controversy

Remember the time Fox News pissed on Kurt Vonnegut's grave? The network upheld its belles lettres legacy the other night as Greg Gutfeld and his Red Eye cohorts branded Stephen King "partially brain-dead" and "a raging alcoholic," along with cracking jokes about running him over in a van, because they didn't like the way he phrased his exhortation to teens to read more.

Puleese.

The Danish writer who commissioned cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, igniting violent protests across the Muslim world, says he can't find a publisher for his latest work, a translation of the Qur'an.

Go figure.

An NY literary landmark and intellectual oasis since 1927, The Strand has always been a hip, independent and romantic symbol of the city’s literary status. Nowadays, though, it’s become the scene of ire, rife with allegations of racial discrimination and accusations of tyranny. Is the independent and world’s largest used bookstore morphing into a corporate entity that cares only for profits?

France's most celebrated and controversial contemporary author could be pushed off his pinnacle following an astonishingly vitriolic attack from a critic with a unique insight into his oeuvre. She is his mother - and she is threatening to knock his teeth out with her walking stick if he mentions her again in one of his works.

Mom’s 83 years old, and she’s seriously pissed.

Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe has won a major court battle over a book he wrote more than 30 years ago detailing how Japanese soldiers persuaded and sometimes forced Okinawan civilians to commit suicide rather than give themselves up in the closing days of the second world war.

Writer Nigel Tomm releases the tenth volume of his novel "The Blah Story" which encloses the longest word in the English language (or even in the world). The word 'babyoubiqui...oiletub' contains 2,087,214 letters (728 pages) and means something like 'a girl' or 'a bi*ch'.

In 1869, a year before Charles Dickens died, he wrote in his will that he wanted to be remembered for his work alone. No plaques, no statues, "no monument memorial or testimonial whatever"… Now, almost 140 years after his death, Dickens' final request has sparked an impassioned debate among his most ardent fans – and his family are suggesting his dying wish be laid to rest.

It seems you no longer have to write a book to be eligible for a literary award. Katie Price, a.k.a. Jordan, has put her name to a children’s book that is up for a Nibbie award. While the current poet laureate thinks this is just grand, most writers who do put pen to paper are not sharing in the joy. What’s your opinion on the matter?

A touch of Friday hilarity: Biologist and blogger PZ Myers, an outspoken critic of intelligent design, was ousted from the premiere of the creationist film Expelled, while his companion was allowed in to view the movie. The punch line: his companion was Richard Dawkins.

Sebastian Horsley, whose memoir, published last week, details a past life of drug abuse and encounters with prostitutes, was refused entry to the US Tuesday for reasons of moral turpitude. He was traveling to attend a book party. “God bless America, land of the free, but sadly not the land of the depraved,” Horsley said. The author, it bears saying, is no longer an addict.