David Rhodes, 61, has been getting attention for his novel DRIFTLESS, published by Milkweed in 6,000-copy first printing–his first book since 1975’s Rock Island Line. The WSJ says “the re-emergence of Mr. Rhodes is noteworthy because he was once considered among the most promising writers of his generation. John Gardner, in his influential meditation about writing, On Becoming a Novelist, proclaimed that Mr. Rhodes possessed ‘one of the best eyes in recent fiction.'” They add: “Like many literary efforts, Mr. Rhodes’s novels barely caused a ripple in terms of sales. His books, which were issued in small numbers and only […]
Archives for September 2008
Rise of the Bigger eReaders
Holland’s iRex Technologies will officially announce a new, larger version of their pricey iRex ereader on Monday. Forbes reports: “The iRex Reader 1000 offers a 10.2-inch diagonal E-Inkscreen, far larger than Kindle’s 6-inch screen or even iRex’s own 8.1-inch diagonal iLiad, its last e-book model. That stretched display is designed to work with any file format, be it an e-book, a full-sized PDF, a Word document or HTML. Like earlier iRex devices, it sports a stylus and touch screen for taking notes and marking documents.” It will cost between $650 and $850.Forbes
People and Other Announcements
Perhaps recognizing the confusion between their company’s two operating names, Newsstand is officially changing its name to the moniker better-known within our business, LibreDigital. They say the change is “to reflect its expanding set of product solutions to a broader set of publishers.” And they have hired Russell Reeder as president and ceo. He was president and coo of video-on-demand player NxTV. At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Amanda Cook has been promoted to executive editor. In addition to her own list of acquisitions, she edits the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. David Ouimet is returning to PGW as director […]
Plus: Waiting for Brisingr; Prosecuting Bush in Vermont; No Bratz for Scholastic
* Booksellers and fans are gearing up for the just-past-midnight launch of Christopher Paolini’s BRISINGR. In the UK, Waterstone’s children’s buyer Claudia Mody tells the Telegraph, “It’s our biggest pre-order campaign for anything since the final Harry Potter novel. Bigger than Sebastian Faulk’s James Bond novel, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight or Delia Smith’s How to Cheat at Cooking. It’s going to be huge.” * The WSJ dubs books like Reading the OED and works of AJ Jacobs as “grit lit,” calling them “the geek equivalent of extreme sports.” Joanne Kaufman adds: “The popularity of such books makes perfect sense. After all, […]
Juicy Bits Returns: Angler
Slate brings back their juicy bits column, pulling “a breezy executive summary” from Barton Gellman’s ANGLER “for those of you who are too lazy or too incurious to read [the] lengthy expose.”Slate
Libel Suit Against Grisham Dismissed
A libel suit brought by a former Oklahoma district attorney against author John Grisham and Doubleday for the book THE INNOCENT MAN (as well as Barry Scheck, an attorney, and two other authors who wrote books about the same murder case in which two men were wrongfully convicted) was dismissed by Judge Ronald White. The AP says “the judge wrote that it was important to be able to analyze and criticize the judicial system ‘so that past mistakes do not become future ones. The wrongful convictions of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz must be discussed openly and with great vigor.”AP