Smatterings

This is the first day of the rest of America’s financial life. And anyone who says this is not a depression economic concavity is fooling themselves.

There’s been a lot of dissection over what turned out to be a low-calorie examination of the publishing industry’s “death” by New York Magazine, but one thing I haven’t seen pointed out, and what is rather troubling, is this: if you quote a source on the record, don’t then use the source again without attribution for a different quote. If you do, at least be a little (no, a lot) more opaque about it. That’s just doing your job right.

Patrick Anderson enjoys the procedural pleasures of John Harvey’s brand-new Resnick novel.

Michael Kenney has his say on the new Linda Barnes at the Boston Globe.

Janet Maslin bets on a Rebus comeback after reading EXIT MUSIC.

Declan Burke is guesting over at the Rap Sheet and opens up with a treatise on the Irish crime fiction boom. He also offers a fantastic piece on his regular haunt, Crime Always Pays, on what room there is for serious criticism of crime fiction. Go read it now.

Alas, Cluelass, the fabulous site run by Kate Derie for the last 13 years, is no more.

Stuart Evers wishes fans of THE WIRE would pick up the 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain. What he said.

Ken Russell is a huge fan of Art Spiegelman’s MAUS and tells the Times why this is the case.

The Internet is a bad, bad thing for writers.

The Bookseller covers book covers, and how stale and same most of them have become in the UK.

And finally, maybe Michael’s ain’t where it’s at anymore – at least, food-wise.