M.I.T. clears Junot Díaz of misconduct amid objections
M.I.T. has joined the Boston Review in clearing Junot Díaz of allegations of sexual misconduct, Alexandra Alter reports for the New York Times. Both institutions will keep the author on their staff—as… Read more »
New types of deals between Audible and authors might mean trouble for publishers
The expanding audiobook market feels a bit like the wild west. It shouldn’t, really — audiobooks have been around for a while, and I thought we had agreed that they… Read more »
Macmillan is on course to have two million-copy-sellers in one year
As we noted earlier this week, James Comey’s memoir A Higher Loyalty had an historic opening weeks of sales, with more than 600,000 units sold across all formats, and more than… Read more »
Bestseller-wise, it doesn’t really matter if a book is pro- or anti-Trump
Last week, we wrote about Jennifer Calfas’s maybe-not-so-obvious finding that Donald Trump is the “surprising thing” that the top three bestselling books this year have in common. Ryan Teague Beckwith… Read more »
Go Sue a Watchman: Scott Rudin files countersuit against the estate of Harper Lee
Michael Paulson and Alexandra Alter have reported for the New York Times that Rudinplay, the stage production company of reported misanthrope/racist Scott Rudin, is filing a federal countersuit against the estate… Read more »
Dear Evan Hansen becomes a YA book, since books are very good at soaking up tears
Dear Evan Hansen is the musical theater phenomenon that researchers are using to test the capacity of human tear ducts. It’s about a depressed teenager who writes himself uplifting notes—“Dear Evan… Read more »
To Buzzkill a Mockingbird: The Harper Lee estate sues over Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of a beloved novel
Mere weeks ago, we wrote about how “the long, weird, and sometimes controversial life of Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird” would march on in the form of a Broadway play. We should… Read more »
An inmate gets a book deal, now they want him to pay to be in jail
If you’re a writer with a book deal, serving life in prison could cost you more than literally all of your time. According to Alexandra Alter at the New York Times,… Read more »
In someone else’s words: new Richard Avedon biography angers those closest to him
New York Times publishing reporter Alexandra Alter begins her reporting on the controversial new Richard Avedon biography with a joke by the photographer himself: that “Here Lies Richard Avedon” would be the name of… Read more »
Sam Shepard’s posthumous last book, edited by Patti Smith, is not a novel
On Tuesday, Knopf published Sam Shepard’s final work, Spy of the First Person, edited by singer-songwriter-author Patti Smith. Shepard, who won ten Obie Awards and a Pulitzer for his playwrighting, and was familiar… Read more »