Smatterings

Oh, those Minots (as in MINE-it, not the French pronunciation.) So many siblings, so many writers all trying to tell the same tortured family history in a different way. Not surprisingly, they fight a lot. Current round: eldest brother George, whose new novel tells the same family incident but may or may not tarnish the rep of second oldest brother Simon. My head hurt after reading this.

You know, part of me wants to find some trace snarky element in this, but I can’t–I think it’s great that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar loves history and seems to write it pretty well, too. And he wants to emulate Paul Robeson, who was quite the guy (and a favorite singer of mine.) What’s not to love?

Timothy Harris’s two Kyd novels were held up as prime examples of how PI fiction was moving forward in the 1970s, updating the Hammett/Chandler vision. Then Harris stopped writing books–until now. With a third Kyd book in stores now, after a 25 year layoff, Tom Nolan catches up with the writer in this interview for January Magazine.

Roger Straus, the longtime founder of the high-falutin’ pubishing house Farrar, Straus & Giroux, has died at the age of 87.

It looks like an arrest is imminent in the case of literary agent Rod Hall, who was stabbed to death over the weekend. A man in his 20s–no other details available–is being questioned.

Noel “Razor” Smith was once a hardened criminal. Now he’s writing about his former life, and speaks to the Guardian about the transition from robber to writer.

Louise Rennison’s books have made a huge impact in the United States–especially for its slang. The Guardian looks into the effect of “Britishisms” creeping their way into the way American teens talk. The next trend: when this particular patois goes global….

Blah blah blah Bill Clinton memoir blah blah June 22 blah blah blah. Actually what strikes me is that it’s a year, almost to the DAY, that some other juggernaut was published. Is there something about the first day of summer that screams blockbuster? Hell if I know…

And finally, oh, if only I had a serious amount of money, then I could buy some of this. Seeing as he is one of my all-time favorite painters….