Room 23 Coffee Table Book to Benefit Charity, Feature Ludacris, Cindy Crawford, 98 More
Over the course of three months, one Beverly Hills penthouse suite played backdrop to 100 celebrities, all of whom were captured in lush, dramatic photographs by the renowned Deborah Anderson and collected into a slick, forthcoming coffee table book called Room 23.... read more
Playboy Acquires Rights to Serialize Vladimir Nabokov's Final Work
Every now and then, Playboy publishes something that really does compel people to pick up the magazine for the articles. The latest addition to this list is The Original of Laura, the novella Vladimir Nabokov was scribbling onto index cards until his death in 1977. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner acquired the first serial rights after his publication's literary editor, Amy Grace Loyd, plotted a clever scheme to win over Andrew Wylie, the book's agent: send him orchids.... read more
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Thing Around Your Neck
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie published... read more
Kamila Shamsie: Burnt Shadows
Kamila Shamsie’s book is the latest addition to a... read more
Rock Plaza Central and Fans Collaborate on Twitter Project
With the facility of micro-blogging service Twitter at their fingertips, musicians are increasingly able to keep their fans updated on their every move. Some artists, however, seem to tweet with equal significance the news of a successful recording session and the tastiness of that Philly cheesesteak they ate when stopping through the City of Brotherly Love. If you're feeling unsatisfied by a bevy of mundane and grammatically unorthodox posts, perhaps this new Twit-lit project will better serve you: Chris Eaton, novelist and frontman of Canadian band Rock Plaza Central, will post Twitter-length stories on the band's account on each day... read more
Do-Over! Author Robin Hemley Talks Embarassment, Abject Terror
We've all had a moment (or few) so embarrassing that we wish we could hop in the DeLorean, gun it to 88 and try again. In his new book, Do-Over!, Robin Hemley did his own version of time travel, revisiting past embarrassments in his life for a second chance to rectify past flubs.... read more
James Joyce's Ulysses Gets Graphic With Online Comic
The mere mention of James Joyce's pivotal work, Ulysses, can send shivers down the spine of any self-respecting graduate who barely managed to scrape through the Cliff Notes of one of modern literature's crown jewels. At 265,000 words, the tome tends to leave many slack-jawed in its intimidating wake. But the sequential artists at Throwaway Horse, LLC are seeking to change all that.... read more
David Foster Wallace Biography Gets Publishing Deal
Since the suicide of author David Foster Wallace last September left the literary community reeling, two writers have tried to grapple with his oft-emotionally turbulent life and celebrated career in the form of biographies: D.T. Max, who penned a lengthy New Yorker article on the author after his death, and David Lipsky, who wrote one for Rolling Stone. As of last week, though, only Max's proposal earned a publishing deal, while Lipsky's remains unsold.... read more
Did Wired Editor Chris Anderson Plagiarize Wikipedia for His Upcoming Book?
One of the very first things high school students learn nowadays is that Wikipedia should never, ever be considered a legitimate source for research. Maybe Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson was in high school before Wikipedia was a big thing, but at some point down the line, he should have gotten the speech about how plagiarism is wrong. If he did, according to some recent reports, it seems like it maybe didn't stick. Or, maybe he just got really caught up in the topic he was writing on. In his forthcoming book, Free: The Future of Radical Price, about the business... read more
Martin Luther King Jr. Books Get Republished After 20 Years
Martin Luther King Jr.'s son, Dexter King, has authorized the republishing of his late father's books, which have not been available for nearly 20 years. Publishing company Beacon Press will re-release these books on Jan. 18, 2010, three days before what would have been the civil rights leader's 80th birthday.... read more
Where Will Emile Hirsch's Hamlet Fall Within the Canon of Modern-Day Shakespeare Films?
When we heard Emile Hirsch would play Hamlet in a modern-times Shakespeare remake directed by Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke, flashbacks of teen flicks (most of which involved Julia Stiles) adapting 16th-and-17th-century masterpieces flooded our collective memory. It's always been interesting to watch what develops in these modernizations, as directors and writers throw purist interpretation to the wind with the belief that Shakespeare's storylines transcend all time periods. Heartthrobby leads try to give Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier a run for their money, jeans-and-tees replace frilly frocks, and major turns of plot transpire in gas stations, high-school stadiums and Blockbuster video stores. Although some past adaptations have recontexualized... read more
Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records Coming in Sept.
Over the years, Merge Records has brought us Neutral Milk Hotel, Arcade Fire, Spoon, She & Him, and many other excellent bands that hold a permanent places on our playlists. What enabled this humble North Carolina indie imprint to become one of the best of the best? A forthcoming biography might just have the answers.... read more
Dave Eggers' Where the Wild Things Are Novelization to Include Special Edition Furry Cover
By now you might have heard about the film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are... read more
Love and Other Drugs to Star Gyllenhaal, Hathaway
Viagra. Parkinson's. The pharmaceutical industry. Not the usual plot details found in a classic love story, but Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway's latest movie revolves around these rather unromantic issues. Like Brokeback Mountain, the last film the two were paired in, Love and Other Drugs is based on a book, but true-love skeptics take heed: This film isn't a work of fiction.... read more
Jessica Hopper's Girls' Guide to Rocking Gets Infomercials, Tour
All parents know the standard warning lectures they must give their pre-teens: Stay away from sex, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, violence and anything that'll rot your teeth. But we here at Paste would like to suggest that one more conversation be added to that list: When it comes to mass-produced teeny-boppers, just say "no."... read more
Amanda Palmer Plans Book, Shows, Releases
After taking in years of punk-cabaret entertainment with the Dresden Dolls and the release of a killer, Twin Peaks-inspired solo effort, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, it might have seemed difficult to imagine the next page in the storied career of AFP (That's "Amanda Fucking Palmer." Her words, not ours). Hell, you might've considered enlisting the services of the Log Lady to predict what was in store.... read more
Chip Kidd to Pen Batman Comic for DC
Graphic designer, novelist and comic-phile Chip Kidd has announced that he will write a full-length Batman comic for DC. The news came via Twitter (where else?) from one of the audience members at the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest, who witnessed Kidd's announcement and promptly spread the good news throughout the nerd world.... read more
Dark Night of the Soul Online Store Opens Its Doors for Limited-Edition Book
Sure, the music recorded for the Dark Night of the Soul project may not be available for sale, but the Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse/David Lynch/Everyone Else in the World collaboration is still a hot commodity. Banking on the limited-edition book for its sales instead of the legally troubled music, the store is now open for business.... read more
J.D. Salinger Sues Over Catcher Sequel
If J.D. Salinger continues to have his way, Holden Caulfield and his red hunting hat will remain within the sanctity of yellowed paperbacks pored over in high-school English classes and re-read for decades. That means no television, film or theater adaptations, thank you. And certainly no book sequels.... read more
Emily St. John Mandel: Last Night in Montreal
Emily St. John Mandel’s slim debut, an elegy for a broken relationship... read more
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