Barnes and Noble has put itself up for sale as annual profits have decreased dramatically over the past three years, from more than 135 million to about 36 million. Barnes and Noble chairman Leonard Riggio, who founded the chain in 1965 with a single store in New York City, is said to be a possible buyer, though the price is still in question. As analyst James McQuivey put it, "How do you value an asset for the future when the entire market is being essentially turned upside down?"
Bookslut blogger Jessa Crispin writes a public letter to an author who, in response to a negative review, has written the literary site a "bullying, shaming, lying, and manipulating" letter that asks Bookslut editors to revise the review. The author, alas, isn't named. Says Crispin: "If you think I'm not mentioning your name out of some sort of respect, really, it's only because I don't want any more publicity for your book than it is already receiving. I don't want your name on anyone's lips more than is absolutely necessary."
Tonight at Manhattan's 192 Books, Jennifer Egan will read from her new novel A Visit From the Goon Squad. The novel recently graced the cover of the New York Times Sunday Book Review, where Will Blythe wrote, "although shredded with loss, [the book] is often darkly, rippingly funny. Egan possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart."
And, speaking of the Times Book Review, Media Matters asked editor Sam Tanenhaus why Laura Ingraham's satirical book The Obama Diaries is listed on the non-fiction bestseller list.
