The American Academy announced its 2014 class of new members, comprising 204 people from across the sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, business, public affairs, and the nonprofit sector. In the literature section, they added Linda Gregerson, Amy Hempel, John Irving, Annie Proulx, Mary Jo Salter, and George Saunders. “Interclass” members include authors Adam Hochschild and Jill Lepore. The New York Public Library also announced its 2014-2015 class of Cullman Center Fellows, which include Pulitzer Prize winner Megan Marshall and Jon Lee Anderson for nonfiction; historians Deborah Coen, Kim Phillips-Fein, and Steven Pincus; and novelists Keith Gessen, Ayana Mathis, Jordi Puntí, and Justin Torres. In other […]
Authors
David Foster Wallace Trust Objects to Forthcoming Film
In a joint statement, the David Foster Wallace Trust, along with the late author’s relatives and his publisher Little, Brown, indicated their disapproval of the movie-in-progress “The End of the Tour,” based on David Lipsky’s 2010 book ALTHOUGH OF COURSE YOU END UP BECOMING YOURSELF. The film, which stars Jason Segel as Wallace and Jesse Eisenberg as Lipsky, wrapped principal photography in March. The estate said in the statement it was “given no advance notice that this production was underway and, in fact, first heard of it when it was publicly announced.” They add that “for the avoidance of doubt, […]
People: On Marquez, 87, and More
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 87, died at home in Mexico City on Thursday, following complications from pneumonia. Among the many appreciations of his work and life are these from Michiko Kakutani and Hector Tobar. Hillary Clinton‘s June 10 memoir has a title — HARD CHOICES and a final jacket: “All of us face hard choices in our lives,” she writes. “Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.” Author Jesmyn Ward will join the faculty of Tulane University on July 1 as the first to hold the Paul and Debra Gibbons […]
People, Etc.
Allison Renzulli has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the new position of culinary digital editorial director. She will be working from the New York office with the culinary marketing, editorial, and digital teams to oversee multiple digital initiatives. She was formerly senior marketing manager at Clarkson Potter. Elyse Turr has been named sales and marketing manager at Shire Publications and Old House Books, part of the Osprey Group. She was formerly an assistant marketing manager at Oxford University Press. Mike Salisbury has joined Yates & Yates as associate literary agent. Most recently he was marketing director of trade books at […]
Authors Guild Challenges Google Fair Use Ruling In Appeal
Last week the Authors Guild formally detailed their appeal of Judge Denny Chin’s November 14, 2013 summary judgment motion in favor of Google, finding that the web giant’s library book-scanning project was protected as “fair use.” The Guild says that the District Court applied “an unprecedented, expansive and erroneous interpretation of the fair use doctrine. The District Court essentially ignored the inherently commercial nature of the Library Project and wrongly determined that the entire program is ‘transformative.’ In doing so, the District Court failed to separately evaluate whether each of Google’s uses, including its reproduction, archival storage and distribution of […]
Forthcoming: Geithner’s Tour Guests, and A New Eggers
Crown announced former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner‘s book tour for STRESS TEST for May, featuring well-known “moderators” at many of his appearances. Notably, they include former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke (in Washington, DC) and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (in Chicago). Other moderators include Pulitzer–winning author Liaquat Ahamed, Jim Cramer, and Bethany McLean. On June 17 Knopf will publish a newly-announced 208 page novel by Dave Eggers, YOUR FATHERS, WHERE ARE THEY? AND THE PROPHETS, DO THEY LIVE FOREVER? It’s the “story of one man struggling to make sense of his country, seeking answers the only way he knows […]