Book News for Monday, March 3, 2008
Posted by Brockman, March 3, 2008 1:04 pm
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Filed under: Book News.
Before the Dawn: The Morning News Tournament of Books (co-sponsored by, ahem, Powells.com) is still four days away — mark Friday on your calendar, kids! — but the list of judges has been unveiled for your viewing pleasure.
Alas, no members of the Decemberists partake in this year's extravaganza — but you'll find such authors as Nick Hornby, Elizabeth McCracken, and Gary Shteyngart, as well as lit-bloggers Maud Newton, Mark Sarvas, and Bookslut contributor Elizabeth Kiem. (Although, technically, Sarvas can now count in both categories, thanks to his forthcoming debut novel.)
Your faithful correspondent was asked to participate, but I had to refuse on grounds that it might be a conflict of interest because Powells.com is co-sponsoring the event.
Okay, that's a lie. I wasn't asked. Nobody wants me to judge anyone's books. That's fine by me, I can sit in my corner of the sandbox and play with my own toys, I don't need anybody, I hate everyone!
No, that's not true, either. I love people and I don't own a sandbox. Maybe I wasn't invited because I'm a compulsive liar.
- Me Tarzan, You Fake: Hey, it turns out that a bestselling Holocaust biography about a little girl who was raised by wolves is... gasp!... FAKE.
Next they'll tell us Tarzan didn't really happen.
Absolutely True Award: Arguably the second-best online literary award after the TOB's Rooster is the 2008 Delete Key Awards for "the year's worst writing in books," awarded by the One-Minute Book Reviews blog.
And the nominees are:
1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (But... why?)
2. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (But... why?)
3. Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen (But... why?)4. The Intellectual Devotional: American History: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently about Our Nation's Past by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim (But... why?)
5. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (But... why?)
6. The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z! by Steve Martin and Roz Chast (But... why?)
7. The Manny by Holly Peterson (But... why?)8. The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (But... why?)
9. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle (But... why?)
10. Unholy Grail by D. L. Wilson (But... why?)
Somehow, congratulations don't seem to be in order. Maybe "condolences"?
The "winner" will be announced on March 15th — and, presumably, the book's editor will receive some kind of prize.
Brockman... Mr. Brockman: EW.com has an exclusive sneak peek at the cover of the new James Bond novel, Devil May Care, written by Birdsong author Sebastian Faulks, which will be published on May 28th.
I can neither confirm nor deny that Yours Truly was the model for the silhouette of Sir James. But that hairline is strikingly similar...
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Brockman is the head writer for the daily Book News posts on the Powells.com blog. In his free time he's hard at work on his fictional memoir, which changes titles daily.
The views and commentary posted by Brockman are entirely his own, and are not representative of the whole of Powell's Books, its employees, or any sane human being.
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