How do you feel about product placement in books? Is it okay for authors to make a buck by having their characters drink Coke or wear Cover Girl makeup? Or does it cheapen the story and the writer? It’s something to think about, as product placement in books is becoming rather prevalent these days.
Comics are usually regarded as part of the problem when it comes to literacy, but some schools in the States are making them part of the solution. That the comics-based literacy curriculum is taking hold is due in large part to the growing status of graphic novels as legitimate works of literature. The program is showing some results, though it still has its detractors. But if it works, why not?
In a critically acclaimed memoir published last week, Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang-bangers, running drugs for the Bloods. The problem is that none of it is true. Ms. Jones’ older sister saw the article and called the publisher to tell them Jones' story was untrue.
Well, it’s come down to this. Jerry Seinfeld, not content to let the powers that be sort out his wife’s alleged plagiarism problems, took a few rather low shots at the opposing author on national television and has now gotten himself a defamation lawsuit for his troubles. Is all publicity good publicity?
She will be the first black woman, the first living poet and only the third female poet to be featured by the celebrated "Poetry for Young People" series from Sterling Publishing. Normally they choose "dead and old and white" poets, says Angelou. “And so I’m laughing at the other sleeve.” Video interview also available here.
Spiderman fans are having a fit over Marvel’s decision to ‘unmarry’ Peter Parker and his wife of almost 21 years, Mary Jane Watson. The move undoes two decades of storytelling and messes with a premise that fans felt was carved in stone.
The gloves are off as Derek Walcott viciously attacks fellow Nobel Prize winner VS Naipaul in his recently premiered poem, Mongoose. The piece is “a fast-paced, savagely humorous demolition of Naipaul's work and personality that begins with the opening salvo: 'I have been bitten, I must avoid infection/Or else I'll be as dead as Naipaul's fiction.' Ouch! And it gets better.
National Public Radio has expanded the book coverage on its website, adding weekly book reviews, and has hired six new book reviewers—including a graphic novel reviewer—and added more features to an already existing lineup of author podcasts, critics' lists and other book-focused content.
I suppose we could have used the title 'not safe for anyone' many times already, but I thought it would be especially pertinent here because in this show Richard and Hans illustrate the many situations in which the C-word is perfectly appropriate.
