Hardcovers
1. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
2. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
3. Canticle by Ken Scholes
4. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi tie with
Green by Jay Lake
5. Dust of Dreams by Steven Erickson tie with
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
6. The Dragons of Ordinary Farm by Deborah Beale and Tad Williams
7. Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
8. How to Make Friends With Demons by Graham Joyce
9. And Another Thing. . . by Eoin Colfer
10. Imager's Challenge by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Mass Market Paperbacks
1. Soulless by Gail Carriger
2. Rosemary & Rue by Seanan McGuire
3. The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
4. Heart of Veridion by Tim Akers
5. Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
6. Dog Days by John Levitt
7. Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
8. Lamentation by Ken Scholes
9. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
10. Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Trade Paperbacks
1. xkcd Volume 0 by Randall Munroe
2. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
3. Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues edited by Loren Rhoads
4. Zones of Chaos by Mick Farren
5. Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead edited by John Skipp
November 01, 2009
New Media Update
by Alan Beatts
Here's the rundown of the month's news on the eReader front. Two items very worthy of note are the report from Forester Research which estimates that total e-reader sales for 2009 will top 3 million units. That is up by 50% from their estimate of a few months ago. Second is that there is an increasing pool of circumstantial evidence that people who buy Kindles (and, to a lesser degree, other e-readers) actually read _more_ than they did before switching to the e-reader. People have cited ease of transportation and the convenience of purchasing wirelessly as the reason for their greater reading consumption.
Apple -- Ebook reading applications and ebooks are some of the most popular items downloaded for the iPhone and iPod Touch. So much so that they're even starting to edge out games as the most downloaded category.
Amazon -- In less than two weeks Amazon released the new, international Kindle (useable in over 200 countries) and discontinued the old, US-only Kindle 2. The new international version is priced the same as the old Kindle and so it's been more of a replacement with more features than a competing model. However, not all is joy in the rest of the world since the costs for books are substantially higher for international users and, for that matter, for US users who use the download feature while outside the US. The higher costs are explained by Amazon as being part taxes, part data-service costs (international downloads still originate in the US), and part wireless carrier charges.
Amazon is also trying to react to Sony's announcement last month that users of the Sony e-readers will have access to all half-million of Google's free, public domain ebooks by increasing the free offerings for the Kindle. However, at the current level of about 18,000 titles, they've got a long way to go.
Finally, Amazon has released a Kindle client application for the Windows computer operating system and they also have a Macintosh version in the works. Again, it looks like they're playing catchup to Sony and other companies who already offer desk- and lap-top versions of the reader software.
Barnes and Noble -- Not satisfied with their relationship with iRex as well as their ties with PlasticLogic's forthcoming high-end reader, the 800-pound gorilla of bookselling has announced their own e-reader, the Nook. It's a dumb name for a smart device if you ask me. The Nook comes with two screens, one over the other. The top one is a typical black and white EInk display like most readers on the market. Below it is a small, touch sensitive, color LCD. The idea is that the LCD will display full color covers while browsing the user's library as well as giving a better web-browser experience. It's a nice idea (though I prefer the book-like folding concept which supports a more reasonable sized LCD display opposite an EInk panel).
There's just one problem -- it looks like it wasn't B&N's nice idea. Spring Design, a Bay Area company, had the same idea and has patents going back to 2006 to support it. Moreover, Spring representatives meet with B&N in the spring of this year to pitch their reader (called the "Alex") as part of a joint venture. A joint venture covered by the full range of non-disclosure agreements that we're so fond of in Silicon Valley. Net result -- Spring Design is in the process of suing the pants off of B&N over violations of the NDAs and patents. Oooops!
Entourage Systems -- On the topic of two-screen readers, this start-up company has a product that, while heavy and a bit expensive, looks pretty good. The eDGe (don't ask me why the weird caps, I'm not a tech-guy) has two screens and opens like a book. One screen is a 9.7" EInk display and the other is a 10" color LCD. It runs on an ARM processor and has 4 GB storage, an SD card slot and 2 USB ports as well as WiFi and bluetooth. Other features include a web-cam, microphone and speakers. Running on Google's Android OS, it's going to be closer to a net-book computer than an ebook reader but that's not such a bad thing.
Three catches -- won't ship 'til February, price is $490, and it's big and heavy compared to a single purpose e-reader (8.25" by 10.75" by 1" and 2.75 lb.). But it's still a sign of where some people want to see the e-reader go, myself included -- if they'd make one that ran on OSX or the iPhone OS, I'd stand in line to buy one at even twice the price.
Beyond that, there are more and more e-readers being announced. Rather than do a complete round up here, I'd suggest that you take a look at <http://www.mobilitysite.com/2009/11/2010-the-year-of-the-ebook/comment-page-1/> which has a very nice list along with a release schedule.
Next month I hope that the flurry will have cleared up enough for me to make some buying suggestions for the holidays. I'm also planning on touching upon the non-US market for e-readers, as suggested by two of my readers.
Here's the rundown of the month's news on the eReader front. Two items very worthy of note are the report from Forester Research which estimates that total e-reader sales for 2009 will top 3 million units. That is up by 50% from their estimate of a few months ago. Second is that there is an increasing pool of circumstantial evidence that people who buy Kindles (and, to a lesser degree, other e-readers) actually read _more_ than they did before switching to the e-reader. People have cited ease of transportation and the convenience of purchasing wirelessly as the reason for their greater reading consumption.
Apple -- Ebook reading applications and ebooks are some of the most popular items downloaded for the iPhone and iPod Touch. So much so that they're even starting to edge out games as the most downloaded category.
Amazon -- In less than two weeks Amazon released the new, international Kindle (useable in over 200 countries) and discontinued the old, US-only Kindle 2. The new international version is priced the same as the old Kindle and so it's been more of a replacement with more features than a competing model. However, not all is joy in the rest of the world since the costs for books are substantially higher for international users and, for that matter, for US users who use the download feature while outside the US. The higher costs are explained by Amazon as being part taxes, part data-service costs (international downloads still originate in the US), and part wireless carrier charges.
Amazon is also trying to react to Sony's announcement last month that users of the Sony e-readers will have access to all half-million of Google's free, public domain ebooks by increasing the free offerings for the Kindle. However, at the current level of about 18,000 titles, they've got a long way to go.
Finally, Amazon has released a Kindle client application for the Windows computer operating system and they also have a Macintosh version in the works. Again, it looks like they're playing catchup to Sony and other companies who already offer desk- and lap-top versions of the reader software.
Barnes and Noble -- Not satisfied with their relationship with iRex as well as their ties with PlasticLogic's forthcoming high-end reader, the 800-pound gorilla of bookselling has announced their own e-reader, the Nook. It's a dumb name for a smart device if you ask me. The Nook comes with two screens, one over the other. The top one is a typical black and white EInk display like most readers on the market. Below it is a small, touch sensitive, color LCD. The idea is that the LCD will display full color covers while browsing the user's library as well as giving a better web-browser experience. It's a nice idea (though I prefer the book-like folding concept which supports a more reasonable sized LCD display opposite an EInk panel).
There's just one problem -- it looks like it wasn't B&N's nice idea. Spring Design, a Bay Area company, had the same idea and has patents going back to 2006 to support it. Moreover, Spring representatives meet with B&N in the spring of this year to pitch their reader (called the "Alex") as part of a joint venture. A joint venture covered by the full range of non-disclosure agreements that we're so fond of in Silicon Valley. Net result -- Spring Design is in the process of suing the pants off of B&N over violations of the NDAs and patents. Oooops!
Entourage Systems -- On the topic of two-screen readers, this start-up company has a product that, while heavy and a bit expensive, looks pretty good. The eDGe (don't ask me why the weird caps, I'm not a tech-guy) has two screens and opens like a book. One screen is a 9.7" EInk display and the other is a 10" color LCD. It runs on an ARM processor and has 4 GB storage, an SD card slot and 2 USB ports as well as WiFi and bluetooth. Other features include a web-cam, microphone and speakers. Running on Google's Android OS, it's going to be closer to a net-book computer than an ebook reader but that's not such a bad thing.
Three catches -- won't ship 'til February, price is $490, and it's big and heavy compared to a single purpose e-reader (8.25" by 10.75" by 1" and 2.75 lb.). But it's still a sign of where some people want to see the e-reader go, myself included -- if they'd make one that ran on OSX or the iPhone OS, I'd stand in line to buy one at even twice the price.
Beyond that, there are more and more e-readers being announced. Rather than do a complete round up here, I'd suggest that you take a look at <http://www.mobilitysite.com/2009/11/2010-the-year-of-the-ebook/comment-page-1/> which has a very nice list along with a release schedule.
Next month I hope that the flurry will have cleared up enough for me to make some buying suggestions for the holidays. I'm also planning on touching upon the non-US market for e-readers, as suggested by two of my readers.
Overheard at The World Fantasy Convention
This is a feature that appears periodically, as we attend conventions and overhear things. The tradition of keeping track of anonymous overheard bits and bobs started for us at the 2002 ConJose in San Jose, where trying (or trying not to) fill in the blanks on overheard conversations made us laugh so much that we made it a tradition. In this issue we share the newest "overheards" from the World Fantasy Convention which took place in San Jose over Halloween weekend.
"She never got naked, she just rubbed lemons all over herself."
"Do NOT gesture with the snake, Ma'm!"
"I'm filling Johnathan's hole with zombies."
"So when we finally got the trunk open, there was Rodney, stripped down to his tighty-whities, pouring pink Slurpee all over himself while all these senior citizens gawked."
"We shared one hit off a bong with Lily Tomlin before her parents showed up."
"Every time Paolo thinks about zombie sex, a fairie explodes."
"How quaint! They have gorgonzola-walnut scones and a werewolf in a bowler hat."
"Nothing like a relationship drama that leads to helicopter crashes - it feels so true to life."
"One of the things I have on my resume under 'Additional Skills' is 'Scenic Proctologist' - pulling set designs out of my ass".
"It was good while I ate it."
"It looks like she has more hair but she just has less head."
"Maybe it's the beer, but did I just see a bunch of steampunk pizza delivery girls go by?"
"She never got naked, she just rubbed lemons all over herself."
"Do NOT gesture with the snake, Ma'm!"
"I'm filling Johnathan's hole with zombies."
"So when we finally got the trunk open, there was Rodney, stripped down to his tighty-whities, pouring pink Slurpee all over himself while all these senior citizens gawked."
"We shared one hit off a bong with Lily Tomlin before her parents showed up."
"Every time Paolo thinks about zombie sex, a fairie explodes."
"How quaint! They have gorgonzola-walnut scones and a werewolf in a bowler hat."
"Nothing like a relationship drama that leads to helicopter crashes - it feels so true to life."
"One of the things I have on my resume under 'Additional Skills' is 'Scenic Proctologist' - pulling set designs out of my ass".
"It was good while I ate it."
"It looks like she has more hair but she just has less head."
"Maybe it's the beer, but did I just see a bunch of steampunk pizza delivery girls go by?"
October 01, 2009
Notes from a DVD Geek
by Jeremy Lassen
Welcome to October, my favorite month of the year. Mainly because ALL of the horror movies, good, bad and terrible, make their way to home video around this time of the year.
First up is a special edition reissue of the classic horror movie from the late 80's. . . "The Gate". This disk features commentary, and a couple of mini-documentaries, and a really nice transfer of this classic "there's a big hole in my back yard and it leads to hell" movie, which featured some incredible stop-motion effects that are still very effective today. If you never saw this one, pick it up now. If you remember the movie fondly. . . pick it up and watch it again, because it does stand the test of time, and is just as awesome as you remember.
Next I wanted to talk about some of the forthcoming releases from Sam Rami's home video label, Ghost House Underground. Consider this label to be somewhere between the "Danger After Dark" label, and the "Dark Castle" label.
One of the new releases from Ghost House is a contemporary British horror film by director/writer Tom Shankland, called "Children". Shankland's first movie was a gory yet effective serial killer/police thriller called "Waz". This time out, he's got a bunch of kids and teenagers running around a lake. Bad things start happening, and the parents and kids start blaming each other, as seeming accidents descend into overt violence. "Children" is filled with a lot of subtle scares and a very effective sense of foreboding, which contrast effectively with its outbursts of sudden ferocity.
Another by-the-numbers-but-effective-in-its-own right thriller is "The Thaw". This one stars Val Kilmer, putting on his best "Kurt Russell from 'The Thing'" performance. A parasite is unearthed in a glacier that infects and kills its hosts, but not before releasing a swarm of flying, burrowing baby parasites that spread through the scientific camp like wildfire.
Another effective bit of mayhem is "Offspring". Yes . . . the same "Offspring" as Jack Ketchum's splatterpunk classic novel. Feral cannibals terrorize folks in a remote New England town. Sure, it's a bit like "The Hills Have Eyes," except in New England, instead of the desert southwest. But it's based on Ketchum's very smart novel, and even has (I think it was him anyway) a cameo appearance by Ketchum himself. Good stuff.
"Blair Witch" co-director Eduardo Sanchez delivers something that looks like a modern, slightly better-scripted version of Fulci's "City of the Living Dead". Lots of fast moving demons/sprits of the dead/guys in white body paint chasing our protagonists around. Lots of fake blood. Lots of screaming. Good stuff that should not be missed this October. Because of the miracles of modern filmmaking, I suspect that this film was probably made with a SMALLER budget then Fulci's "City of the Living Dead" . . . but in this case, the filmmakers didn't run out of money at the end and have to just kind of fake an ending.
Those are the four that are coming out in October, but an earlier Ghost House film that I failed to mention was "Dance of the Dead". Take your standard teem dramady about geeks who can't get dates for the prom, and add zombies. All those dumb high-school cliches who never watch zombie films? Yeah . . . they get their asses kicked. But the "sci-fi" club? They know how to kick zombie ass. This is director Gregg Bishop's second feature film, and has a better budget than his first effort "The Other Side," which even despite its small budget was really well done.
Leaving Ghost House Underground, I have to point out the latest Lance Henrickson direct to video extravaganza. "The Seamstress" sets up an urban legend come to life . . . the murderous spirit of a . . . yes . . . seamstress, who weaves (ugh, sorry) a bloody path across the small town where she died, oh so many years ago. I know. It's nothing we haven't seen before. But it has Lance Henrickson chewing the scenery. If you need some Halloween cheese . . . this is the place to go.
Moving from your normal Halloween slashers to the "Hot damn! I've been waiting for that film to hit DVD for years!" category of film, comes Richard Stanely's "Hardware". This post-apocalyptic killer android movie sports one of the best movie soundtracks since "Return of the Living Dead" (PIL, Ministry, Iggy Pop, etc.) as well as a "Greek chorus" provided by a joke-cracking radio dj, played by Iggy Pop. Damn. This is one of the greatest movies ever. It is hot and sexy, and dusty and crazy, and . . . oh yeah. It features an under-siege/final fight sequence that is legendary. I'm getting chills, just waiting for this one to arrive. I can finally toss out my laserdisc of this film, and enter the 21st century!
Finally . . . the live-action version of "Blood: The Last Vampire" hits DVD this month. Bloody sword swinging half-vampire assassins, demons, and the undead. This movie is produced by Ronny Yu! What's up, Ronny "Bride With White Hair" Yu! Don't miss this one.
That's what my Halloween is looking like this year. Be sure and email me some of your favorite movies (horror or otherwise) if I've missed them here in this column.
Welcome to October, my favorite month of the year. Mainly because ALL of the horror movies, good, bad and terrible, make their way to home video around this time of the year.
First up is a special edition reissue of the classic horror movie from the late 80's. . . "The Gate". This disk features commentary, and a couple of mini-documentaries, and a really nice transfer of this classic "there's a big hole in my back yard and it leads to hell" movie, which featured some incredible stop-motion effects that are still very effective today. If you never saw this one, pick it up now. If you remember the movie fondly. . . pick it up and watch it again, because it does stand the test of time, and is just as awesome as you remember.
Next I wanted to talk about some of the forthcoming releases from Sam Rami's home video label, Ghost House Underground. Consider this label to be somewhere between the "Danger After Dark" label, and the "Dark Castle" label.
One of the new releases from Ghost House is a contemporary British horror film by director/writer Tom Shankland, called "Children". Shankland's first movie was a gory yet effective serial killer/police thriller called "Waz". This time out, he's got a bunch of kids and teenagers running around a lake. Bad things start happening, and the parents and kids start blaming each other, as seeming accidents descend into overt violence. "Children" is filled with a lot of subtle scares and a very effective sense of foreboding, which contrast effectively with its outbursts of sudden ferocity.
Another by-the-numbers-but-effective-in-its-own right thriller is "The Thaw". This one stars Val Kilmer, putting on his best "Kurt Russell from 'The Thing'" performance. A parasite is unearthed in a glacier that infects and kills its hosts, but not before releasing a swarm of flying, burrowing baby parasites that spread through the scientific camp like wildfire.
Another effective bit of mayhem is "Offspring". Yes . . . the same "Offspring" as Jack Ketchum's splatterpunk classic novel. Feral cannibals terrorize folks in a remote New England town. Sure, it's a bit like "The Hills Have Eyes," except in New England, instead of the desert southwest. But it's based on Ketchum's very smart novel, and even has (I think it was him anyway) a cameo appearance by Ketchum himself. Good stuff.
"Blair Witch" co-director Eduardo Sanchez delivers something that looks like a modern, slightly better-scripted version of Fulci's "City of the Living Dead". Lots of fast moving demons/sprits of the dead/guys in white body paint chasing our protagonists around. Lots of fake blood. Lots of screaming. Good stuff that should not be missed this October. Because of the miracles of modern filmmaking, I suspect that this film was probably made with a SMALLER budget then Fulci's "City of the Living Dead" . . . but in this case, the filmmakers didn't run out of money at the end and have to just kind of fake an ending.
Those are the four that are coming out in October, but an earlier Ghost House film that I failed to mention was "Dance of the Dead". Take your standard teem dramady about geeks who can't get dates for the prom, and add zombies. All those dumb high-school cliches who never watch zombie films? Yeah . . . they get their asses kicked. But the "sci-fi" club? They know how to kick zombie ass. This is director Gregg Bishop's second feature film, and has a better budget than his first effort "The Other Side," which even despite its small budget was really well done.
Leaving Ghost House Underground, I have to point out the latest Lance Henrickson direct to video extravaganza. "The Seamstress" sets up an urban legend come to life . . . the murderous spirit of a . . . yes . . . seamstress, who weaves (ugh, sorry) a bloody path across the small town where she died, oh so many years ago. I know. It's nothing we haven't seen before. But it has Lance Henrickson chewing the scenery. If you need some Halloween cheese . . . this is the place to go.
Moving from your normal Halloween slashers to the "Hot damn! I've been waiting for that film to hit DVD for years!" category of film, comes Richard Stanely's "Hardware". This post-apocalyptic killer android movie sports one of the best movie soundtracks since "Return of the Living Dead" (PIL, Ministry, Iggy Pop, etc.) as well as a "Greek chorus" provided by a joke-cracking radio dj, played by Iggy Pop. Damn. This is one of the greatest movies ever. It is hot and sexy, and dusty and crazy, and . . . oh yeah. It features an under-siege/final fight sequence that is legendary. I'm getting chills, just waiting for this one to arrive. I can finally toss out my laserdisc of this film, and enter the 21st century!
Finally . . . the live-action version of "Blood: The Last Vampire" hits DVD this month. Bloody sword swinging half-vampire assassins, demons, and the undead. This movie is produced by Ronny Yu! What's up, Ronny "Bride With White Hair" Yu! Don't miss this one.
That's what my Halloween is looking like this year. Be sure and email me some of your favorite movies (horror or otherwise) if I've missed them here in this column.
September Bestsellers
Hardcovers
1. Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
2. Transition by Iain M. Banks
3. Orbus by Neal Asher
4. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
5. Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
6. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
7. Sword of the Lady by S.M. Stirling
8. Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
9. Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers
10. Winds of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Mass Market Paperbacks
1. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
2. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
3. Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
4. Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
5. Soulless by Gail Carriger
6. Scourge of God by S.M. Stirling
7. Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman
8. Implied Spaces by Walter John Williams
9. Very Hard Choices by Spider Robinson
10. The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
Trade Paperbacks
1. Taste of Tenderloin by Gene O'Neill
2. Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kasai
3. Doc Good's Traveling Show by Gene O'Neill
4. Madness of Flowers by Jay Lake
5. Quiet War by Paul McAuley tie with
Mall of Cthulhu by Seamus Cooper
1. Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
2. Transition by Iain M. Banks
3. Orbus by Neal Asher
4. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
5. Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
6. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
7. Sword of the Lady by S.M. Stirling
8. Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
9. Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers
10. Winds of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Mass Market Paperbacks
1. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
2. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
3. Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
4. Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
5. Soulless by Gail Carriger
6. Scourge of God by S.M. Stirling
7. Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman
8. Implied Spaces by Walter John Williams
9. Very Hard Choices by Spider Robinson
10. The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
Trade Paperbacks
1. Taste of Tenderloin by Gene O'Neill
2. Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kasai
3. Doc Good's Traveling Show by Gene O'Neill
4. Madness of Flowers by Jay Lake
5. Quiet War by Paul McAuley tie with
Mall of Cthulhu by Seamus Cooper
New Media Overview
by Alan Beatts
The response to my question in the last newsletter about interest in a column about ebooks and related stuff was unanimous and so, you asked for it and you've got it. This will be the first one. I'm going to start by doing updates divided by manufacturer and business but, when the month's news deserves general commentary (and I have something half-way clever to say), I'll put something at the beginning of the article.
Apple -- Their rumored tablet device continues to but just that, a rumor, but it's looking like they've been working on it for quite a few years. None of the prototypes have gotten Steve Job's seal of approval so they haven't hit the street. The current iteration is also lacking the "go ahead and make it" stamp from Jobs and so it still may never happen though, if I was going to bet, I'd bet that it's going to come out and sometime in the first half of next year.
If it does come out, there has been a fair amount of discussion between Apple and magazine publishers about possible electronic distribution of magazines. That could be pretty important since, to do a magazine justice, you have to have a color display and Apple product is the only one that's close to distribution incorporating both an ebook form factor (i.e. smaller than a laptop and very thin) with a color display. And just think about the advertising possibilities if this tablet has a wide-area (i.e. cell phone type) wireless connection -- interactive ads that allow direct purchase of products directly from the "magazine".
Amazon -- Not much good news for my favorite big-brother company. They paid out a $150,000 settlement over their remote deletion of Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm which cost a student all his notes (which were deleted at the same time). Most of the money will probably go to the lawyers but still, ouch!
Also, the response of students who have been using Amazon's large screen Kindle DX at schools around the country this year has been less than enthusiastic. Comment like, "slow", "clunky", and "irritating" have been common as have student who've returned the (free) devices in favor of regular books. One other, very practical, reason for the displeasure has been the comparative slowness of taking notes and highlighting on the Kindle as compared to a printed book.
Sony -- Relatively quiet on that front. They've made some deals with electronic publishers like SmashWords and and Author Solutions who specialize in getting quasi-self-published work on the net and they're creating a "publisher portal" to make it easier for smaller publishers to get their books into Sony's store. All this may pay off big time since the rush to build content for ebook readers and stores is just starting but, in the long run, it'll be critical for the success of reader manufacturers (the more content that works with your reader, the better chance someone will buy it) and ebook sellers (if you have the most and best content, the buyers will come to you first).
I talked to some people in the book business and found out something interesting -- you know all the smart moves that Sony has made in the past few months that I've complemented them on (i.e. getting readers into indi bookstores, making a reader with wireless, and moving to an open format (EPUB) from their old, proprietary one)? Seems that most of those ideas came from the American Bookseller's Association not internally at Sony. Which is kind of neat but also a little disturbing -- I know that ebook are coming but does it make sense for the ABA to speed their adoption (and the impact that they'll have on physical bookstores) in exchange for making sure that indi booksellers can get some of the profits? Seems like a bit of a Devil's bargain to me.
iRex -- One of the pioneers in ebooks just announced their new ebook reader target at consumers. The iRex DR800SG (no cute name here) has a bigger than usual screen at 8.1 inches (the Kindle is 6" and Sony's are 5, 6, and 7" depending on model), will sell for $399 and has both wireless (through Verizon's network) and a touch-screen (that only works with a stylus, unlike Sony's which will accept finger touch). It's going to hit the street this month and will be sold at Best-Buy.
Best-Buy -- And speaking of them, they're training employees to sell ebook readers like crazy and have added a special area to all their more than 1000 stores to showcase the iRex and Sony Readers. It's going to be interesting to see which wirelessly connected reader does best for the holidays -- the Sony Daily Edition or the iRex. I'm betting on the Sony because of their reputation but I think that people are going to be happier with the iRex. The bigger screen is nice but more importantly the Sony uses AT&T's wireless network and the iRex uses Verizon's. If you know anyone who has an iPhone (or if you do), you'll know that they have problems with dropped calls, bad reception, and missed calls / messages. The problem is not so much the phone but the network which seems to be overloaded by the sheer amount of data traffic that the iPhone generates. And what network is that? AT&T.
Barnes and Noble -- B&N are busy building their on-line ebook store, which has gotten a lot of attention after they did a big advertising push. The catch was that, without a paired ereader, they got a lot of visits but few sales and not many return visits. That will probably change since they are iRex's vendor of choice for the new DR800SG reader (see above). In short, if you're buying books wirelessly with the iRex, you're going to be buying them from B&N, who's ebook sales should jump upwards once the holidays are here, people start buying the iRex reader in droves at Best Buy and need to download content.
That's about it except for one last thing - part of the bottleneck with ebook availability is the process of converting the files into the right format. It can be slow, expensive, and generally a pain. But perhaps not for EPUB format anymore. DNAML has just released Pdf to ePub, a $99 piece of software that, in theory, allows simple conversion from PDF to EPUB format. And, since PDF is the default format for much of publishing now, this may mean that it just got much simpler to be an electronic publisher.
The response to my question in the last newsletter about interest in a column about ebooks and related stuff was unanimous and so, you asked for it and you've got it. This will be the first one. I'm going to start by doing updates divided by manufacturer and business but, when the month's news deserves general commentary (and I have something half-way clever to say), I'll put something at the beginning of the article.
Apple -- Their rumored tablet device continues to but just that, a rumor, but it's looking like they've been working on it for quite a few years. None of the prototypes have gotten Steve Job's seal of approval so they haven't hit the street. The current iteration is also lacking the "go ahead and make it" stamp from Jobs and so it still may never happen though, if I was going to bet, I'd bet that it's going to come out and sometime in the first half of next year.
If it does come out, there has been a fair amount of discussion between Apple and magazine publishers about possible electronic distribution of magazines. That could be pretty important since, to do a magazine justice, you have to have a color display and Apple product is the only one that's close to distribution incorporating both an ebook form factor (i.e. smaller than a laptop and very thin) with a color display. And just think about the advertising possibilities if this tablet has a wide-area (i.e. cell phone type) wireless connection -- interactive ads that allow direct purchase of products directly from the "magazine".
Amazon -- Not much good news for my favorite big-brother company. They paid out a $150,000 settlement over their remote deletion of Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm which cost a student all his notes (which were deleted at the same time). Most of the money will probably go to the lawyers but still, ouch!
Also, the response of students who have been using Amazon's large screen Kindle DX at schools around the country this year has been less than enthusiastic. Comment like, "slow", "clunky", and "irritating" have been common as have student who've returned the (free) devices in favor of regular books. One other, very practical, reason for the displeasure has been the comparative slowness of taking notes and highlighting on the Kindle as compared to a printed book.
Sony -- Relatively quiet on that front. They've made some deals with electronic publishers like SmashWords and and Author Solutions who specialize in getting quasi-self-published work on the net and they're creating a "publisher portal" to make it easier for smaller publishers to get their books into Sony's store. All this may pay off big time since the rush to build content for ebook readers and stores is just starting but, in the long run, it'll be critical for the success of reader manufacturers (the more content that works with your reader, the better chance someone will buy it) and ebook sellers (if you have the most and best content, the buyers will come to you first).
I talked to some people in the book business and found out something interesting -- you know all the smart moves that Sony has made in the past few months that I've complemented them on (i.e. getting readers into indi bookstores, making a reader with wireless, and moving to an open format (EPUB) from their old, proprietary one)? Seems that most of those ideas came from the American Bookseller's Association not internally at Sony. Which is kind of neat but also a little disturbing -- I know that ebook are coming but does it make sense for the ABA to speed their adoption (and the impact that they'll have on physical bookstores) in exchange for making sure that indi booksellers can get some of the profits? Seems like a bit of a Devil's bargain to me.
iRex -- One of the pioneers in ebooks just announced their new ebook reader target at consumers. The iRex DR800SG (no cute name here) has a bigger than usual screen at 8.1 inches (the Kindle is 6" and Sony's are 5, 6, and 7" depending on model), will sell for $399 and has both wireless (through Verizon's network) and a touch-screen (that only works with a stylus, unlike Sony's which will accept finger touch). It's going to hit the street this month and will be sold at Best-Buy.
Best-Buy -- And speaking of them, they're training employees to sell ebook readers like crazy and have added a special area to all their more than 1000 stores to showcase the iRex and Sony Readers. It's going to be interesting to see which wirelessly connected reader does best for the holidays -- the Sony Daily Edition or the iRex. I'm betting on the Sony because of their reputation but I think that people are going to be happier with the iRex. The bigger screen is nice but more importantly the Sony uses AT&T's wireless network and the iRex uses Verizon's. If you know anyone who has an iPhone (or if you do), you'll know that they have problems with dropped calls, bad reception, and missed calls / messages. The problem is not so much the phone but the network which seems to be overloaded by the sheer amount of data traffic that the iPhone generates. And what network is that? AT&T.
Barnes and Noble -- B&N are busy building their on-line ebook store, which has gotten a lot of attention after they did a big advertising push. The catch was that, without a paired ereader, they got a lot of visits but few sales and not many return visits. That will probably change since they are iRex's vendor of choice for the new DR800SG reader (see above). In short, if you're buying books wirelessly with the iRex, you're going to be buying them from B&N, who's ebook sales should jump upwards once the holidays are here, people start buying the iRex reader in droves at Best Buy and need to download content.
That's about it except for one last thing - part of the bottleneck with ebook availability is the process of converting the files into the right format. It can be slow, expensive, and generally a pain. But perhaps not for EPUB format anymore. DNAML has just released Pdf to ePub, a $99 piece of software that, in theory, allows simple conversion from PDF to EPUB format. And, since PDF is the default format for much of publishing now, this may mean that it just got much simpler to be an electronic publisher.
September 01, 2009
Notes from a DVD Geek
by Jeremy Lassen
September is upon us and I've got new DVDs to recommend. Please ignore all the new Michael Jackson DVDs hitting the shelves and go directly to the SF/Fantasy/Horror section.
First up is the complete series of the manga-turned-anime "Ah! My Goddess". Our protagonist is a college student with a hot girlfriend who is really a goddess, and doesn't know how to behave amongst humans. Hijinx ensue, and this new 6-disk collection of the series is the best way to enjoy all the hijinx.
For all you people out there who have been holding off on buying John Carpenter movies, I have to ask: "What is wrong with you?" But if you HAVE been holding out, now is your chance to buy a quadruple feature of some of his best (and one of his worst) movies. Universal is putting out "John Carpenter: Master of Fear". It contains "The Thing","Prince of Darkness","Village of the Damned", and "They Live". For my money, there is only one clunker in this set, and that's "Village of the Damned". . . but it's got Christopher Reeve and creepy little kids, so I won't complain too much. This set comes on two disks, so my guess is it's not loaded with extras like some of the JC releases are, but "Prince of Darkness" and "They Live" were pretty bare-boned as single disks, so you probably aren't missing much, and if you don't already own these movies, you probably don't care about the extras anyway. But if you don't own these movies, this is a great chance to pick up JC on the cheap -- $5 a movie. And let's face it: everybody reading this should own at least a couple of JC movies. I think there's a rule about that somewhere.
Getting into more quadruple feature action is Turner Classic Movies. This month they are giving us both a horror and a science fiction set. The horror set contains "House Of Wax" (1953), "The Haunting" (1963), "Freaks" (1932), and "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" (1941). The science fiction set contains "Forbidden Planet" (1956), "The Time Machine" (1960), "Soylent Green" (1973), and "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). These are better-then-average selections for discount box sets, and with a per-movie price of $7, they are a great bargain.
For a classic of a completely different sort, don't miss the 1971 Angela Lansbury/Disney classic "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". It might not be for everyone, but if you love this movie, this restored, remastered edition has a heaping of extras. I repeat, don't miss it.
And leaving the realm of classic, and back to the realm of multi-movie sets: the first three Amityville Horror movies are collected together in the "Amityville Horror Collection". Cheesy 70s/80s haunted house movies, all in one box. It may not be great cinema, but if the profile of that house ever gave you nightmares, this might be the box set to have in your collection.
Speaking of cheesy movies that have been repackaged: this month Universal Pictures is FINALLY (they originally announced it as a May title but pulled it) releasing a new edition of "Army of Darkness" (The Screwhead Edition). Now, you might say that "Army of Darkness" has had a million different editions, and you'd be right. But EVERY LAST ONE of the Anchor Bay releases of "Army of Darkness" used a really really really bad, grainy, high-compression version of the film. It looked like crap. It looked like it was shot on 16mm, and I can tell you. . . I saw this baby in the theater the week it came out, and it looked glorious.
For a long time, the MGM Japanese DVD was THE disk to get if you wanted the best picture quality. Well, the North American rights reverted back to MGM, and they are releasing this on both DVD and Blue Ray, so the transfer is bound to be the best available. Now, the bad news is that it is ONLY the "theatrical cut" on the disk: the "slept until the future" ending is tacked onto the disk as an alternate ending/bonus material. This is NOT the significantly longer running time "director's cut" that featured the original ending and a bunch of other dialogue and bits that were cut from the North American theatrical edition. So don't throw away your Anchor Bay Director's Cut DVDs just yet. But for my money, the theatrical cut was always the tightest/best version of the movie anyway, and I say that as someone who has owned the original dual disk Anchor Bay Theatrical and Director's Cut disks since they were first released. I've watched both versions. . . a lot. Actually, I have to admit that I even had the laserdisc of "Army of Darkness" for a while too. Yeah. I'm a geek on so many levels it hurts.
I'm going to sort my "Evil Dead" disks, and move them into my zombie section, instead of my Bruce Campbell section, while I wait for this new "Army of Darkness" disk. I'll talk to you next month about a bunch of Halloween releases, and more stuff, I'm sure.
September is upon us and I've got new DVDs to recommend. Please ignore all the new Michael Jackson DVDs hitting the shelves and go directly to the SF/Fantasy/Horror section.
First up is the complete series of the manga-turned-anime "Ah! My Goddess". Our protagonist is a college student with a hot girlfriend who is really a goddess, and doesn't know how to behave amongst humans. Hijinx ensue, and this new 6-disk collection of the series is the best way to enjoy all the hijinx.
For all you people out there who have been holding off on buying John Carpenter movies, I have to ask: "What is wrong with you?" But if you HAVE been holding out, now is your chance to buy a quadruple feature of some of his best (and one of his worst) movies. Universal is putting out "John Carpenter: Master of Fear". It contains "The Thing","Prince of Darkness","Village of the Damned", and "They Live". For my money, there is only one clunker in this set, and that's "Village of the Damned". . . but it's got Christopher Reeve and creepy little kids, so I won't complain too much. This set comes on two disks, so my guess is it's not loaded with extras like some of the JC releases are, but "Prince of Darkness" and "They Live" were pretty bare-boned as single disks, so you probably aren't missing much, and if you don't already own these movies, you probably don't care about the extras anyway. But if you don't own these movies, this is a great chance to pick up JC on the cheap -- $5 a movie. And let's face it: everybody reading this should own at least a couple of JC movies. I think there's a rule about that somewhere.
Getting into more quadruple feature action is Turner Classic Movies. This month they are giving us both a horror and a science fiction set. The horror set contains "House Of Wax" (1953), "The Haunting" (1963), "Freaks" (1932), and "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" (1941). The science fiction set contains "Forbidden Planet" (1956), "The Time Machine" (1960), "Soylent Green" (1973), and "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). These are better-then-average selections for discount box sets, and with a per-movie price of $7, they are a great bargain.
For a classic of a completely different sort, don't miss the 1971 Angela Lansbury/Disney classic "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". It might not be for everyone, but if you love this movie, this restored, remastered edition has a heaping of extras. I repeat, don't miss it.
And leaving the realm of classic, and back to the realm of multi-movie sets: the first three Amityville Horror movies are collected together in the "Amityville Horror Collection". Cheesy 70s/80s haunted house movies, all in one box. It may not be great cinema, but if the profile of that house ever gave you nightmares, this might be the box set to have in your collection.
Speaking of cheesy movies that have been repackaged: this month Universal Pictures is FINALLY (they originally announced it as a May title but pulled it) releasing a new edition of "Army of Darkness" (The Screwhead Edition). Now, you might say that "Army of Darkness" has had a million different editions, and you'd be right. But EVERY LAST ONE of the Anchor Bay releases of "Army of Darkness" used a really really really bad, grainy, high-compression version of the film. It looked like crap. It looked like it was shot on 16mm, and I can tell you. . . I saw this baby in the theater the week it came out, and it looked glorious.
For a long time, the MGM Japanese DVD was THE disk to get if you wanted the best picture quality. Well, the North American rights reverted back to MGM, and they are releasing this on both DVD and Blue Ray, so the transfer is bound to be the best available. Now, the bad news is that it is ONLY the "theatrical cut" on the disk: the "slept until the future" ending is tacked onto the disk as an alternate ending/bonus material. This is NOT the significantly longer running time "director's cut" that featured the original ending and a bunch of other dialogue and bits that were cut from the North American theatrical edition. So don't throw away your Anchor Bay Director's Cut DVDs just yet. But for my money, the theatrical cut was always the tightest/best version of the movie anyway, and I say that as someone who has owned the original dual disk Anchor Bay Theatrical and Director's Cut disks since they were first released. I've watched both versions. . . a lot. Actually, I have to admit that I even had the laserdisc of "Army of Darkness" for a while too. Yeah. I'm a geek on so many levels it hurts.
I'm going to sort my "Evil Dead" disks, and move them into my zombie section, instead of my Bruce Campbell section, while I wait for this new "Army of Darkness" disk. I'll talk to you next month about a bunch of Halloween releases, and more stuff, I'm sure.
August Bestsellers
Hardcovers
1) Fairest of All by Serena Valentino
2) Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
3) Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
4) Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
5) Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
6) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
7) The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder
8) Sword of the Lady by S.M. Stirling
9) Winds of Dune by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert
10) Grantville Gazette V edited by Eric Flint
Paperbacks
1) Anathem by Neal Stephenson
2) Marsbound by Joe Haldeman
3) The Devil You Know by Mike Cary tie with
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
4) Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
5) Lightbreaker by Mark Teppo
6) Skin Deep by Mark Del Franco
7) Cape Storm by Rachel Caine
8) Passage at Arms by Glen Cook
9) The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
10) Eifelheim by Michael Flynn
Trade Paperbacks:
1) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
2) World War Z by Max Brooks
3) Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan
4) Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker
5) Desolation Road by Ian McDonald
1) Fairest of All by Serena Valentino
2) Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
3) Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
4) Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
5) Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
6) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
7) The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder
8) Sword of the Lady by S.M. Stirling
9) Winds of Dune by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert
10) Grantville Gazette V edited by Eric Flint
Paperbacks
1) Anathem by Neal Stephenson
2) Marsbound by Joe Haldeman
3) The Devil You Know by Mike Cary tie with
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
4) Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
5) Lightbreaker by Mark Teppo
6) Skin Deep by Mark Del Franco
7) Cape Storm by Rachel Caine
8) Passage at Arms by Glen Cook
9) The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
10) Eifelheim by Michael Flynn
Trade Paperbacks:
1) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
2) World War Z by Max Brooks
3) Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan
4) Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker
5) Desolation Road by Ian McDonald
Sony Gets Smart
by Alan Beatts
This month's piece is going to be kind of short since I'm working like mad to get the final paint and other work done on the cafe. But I thought that, given some announcements and events in the last month, it would be interesting to follow up on my article from last month about ebooks.
It seems that someone at Sony has decided to get serious about their ebooks and readers. And, whoever it is, they're very, very smart. First off, they have announced three new readers. One is much like their original reader but with the addition of a touch screen (which adds note taking abilities to the device) and at the same price point, $299. The other two readers both break new ground, albeit in very different ways. The Pocket edition brings the screen size down to 5" from 6" and the price to $199. That price is a major watershed for readers, though not the under-$100 price that people expect will be needed for large scale purchasing by people who aren't either avid readers or tech-heads. The other reader is the Daily edition which brings wireless connectivity and an even larger screen (7") for the premium price of $399. But, this reader can finally compete with Amazon's Kindle in the area of on-demand, wireless downloads of books.
But that's not all that Sony has been up to. Last month they also announced that they were abandoning their proprietary ebook format and switching to EPUB, which is the book industry standard open format. Also announced was a deal with Google to make all 500,000 of Google's archived public-domain works available for free download.
But Sony's last move was the icing on the cake -- they've made a deal with the American Bookseller's Association to make their readers available to independent bookstores for resale as well as making Sony's ebooks available at wholesale prices for resale on independent bookstore ecommerce sites. That means Sony will be able to get bookstores to act as a sales force for their hardware, which is a move that Amazon can't even consider.
All in all, Sony is setting itself up as the new power in ebooks.
Also, a number of other businesses are jumping into the market for ebook readers -- Asus, the manufacturer of low cost netbooks like the Eee PC has announced that they are going to produce a dual screen reader and Astak, a British company, is about to ship their 5" screen reader, the EZReader Pocket PRO, which is notable for its low price ($199).
That's about all I have time for right now but before I go, I've got a question for you. Is all the stuff about ebook and readers of interest? If so, there is enough going on in that area right now that I could write a column about it every month. But, I'm not sure if there is enough interest on the part of our customers for it to make sense. What do you think? (I should point out that something like that would be in addition to my usual column, not instead of it.)
This month's piece is going to be kind of short since I'm working like mad to get the final paint and other work done on the cafe. But I thought that, given some announcements and events in the last month, it would be interesting to follow up on my article from last month about ebooks.
It seems that someone at Sony has decided to get serious about their ebooks and readers. And, whoever it is, they're very, very smart. First off, they have announced three new readers. One is much like their original reader but with the addition of a touch screen (which adds note taking abilities to the device) and at the same price point, $299. The other two readers both break new ground, albeit in very different ways. The Pocket edition brings the screen size down to 5" from 6" and the price to $199. That price is a major watershed for readers, though not the under-$100 price that people expect will be needed for large scale purchasing by people who aren't either avid readers or tech-heads. The other reader is the Daily edition which brings wireless connectivity and an even larger screen (7") for the premium price of $399. But, this reader can finally compete with Amazon's Kindle in the area of on-demand, wireless downloads of books.
But that's not all that Sony has been up to. Last month they also announced that they were abandoning their proprietary ebook format and switching to EPUB, which is the book industry standard open format. Also announced was a deal with Google to make all 500,000 of Google's archived public-domain works available for free download.
But Sony's last move was the icing on the cake -- they've made a deal with the American Bookseller's Association to make their readers available to independent bookstores for resale as well as making Sony's ebooks available at wholesale prices for resale on independent bookstore ecommerce sites. That means Sony will be able to get bookstores to act as a sales force for their hardware, which is a move that Amazon can't even consider.
All in all, Sony is setting itself up as the new power in ebooks.
Also, a number of other businesses are jumping into the market for ebook readers -- Asus, the manufacturer of low cost netbooks like the Eee PC has announced that they are going to produce a dual screen reader and Astak, a British company, is about to ship their 5" screen reader, the EZReader Pocket PRO, which is notable for its low price ($199).
That's about all I have time for right now but before I go, I've got a question for you. Is all the stuff about ebook and readers of interest? If so, there is enough going on in that area right now that I could write a column about it every month. But, I'm not sure if there is enough interest on the part of our customers for it to make sense. What do you think? (I should point out that something like that would be in addition to my usual column, not instead of it.)
Overheard at The World Science Fiction Convention
This is a feature that appears periodically, as we attend conventions and overhear things. The tradition of keeping track of anonymous overheard bits and bobs started for us at the 2002 ConJose in San Jose, where trying (or trying not to) fill in the blanks on overheard conversations made us laugh so much that we made it a tradition. In this issue we share the newest "overheards" from the World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal. This year was especially fruitful for quotes, not all of which could be printed!
1: "I just wondered if he had a function at all."
2: "Ah ha, look at me being tactful! And silent."
"Australians keep New Zelanders around to **** sheep for us!"
"I was the bouncer at a pinball arcade in Ann Arbor, Michigan called The Cross-Eyed Moose."
"People with tattoos on their eyes buy art."
"There are some things I don't mind you doing to my wife. Mutual tattooing is not one of them."
"Attending Comic-Con is like swimming through a sea of human meat."
"You must be a writer because you're dressed so well."
"And now they're swabbing the air conditioner with giant q-tips!"
"If she ends up licking his burger, I'm totally taking pictures."
"I rely upon the meekness of strangers to get me through life."
"Tor has just agreed to buy our new anthology, 'Tales of the Callused [Omitted]'!"
"How do you tip strippers in Montreal?"
"I've got two words for you: shut the **** up!"
"Bauderlaire & tentacles? I think we've got a pitch for the Jane Austen zombie guys."
"Sometimes I think the tool chest of literary criticism is overflowing with cow turds."
To a famous editor: "I really have no interest in putting your foot in my mouth."
"How would history have been changed if Winston Churchill had been Elmer Fudd?"
"When you use bread you don't have to wear a mask."
"People would like to look back on the future fondly."
1: "I just wondered if he had a function at all."
2: "Ah ha, look at me being tactful! And silent."
"Australians keep New Zelanders around to **** sheep for us!"
"I was the bouncer at a pinball arcade in Ann Arbor, Michigan called The Cross-Eyed Moose."
"People with tattoos on their eyes buy art."
"There are some things I don't mind you doing to my wife. Mutual tattooing is not one of them."
"Attending Comic-Con is like swimming through a sea of human meat."
"You must be a writer because you're dressed so well."
"And now they're swabbing the air conditioner with giant q-tips!"
"If she ends up licking his burger, I'm totally taking pictures."
"I rely upon the meekness of strangers to get me through life."
"Tor has just agreed to buy our new anthology, 'Tales of the Callused [Omitted]'!"
"How do you tip strippers in Montreal?"
"I've got two words for you: shut the **** up!"
"Bauderlaire & tentacles? I think we've got a pitch for the Jane Austen zombie guys."
"Sometimes I think the tool chest of literary criticism is overflowing with cow turds."
To a famous editor: "I really have no interest in putting your foot in my mouth."
"How would history have been changed if Winston Churchill had been Elmer Fudd?"
"When you use bread you don't have to wear a mask."
"People would like to look back on the future fondly."
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