Socialite, 85, shocks New York with sex novel: Gloria Vanderbilt, whose family name is one of the most famed in Manhattan history, has written Obsession, the story of a woman who becomes entranced by her dead husband’s affair with a dominatrix. [Guardian]
The poetry, and wisdom, of Seamus Heaney: The Irish Nobel laureate may be on to something with his notion that the arts can help people through troubled economic times. [LAT]
The man who stood up to Orwell: Collins was one of the few people who can be said to have taken on Orwell in a quarrel and emerged his moral superior. [TLS]
Amazon Is Developing Bigger-Screen Kindle: The new Kindle could debut before the 2009 holiday shopping season, they said. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on what he called “rumors or speculation.” [WSJ]
Why is modern literature obsessed with history?: Contemporary novelists are so busy writing about the past, they’re neglecting the times they live in. [Independent]
If Only Literature Could Be a Cellphone-Free Zone: Technology is rendering obsolete some classic narrative plot devices: missed connections, miscommunications, the inability to reach someone. Such gimmicks don’t pass the smell test when even the most remote destinations have wireless coverage. [NYT]
About That Book Advance … : Yet despite the economic downturn, and the fact that 7 out of 10 titles do not earn back their advance, the system doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. [NYT]
Forgotten authors No 31: Dorothy Whipple: JB Priestley once described her as “the Jane Austen of the 20th century”. Dorothy Whipple (née Stirrup) was massively successful in her day, joining the ranks of Waugh and Greene with her second novel, Greenbanks. [Independent]
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