Fewer still take place under circus tents. Yet nothing could be more appropriate for the scandalous German best-seller “Wetlands,” by a television personality and author, Charlotte Roche.
Of course it’s the ‘role of women’ issue that’s got ’em buzzing and buying—over 680,000 copies since February. Yep.
The latest Conan Doyle manuscript to hit the market will cost somebody a bundle:
The complete manuscript of a Sherlock Holmes short story, written in Conan Doyle's elegant hand and bound for the author himself, will be one of the highlights of the Antiquarian Book Fair in London today, with a price tag of £250,000.
The daughter of the "Teflon" mafia don John Gotti has been sued by her publisher over failed plans to produce a memoir of her father's career as a camera-friendly face of organised crime. In a lawsuit filed yesterday in New York, HarperCollins alleges that Victoria Gotti has failed to return a $70,000 (£35,000) advance for a memoir originally due in November 2005.
“This is not 'writing as Fleming', it is 'plagiarising Fleming' to the point of 'mocking Fleming'.”
Sebastian Faulks apparently doesn’t have what it takes to pen a 007 novel. Although it was a commercial success, Devil May Care is drawing harsh criticism from countless Bond fans who condemn its weak story line, bumbling characterization of the hero and other unjustifiable blunders.
You can always count on some good stuff coming out of the Hay Festival:
The 400-year-old institution of the poet laureate, a post held by Ben Jonson, William Wordsworth and John Betjeman, has been labelled "ridiculous" and "archaic" by Wendy Cope.
It’s the supreme accolade for crime fiction and, at £20,000, the most lucrative crime-writing prize in the world. Natasha Cooper reveals the contenders for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger.
For an event celebrating the written word, the Sydney Writers' Festival has been caught up in an embarrassing dispute over the alleged censorship of its official daily newspaper.
I suppose we could have used the title 'not safe for anyone' many times already, but I thought it would be especially pertinent here because in this show Richard and Hans illustrate the many situations in which the C-word is perfectly appropriate.
