I was having a pretty loathsome week so far, but this cheered me right up.

Al-Qaeda Calls Off Attack On Nation’s Capitol To Spare Life Of ‘Twilight’ Author

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It wasn’t scheduled to go on sale until next week, but Scholastic has given word that booksellers can now start selling the paperback edition of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games (Scholastic PB 9780439023528 $8.99).

Now, if only they would speed up the release of the third book in the series Mockingjay. I mean, am I the only person thinking that A) waiting until Summer is nearly over (August 24th) to release it and B) releasing it on a Tuesday, rather than a Saturday, probably weren’t the brightest moves for the Summer’s most anticipated juvenile title?

I know what you’re probably saying: “well, it’s not like it’s Harry Potter“. Well, it won’t be with a strategy like that.

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It was embarrassing enough to admit that I didn’t know all of the New Yorker’s list of 20 Under 40 writers.

Now Dzanc Books gives us 20 Writers to Watch: An Alternative List.  I only recognize a handful, namely Lydia Millet, Gary Lutz and Lara van den Berg.

At least the presses are ringing my bells, and some great ones get name-checked here: Small Beer, Future Tense and Graywolf Press to name a few.

However, one happy name stood out for me, and that was Eugene Marten. He has a forthcoming novel called Firework (Tyrant Books), which totally kicked my a** (in a good way).  I would have a real hard time describing, but suffice it to say, it’s a book I didn’t know I was waiting for until I read it.

(via GalleyCat)

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Now that the sun has appeared in the Pacific Northwest, it is highly unlikely that weekend plans for many folks will include books (unless they go outside to read, and, have we mentioned how much easier it is to read a real book in sunlight than it is an ebook?).

So, before I bid farewell to our industry for a couple of days, I thought I would share a few links that caught my eye over the past few days:

Over at Salon, Laura Miller finally writes about something I’ve been complaining about for years: the migration of the slush pile from publishers’ transoms to readers (or in my case, professional book buyers). The letters made for even more interesting reading, as it’s amazing how many folks are cheering the demise of traditional publishing. This isn’t to say that it can’t be tweaked, but anybody who says that self-publishing is a uniformly good thing hasn’t seen as many awful self-published books as I have.

EWs Shelf Life has a great feature on Portland writer Tom Bissell’s book on video games Extra Lives. As  a reader and unrepentant gamer, I loved the book, but I wish he would tell me how to kill that zombie with a chainsaw that keeps killing me in Resident Evil 5 (and when did zombies learn how to use chainsaws?).

Check out this video Georges Perec on French television. Perec was a strange writer who loved dismantling traditional narrative in favor of more challenging literary acrostics in his novels. His best known works include Life: a User’s Manual and A Void (a mystery noted for the complete absence of the letter ‘E’).  He hadn’t developed his troll-doll look yet(featured below), however.

Anyway, if you understand French, you’ll probably enjoy this. (via MoboyLives)

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It’s already beginning. Although it’s not scheduled to release until August, the hoopla surrounding the film Eat, Pray, Love, based on the megaselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, is kicking into high gear.

Carolyn Kellogg, blogging over at Jacket Copy, describes the circus that was a press screening. Not of the entire film, but of a mere 21 minute edit of it.

In addition to the invited guests, there were a  variety of vendors, hawking their wares that tie into the film. None of the vendors are actually featured in the film, but they offer everything from Lonely Planet travel guides to fashion and accessories to guided tours to the three ports of call that Gilbert visited in her book (Italy, India, Bali).

Who needs self-discovery when Cost Plus and the Home Shopping Network can help.

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Last week I read one of the most turgid tip sheets ever sent to me. I don’t want to embarrass either the author or the publisher, but it was bad.

I would recommend that anybody writing tipsheets or query letters (or anybody needing a good laugh visit Slush Pile Hell and don’t do what these folks have done.

(via MobyLives)

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Johnny Depp, who channeled Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo vibe to astounding effect in Terry Gilliam’s film of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas steps again into the good doctor’s shoes in this upcoming adaptation of The Rum Diary.

The Rum Diary was released towards the end of Thompson’s life, and was a thinly veiled biography exploring time he spent in Cuba in the late 50’s.

I’m intrigued, as I haven’t read this book. I kinda lost interest in Thompson when he didn’t have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore (although he did get  a few good licks in on the Reagan administration).

What makes this even more intriguing is that the film is directed by Bruce Robinson, who directed Whithnail & I and How To Get Ahead In Advertising.

(via EW Popwatch)

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According to the blog The Playlist, the Wachowski Brothers, the directors who brought us The Matrix and (groan) Speed Racer, are producing an adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas.

I don’t know how reliable the sources for this piece are, but they claim that “Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen and Natalie Portman have been offered parts in the project”.

That sounds like an awful lot of A-list talent for one film. But, then again, there are six different stories to be told, and no two big names would likely be sharing screen time.

And, if it is true that Tom Twyker (Run Lola, Run) will direct, maybe this could turn out to be a decent picture.

(via io9)

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I didn’t think I would ever have occasion to write about video games in this blog.

Taking advantage of the Pilgrimpalooza surrounding the release of both Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour and the film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Ubisoft has created a video game based on the popular graphic novel series.

This looks charming, and it could be a lot of fun. But, now that I can graphically decapitate zombies and destroy undersea cities, I’m uncertain how long I could endure this game’s retro-saccharine charms.

(via Topless Robot)

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It had been reported in several news outlets (most prominently the New York Times) that the publishers of an online comic adaptation of James Joyces’ Ulysses (called Ulysses Seen) were forced by Apple to censor the image of a naked woman before it allow it be an app for their iPad device.

As word of this spread, Apple had a change of heart and is now allowing the original art to go through, rather than the cropped image they had previously approved.

Comic Book Resources ran an interview with the comic’s co-creator Robert Berry, who sums things up nicely by saying:

Frankly, I think that’s quite an amazing story for all of us to carry into BloomsDay; the idea that artistic expression is continually reinvented and new ground is won through the way we view this one little blue book.

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