Smatterings, Post-Vacation Edition

And after a glorious week away, the news is all doomy and gloomy! Well not all, but a whole lot of it, alas.

After the publishing news heard round the world, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publisher Becky Saletan quits, effective December 10.

Can a 26 year old hedge funder based in India save the publishing industry?

The Daily Telegraph’s literary editor, Sam Leith, has been let go, and it looks like Sunday Telegraph literary editor Michael Prodger will follow suit.

Thomas Nelson will lay off 10% of its staff, too.

Things are looking increasingly crappy at Woolworths, which is going into administration, but wholesaler Bertrams may be saved and sold to another company.

Connie Briscoe wins the libel case launched against her by her mother for the way she was depicted in Briscoe’s misery memoir UGLY. 

Hannah Tinti wins the John Sargent Prize for debut fiction. 

Patricia Cornwell gets very personal in this USA TODAY profile, inviting Carol Memmott into her Concord, Mass. house to talk about her newest novel SCARPETTA.

Patrick Anderson revisits Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels.

Josh Glenn kicks off a new series on vintage science fiction over at io9. 

Dwight Garner waxes eloquent about Alison Bechdel’s wonderful comic strip compendium THE ESSENTIAL DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR.

The Millions kicks off its Year in Reading for 2008. 

New York picks its favorite indie bookstores, but where’s the mystery bookstore love?

Bleak House will offer most of its catalog free for the holidays.

And finally, the secret ingredient in 7-UP way back when.