The return of the Massive Weekend Update

Gosh, it’s been ages since I did a proper turn around the weekend book sections of major newspapers. Kind of like exercising for the first time in weeks and realizing that there are muscles I forgot about, but now I won’t because they ache a bit. So, with that lovely mental image in mind, onward:

NYTBR: Paul Theroux does Graham Greene, NYRB-style, now that Norman Sherry’s long-awaited biography is here just in time for the centennial of the famed author’s birth; otherwise, Larry Beinhart’s back on satirical form with his new novel THE LIBRARIAN, THE DARK TOWER has finally ended, leaving people more puzzled than when the whole metaseries begain, and Julia Reed rounds up airplane-related reading.

WaPo Book World: So why are the Left Behind books so damn popular? Ann Banks attempts to explain why. Otherwise, Molly Haskell gives a huge thumbs-up to a new biography on Cary Grant, Selwa Roosevelt is much less impressed with Herbert Breslin’s tell-all about Luciano Pavarotti, and Margot Livesey’s happy to have the protagonist of Anthony Doerr’s debut novel “take up space in [her] brain.”

Globe & Mail: Margaret Cannon presents an odd mix of reviews in her new crime column, as Patricia Cornwell, the Kellermans, Stuart Woods, Jim Fusilli, Ed McBain and Steve Trotter get mentioned. Otherwise, Margaret Doody critiques the edited journals of L.M. Montgomery at some length, Lionel Shriver rips into Joyce Carol Oates for “atrocious writing” (but it’s still a pretty good review!) while Mike Doherty convinces me I should read Anthony Horowitz’s first novel for adults, and Tamara Faith Berger’s new novel sounds suitably weird and twisted and shocking for my tastes (Nice Jewish Girl descends into sexual hell. Oh yeah.)

Guardian Review: Maxim Jakubowski rounds up new crime releases by Mark Timlin, James Ellroy, Joe Lansdale and…James Patterson? Please, it shouldn’t have been that hard to resist. I mean, really. But otherwise, M John Harrison digs Alan Furst, Bernard Cornwell has yet another new book out, and Paul Golding’s second novel seems to be an ode to the joys of, um, coprophilia. With this and Toni Bentley’s memoir, it really is all about the ass….

Observer: It’s a special American edition, which also is code for um, kind of boring. Sorry. But there’s the requisite review of THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, Neil LaBute’s new collection of short stories which centers around–surprise!–sexual desire, and Robert McCrum throws up his hands when it comes to the potential winner of the Man Booker Prize.

Scotsman & sundry: So now that Edinburgh is officially a World City of Literature, the Sunday Herald attempts to explain what the title really means, as does the Scotsman. Otherwise, Iain M Banks makes a triumphant return to SF with THE ALGEBRAIST.

The rest:

Oline Cogdill looks at two very different books, Bob Morris’s Florida-based BAHAMARAMA and Simon Kernick’s muscular thriller THE MURDER EXCHANGE, but really digs both of them.

[

The Bookseller meets G.M. Ford]25, whose books are beginning to get a real push in the UK. He talks about what prompted him to write crime novels (deep, abiding rage) and what keeps him going now.

Doug Allyn, the prolific short story writer whose seventh novel is due to be released soon, is interviewed by the Bay City Times.

The Rebus Quest returns, and for a fair bit of cash, you, too, can be in the next Ian Rankin novel (but remember, it won’t be out till 2006, since he’s signed a book-every-two-years deal, hallelujah)

There’s never been a sequel to a work in two different media–novel and graphic novel–but if someone’s going to break the rules, it’ll be Max Allan Collins, as the Quad-City Times finds out.

Regis Behe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interviews Dan Fesperman about his life as a foreign correspondent and how it influenced his latest work. Tom Walker, the Denver Post’s books editor, is another jumping on the Fesperman bandwagon, as his rave review for THE WARLORD’S SON attests.

The Japan Times tracks down Chinese-born (but US-dwelling) writer Qiu Xiaolong for an interview about his work, especially how accurate it is with regards to the Chinese cultural revolution.

Jack Batten of the Toronto Star is gobsmacked by the latest Reginald Hill, GOOD MORNING MIDNIGHT.

And finally, oh, what a shame. What a damn, damn shame. Not being able to see this musical? Such a great loss. (Hey, I’m still traumatized by walking along Tottenham Court Road regularly during the summer of 2003 and seeing that damned freaky statue.)