(Apologies for the lateness. I had the flu.)
Have you heard there's a big new movie coming out?
I won't go into it too much, because if you have children, or a television, or you're one of the millions who loves the series, or you possess any of the senses, you probably know that The Hunger Games is opening at the end of the week.
Although I had nice things to say about it over the holidays, I'll refrain from discussing it in this Media Monday, lest you suffer from Hunger pangs. Or loss of appetite. Or maybe you don't care either way. This post will remain a Hunger-free Zone.
Still, it's nice to see a book get so much attention. As Young Adult Books Editor at Amazon, Jessica Schein said the other day, "There are books we all love, and books we can't put down, and then there are books that morph into cultural events." Well put, Jessica.
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The New York Times takes us to court in this Sunday's Book Review. A review of Dale Carpenter's Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas tells us that "Dale Carpenter’s Flagrant Conduct is a stirring and richly detailed account of Lawrence v. Texas, the momentous 2003 decision that overturned Bowers." The reference is to "Bowers v. Hardwick," a 1986 Supreme Court decision that is largely seen as a key ruling against the privacy of homosexuals. Reviewer David Oshinsky writes that the book "tells the story through the eyes of the major players — the plaintiffs, arresting officers, attorneys, judges and prosecutors — most of whom were interviewed at length. The result is a book that turns conventional wisdom about Lawrence on its head. Indeed, the readers most likely to be surprised by Flagrant Conduct are those who think they already know the basic outlines of the case."
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Kevin Boyle calls Raymond Bonner's Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong "mesmerizing," describing first the grizzly 1982 murder that sets up the case, then describing the man who was sentenced to death for the crime, eventually telling us that this capital case, like so many, "was shaped by the fearsome combination of race and class." For years, the case was in and out of court. "Then, in the summer of 1993, [the] file ended up in the hands of Diana Holt, a law student working as an intern for the South Carolina Death Penalty Resource Center. And the case’s trajectory suddenly changed." Boyle that we watch as Holt "peels back the prosecution’s omissions, manipulations and deceits,
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By: Maryann Yin,
on 10/12/2011
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: #Hyperion20, Hyperion/Voice, Bookselling, eBooks, Steve Martin, George Carlin, Julie Andrews, Michael J. Fox, Hyperion Books, Fred Rogers, Add a tag
To celebrate twenty years of publishing, Hyperion Books is offering twenty backlist eBook titles for $2.99 from October 10th to October 24th.
The discounted eBooks come from a wide variety of genres such as memoir, thriller, cooking, academic and inspiration. The books include The World According to Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin, Shopgirl by Steve Martin, Home by Julie Andrews and Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox.
Here’s more from the announcement: “Along with our eBook promotion, we’re asking our Twitter followers and Facebook fans to join in. We’ll be Tweeting, with the hashtag #Hyperion20, 1 question everyday for the next 2 weeks, the winner gets 1 free Hyperion/Voice book and everyone who plays gets entered into a pool to win a bundle of 5 Hyperion/Voice books in the genre of their choice! We’re asking our Facebook fans to post a picture of themselves with a Hyperion/Voice book and in return, we’re giving them 1 free Hyperion/Voice book.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Add a CommentBlog: Some Novel Ideas (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Games, Steve Martin, Meditations, Twitter, clutter, Dwell, nook, Atomic Ranch, Gustav Klimt, tabula rasa, The Jerk, Add a tag
About a year ago, my husband and I became fed up with my cluttered nightstand. I do a lot of work in my bedroom, (I know, bad sleep hygiene) and my nightstand was practically sagging with the weight of all of the books, magazines, and doo-dads that I'd piled and placed on its surface. So, I bought a wonderful basket made specifically for such clutter and placed it near the nightstand. Then I cleansed. I cleared off the top of that nightstand completely and filled that basket with only the most worthy of items: back issues of Atomic Ranch and Dwell magazines, a Frommer's guide to European Cruising, and a thick file of clippings and photos of ideas for the dream house that we're hoping to build when we become empty nesters.
It felt good, clearing things out, cleaning things off, tossing the old and unnecessary. When I finished, I was left with a wide, empty surface, a tabula rasa, a plank of possibilities. All I needed was my lamp and my alarm clock. That's all I needed.
For about a week.
I couldn't help it. I need that framed photo of my husband and me with our dear (now dead) dogs, Daphne and Bessie, even though the frame is broken and the whole thing has to lie flat now. I need that Gustav Klimt paperweight that I bought at a museum in Vienna. I need that. And I need those back issues of Multimedia and Internet at Schools magazine that I pilfered from the school library (Don't worry, I'll give them back!). And I need my latest copy of Games magazine, which I take a whole month to finish, considering I can only work on it for the ten minutes before I fall asleep each night. I need that. And I need my nook! I need it there on my nightstand. And I need that awesome candle that one of my students gave me for Christmas that makes the room smell like a spa. And that's all I need. I don't need anything else. Oh, I need my glasses, those I need. And a box of tissues and a book about Twitter because I may start tweeting someday soon. But that's it. That's all I need.
My nightstand is back to looking exactly how it looked before I bought the basket. And the basket is now overflowing, too.
I'm not bothered by the sight of my cluttered nightstand anymore. It's still-life. It's metaphoric. You can learn a lot about a person by looking at her nightstand. What does yours say?
Did you ever see "The Jerk" with Steve Martin? Here's the scene that will pretty much sums up my experience: (I apologize for the half-green screen image. It was the only copy of the scene I could find.)
Wonderful work, as usual, Eric!
Wow - never knew Steve Martin could play! Very cool!
Thanks Brian!
Yeah, I saw him too. He actually gave me a new appreciation for the banjo. ;-)
I just bought the album and love it,John. Has some pretty funny bits too.