Sunday, May 10, 2009

Green Apple miscellany, part 3

1. Liao Yiwu's sobering (and at times hilarious) collection of interviews with the outcasts, dissidents and criminals at the bottom of Chinese society, The Corpse Walker, is just out in paperback. Local writer Yiyun Li reviewed the hardcover last year in the SF Chronicle, praising its evocation of the "history that lives only in people's memories".

I can't put the book down.

2. There is a growing movement to turn May into National Short Story Month. Follow at the Emerging Writers Network blog, where reviews of collections and stories are offered.

3. Marc Fitten is turning the book tour for his new novel, Valeria's Last Stand, into an excuse to visit 100 independent bookstore. He just left East Sandwich, MA, but we're confident we'll see him within the next few months. (via Maude Newton)

4. Poets are ranked by beard weight at A Journey Round My Skull.

5. And is A Lion Called Christian the first book to be based on a "Youtube Sensation"? (Sure, I'm as cynical as the next guy, but the clip really gets me! Here come the waterworks!)

3 comments:

Seth Christenfeld said...

5. And is A Lion Called Christian the first book to be based on a "Youtube Sensation"?Not really--it was only reissued because of YouTube. The book proper was written back in the 70s(?).

S. said...

Yep - checking the copyright, it was published in 1971. I guess I should ask, "Is it the first book to be marketed as the story behind the youtube sensation?"

Seth Christenfeld said...

Possibly. Probably not.