I took it on myself to save print. Someone had to do it. We’ve heard laments about its imminent demise. It is the case no more. Not with 3*TYPE, which will make everything that’s old new again. Welcome, future. It’s been so long since we saw you.
The Significant Objects project, which asked writers to imagine origin stories for otherwise unremarkable objects in an attempt to see if that increased their value, now has its own mug, and an explanation of the official mug includes a nice nod to the Smiling Mug I wrote about.
—What’s your feeling about the Tiger Woods scandal? Manna for satirists? Personal debacle that shouldn’t be in the news? Check out “Fragments from Tiger! The Musical” and its coda.
—I don’t know much about book trailers, but they interest me: while movie previews can show you the most exciting scenes and the best jokes from a film, a book trailer functions differently: its job is to generate intrigue and plant the seed of a book in your mind. This trailer, for my friend Lauren Mechling’s “Dream Girl,” does exactly that. Plus, pigeons!
1. People are publishing books all the time, but people I like publishing books I like is rarer. I don’t know much about YA fiction, but I know that Lauren Mechling is an excellent writer, sneakily funny and insightful and humane. Her recent novel “Dream Girl” just came out in paperback. Here’s a link so you can buy it.
2. I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the Center for Fiction in New York with Therese Svoboda and at the Miami Book fair with Jonathan Lethem and Michael Thomas. If you want to attend either event, do.
3. You know how they say that cell phones cause tumors? I have coined a name for the phenomenon: Blabber Cancer. It’s a little glib for a potential life-threatening thing, but remember, the jury’s still out, and this is as much about the media frenzy as the possibility of actual illness. So go, world, and use the phrase “blabber cancer.” Tell them I sent you.
A bunch of books coming soon, plus a story at Fifty-Two Stories, plus some readings, including the one below, at a launch event for Underwater New York.