‘Moby-Dick’ sparks Mass. legislative battle: “What about Louisa May Alcott? What about (Nathaniel) Hawthorne? How am I going to face my constituents?” she said. [USA Today]
Debut author wins Booker with searing portrait of Indian poverty: Aravind Adiga, a first-time author from India, won the Man Booker Prize last night with his novel The White Tiger, which was praised by the judges for presenting the “dark side of India” and likened to Shakespeare’s Macbeth “with a delicious twist”. [Independent]
Booklovers turn to Karl Marx as financial crisis bites in Germany: Karl Marx is back. That, at least, is the verdict of publishers and bookshops in Germany who say that his works are flying off the shelves. [Guardian]
National Book Award Finalists Announced: Author Scott Turow announced this year’s National Book Award finalists in Chicago earlier today. The finalists include two previous NBA winners and three debut novelists. Among the fiction finalists are Peter Matthiessen, a 1979 winner for nonfiction, for his novel Shadow Country (Modern Library); and Marilynne Robinson, a finalist in 1983 and 1989, for her novel Home (FSG). [Publishers Weekly]
Publishers seek new talent in Arab world: Western publishers are launching a drive to tap the Arab world for new stars, hoping to bridge the language gap with more than 200 million native Arabic speakers – and make money from selling books. [Guardian]
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