The Scandal Rag that Started it All
Upon reading James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential, former journalist Henry E. Scott developed a deep fascination of Confidential magazine (fictionalized in the novel as Hush-Hush magazine). The result, Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, “America’s Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine” (Pantheon, 240pgs), delineates the history of the original scandal rag that gave birth to today’s purveyors of titillating tales, such as Us Magazine, Entertainment Tonight and TMZ. Publisher Robert Harrison introduced the bi-monthly magazine in 1952, its blazing yellow and red masthead and catchy headlines gleefully exposing the infidelities, sexual orientation and political leanings of the day’s biggest stars. Through his research, Scott was surprised to find that each published article was carefully fact checked, and most of the stories reported the facts accurately. Though more respectable publications, like Time, derided the scandal sheet as “a cheesecake of innuendo, detraction, and plain smut”, the public devoured every issue and circulation soon rose to more than 3 million.
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Historian Alison Weir builds a case for Anne Boleyn’s innocence in the charges of adultery and treason that lead to her death sentence, in her new book The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (Ballantine, 464pgs). Boleyn has remained a striking historical figure through the centuries, and volumes have been written about her life and marriage to King Henry VIII. “She’s the Other Woman in an eternal triangle,” states Weir in an interview with NPR, “and Katherine of Aragon is the Good Wife whom Henry dumps for her.” In this latest book, Weir conducts “a forensic investigation” of the queen’s downfall and focuses on the last four months of her tragic life.
The fight for supremacy on the eBook frontier has gotten ugly. Last week, book-selling giant Amazon battled with Macmillan, one of the largest publishers in the U.S., over eBook prices. The New York Times reports that Macmillan CEO John Sargent flew to Seattle on Thursday to meet with Amazon execs and push to move to a pricing model where the publisher would set consumer prices for eBooks, with new releases ranging from $12.99 to $14.99, and Amazon taking a 30% sales commission. These terms are similar to the agreement Macmillan now has with Apple, to sell its titles on the new iBooks app for the iPad. However, Amazon remained adamant about maintaining its current $9.99 price point for new releases, and after a tense stand-off, stopped selling books from Macmillan and its family of imprints on Friday (though the publisher’s titles could still be purchased from third party vendors on the site.)
Earlier this morning, Steve Jobs introduced the world to Apple’s latest technological marvel: the iPad. The slick new interactive tablet, which looks a lot like an iPhone on steroids, allows users to browse the web, get e-mail, view photos and video, play music and games… and read books.
For more than half a century, a mysterious visitor would make an annual pilgrimage to Edgar Allan Poe’s grave site to leave three roses and a bottle of cognac to mark the anniversary of the author’s birth. The Seattle Times reports that for the first time in six decades, the illusive mourner failed to show on January 19 of this year. This unexpected absence has left many wondering if the stranger in the black hat and white scarf has met an untimely end, and if he’ll ever return. “I’m confused, befuddled,” said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum. “I don’t know what’s going on.” The first written reference to the visitor was published in a 1949 issue of The Evening Sun of Baltimore. Since then the mysterious mourner has developed a following of his own, with Jerome and many other Poe enthusiasts staking out Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, to watch the dark figure leave his gifts at Poe’s grave stone each year.
Public libraries throughout the country are coming up with creative compromises to clear fines and help those in need. According to the New York Times, several branches in Illinois, Ohio and New Hampshire have started accepting donations of groceries or canned goods, instead of money. The food is then donated to local food banks and shelters. Librarians nationwide have feared that in this down economy, overdue fines are keeping people from visiting libraries and returning materials. These donation programs have proved very popular in their communities, allowing people to clear their record and re-gain access to library resources, while helping the less fortunate. Robert Rice, the public library director in Pelham, N.H is proud of what their food-for-fines program has achieved so far. “We got our materials back and did something positive for the community. Use is up greatly, and budgets are being cut.”
In 1936, 12 year old Thomas McArdle checked out a brand new history book from the Chestnut Street Elementary School library in Scottdale, PA. The book, The Birth of Rome by Laura Orvieto, told the story of Rome’s development, and the young McArdle needed it for his 6th grade history paper. “I just fell in love with the book and then I did a nasty thing, I kept the book. I read it about three or four times after that,” he explains in the Daily Courier. “I majored in history in college. That book, that class, and that teacher made a big difference in my life. I still read about Roman and European history.” For 73 years McArdle kept the book, taking it with him as he moved around the U.S. Recently, he contacted his cousin, who still resides in Scottdale, to help him return the book to its rightful owners.
The Guardian has proclaimed JK Rowling the winner of the last decade, as far as book sales go. The Harry Potter author dominated the bestsellers lists during the “noughties”, selling more than 