Update madness

And it seems like the crime fiction crowd took the weekend off, or I’m just not finding them as easily as I usually do. No matter, there’s still tons of good stuff to sift through on this merry Father’s Day:

All I can say about Daniel Mendelsohn’s incredibly long-winded review of Colm Toibin’s THE MASTER in the New York Times is–holy crap! Was this originally meant for the NYRB and they decided to pass? All kidding aside, Mendelsohn can always be counted on for thoughtful analysis, which he delivers here in spades. Otherwise in the NYTBR, there’s a look at the Hot New Trend in making composers into fictional sex symbols, Charles Taylor’s mixed take on a curious re-imagining of the life of Philip K. Dick, and Laura Miller wonders whether we’re OK with the golden age of self-help days.

Next up, the Washington Post, where Jacob Slichter’s memoir of his drummer days with Semisonic (remember the song “Closing Time”? Yes, now it’s stuck in your head as it is in mine. Drat) strikes a chord with John Strausbagh; Jonathan Yardley enjoys another kooky family novel, this one written by George Hagen; and Michael Dirda finds that Hari Kunzru is no one-hit wonder.

Obligatory CanCon to follow at the Globe and Mail, as Ira Basen gives the lowdown on the history of spin doctors (while noting the 20th anniversary of the phrase’s invention–that young?) Edward St. Aubyn’s trilogy SOME HOPE gets quite the rave review from Andre Alexis; and Martin Levin uses Jack McLelland’s death as a backdrop for his thoughts on the Book Expo phenomenon.

At the Guardian Review, the focus is on summer reading and what books big name authors are lugging along. Standard tripe and a dollop of high-falutin’ fare–can’t these people relax with Jilly or Martina or something? Otherwise, Steven Sherrill’s much buzzed-about VISIT FROM THE DROWNED GIRL is found to merit the hype; the book that inspired the Japanese horror classic THE RING (and an inferior American remake) is available in English for the first time; and Margaret Drabble waxes rapturous about Edith Wharton.

Meanwhile, at the Observer, Robert McCrum goes off on a flight of fancy imagining what Samuel Johnson would have thought of the prize that bears his name. Methinks he was stuck for a column topic this week, but no matter. Looking elsewhere, Louis de Bernieres is back with a new novel after a 10-year wait, and he speaks to Geraldine Bedell on why he thinks BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS is “probably a better book” ;Melissa Ruthven’s thesis about contemporary fundamentalism is deemed important and timely (I’ll say); and Vanessa Porter finds Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s short story collection to be rather Forster-esque.

All the other news that’s fit to include:

features reviews of debuts from J.A. Konrath and Jack Kerley, as well as new releases by Steve Hamilton, Rob Reuland, and Richard Cox. Barbara D’Amato’s newest novel is also reviewed at the paper.

John Orr, in his roundup for the San Jose Mercury News, is less impressed with Konrath’s work, but does give a nice notice to Will Thomas’s historical mystery SOME DANGER INVOLVED.

Mary Ann Grossman looks at crime novels from three Minnesota-area novelists (KJ Erickson, Mary Logue and Judith Guest) in her column for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Edna Buchanan continues to stay in the news, what with the Denver Post raving about her latest book, COLD CASE SQUAD, while the Houston Voice catches up with her and asks about…whether she has ever included any gay and/or lesbian characters in her books (not yet.)

The Salt Lake Tribune interviews James Lee Burke about the contrast of good and evil as applied to his newest book, THE MOON OF RED PONIES.

More on the Reuland v. Hynes case that I posted about earlier this week is found at Newsday, albeit in much lesser detail.

Terry Pratchett is one popular author, and one of his novels has inspired a play that will run most of the month of August. The Scotsman interviews him about his thoughts on the production and his work in general.

The reviews of Dale Peck’s HATCHET JOBS are trickling in, and I suppose I’ve missed a bunch but this one from the SF Chronicle intrigues me because….Peck gives a free pass to Danielle Steel? Wha? This I gotta check out eventually…

Are Richard and Judy too tied to the publishing industry? I kind of shrug my shoulders at that, but others are a little more vocal in their criticism.

Memo to Boris Becker: you were a great tennis player. But according to the Independent, perhaps your skills as a biographer are not quite as well-developed.

Philip Kerr’s making a bit of a career switch from thriller-writer to children’s author, but with a 1 million pound advance, it’s quite a lucrative change. He speaks to the Bookseller about what prompted him to try his hand at kiddie fic.

Ron Butlin’s life has been, shall we say, quite eventful. It informs the fiction and poetry of his past, as well as his current short story collection VIVALDI AND THE NUMBER THREE. The Sunday Herald catches up with him and inquires about the impetus for his darkly twisted works. Meanwhile, Scotland on Sunday enjoys the collection, which are extended musings on famous composers (surprised that the New York Times didn’t talk about this earlier? Probably because it’s a UK-only book, to the best of my knowledge…)

And finally, so how will Profile Books follow up their phenomenal success with EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES? It’s obvious of course–a book about spelling. I expect we’ll soon be deluged with treatises on the malaise of multiplication and why we’re chained to our calculators in no time…