Weekend Review Rundown

New York Times
Interestingly, Times film critic A.O. Scott reviews TC Boyle‚Äôs latest. (Scott says the book has too much sex, whereas the Boston Globe said it had too little — well at least they both agree that it is not Boyle’s best effort, by a lot). There‚Äôs an intriguing essay in which Philip Roth explains why Lindbergh beats FDR in The Plot Against America. And in an apparently new feature, ‚ÄúThe Last Word”, Laura Miller takes a look at the logic of the standard cloth/trade pattern for new books. She tells us that most people would be more willing to take a risk on a new book if it went straight to paperback instead of being sold at the higher hardcover price first — duh. (note to Ms. Miller: telling us that is the easy, obvious part, why don’t you explain why the economics, or mindset, of publishing prevents this from happening more often?)

Guardian
The Guardian is doing a tribute to Graham Greene (whose centenary is coming up in October) which includes this essay by newlywed Zadie Smith (who, incidentally, I did not realize was so determined to look sexy). There’s an article about Stephen King which says that his future plans are not to write a book but to help the Democrats win Florida. Lastly, Booker fever is heating up as two titles from the longlist get reviewed.

WaPo
Wow, King’s newest is also reviewed in the WaPo (note: at 845 pages, it is the seventh book in the series (luckily for King it’s the last, now he can ice his hands)). There’s a compilation of high school summer reading lists and some commentary on the same subject. Dirda reviews The Inner Circle, and there’s a piece on Kafka.

The Independent
We have an interview/profile of Roddy Doyle. And, not to be outdone by the recent article on books that changed women’s lives, a list of 20 favorites nominated by the readers.

I’ll update this post throughout the weekend as more papers com online.

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