Don't be the last person on earth to buy this book.
It’s fun news for Friday, including David Sedaris musings and an invitation to the biggest book club EVER! Don’t miss out.
- In 1998, Seattle took book clubs to a whole new level with its collective reading initiative, which encouraged thousands of Seattlites to read Russell Banks’ Sweet Hereafter. Now, the “one city, one book” idea is going global with “One Book, One Twitter” – thanks to Jeff Howe at Wired magazine, the whole WORLD is invited to read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and discuss it via the social networking site. The initiative officially begins today, so check out the Guardian for information on how to get involved.
- Jacket Copy’s Carolyn Kellogg went to hear David Sedaris read on Wednesday night, and she tells us about it in the provocatively titled post, “David Sedaris: Is he really that good?” After screaming, “Yes!” at my computer, I went on to read Kellogg’s thoughts on whether fame and money have weakened Sedaris’s humor–as Kellogg puts it, “Would he have nothing else to talk about but darling squabbles, his French country house and dinner parties?” Luckily, a couple readings from his upcoming book Squirrel Sees Chipmunk: A Modern Bestiary (out in October) put Kellogg’s fears to rest. She calls his essays “writing in fine, fine form,” and says he is even better in person.
- Shelf Life’s book quiz asks authors entertaining questions, like, “What’s a book you’ve faked reading?” and “What fictional character would you most like to marry?” This week, the interviewees are humorist Dave Barry, author of I’ll Mature When I’m Dead, and Charlaine Harris of the “Sookie Stackhouse” series. Barry explains his habit of reading Chuck Norris books on airplanes–”Because when you read a Chuck Norris book, the person in the next seat will not bother you”–and Harris confesses to classics she’s never read.
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