The Buzz...About Books

"One or Two Lumps, Mr. Mortenson?"

In Three Cups of Deceit, Jon Krakauer alleges that humanitarian Greg Mortenson bent the truth about certain events in his bestselling memoirs Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools and furthermore, that his charity, the Central Asia Institute, is not exactly what it seems.  Mortenson, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has gained global recognition for risking his life to bring education to women in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. His memoirs kept countless middle-class book clubs enthralled while the military made his books required reading. 

Watch CBS's 60 Minutes episode that broke the story. Read about the allegations here.  Krakauer, who was working on his own investigation, was interviewed by 60 Minutes. The author of Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, Into the Wild, and Where Men Win Glory is no stranger to controversy - his books deal with difficult topics and with subjects living on the edge.

Read the Daily Mail article which includes Mortenson's response to Krakauer. Mortenson has his defenders: his mountain-climbing friend, Scott Darsney, responds.

Mortenson is also reported to be facing a class action lawsuit. Read the article in the Wall Street Journal on the recent rash of class action suits from readers against authors for 'misleading' them.  (Good thing the villagers didn't know they could sue the pants off Copernicus for the innaccuracies in his de revolutionibus orbium coelstium).

In the end, these allegations are a matter for the courts to decide - but in the meantime, both Mortenson and Krakauer make for excellent reading: 

    

Go the [Bleep] to Sleep: Tender Tales for Sleepy Adults

No one was more surprised than Adam Mansbach when Go the Fuck to Sleep became a bestseller in advance sales.  Definitely not for children, this book is intended to reflect the frustration of parents whose little (non-sleeping) angels remain wide awake long after their bedtimes. Mansbach, a prof at Rutgers University, a novelist (The End of the Jews), and a first-time parent, was inspired to publish this book after he joked on Facebook that this would be the name of his next novel - and received an overwhelmingly postive response. See his interview on ABC news.  Listen to his interview on CBC.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of childrens' storytellers, American actor, Samuel L. Jackson and German director, Werner Herzog naturally spring to mind.

Listen to Samuel L. Jackson's tender interpretation. 

And here is Werner's version.

Read what the NY Times, the Washington Times, and the Globe and Mail have to say.  The U.K. Guardian writes about the curious phenonemon of children's books for adults.

Read what the New Yorker says about nervous publishers dealing with profanity-laced bestsellers in a post-Cee Lo universe.  Forget you, indeed.

Will parents find this funny?  Of course.  No doubt some parents will find this offensive, or dismiss it as a one-joke gimmick.  Serious parenting pundits will wade in to argue for or against the book's "premise."  One thing is for sure - this book stands to make a lot of money. 

For those who prefer to hear bedtime tales with an old lady whispering 'hush,' there is always the classic Goodnight Moon.

(author Adam Mansbach with his daughter)

The Last "Ah-Ha"

The last Oprah show has aired - after 25 years on television, the woman behind this daytime institution is moving on. Reading was one of the many areas to which the mighty Oprah lent her considerable power and influence. Whatever one thought of her choices, the Oprah Book Club had an immense effect on readers, publishers, and authors.  Fall on Your Knees, by Canadian author, Anne-Marie MacDonald gained a huge audience through Oprah's endorsement.  James Frey's reputation was blasted into a million little pieces after crossing her; Jonathan Franzen realized the error of his ways after snubbing her.  Watch him come crawling back. 

Crain's New York Business describes the effect Oprah had on the publishing world.  Oprah has hinted that she might keep her book club going in some capacity. The media speculates on the state of reading A.O. (After Oprah). 

At the library, requests for "Oprah Books" have been so frequent over the years, that we consider them an honorary sub-genre. If you haven't read everything on Her list, check out some of these notable titles.

        
   

      

 

 

 
 

The Story of O

O.: A Presidential Novel by Anonymous is getting some buzz - and not all of it is necessarily good.  This roman à clef, obviously based on the current Obama administration, has been compared to Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics by Anonymous (later revealed to be journalist, Joe Klein) which based its events on the 1992 Clinton campaign.  Whereas Klein's novel was generally well-reviewed, reviewers seem skeptical about the built-in publicity machine generated by its anonymity.  Nonetheless, others are impressed by the so-called "accuracy" of this insider look. Read reviews in the Toronto Star, The Guardian UK, and The Washington Post.   The Huffington Post speculates somewhat tongue-in-cheek as to the indentity of the author, suggesting Christopher Buckley, Jon Stewart and even Obama himself. According to Quill & Quire, the publisher has asked political commentators to "refrain from commenting" on this Obama novel (a sure-fire publicity gimmick that's not really fooling anyone).  

Read an excerpt published in the New York Times.

I wonder if Canadians will be as interested in this novel as they were in Primary Colors or in Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife, a novel obviously based on Laura Bush.  This book is released in bookstores next week - and you can reserve your copy from the library.