In a front-page feature, the Wall Street Journal examines
one of many odd results of today's numbers-driven book world: authors with
poor sales records who adopt pen names, sometimes of the opposite sex,
to try to restart their careers. Pity the author who makes it under a
pseudonym, like William P. Kennedy, who, as Diana Diamond, has become
the "queen" of the relational thriller. Noting that his literary career
under his own name appears dead, he told the paper, "If I was a
sensitive person, I'd be suicidal."
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This coming Friday evening, authors, customers and others are staging a "Last Word" party to celebrate Dean and Susan Avery and mourn the closing of their bookstore, Ariel Booksellers, New Paltz, N.Y., at the end of the month. The Woodstock Times talks with party organizers and the Averys.
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John Fowles, the author of such intriguing postmodern novels as The Collector, The Magus, Daniel Martin, The French Lieutenant's Woman and A Maggot, died on Saturday in England. He was 79.
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The Allentown Morning Call profiles 58-year-old Hackman's Bible Book Store in Allentown, Pa., owned by Joe and Marcia Hackman (he's the son of the founders). The 20,000-sq.-ft. store aims to boost sales on its Web site and increase its support of community religious activity. It's also found a strong market among Latinos but is having some trouble spreading the word among 20-to-35-year-olds.
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In a case of a superstore being all things to at least one person, the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune reports on a Salem, N.H., divorce lawyer who may be disbarred. Among her indiscretions, as it were: she claimed to have offices but in fact worked out of her home and met with clients at a Barnes & Noble and a Denny's.
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The New York Times investigates Hard Case Crime series, the collaboration between Winterfall and Dorchester Publishing, whose noir cover was happily blown by the publication of Stephen King's The Colorado Kid. Titles are available in a range of stores as well as via subscription.
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Joyce Carol Oates, "grande dame de la littérature américaine" as one account put it, has won the Prix Femina in the foreign category for The Falls.
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This coming Friday evening, authors, customers and others are staging a "Last Word" party to celebrate Dean and Susan Avery and mourn the closing of their bookstore, Ariel Booksellers, New Paltz, N.Y., at the end of the month. The Woodstock Times talks with party organizers and the Averys.
---
John Fowles, the author of such intriguing postmodern novels as The Collector, The Magus, Daniel Martin, The French Lieutenant's Woman and A Maggot, died on Saturday in England. He was 79.
---
The Allentown Morning Call profiles 58-year-old Hackman's Bible Book Store in Allentown, Pa., owned by Joe and Marcia Hackman (he's the son of the founders). The 20,000-sq.-ft. store aims to boost sales on its Web site and increase its support of community religious activity. It's also found a strong market among Latinos but is having some trouble spreading the word among 20-to-35-year-olds.
---
In a case of a superstore being all things to at least one person, the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune reports on a Salem, N.H., divorce lawyer who may be disbarred. Among her indiscretions, as it were: she claimed to have offices but in fact worked out of her home and met with clients at a Barnes & Noble and a Denny's.
---
The New York Times investigates Hard Case Crime series, the collaboration between Winterfall and Dorchester Publishing, whose noir cover was happily blown by the publication of Stephen King's The Colorado Kid. Titles are available in a range of stores as well as via subscription.
---
Joyce Carol Oates, "grande dame de la littérature américaine" as one account put it, has won the Prix Femina in the foreign category for The Falls.