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I reviewed a fantastic collection of short stories by Stephen Graham Jones for PopMatters. Bleed into Me is a stunning collection, full of sentences, horror, grace, and beauty that only Jones can provide. Check out the review here. And while you’re at it, refresh your memory by re-reading our fantastic Slushpile interview with Jones.

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Publishers Weekly pointed out that more than 60 books on poker will appear in 2005. Kind of makes you wonder what The Cincinnati Kid would make of all this card attention. I guess he would be lining up to learn more about the game, and buying these books. He did have pretty grand aspirations after [...]

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Anyone know of some treatment plan for kicking Mt. Dew addiction? On Wednesday, I drank 9 cans of the shit. It’s not the caffeine that affects me, but geez, that’s 1,530 calories just in nuclear green colored liquid. I’m going to start losing all my jobs as a Men’s Health cover model if this keeps [...]

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In Baltimore, Rafael Palmeiro, who pointed his finger at Congress and swore, under oath, “”I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period,” was caught actually using one of the most potent steroids available. After caught and suspended by Major League Baseball, he tried to amend his statement to Congress. Now, he says “I did [...]

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Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes fame, proves to be a very discerning reader. Check it out here.

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Publishers Marketplace is reporting that Slushpile favorite Joe R. Lansdale has sold A Fine Dark Line about a boy “consumed by the contents of an old tin box that carries the secrets of a small town’s past” to Traveling Light producer Adam Friedman who will also direct the effort. Lansdale is a great writer and [...]

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Yesterday, as part of a roundup of the Sunday reviews, I posted references to a couple of less-than-rave reviews for Bret Easton Ellis’ new novel Lunar Park. The question I’m asking today is, was anyone surprised by that? It seems to me that some critics should just not be allowed to review Bret Easton Ellis.

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I learned about this via the great website BookNinja. Shocking as though it may be, Victoria Beckham, also known as Posh Spice, has never read a single book. Not one. The British papers are reporting that she said in a Spanish interview “I haven’t read a book in my life,” she said. “I haven’t got [...]

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CNN has an interesting article on the impacts Amazon has had on the industry. Check it out here.

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This is a really good cause so I don’t want to joke too much, but dang, this just seems like it could be a creepy plot in a Bradbury story here. Maybe a Twilight Zone episode waiting to happen. There were reports of a charity effort to benefit First Amendment Project, which defends the free [...]

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This is probably hard for many of us to believe, thanks to the Ashton Kutcher-Paris Hilton-That Fez Guy-brainwashing our culture has endured, but the truth is that there really was a man who went by the nickname Von Dutch. And in spite of stupid trucker hats, expensive jeans, and all the other crap we know [...]

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The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about how two similar books by two unknown novelists have shared very different fates. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks are examined. To date, The Historian has 915,000 copies after six printings. By comparison, The Traveler has 200,000 copies after three [...]

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Here’s a round-up of the Sunday book coverage. I’m afraid you’ll need to register for most of these sites, which is one of my big pet peeves in life, but it is usually free. So at least there’s that. Anyway, the critics seemed to be ready to dig into Bret Easton Ellis new novel as [...]

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MediaBistro is reporting a lot of office shifting at The New York Times Book Review. Eden Ross Lipson is retiring as children’s editor and is being replaced by Julie Just, who moves over from her spot as the deputy editor. Meanwhile, Bob Harris has been promoted to deputy editor, taking over Just’s vacated desk. And [...]

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