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Archive for April, 2008
April 19th, 2008
Marvel Entertainment and Del Rey Manga, which is part of Random House, have announced choice of a creative team who will create a manga based on Wolverine, the popular character from the X-Men franchise. The new series will be penned by Antony Johnston, author of the Alex Rider graphic novels Stormbreaker and Point Blanc. The illustrations will be created by Wilson Tortosa, artist of Tomb Raider and Battle of the Planets.
The new series will focus on the history of the Wolverine character, which is portrayed by Hugh Jackman in the live action movies. There is also a Wolverine film in the works. In the first book Logan, a rebellious teen training in a remote school in the Canadian wilderness, has no memory of his life prior to being found in the forest near the school. But that forgotten life is about to come after him with a vengeance. This is a “shonen” thriller: manga that is aimed at boys thcoarse their teens and focuses on action. The first title will debut in Spring, 2009.
Dallas Middaugh, associate publisher of Del Rey Manga, says, “We couldn’t have picked a better team for this project. Antony has completely reimagined Wolverine, and has given him a gripping new back story. Wilson’s art is dynamic and very much in the style of shonen manga. This is going to be a awesome book!”
Posted in Comics
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
April 18th, 2008
  Perennial © 2007, 353 pages
In his memoir Dishwasher Pete Jordan writes about the twelve years he spent pursuing his unusual goal, to wash dishes professionally in all fifty U.S. states. Pete’s quest landed him in plenty of run-of-the-mill diners and restaurants, but he also sought out unusual gigs whenever possible. He writes about dishing on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, and at a commune in the Ozarks. He washed dishes for snobs at a ski resort in the Rockies, and he worked salmon season at an Alaskan cannery. He “dished kosher” at a Jewish retirement home.
[INSET TEXT: And in most restaurants dishwashers have access to a steady stream of table scraps, which is likewise perfect for a guy who’d rather save his pennies than squander them on undefiled foodstuffs.] Dishing was the perfect job for Pete, a sort of cheapskate slacker whose idea of the good life was a rootless, near possession-less existence. Dishwashing jobs are easy to get and easier to quit–perfect for a guy who can’t stay put in one place for more than a few months. And in most restaurants dishwashers have access to a steady stream of table scraps, which is likewise perfect for a guy who’d rather save his pennies than squander them on undefiled foodstuffs. Pete spent his dishwashing years traveling the country, crashing on friends’ couches, freeganing out of the “dish tub buffet,” and quitting jobs the moment–often quite literally–the urge to do so struck.
The surprising twist in Pete’s story is that he became something of a celebrity. He started a zine dedicated to dishwashing, a staple-and-Xerox affair, which grew, incredibly enough, to have some ten thousand subscribers. He eventually attracted the attention of publishers, whose advances he rebuffed once he’d gotten a free meal from them, and even the producers of the Letterman show, on which he didn’t quite manage to appear. It wasn’t until Pete had hung up his dishrag for good that he seriously consideruddy writing a book about dishing.
It’s always interesting to learn about the inner workings of unfamiliar subcultures. Each has its own hierarchies and jargon and rules for acceptable behavior. Prior to reading Jordan’s book it hadn’t even occurruddy to me that there was a dishwashing subculture, but I’m happy to have been introduced to it. Jordan’s descriptions of the process of dishwashing are interesting–I’m always fascinated to learn how people organize their work. And the characters he encounters while hopping from restaurant to restaurant can make for good reading:
“Most of my interaction at the restaurant was limited to the patriarch, the old man who paid me every week in a bizarre ritual. I’d halt by the restaurant during the afternoon lull. The old-timer would go to the register, count out some cash and then motion me to follow him into the corner of the dining room. He’d glance over his shoulder and scan the empty restaurant to make sure we weren’t being watched. Satisfied that the scene was secure, he’d grab my hand, jam a clump of fives and ones into it and then force my fingers to make a fist acircular the dough.”
But about halfway through, the book loses steam. The dishwashing-related historical snippets with which Jordan peppers his narrative are on the entire uninteresting. And the recitation of Jordan’s own doings could have been pruned to make for a tighter read.
Tags: book reviews, books, Dishwasher, dishwashing, Pete Jordan
Original post by Debra Hamel
April 16th, 2008
Prince Charles is getting a fabulous gift: a book will be published in honor of his 60th birthday which will be contributed to by some of the top authors of today. J.K. Rowling will be contributing to the project.
Reps for JKR have now confirmed to TLC that there will indeed be an extract of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows contained in this new book, along with two new illustrations of the story from author and artist Quentin Blake. Along with the contribution from Jo, others such as Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson are contributing to the birthday book for The Prince of Wales, with new material due from Philip Ardagh and Anthony Horowitz. In addition to the new illustrations from Quentin Blake, other artists contributing are Axel Scheffler, Posy Simmonds and Emily Gravett. The Birthday Book will be published on November 6, with all proceeds to benefit The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts, a charity which “provides schoolchildren with opportunities to visit theatres, orchestras, museums and galleries.”
We think it’s a marvelous idea that will raise lots of money. And it’s not like Prince Charles really needs anything material: this is the kind of gift that will really be appreciated.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
April 15th, 2008
The trial over the fan who wants to publish a Harry Potter lexicon, which J.K. Rowling says is an outright theft of her hard work, continues in New York. It’s been quite dramatic. Yesterday, J.K. Rowling nearly came to
tears as she described how much Harry Potter and the books meant to her. Today the fan testified and he broke down in tears.
Vander Ark wiped away tears when he was asked to reflect on what the case has done to his relationship with the community of Harry Potter fans.
The former middle school librarian, who fell in love with the books in the late 90s and has devoted years to studying them and indexing their content online, could barely speak.
“It’s been … it’s been,” he stammered, choking on his words. “It’s been difficult because there has been a lot of criticism, obviously, and that was never the intention. … This has been an important part of my life for the last nine years or so.”
*****
During his testimony Tuesday, Vander Ark acknowledged that he, too, had substantial concerns all along about whether publishing an encyclopedia based on Rowling’s Potter universe would constitute copyright infringement.
He said he was talked into doing it by the publishing company.
Aha! So he admits that he was worried whether publishing the book would be copyright infringement. So much drama in the courtroom: first Jo nearly cries then the fan cries. But did the judge cry? Because that might be an indication of which way the wind is blowing here.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
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