Smatterings at Noon

At Time Out Chicago, book editor Jonathan Messinger looks into how Richard Stark’s Parker novels ended up with the University of Chicago Press. Actually the main answer lies with this guy…

Holy shit, Lucy Maud Montgomery killed herself? (via)

Add Patrick Anderson to the list of admirers of Stieg Larsson’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Also, there’s a lively discussion of the book at the New Yorker’s Book Bench blog.

Janet Maslin raves yet again about a crime novel, this time Kate Atkinson’s WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS.

Val McDermid’s modern classic, A PLACE OF EXECUTION, now airs as a three part series on ITV. More here.

Olen Steinhauer is in the midst of a pre-publication tour for his next novel THE TOURIST (which publishes in March) and he’s blogging from the road.

Michel Houellebecq and Bernard Henri-Levy collaborate on an epistolary book, so no wonder the French literati are in a tizzy about it.

Terry Teachout pays tribute to his friend Richard Sudhalter, the esteemed jazz critic who passed away last week.

Science fiction writer and editor Brian M. Thomsen has died.

Are we now the United States of France?

And finally, slash fiction personified. (via)