A 2-part interview with the English author and screenwriter from authormagazine.com:

Part 1

Part 2

Times Online presents a day in the life of Doris Lessing.

Ian Rankin continues to make magic in his first non-Rebus novel.

Kurdish literature makes a comeback in Turkey.

Lee Siegel weighs in at the New York Times Book Review on the real value of literature.

The Guardian presents “The Sultan’s Battery“—an “exclusive short story by Aravind Adiga, who won the Booker prize this week with his first novel ‘The White Tiger’, an unflinching portrait of the dark side of modern India”.

The Independent Weekly, out of Adelaide Australia, could heap more praise onto BLUE HORSE DREAMING by Melanie Wallace, but probably not on one page.

Publisher’s Weekly’s web exclusive is always worth a look.

And lets have a page of their kid-lit picks while we’re at it.

Ian Rankin’s last outing with detective John Rebus before he’s nudged into retirement from the Edinburgh police force is fitting EXIT MUSIC.

Stuart Archer Cohen’s novel, ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, has some good thrills to float his heavy dystopian projection.

From the HarperCollins / YouTube description:

Tom Piazza, the author of Why New Orleans Matters, discusses his new novel, City of Refuge, a modern masterpiece —a panoramic novel of family and community, trial and resilience, told with passion, wisdom, and a deep understanding of American life in our time against the back drop of Hurricane Katrina.

Entertainment Weekly presents a biting roundup of canine literature.

Booker winner Aravind Adiga gets chatted up by IndianExpress.com.

Horace Engdahl’s comments about American literature’s insularity still reverberating…

…and the New York Times digs a little deeper into America’s aversion to translations.

The Examiner offers up some last minute literary themed Halloween costume ideas.

Sinclair McKay presents a retrospective of Ian Fleming’s James Bond.

France’s most celebrated playwright defends Czech novelist against claims he was a commie rat.

Cockroach author Rawi Hage gets a little perturbed at comparisons to Kafka.

Carl Sandburg’s home becoming a tourist trap for outdoorsy types.

“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”

- G.K. Chesterton

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PANDEMONIUM 2012 says ‘A Novel by Lee Cross’ in little letters on the cover. But, according to Blogger News Network, the novelisation is as thin as mosquito netting, so it could be quite fun to pick out who’s who of US politics as you read.

Monsters & Critics does their buffet of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy reviews, and I could pick one for you, but sometimes browsing is half the fun.

I don’t run across how-tos all that often, so here, have one: TEACH YOURSELF VISUALLY - SOCK KNITTING by Laura Chau.

Praise God and pass the ammunition, it’s AMERICAN RIFLE: A BIOGRAPHY.

The author discusses his debut novel First to Kill and offers advice to aspiring writers:

Andrew Peterson Interview - Part 2 of 3 - Awesome video clips here

Gawker relishes the timing of the publishing world’s contribution to financial Schadenfreude.

Spanish writer, philosopher and political activist Fernando Savater takes home the lucrative Premio Planeta for a detective novel.

Indian author Indra Sinha makes the Australia-Asia Literary Award’s long list for Animal’s People.

Children’s laureate Michael Rosen slams the lack of poetry being taught to children…

…meanwhile Nikki Giovanni finds new ways to teach using the rhythms of hip-hop…

…even as K. Silem Mohammad draws the connection between poetry and stupidity.

Book reviews and current events, AuthorScoop’s got it all tonight, all mangled together:

Stephen Lendmen reviews ZIONISM, MILITARISM, AND THE DECLINE OF US POWER for The Palestine Chronicle.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, Vikram Seth, Nalini Jones, and twelve other authors to report on the state of HIV/AIDS in India.  The result is AIDS SUTRA.

The Christian Science Monitor’s take on things is almost always worth the look.  Hot-topically, they’ve got ANGLER: THE CHENEY VICE PESIDENCY by Barton Gellman written up just now.

And just because we can’t get enough economic news, here’s a prerequisite primer if you don’t know what’s going on - PAYBACK: DEBT AND TH SHADOW SIDE OF WEALTH.

An interview with biographer John Stape, who charts the life of the Heart of Darkness author in The Several Lives of Joseph Conrad:

John Stape-The Several Lives of Joseph Conrad-interview - Click here for more home videos

British Library pays £500,000 for major archive of materials by poet Ted Hughes.

Fans of Dylan Thomas can rent his childhood home.

Drunk poet hijacks plane.

A judge at Spain’s National Court authorizes the opening of a mass grave believed to contain the remains of Federico Garcia Lorca.

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.”

- Kingsley Amis

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I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE by Julia Glass  is reviewed as a literary catfight of some depth in The International Herald Tribune.

I don’t run across too many Westerns and now I find a series - The Colton Brothers Saga.  SONORAN RAGE is book two.

From the stage for genocide to tourist destination in just over ten years, journalist Stephen Kinzer profiles Rwanda’s transformation in A THOUSAND HILLS.

Rose George talks shit.  Quite lierally.  Check it out - THE BIG NECESSITY: THE UNMENTIONABLE WORLD OF HUMAN WASTE AND WHY IT MATTERS.

And sometimes the ‘aw’ factor is just what the doctor ordered.  Take for instance, DEWEY: THE SMALL-TOWN LIBRARY CAT WHO TOUCHED THE WORLD.

An excellent interview with Irish writer and comedian Eoin Colfer from authormagazine.org:

First-time Indian novelist Aravind Adiga takes home the Man Booker Prize.

Times Online charts the rise and fall of the great British literary festival.

Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk slams Turkish penal code and YouTube ban.

Nono Ricci completes novel decades in the making.

Dresden novelist Uwe Tellkamp wins prize for best German-language novel at Frankfurt Book Fair.

Police investigating reports that the Naples mafia is planning to make good on its threat to assassinate anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano (hat tip: Michael).

A Natural History of Chicano Literature

From the Metacafe description:

Juan Felipe Herrera traveled as a child with his parents through many small farming towns and cities in California, until finally settling in San Diego. He has taught poetry from kindergarten to the university level and is the author of numerous poetry and children’s books, including Calling The Doves, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award, and Crashboomlove, which was prized with the Americas Award. He also wrote Upside Down Boy, which was adapted into a musical in New York City, and Laughing Out Loud, I Fly, winner of a Pura Belpré honor award. He holds the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside.

A Natural History of Chicano Literature: Juan Felipe Herrera - Funny home videos are a click away

Neuroeconomics, huh?  Change your thinking and your bank balance will follow.  (And, who knows?  Maybe you’ll change the world.)  ICONOCLAST by Gergory Berns will tell you how.

Brian Herbert is at it again.  The Dune series is revived, this time with co-author Kevin J. Anderson in PAUL OF DUNE.

Oregon Live calle Kathleen Bryson’s, GIRL ON A STICK, ‘an unnerving anti-love story.’

Poker genius, Dan Harrington, continues his instructional series with, HARRINGTON ON CASH GAMES, along with his partner in crime, Bill Robertie.