Smatterings

It is so, so difficult to find book news today that isn’t Potter-related. Which isn’t so bad, I suppose, if it gets people to hang out in bookstores more often, but I wonder if it would be possible to put in place an edict that all those who buy a copy of Book VI also have to buy another book — anything, just another book…

So to get things rolling, here’s the Glasgow Herald’s Rosemary Goring pondering the question of just how much of a savvy marketer JK Rowling really was to become so successful.

And what of Bloomsbury, and their post-Potter plans? The New York Times sniffs around for answers.

The latest to jump on the Ed McBain tribute bandwagon — and rightly so — is the Independent’s Mark Timlin.

Joan Acocella offers up a meaty roundup of the significant work of UK author Hilary Mantel for the New Yorker.

The UK gets on the Elizabeth Kostova bandwagon, judging by this long profile in today’s Guardian.

Meet Megan, one of the few chosen kids to hang out with JK Rowling on the eve of the current edition of Pottermania. She asked questions, and the Mirror publishes the answers.

And finally, this is just wrong, wrong, wrong. I’m sorry, but you think James Thurber had HIM in mind when he wrote the story? I think not. (via Bookslut)