Archive: April 2011 (1-10 of 42)

Apr 29 2011 11:14 AM ET

On the Books Apr. 29: George R. R. Martin has completed 'A Dance with Dragons,' and more

a-dance-with-dragons

George R. R. Martin’s editor at Bantam Spectra confirmed yesterday that A Dance with Dragons, the long-anticipated fifth installment to the “Song of Ice and Fire” series, is finished at last. Fans of the series, which began with A Game of Thrones, have been waiting nearly six years since the previous installment, A Feast for Crows.

The Spenser and Jesse Stone mystery series created by Robert B. Parker, who died last year, will be continued by two new authors. Crime novelist Ace Atkins will carry on the Spenser series, and producer and screenwriter Michael Brandman will pen forthcoming Jesse Stone novels.

Fontbonne University in St. Louis has canceled plans for Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson to receive an honorary degree and deliver the commencement address this year on the heels of the highly publicized scandal concerning Mortenson’s book and foundation.

Apr 28 2011 03:18 PM ET

On the Books Apr. 28: Harper Lee washes hands of upcoming memoir, behind the $24 million book, and more

Filed under: Books and tagged: , ,
Harper-Lee

Image Credit: Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images

Reclusive To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee denies involvement with the upcoming memoir The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by former Chicago Tribune reporter Marja Mills. Penguin announced on Tuesday that Mills had written the book “with direct access to Harper Lee and [her sister] Alice Lee and their friends and family.” Despite Harper Lee’s official statement denying cooperation, Mills’ literary agent says that her client “has the written support of Alice Lee and a lifelong family friend, and prior to Harper Lee’s stroke in 2007, she had the verbal support of Harper Lee.” READ FULL STORY »

Apr 27 2011 05:01 PM ET

Ryan O'Neal to write a memoir about his relationship with Farrah Fawcett

Filed under: Books and tagged:
Oneal-Fawcett

Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Oh God, oh man, oh God, oh man, O’Neal. Ryan O’Neal, known best for his roles in Love Story and Barry Lyndon, as well as his incestuous, funereal flirting techniques, is penning a book that will detail his 30-year relationship with the late Farrah Fawcett. Scheduled for spring 2012, it is tentatively titled Past Imperfect, which, while being a clever pun, is also one of the three most used book titles in the history of publishing. (For the record, the others are “My Life” and “Dictionary.”) O’Neal promises to cover everything from their first meeting in 1979 to Fawcett’s death in 2009, and the turbulent ups and downs in between. He’ll also discuss his relationship with his daughter Tatum, from the “Aww, how cute!” of Paper Moon to the “Oh, how unfortunate” of just about everything else. The two of them will be reuniting on-screen this summer in Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals.

Apr 27 2011 04:09 PM ET

Superman meets a Super-Lex Luthor in new 900th issue of 'Action Comics'

Filed under: Books and tagged: ,

Billed as a “96-page Spectacular,” Action Comics #900, released today, is most spectacular in bringing to a close writer Paul Cornell’s clever Lex Luthor storyline. For a while now, Luthor has replaced Superman as the central figure in Action Comics, one of the oldest titles in comic-book history and the one that introduced Superman in 1938. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 27 2011 12:31 PM ET

'Three Cups of Tea' author Greg Mortenson finds ally in old hiking partner

Filed under: Books and tagged:
Greg-Mortenson

Image Credit: New Mark Communications/St.Paul Pioneer Press/AP Images

Author-philanthropist Greg Mortenson has a new defender against the accusations that he lied about key passages in his best-selling memoir Three Cups of Tea and has personally benefited from funds raised by his school-building charity, the Central Asia Institute. In a letter to Outside Magazine, Mortenson’s former hiking partner, Scott Darsney, questions the accuracy of allegations made against Mortenson by author Jon Krakauer in the essay Three Cups of Lies and by CBS’ 60 Minutes in an April 17 segment. “If Jon Krakauer and some of Greg’s detractors had taken the time to have three or more cups of tea with Greg and others — instead of one cup of tea with a select few who would discredit him — they would have found some minor problems and transgressions,” Darsney wrote in an email to Outside. “But to the extent to call it all ‘lies’ and ‘fraud’? No way.”

On April 17, 60 Minutes aired a segment investigating Mortenson’s fundraising efforts and several of the stories in Three Cups of Tea, including Mortenson’s claim that he was kidnapped by Taliban fighters. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 26 2011 12:59 PM ET

Candace Bushnell talks 'Summer and the City': Carrie, Samantha, and Miranda take on the wild New York of the 80's

candace-bushnell

Image Credit: C. Wendy Carlson

Summer and the City, Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell’s followup to The Carrie Diaries, continues the saga of young Carrie Bradshaw’s journey from naive suburban teen to the seasoned author/fashionista we know so well. In Bushnell’s new offering, we’re with Carrie during her first summer in New York, where she’s taking a writing class at The New School and pursuing a much older man. We also learn how she first met her future BFFs, Miranda Hobbes and Samantha Jones (we even get a quick glimpse of Charlotte!). The YA novel reveals the darker, seamier aspects of the city in the early 80′s, and it takes an honest look at some of the less comfortable parts of growing up. Still, it’s enjoyable romp of a read, and 17-year-old Carrie often proves to be a sharper, edgier observer than her older on-screen incarnation. Bushnell took some time to speak to EW about young Carrie and what’s in store for her and her friends.

How fun was it to introduce 25-year-old Samantha and 18-year-old Miranda?
It was so much fun. I just love Miranda’s character — it just makes so much sense to me that she would be this kind of hardcore feminist. Because that’s what women were like in the early 80’s. Feminism was a very big deal. There really were women who protested in front of Saks against pornography, and they would shout things like, “Women, wake up!” I came to New York in the late 70′s when I was 19, so I put in a lot of things that were very, very true to that time. It informs the characters and the kind of women they become. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 25 2011 04:31 PM ET

Levi Johnston's tell-all about 'life in Sarah Palin's crosshairs' will be published this fall

Filed under: Books and tagged: ,

If it’s Monday, it must be time to announce the imminent release of another Sarah Palin tell-all. Touchstone revealed today that Levi Johnston, the Playgirl model/Wasilla mayoral wannabe best known for fathering Bristol Palin’s son Tripp, is writing a book about his experience with the Palin family. The publisher is describing Johnston’s tome –  Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs — as “a fascinating tale of a misunderstood boy figuring out how to be a man and a father after being thrust into the spotlight and subsequent media circus at a very young and vulnerable age.” All we know for sure is that the Lifetime movie adaptation of it is going to be fantastic.

Read more:
Levi Johnston regrets apologizing to Sarah Palin… and never lies. Expect that once.
Sarah Palin tell-all to be released May 24
Former Sarah Palin adviser plans tell-all

Apr 22 2011 02:04 PM ET

'Blue Bloods' author Melissa de la Cruz's new book gets a trailer: Exclusive!

Melissa de la Cruz, the author of the popular Blue Bloods vampire series, is starting on a new sequence of novels. The first book is called Witches of East End, and while I was hoping that would mean it would resemble a combination of this and this, the trailer below indicates something a little different. A coven of witches living on Long Island have the power to raise the dead, see the future, and concoct potions that can cure heartache (also known as vodka martinis). Check it out.

Apr 21 2011 11:07 AM ET

On the Books Apr. 21: Kindle lending, remembering Tim Hetherington, Tina Fey's booksigning techniques, and more

Amazon announced yesterday that it will offer library lending capabilities for the Kindle, but is there a catch? Key details remain fuzzy, or pixilated: When will libraries roll out the program, and how long will the lending period be? Also, not all books may be available as part of the program.

Intrepid photojournalist and Restrepo co-director Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Libya yesterday, had published a book in 2009 called Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold. According to the publisher, the book ”entwines documentary photography, oral testimony, and memoir to map the dynamics of power, tragedy and triumph in Liberia’s recent history. It depicts a past of rebel camps, rainforest destruction, Charles Taylor’s trial as a war criminal, and other happenings contrasted with the hope for the future.”

Funnylady Tina Fey has to keep herself entertained while on her Bossypants promotional tour, so she’s been mixing it up while signing book after book. As she mentioned on Tuesday night’s Conan, she sometimes signs entirely different names (like Ina Garten) in fans’ books and at least once has inscribed, “Help, I’m stuck in a Korean Tina Fey autograph factory!” Maybe by the time her book tour is over, she really will have those man arms.

Do you know what’s truly dead? Spouting off little soundbytes about how books and traditional publishing are dead. Check out these common 21st century nuggets on non-wisdom that really should be put to rest.

The Long Island mansion believed to have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald in writing The Great Gatsby was demolished earlier this week, but not before writer Christine Lee Zilka snapped some final photos of the home that had been standing since 1902.

Two anthologies have been marketing classic poetry to children along gender lines. Are some poems for boys and others for girls?

Apr 20 2011 02:39 PM ET

Vanessa Williams to co-author inspirational book with her mother

Filed under: Books and tagged:
Vanessa-Williams

Image Credit: Sylvain Gaboury/PR Photos

Gotham books announced today that singer and Desperate Housewives star Vanessa Williams has enlisted the help of her mother Helen Williams in writing a motivational book for women. Mother and daughter will discuss topics such as “success, failure, family, love, fear, loss, strength, resilience, children and living a meaningful life,” according to a press release. The as-yet-untitled book is scheduled for fall 2012.

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP