Smatterings

As the London Book Fair winds down, it looks like there’s something approximating the “Book of the Fair” publishers and media types are semi-desperate for. This year it’s THE HYPNOTIST by the pseudonymous Swedish author Lars Kepler, originally rumored to be Henning Mankell but also possibly someone in the Swedish book trade.

Angelina Jolie has signed on to play Kay Scarpetta in a projected movie franchise, but let’s see if the films actually get made.

Brian McGilloway picks his top ten Irish crime novels for the Guardian. 

Nicolas Cheetham has announced the launch list for new UK imprint Corvus, which includes the complete works of Phil Rickman and CJ Box’s standalone novels.

Joseph Finder writes about why we do and don’t want the CIA’s dirty work for The Daily Beast. 

Jason Pinter explains why Dan Brown, and his upcoming novel THE LOST SYMBOL, matters for all, especially publishing, while AP’s Hillel Italie looks at the trials and tribulations of being Dan Brown.

Two via Maud Newton: Jill Lepore’s Edgar Allan Poe essay in the New Yorker and A.N. Devers’ piece on Edogawa Rampo in Tin House.

Happy 50th birthday, Elements of Style.

I want to go to this bookstore.

If Nikki Finke is Hedda and Sharon Waxman is Louella, who plays Walter Winchell? Or Dorothy Kilgallen, for that matter?

The Craigslist Killer case fascinates me because, like that of Kari “Hipster Grifter” Ferrell, it’s an example of how criminal behavior leaves a very public trail on MySpace, Facebook, Flickr et al. for all to see and no one to notice or act. Welcome to the new world of Sociomediapaths.

And finally, this is the strangest, funniest thing I have seen in quite a while. (via)