From Inside Higher Ed, heading to the publishing world’s biggest gathering, Scott McLemee reviews a hard-hitting analysis of American literary culture, academic and otherwise. This year's BookExpo America will be a story of networking, the old way and the new (and more). In print forever? Sometimes, authors would rather go out of print. We're courting disaster if we begin judging books by boasts on their covers. I've always loved books: that's why I collect them: Children's Laureate Jaqueline Wilson explains a life-long hobby and obsession. What better way to relax after a kid-filled day than with a nice book—and what less likely scenario can many parents imagine? For page-turners everywhere, here's has a novel idea. The death of biography is exaggerated: A review of Biography: A Brief History by Nigel Hamilton. Carlin Romano reviews The Case for Literature by Gao Xingjian.
From Ralph, a review of Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake: Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn, and a review of When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary Realities by Stanislav Grof. A review of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. A review of A Tranquil Star. Writing Africa, Writing Ourselves: An interview with Ed Pavlic, author of Labors Lost Left Unfinished. A review of Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree — The Search for My Melungeon Ancestors by Lisa Alther. A review of Four Queens: The Provençal Sisters Who Ruled Europe by Nancy Goldstone. A review of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
From PopMatters, The Evolution of Vintage: One of the glaring paradoxes of technological evolution is its ability to reconnect us to history. And if we know anything about human nature, it's that as we step into the future, we always look back. From The New Atlantis, a spate of new websites aim to shame, bust, or at the very least publicize illegal, incompetent, and just plain indecent behavior—no, not of celebrities, of neighbors. The website Crappers Quarterly gives the 411 on where to do your business the world over.
From Reason, an article on Wikipedia and Beyond: Jimmy Wales' sprawling vision (and an interview with Wired). Can we save the Internet? Andrew Keen and Kevin Kelly debate the scary introduction to primeval man. How much does the Internet weigh? Discover puts the online world on the scale. And e-charmed, e-nergized, e-lated: Now that e-mail has pretty much replaced letter-writing, Carmine Starnino says, it's worth a look as an art form
