Conversational Reading

Great to see some of our finest writers making impacts elsewhere. . . . continue reading, and add your comments

Enrique Vila-Matas’s website confirms that Dublinesca and Paris no se acaba nunca will be published in English by New Directions. Here’s a description of the former: . . . continue reading, and add your comments

Here’s your guide to all the Bernhard available in English. . . . continue reading, and add your comments

Vila-Matas is a personal favorite—his Montano’s Malady is pure genius—so I’m excited to find out more about Dublinesca. And I did hear from Declan at New Directions that they signed this book on, so it will be available in English at some point in the future. In the meantime, ND is bringing out Vila-Matas’s Paris Never Ends sometime next spring (?). Can’t wait . . . . . . continue reading, and add your comments

I’ve just received an advance copy of the first book to come out of this new imprint, The King of Kahel by Tierno Monénembo. It appears to be a serious and interesting work. Here’s the description: . . . continue reading, and add your comments

$300 Per Year to BlogShare

Blissfully stupid:

Between her blog and infrequent contributions to ehow.com, over the last few years she says she’s made about $50. To [Marilyn] Bess, her website is a hobby. To the city of Philadelphia, it’s a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.

In May, the city sent Bess a letter demanding that she pay $300, the price of a business privilege license.

“The real kick in the pants is that I don’t even have a full-time job, so for the city . . . continue reading, and add your comments

Ebook Pricing and Other Things You Need to Know AboutShare

I’m technically still on vacation, but more than a week is too long to go without a little something. So here we are, Wired magazine has a piece on why eBooks cost too much:

In the new September 2010 issue, Wired devotes a few column inches to answering this question: “Why do e-books cost so much.”

The answer may already be known to you if you work in publishing, but it’s instructive to learn how e-book economics are . . . continue reading, and add your comments

Gone Fishin’Share

I’m on vacation. While not strictly impossible, more posts this week are unlikely.

My Introduction to The Buenos Aires AffairShare

Can be read at The Barnes & Noble Review. Here’s a quote:

Despite its ideological undertones, however, which admittedly got its author into serious trouble, The Buenos Aires Affair is anything but a lugubrious political document—it is, in fact, a highly suspenseful novel that begins as a thriller would, with a mother discovering that her middle-aged daughter is missing from an idyllic beachside apartment. Puig then carefully draws the reader into this mystery, dropping clues as to where the daughter is, as . . . continue reading, and add your comments

Since I’m guessing most people who read this blog don’t read in Spanish, I’m going to dwell for a second on this response from the Javier Marias interview I linked to on Wednesday: . . . continue reading, and add your comments