Yet More Smatterings

Although I’m not contractually bound to link to everything related to Laura Lippman (unlike a certain someone‘s Faustian bargain with Jonathan Ames) it behooves me to point out that finally, Janet Maslin elected to review WHAT THE DEAD KNOW – and golly gee, she seems to be surprised to like the book. Lippman also gets a lengthy writeup in the Baltimore Sun by Tom Dunkel.

Cara Black gets a great writeup in the SF Chronicle by Edward Guthmann.

More on the death of Michael Dibdin from the Guardian, Lindesay Irvine, The Rap Sheet and Juri Nummelin.

Fiona Campbell picks her top 10 favorite books set or about Japan.

Get ready for NoirCon next year.

Congrats to our favorite formerly anonymous publishing blogger, soon to be a literary agent with Writers House.

The Augusta Metro-Spirit talks with Donn Pearce, author of the novel that became the movie COOL HAND LUKE.

Poetry fans will make sure to check out FSG’s monthlong blog commemorating National Poetry Month.

Nerve asks whether Chad Kultgen’s THE AVERAGE AMERICAN MALE  is brutally honest or woman-hating. Me, I think it didn’t go far enough – mostly because the premise was interesting but because of its vacuum-like setting and lack of context, the meaning ultimately became muted. (link via.)

And finally, RIP Bob Clark. What a terrible way to go, and now I think I’ll go watch A CHRISTMAS STORY again. And even though I have completely lost the context of how I heard about this, I hope that whoever was trying to get a biography written about him will get the project off the ground. I know I would read it.