Dance to the Weekend Update

Mmm, Passover cleaning. A fine way to spend the weekend, I tell you. Empty out cupboards, clean them, put the pots and pans back. Rinse, repeat with utensils and plates. Restrict eating area to kitchen only. Clean until everything is shiny and spotless, and then clean some more. And that’s only the beginning.

But I digress. You wanted lit links? Well, here they are:

NYTBR: Lots of goodies this weekend, including David Gates’ playful analysis of Outlaw Literature; Salman Rushdie’s reflections on what PEN is really supposed to be doing; Daniel Handler’s defense of H.P. Lovecraft (but hasn’t this book been out, like forever?) A new book on why autism is more widespread than ever; and James Parker rounds up fiction by Poppy Z. Brite, Philip Jennings, Andrew Miller, and Leonardo Padura Fuentes (whose ADIOS HEMINGWAY is wonderful.)

WaPo Book World: Jonathan Yardley finds Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel to be “strange and affecting”; Marina Krakovsky reflects on the whole prize-giving phenomenon in the publishing industry; and Leon Aron reflects on a dense new biography of Joseph Stalin.

G&M: Rebecca Caldwell explores the enduring fascination with Don Quixote; Elizabeth Renzetti chats with Charlie Higson, the creator of the “Junior 007” series; Mike Matthews is charmed by Rob Payne’s comic take on expats in Japan; George Murray of Bookninja fame rounds up some of the latest and greatest in current Canadian poetry; Andrew Pyper wishes that Ilona van Mil’s debut novel had stuck to a particular focus, but likes the writing very much; and Margaret Cannon’s crime column features new books by Jonathan Rabb, Ken Bruen (comparing him to Graham Hurley? Eh?) Varda Burstyn, Elizabeth Peters, Anne Perry, Ridley Pearson, and Mary Jane Maffini.

Guardian Review: Most people know e.e.cummings because of his poetry, but what of the man himself? When there’s intrigue and romance, complications are always afoot; Irvine Welsh is a notable latecomer to the charms of Craig Clevenger’s debut novel, finally out in the UK; David Mitchell explains — or tries to — how his novels come to life; and Ian Jack deplores the celeb-ification of the death of public figures.

Observer: Six teens are interviewed about their knowledge of history and the results are, well, spotty; Rupert Thomson gets positively dystopic in his new novel; Stephanie Merritt commends the content of Toby Litt and Ali Smith’s now-infamous anthology; and Robert McCrum gets cranky about first novels, though to be honest, I think he’s missing the boat a little bit here.

The Times: Erica Wagner considers the case for “cult fiction” and its best-known writers; Someone actually attempts to pen a history of Britain that has cool vignettes instead of stuffy anecdotes; and if you want to know about Westerns, Philip French is your man.

The Scotsman: David Robinson considers the newfound success of screenwriter and novelist David Nicholls; a new book by Jenni Calder explores the concept of identity; and Allen Lane presents a fascinating new biography of troubled genius Kurt Godel.
 

The Rest:

And once again, a double dose of Oline Cogdill, as she gives a rave review to Florida mystery writer James O. Born for his new novel, as well as a similarly good one for Joseph Finder’s COMPANY MAN.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Pohla Smith rounds up new mysteries by Rupert Holmes, Bill Pronzini, Rhys Bowen, Jan Brogan, Barbara Parker, and Charles Todd.

David Montgomery’s fast approaching the prolific book reviewing stage and his latest effort is in this week’s Philadelphia Inquirer, looking at Craig Johnson’s debut THE COLD DISH.

Somehow I forgot to link to this all week but Jon Breen presents a fabulous and thoughtful tribute to the work of Margaret Millar in the wake of a new collection of her writings just out from Crippen and Landru. I’ll certainly try to seek out more of her work as well.

The Willston Pioneer Sun News Online (whew, that’s quite a mouthful) gives a thoughtful review to James C. Mitchell for his latest novel CHOKE POINT.

Are you going through temp hell or have some working knowledge of the less-than-blissful experience? Then this new book by Ayun Holliday, interviewed in the Chicago Sun-Times, might be for you.

The Chicago Tribune’s David Ulin examines the old as well as the new when it comes to the work of Maritta Wolff. To my mind, everyone should read WHISTLE STOP, while SUDDEN RAIN is more interesting for documenting the changes of the early 1970s.

There’s something ironic about pitting the world’s most prolific freelancer (John Freeman) against the world’s seeming most prolific author (William T. Vollmann) as what happens in this review for the Seattle Times.

Howard Kissel of the New York Daily News feels much the same way I do about the #1 Ladies Detective Agency Books — and adds that the latest one might be the best of the lot.

And finally, to the Toronto police — just because a guy was a bank robber once, doesn’t mean he actually recidivated. But then, Roger Caron’s just an interesting guy all by himself…