Hearsay Archive:

December 2003:

12/01/03:

Scoop! Shocking GG News
So, there I was at a swanky Brick party at Michael Redhill's on Saturday night, hobnobbing with my betters (Michael Ondaatje, Dennis Bock, Andre Alexis, Catherine Bush (a closet ninja reader), Andrew Pyper, Michael Winter, Ken Babstock, Kathryn Someoneorother, the list goes on -- but I won the door prize), when I see Dennis Lee come in. Says I to myself, "Go ask him why the hell his book wasn't submitted by Anansi for the GG." If you've been following the discussion groups here on Bookninja, you know we were outraged to discover some time back (when the Governor General's Award poetry shortlist was announced and we were shocked to find Lee not on it) that Dennis's book UN, a shoo-in if ever there was one, wasn't even submitted by House of Anansi for consideration. Knowing Anansi as one of Canada's premier poetry lists (maybe the top now that Ken Babstock is the new editor) and Lee as a great guy who helps young writers, we assumed it had to have been Lee's decision to withhold his book from competition, perhaps in hopes of allowing others a chance at the brass ring. Not so, said Lee. In fact, until Thursday, he had NO IDEA his book hadn't been submitted. It looks like someone was asleep at the switch at Anansi and what is perhaps the most daring book of poetry published this year went completely UN-noticed. Are heads going to roll? Probably not. Should they? (You tell us) 

Amazon.ca Names Best of 2003
They agree with Bookninja on The Haunted Hillbilly. (discuss)

Ah, the Man Who was Read Aloud at My Wedding...
A profile of one of my favourite poets, Yevgeny Yevtushenko. (I wish I had some dude penetrating the masses with my poems.) (discuss)

The Daemon King
Philip Pullman profile. I read these books and they're actually quite engrossing. (discuss)

Get Your Sequel On
David Rees, creator of Get Your War On, has got a new one out. (LOL from Bookslut) (discuss)

What's in a Name, Anyway?
These Australians need to be taught that only honourable thing to do when two people share the same name and occupation but have differing critical viewpoints is to duel it out with flintlock pistols on a windy bluff. (discuss)

The Next Harry Potter!
Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak collaborate. I want to have some kids right now just so I can mess them up with this. (discuss)

I Recently Had a Job Interview Where I Didn't Understand a Word People Were Saying to Me
Was bizspeak to blame? Yes. Well, that and the fact that I didn't speak Mandarin, despite what my resume said. (discuss)

12/02/03:

Yann Martel Frightened Inner City Regina...ists? (ians? istas? ese?) Might Not Find Requisite Fifty Copies of Life of Pi on Shelf if Libraries Close
Good writers use metaphors and food analogies... And in other news, a quick look at my atlas tells me Saskatoon isn't in the province of Winnipeg, nor Regina, but rather some strange land  called "Saskatchewan." And they have writers there. But seriously, folks: I love the West. After Ontario, it's what's left on the map! (I just made that up!) (discuss)

Pete, Maybe You Could Get Me This For Christmas to Help with My... Problem
Book on grammar and punctuation hits Brit bestseller list. (discuss)

Aussie Police Take Student's Books
Because they thought she was a terrorist. (discuss)

Newsflash: Journalists Don't Think of Themselves As "Real" Writers
Don't worry boys and girls, no one else does either. (The Washington Post might make you answer a few questions to get in. You aren't going to Hell if you lie. God wants you to lie to the Washington Post. Please lie. For the children.) (discuss)

"Someone decided a few years back that drinking for no reason was bad, but drinking to support a friend was good"
The Book Party - Washington's newest political farce. (See above. Remember that God kills kittens when you don't lie to the Washington Post.) (discuss)

Meta-fictional Diseases
Is there a booster shot for writer's block? (discuss)

12/10/03:

Announcement!
Bookninja is on hiatus until the weekend. I'm doing some recog in Montreal for my other (read: paying) gig as an editor for Maisonneuve Magazine -- if you get a chance you should definitely check it out. It's what The Walrus promised to be but has so far failed to achieve (i.e., it's not somnolent and poorly designed). So go outside, get some sun on your pasty arms. And read a book for Pete's sake.

Unfortunately for Canada, 1968 Hasn't Come Yet
But for the French.. Ooh la la! (discuss)

More Coetzee News
Well, if he's good enough for Lynn Coady, then I'll grudgingly concede that he might possess some merit after all. (discuss)

Ah, the Old "I'm Now a Crappy Author Please Don't Toss My Lying Ass in Jail" Defence
Well, it worked for DBC Pierre... (discuss)

Hand Over the Goods, You Filthy Animals
Author asks break-in thieves to cough up her novel in progress from the laptop they stole - AND the tape of her little girl's fourth birthday party. (Back that work up, people...) (discuss)

The End of Beauty
Looking at Jorie Graham's look at Modernism. (discuss)

A Kind of Primer on Comics
For those of you who have not yet succumb to the geekly air lately hereabouts. (discuss)

Gwendolyn Brooks Timeline
I went to her memorial service in New York a couple weeks after I arrived. You wouldn't have believed the number and variety of people there. If you dislike Angelou on grounds of merit, you should check out Brooks. (discuss)

Seldovia's Revenge?
New in OKD news. (discuss)

Kiddy Authors
News to make you smile. (discuss)

12/13/03:

Well, I'm back and I have good news, and a real headache.  Besides the drinking that goes on there, did you know that even the stop signs smoke in Quebec? I swear to god I saw a four month old baby with a menthol pacifier. My clothes smell like an ashtray. I would burn them, but I'm afraid to end up addicted to nicotine. I stayed out with the other editors until 4 am. Do you know what that does to a man of my advanced age? Neither do I, but it hurts. The last time I stayed out until 4 am, I was 24 and I fell on my back in a pothole (and I do mean POT-hole) and couldn't turn over. My friends, poets and novelists every one, pointed and laughed.  

You Mean I Could Have Been Driving a Utopian Turtletop?
When poets and car companies meet. (discuss)

So Many Books Lost, Such Little Time
The New York Observer reviews A Splendor of Letters. (discuss)

It Would Be Touching If It Wasn't So Petulant
The transcript of Stephen King's NBA speech. (LOL* Golden Rule Jones) (discuss)

I Miss Napster
The sounds** of writers. (discuss)

Is Nick Hornby the Writer's Writer?
The Brits seem to think so. (discuss)

Non-White Like Me
Diran Adebayo on "black writing." (discuss)

Atwood - the Opera!
Enough said. (discuss)

Gen Wha?
The debate over who speaks for Gen Y continues in the letters section of MobyLives. (discuss)

"Shame on you, KATE WINSLET for not introducing me to BOOKNINJA.COM sooner."
Every site is better as a screenplay. (LOL* Cup of Chica) (discuss)

12/15/03:

Robert Fulford Calls Maisonneuve da Shiznit!
Or something to that effect. He calls the very classy limited gift box set that we're doing - four issues, a subscription for six more, a CD, and a bunch of Maisy gear - something "people will talk about for years and perhaps judge, decades from now, as a sign of literary vitality in 2003," which may be a bit excessive. I would have just settled for "a good deal, considering," but we'll take it. (discuss) 

Marchand Digs Solway
Which is a shame, because I've been liking Marchand lately and it's beneath him to be taken in by a ridiculous circus clown... (discuss)

E-freaking-gad!
Death wears a turtleneck and beret, and it's looking for YOU! (discuss)

Tolkien Bests Austen with Devastating Suplex...
Winning mud-soaked battle royale. Austen loses contest, top: sources. (discuss)

More Best of 2003 Lists! Oh... Goodie!
SFGate, Seattle Times, Guardian. (discuss)

"In our part of the world, the lines between fantasy, invention, documentation and confession are not necessarily as sharp, as they are in other places."
Three Israeli writers profiled in NYT.** (discuss)

Yevgeny Profiled, but Not by the KGB - the Times, They Are a Changin...
A birthday present from the NYT.** (discuss)

RIP: Fadwa Toukan
Renowned Palestinian poet dead at 86. (discuss)

When Pulp Mysteries in the Hands of Grad Students Aren't Nerdy Enough...
The Internet to the rescue! (discuss)

A "brilliant literary analysis and humanistic wisdom, filtered through a biologically sympathetic sensibility"
All in a day's read at Evolutionary Psychology. (LOL* ALDaily) (discuss)

Then Who Did It? Who who?
Ah, the old "an owl ripped my friend's wife to shreds" defence. (discuss)

12/16/03:

Come ON! She Can't Even Spell PhD!
Madonna is the McDonald's of personality. Just like McD's can't leave a single burrito, curry, or drip of goulash unsullied, but must instead exploit and McSanitize each  "ethnic novelty" in order to cattle-prod some life back into its bored, drooling herd of "customers,"  Madonna can't keep her bony hands off a single stereotype of personality. Psychologists might call this "overcompensation" for not having one herself. Addendum: after all my railing, it turns out that this is a humour piece written by a friend of Maud Newton's. But it looks SO REAL, and couldn't you just see it happening? (discuss)

Book Parties Suffer from Funereal Disease
And apparently Sandra Bernhardt (LOL* Maud Newton) suffers from Ican'twriteworthcrap disease. (discuss)

Did Peter Jackson Get LOTR Wrong?
The Scotsman on Tolkien's classic. (discuss)

Bestseller, With Occasional Brilliance
I seem to be the only person in the world who thinks Jonathan Lethem's earlier work is more interesting than the "literary" stuff that's made him famous. (discuss)

"Poetry shakes up our thoughts, calls upon a part of the human character that is at home in the corporate world, and allows us to look at old problems in new ways."
This guy might not be "The Man," but he's The Man's Right Hand Man (thanks to KI Press for the link). P.S. Saab's are Europe's Datsuns. (discuss)

New Yorker Fiction Issue
There's work by Saunders, Sedaris, and Erdrich here, among others. I daresay you might pick it up. (discuss)

Harold Bloom's Going On About the Classics Again
Apparently there's been no good writing since Shakespeare and Cervantes. Would that include your own writing, dahling? (discuss)

The Punctuation Backlash Begins
The Guardian goes after Eats, Shoots and Leaves. (discuss)

The Future is Canuck Cowboys!
Heinlein thought the future should be patterned on Alberta. Luckily, that's a  future of the past. Yeehaw. (discuss)

Ding! Ding! Ding! And They're OFF!
"Okay, Pollack 'fans,'" said God, "here you go." (discuss)

12/17/03:

"Though it may be stunt writing, it's never stunted."
My point exactly. Christian Bök is getting the attention of New York. And as I've discussed with my good pal Degen, it's for the better book - Crystallography. (discuss)

"No one in the world suspects that at a moment's notice I can become mighty Green Lantern - with my amazing power ring and invincible green beam! Golly, what a feeling it is!"
Ah, the Silver Age of Comics. (discuss)

McDonald's Hired a PR Firm to Find the Plural of Egg McMuffin
When anyone who's eaten more than one (LOL* Aldaily) at a time can tell them it's "blaaapphff!" (discuss)

But Something Tells Me This Isn't Going to Be Appearing in Crapters Any Day Soon...
Maltese bank funds book of poetry. Satan comments on winter weather and dons extra scarf. (discuss)

Merde ! Le Gros Enfant Mourra de Faim!
The Flemish government is cutting subsidies to writers. (discuss)

CGI Orcs Duck and Run!
Okay, it's not really bookish, but it's still a fun piece. (LOL* Boingboing) (discuss)

"Fan fiction is one of the greatest and most wildly entertaining forms of copyright infringement this side of Kazaa"
I can see how this would be fun, especially with some friends gathered round. Hell, I used to do something similar with a slush pile. But I think this dude was alone. There's a fine line between investigative journalism and a slow decay into madness. (discuss)

Shameless Self Promotion
Regular ninja reader? Discussion board poster or lurker? Got a reading or appearance you'd like to promote? Tell us. (Here)

12/18/03:

What I Want is a Book from that Crazy Press Secretary Dude Who Kept Claiming Iraq Would Water the Desert with the Blood of the Infidels
In my darkest fantasies (LOL* MobyLives) it would be called "Nothing Fell Today but the Blood of Yankee Demons." (discuss)

And And And that Truck that Turns into a Robot And And And that Guy with the Gun Bigger than His Arm And And And that "Al K. Ida / G. Hadd" Chemistry Set that Includes Plutonium And And And...
Kevin Chong interviews Santa Claus! (Oh yes, and the fiction editor of the New Yorker, who was once Canadian or something.) Santa Claus! (discuss)

Yippy Tyee
B.C.'s new electronic newspaper. (discuss)

The Brain Alphabet
I don't really know what to say about this, but I'm sure the poets will have something to contribute. (LOL* Boingboing) (discuss)

What the Dickens!?
"Charles Dickens was the first rock star." (discuss)

Now That's a Curve Ball
Jock is poet, serial killer novelist. (discuss)

“Yeah, I was a headless fisherman who had bamboo stakes driven up my ass to make a little extra cash, after which I was beaten to death three times a day in Kosovo, just before I played bass in a band of flesh-eating ghouls who impaled me on red-hot pokers just outside of Abilene, where I dated an extremely ugly rodeo clown, until she started shooting up greasepaint. Yeah, those were some hairy days, man.”
George Saunders interviewed (LOL* MaudNewton) in an online New Yorker exclusive. (discuss)

When Old People Try to Write Pop Culture References...
I want to turn away from his shame, but I can't. This could have been a funny piece. Who am I kidding. No it couldn't. (discuss)

12/20/03:

Hey you. We've been dating for, what, four months now? Well, obviously it's getting close to this month's Christian co-opted pagan holy day, and that means we're going to have to take a break so Pete and I can go home and get drunk and argue with our families. We'll post Hearsay this weekend and into the beginning of next week before we let the dead air and static snow take over for a few days. After that, we'll post intermittently until after the new year, as breaks from motherly guilt and subtle run-downs from Dad are required. So keep checking back to see what fresh hell we are in! If I don't meet anyone else over the holidays maybe we can hook back up in January. (Why is it I feel as though I'm in a never-ending John Hughes film when I go home? Shouldn't I have kissed my letter to Mr. Vernon by now?) Even if I do... Please: don't you forget about me. I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby.

Poetry in Canada a "Strange Situation"
So says George Bowering, who also brings us the Canadian Poem of the Week page. (discuss)

We've Been Singing the Praises of Maisonneuve a Lot Here at Bookninja, But Let's Not Forget Geist Magazine
Where else can you find articles on epigraphology or letters about "underducking"?  (discuss)

Mysterious Book May Be Hoax!
Well, really, aren't all books hoaxes? (LOL*LISNews) (discuss)

Struggling with a Title for Your Next Book?
You are not alone. I am too. (discuss)

Poetry and the Critics
Given the discussions of poetry and criticism that have been taking place on our boards, this one seems appropriate. (discuss)

"Apertures and Orifices in Chaucer."
The Chronicle's First Annual Awards for Self-Consciously Provocative MLA Paper Titles (LOL * Invisible Adjunct) (discuss)

Regina Library Task Force Formed
Apparently, five people is a task force in Regina, but still, there's hope for saving the library. (discuss)

Think-Hearing
An academic speaks on deaf language artists. (discuss)

U.S. Poetry Store May Be Forced to Close
There's a poetry store in the U.S.? Wait, there's two poetry stores in the U.S.? (LOL*LISNews) (discuss)

Chip Kidd Can't Save You
Identity Theory interviews the book designer. Again. (discuss)

Alan Moore Is Quitting Comics to Become a Magician
Like he isn't one already. (discuss)

The Road of Romance
The Brits pave roads with old Mills and Boons novels. (discuss)

12/29/03:

Extra! Well, here it is, the end of another month and The Walrus is AWOL, AGAIN. Are they late? Are they on a break? What is their schedule? No one seems to know. It's not in the magazine (at least not easily found) and it's not on the ridiculously out-of-date and error-ridden website (eg, on their contact page: "ADVERTISERS: Plese read Information for advertisers." Typo and broken link... That's gotta inspire confidence.) The first issue somehow made it to stands before those hoodwinked into subscribing by a massive media blitz even saw it, the second issue was weeks late with the excuse, "Hey, it's still November and we only said 10 issues a year." So, apparently, those other two months are to be doled out in two and three week chunks as needed to cover for inept editing and poor management. We'll see what happens come April when they've used this "flex time" up and the excuses and finger pointing start to get really amusing. It's bad enough the magazine looks like a bad text book and that the articles are so boring they seem to actually reach into you and squeeze your adrenal glands shut, but on top of poor design and editing, the damn thing is late three times in a row. I could excuse a few screw-ups from a magazine that was working its way up from a grassroots following to a monthly publication, but these guys have sold the Canadian public (and some big American writers) on their cash, reliability, and editorial "vision." Did that vision include bored readers and late issues? Probably not. As of 10:30 this morning, no one was answering the phone there. 10:30 on a Monday when there are millions of dollars in the pot! This magazine is supposed to be Canada's answer to American juggernauts like Harper's and The New Yorker, but despite it's $5 million kitty, it actually is more closely related to another American institution: Mickey Mouse. Ask yourself a serious question: why has no one written about this in the mainstream media? $2.50 a word, that's why. So much for the integrity of journalism. (discuss)

Is the Apocalypse Upon Us?
Good Reports presents a panel review of 2003 with special emphasis on literary blogging. (discuss)

Hooch and the Muse
A link between writers and booze? Groundbreaking!  (discuss)

Some Ivanhoes Choose Their Daddios
What's the freaking point** being made here again? (discuss)

I Could Use Some Help With My Next Pic...
The one Pete took of me for my second book gave me my favourite book-signing quote: "You look so much younger in person than on your book." (discuss)

RIP: Juan Garcia Ponce
Mexican novelist dead at 71. (discuss)

"He was at war with conventional ways of seeing, with the entire baggage and build-up of civilization that blocked the eye and thwarted the nerve"
That pretty much sums up Ted Hughes. (discuss)

Only in America
A teenager and his recluse family strike it big with a fantasy bestseller. I want to be bitter and cynical about this, but ah hell, good for them. (discuss)

The Courts Really Need to Decide on This Balrog Issue
A law student considers The Lord of the Rings. (LOL* Boingboing) (discuss)

Does the Canada Council Really Help Writers?
An interview with the Canada Council (Note: It's from 2002, but it's still interesting.) (discuss)

Badges? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges
Yet another Brit turns down an award. (discuss)

Cher?
The forgotten art of bookbinding lives on. (LOL* Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind) (discuss)

The Big Page of Awards
A long essay (LOL* Bookslut) on book awards, including some insight into speculative awards (Hugo, Nebula, Stoker). Also of interest: "An American Feast: Giving Thanks for Hillbilly Killers." (discuss)

Two-timing Tartar Twisters!
What's your favourite Captain Haddock curse? (LOL* Kitabkhana) (discuss)

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