New Release: New York: The Novel
By Edward Rutherfurd
Doubleday | 880pgs
Release Date: November 10, 2009
Bestselling historical novelist, Edward Rutherfurd, weaves the compelling strands of The Big Apple’s rich history into a fascinating multi-generational tale. The story follows several families, from different ethnic and economic backgrounds, through the years as their fates intertwine to become part of the tapestry of New York’s history. New York: The Novel spans more than three centuries, beginning in the 1600′s with the Native American and Dutch settlements, leading into the bloody conflicts of the Revolutionary and Civil wars, followed by the explosion of the Industrial revolution and the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Rutherfurd details New York’s development as a financial center, and its rapid population growth due to massive waves of immigrants looking for a better life in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s. Readers experience New York’s rocky ride in the 20th century, with the stress of World War II and the financial recession of the ’70′s, as well as its economic and cultural resurgence in the ’90′s. The tragic events of 9/11 and the collapse of the World Trade Center bring the novel to a close.
The American Library Association (ALA) and Safeway Inc. have teamed up to bring information about libraries to households nationwide. The partners have planned a campaign of five Safeway-brand cereal boxes with back panels detailing interesting facts about libraries and librarians. The first two boxes were released in October, and the remaining boxes will be released in a staggered schedule over the next few months. Honey Nut Toasted Oats and Toasted Oats boxes featuring the library panels are in stores now, and are available in Safeway’s 1,500 locations nationwide. This partnership provides a great platform for the ALA to emphasize the relevancy and importance of libraries, even in today’s digital age. “The cereal boxes will bring information about some of the exciting ways to enjoy libraries – and about the value of libraries – straight into people’s homes,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels.
An unwanted copy editor has been digging through the stacks of The Maury County Public Library in Columbia, Tennessee. The local News Channel 5 reports that library staff has found over 50 books with profane language crossed out in blue ink. The targeted books are mostly fiction, many of them mystery novels, though the 9/11 Commission Report was also defaced. “It’s one word, in particular. It’s the ‘f’ word,” says Library Director Elizabeth Potts. But, catching the culprit will be very difficult. Due to a federal law that protects library patrons’ privacy, no records are kept to track the history of who borrowed a book. If caught, the offender could be charged with vandalism, or face more serious charges if they have caused more than $500 in damages. Though Potts isn’t planning to prosecute, she does want the illegal copy editing to stop. The stealth censor is violating Free Speech and altering the authors’ creative vision.
Apparently, the Heene family has cribbed a page from Edgar Allan Poe. Though the family recently created a media circus with the false claim that their son had floated away in a helium balloon, the idea of a balloon hoax is not original. According to The Guardian, the April 13, 1844 issue of the New York Sun reported an exclusive account of the balloon “Victoria” crossing the Atlantic Ocean in just 75 hours. The newspaper published excerpts from the diary of the balloon’s navigators, and the story culminated with their “sighting” near the South Carolina coast. But, the entire account was revealed as a hoax a couple days later, with Edgar Allan Poe named as the perpetrator. (A real balloon would not make the transatlantic trip until 1919, when the British dirigible R-34 arrived in New York after a 108 hour voyage.) Always the master storyteller, Poe loved a good hoax, and the balloon story was just one of five hoaxes that he contrived through out his life. Like the Heenes, he was thrilled at all the public attention surrounding his fabrication: “. . . I never witnessed more intense excitement to get possession of a newspaper.” Poe beat the Heenes to the punch by 165 years, though it seems unlikely that the family knew about the original hoax. At least no one has cause to call child protective services on Poe.
Retail giants Walmart, Amazon and Target have come under fire recently for starting a price war on new hardcover titles, and pricing mom & pop bookstores out of the market. Walmart fired the first shot earlier in the month by offering online customers the chance to pre-order 10 of the holiday season’s hottest new books, including titles from Stephen King, John Grisham and Sarah Palin, for only $10. Amazon and Target then entered the fray and the pre-order price was whittled down to just $8.98. In the aftermath, The American Booksellers Association, which represents independent bookstores, wrote a letter to the Justice Department calling for an investigation of this “predatory pricing”. The ABA’s letter accused the mammoth retailers of selling the books at a loss in order to “win control of the market for hardcover best sellers.” Target, Amazon and Walmart are able to offset these losses, but independent booksellers operate on much slimmer profit margins and do not have this luxury. These price wars could not have come at a worse time for small bookstores, since the weakened economy and the rise in e-book popularity have steadily eaten away at their profits.
Barnes & Noble debuted Nook on Tuesday evening, and announced the new eBook reader will be shipping in November. Nook offers several advantages over Amazon’s Kindle 2, most notably the 3.5″ color touch screen at the bottom of the E-ink display. The touch screen utilizes technology similar to the iPhone, and can be used to navigate content, purchase eBooks, or browse downloaded tiles by book cover. Nook can connect through AT&T’s 3G network, or through free Wi-Fi at all Barnes & Noble retail stores. While in store, users can browse any complete book for free, just as they would a real book. This feature is another key advantage over the Kindle 2, since Amazon has no brick and mortar storefronts and is unable to provide content in this way. One of the drawbacks of eBook readers has been that titles cannot be shared or loaned for free. Barnes & Noble has addressed this issue by allowing certain titles to be lent to friends for free for up to two weeks. eBook borrowers will not need a Nook to read titles, they can be viewed using an iPhone, Blackberry, Mac or PC. This borrowing option is up to the publisher, so Barnes & Noble is currently working with the major publishing houses to enable this feature on more titles.