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The Difference Between Borrow and Debt
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Reading The Obamas
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The Alternate Universe We All Live In Now
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A Problem of Accumulation: An Interview with a Former Lehman Brothers Trader
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Friday, February 10, 2012
Books / Breaking News A Book About a Thousand Things: What Causes Gossamers?
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Books Amazon's Books Have Been Blockaded
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 4:48 PM
Although numerous independent booksellers, over the last few weeks, have individually announced they would ban books published by Amazon from their stores, late yesterday the trade organization representing most of the indies in the U.S. as well as many in Canada made it official: The American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced it would be joining competitors Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Chapters Indigo in boycotting Amazon’s books.
This means it's virtually impossible to buy any of Amazon's print books in any brick-and-mortar bookstore in the United States. That's an impressive blockade. While Amazon is by far the biggest bookseller in the United States, it does mean that there's a significant chunk of the book-buying public that doesn't have access to their titles.
Books Kathleen Flenniken Named Washington State Poet Laureate
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 1:48 PM

Books The Reverse Jihad
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 8:03 AM

The premise of Matt Ruff's new novel probably could have gotten him arrested back in the panicked, paranoid days of 2002. The Mirage (Harper, $25.99) imagines a world where the dominant power is the United Arab States. After Christian fundamentalists topple the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad on 11/9/2001, troops from the UAS flood into the fractured nations of North America to find weapons of mass destruction that may or may not exist. The invasion is highly controversial, and by 2009, the UAS is torn between citizens who support isolationism and more hawkish forces—including beloved Senator Osama bin Laden—who want to see Christianity utterly destroyed. At the same time, Muslims are becoming more lax in their worship and social mores (many people don't even stop their busy workdays to respond to the five calls to prayer that sound around the city), and angry fundamentalists complain that the UAS's necessary religious roots are withering away.
Ruff, a local writer, embraces this twisty concept with an attention to detail that suggests many months, more likely years, of fervent research. He imagines the life of a federal agent named Mustafa al Baghdadi, who, in the patriotic days after 11/9, shifts his focus from arresting smugglers of illegal alcohol to the more serious field of Arab Homeland Security. Al Baghdadi uncovers a plot that stretches from the highest powers in the UAS all the way down to the scuzziest crime lord in Baghdad—a small-time loser with airs of grandeur named Saddam Hussein. Along the way, al Baghdadi discovers artifacts (mostly paper items, including the front page of a nonexistent newspaper called the New York Times announcing the destruction of a twinned pair of nonexistent skyscrapers in New York City) that suggest there is another world out there where the script has been flipped...
(Keep reading.)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Books / LGBTQITSLFA After Gay Controversy, Romance Writers Contest Canceled
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 2:32 PM
Galleycat tells us about a dumb contest with a dumb name that got cancelled because of a dumb rule:
The Romance Writers of America has cancelled its “Where the Magic Begins” writing contest after their refusal to accept same-sex entries created a controversy...The cancellation comes after authors around the blogosphere expressed anger about the new rules. Author Courtney Milan blogged: “You can write about aliens from another planet who have tentacles, or barbed sexual organs. You can write degrading rapes. None of those things are barred from entry in the More than Magic contest, and if you write them, they’ll try to find judges who are predisposed to like your books. But they won’t do that if you write same sex romance–even if it’s a sweet romance with no sexual contact whatsoever.”
On their blog post announcing the end of the contest, Romance Writers Ink seems to not get the point. As an excuse for ignoring same-sex romance, they say, "we also opted not to accept YA entries." Because barring young adult fiction from your contest is the exact same thing as discrimination.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Books The Difference Between Borrow and Debt
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 8:01 AM

I just wish Hyman told this story with a little more skill. As a narrative, Borrow is weighted down with clunky language and a broken structure. We hear the same pieces of information again and again, each time framed as though we were hearing it for the first time. Certain explanations aren't clear enough for readers—like myself—who have a hard time understanding complicated financial matters. As a concept for a book, it's great. As a piece of writing, it's unfortunate.
If you're interested in the concept of debt as a player in the history of humanity, I'd like to again turn your attention to David Graeber's book Debt, which Charles Mudede writes about in this week's books lead. It's wider in scope than Borrow, and a lot more forceful in its opinions. And it's a better piece of writing, besides. Something that publishers of non-fiction need to remember is that the quality of language in a piece matters; Borrow feels like a lashed-together raft of ideas, and Hyman's perspective suffers because of that. Debt has been crafted as an argument and as a piece of writing, and that's why it's the book we'll be discussing ten years from now.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tech / Books / Retail Here Comes the Amazon Brick and Mortar Store?
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 10:20 AM
If this is true, Good E-Reader has run a hell of a scoop:
Amazon sources close to the situation have told us that the company is planning on rolling out a retail store in Seattle within the next few months. This project is a test to gauge the market and see if a chain of stores would be profitable. They intend on going with the small boutique route with the main emphasis on books from their growing line of Amazon Exclusives and selling their e-readers and tablets.
[...]
The store itself is not just selling tangible items like e-readers and tablets but also their books. Amazon recently started their own publishing division and has locked up many indie and prominent figures to write exclusively with the company. This has prompted their rivals such as Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million to publicly proclaim they won’t touch Amazon’s physical books with a ten-foot pole. Amazon launching their own store will give customer a way to physically buy books and also sample ebooks via WIFI when they are in a physical location.
The store is reportedly going to open before Christmas, sometime after Amazon releases the Kindle Fire 2. The rumor suggests that these stores will more closely resemble Apple Stores, rather than Walmarts. This isn't the first time this rumor has come up, but it does seem likely, especially considering the way Amazon's tech side has modeled themselves after Apple in recent years. The problem with the Apple model is that it's hard to lightly stock a bookstore—you try explaining to the angry schmuck who "drove all the way in from Redmond and had to find parking" about why you don't carry the new Glenn Beck book when you do carry Nancy Pearl's Book Lust line. This is going to take some fine-tuned messaging, I think.
Friday, February 3, 2012
2012 / Books Obama Administration Comes Out Swinging for E-Textbooks
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 1:35 PM
It turns out the folks at Apple aren't the only ones trying to make the push to digital textbooks — in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and FCC chairman Julius Genachowski state that the Obama administration has set a goal for getting digital textbooks in the hands of all students, and that goal is a very ambitious five years. The benefits of moving to digital are of course numerous, but Genachowski puts it well when discussing the flexibility of digital: "When they get to something they don’t know, the device can let them explore."
Wow: Moving to e-textbook-friendly schools within five years would have a huge impact on a bunch of different sectors. Would each student be issued a tablet? Would that tablet be an iPad? What would the DRM on those e-books be? Would this be essentially priming an entire generation to accept e-books as the "real" versions of books? Even if the five-years goal doesn't happen—that is a crazy ambitious goal—it seems that e-textbooks are the way the government is heading.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Books / Enviro "A Neat, Rare Opportunity" to Boat Down the Hanford Reach with Author Neal Stephenson
Posted by Goldy on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 5:43 PM
A neighbor of mine just emailed me with a fantastic opportunity. Hanford Challenge, a not-for-profit that watchdogs the Hanford nuclear cleanup, is holding its annual benefit auction, and they just added a boat ride down the Hanford Reach with author Neal Stephenson and environmental scientist Marco Kaltofen.
I ran it by Paul, and he says that this auction item is actually a really big deal:
Here's my review of his most recent book Reamde. (I know you don't read The Stranger, so you can take my word for it when I say it's a positive review.)
This is a big deal because Stephenson is highly publicity-shy. He's not a Salinger-style recluse—he does readings and things like that—but you can tell that he really treasures his anonymity. Part of the reason he likes his anonymity is that he's a really thoughtful guy; based on my few interactions with him, he's the sort of guy who doesn't just say "fine" when you ask him "how are you?" He doesn't have a bunch of canned anecdotes; he's very present in every interaction. Personal interaction with his many fans takes a lot out of him because he has so many fans, and because he offers so much more of himself than most authors of his caliber.
So what this says to me is: 1) He must feel really strongly about this cause, and 2) Whoever wins this auction will get a real, genuine conversation with the man, not some canned PR appearance. It's a neat, rare opportunity.
And you can trust Paul. Because unlike me, he reads books and stuff.
So don't miss this rare opportunity to boat down the Columbia with Neal Stephenson, while supporting a good cause to boot.
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