A film version of Shirley Jackson’s 1962 novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle is being developed by Michael Douglas’ production company, Further Films.

The New Yorker features an excerpt from Dave Egger’s adaptation of the kiddo classic Where the Wild Things Are. The 300-page “loose adaptation” was inspired by his work on the script for the upcoming live-action film version.

Britain’s poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy talks about how her mother’s death affected her writing.

The Publisher Files breaks down the most (and least) used elements in cover design for fantasy books.

Texas writer’s retreat may be closed after more than 40 years to make way for a ecological research lab.

Joe Quirk takes on the income gap between writers and publishers.

The Bellwether Prize (25k and a publishing contract) opens for submissions next week.

If you could assign just one book to a young person, what would it be?

The Daily Beast’s Samuel Jacobs catches the “Mad Men” wave and offers some literary recommendations so that you, too, can “read like Don Draper”.

The National takes a look at Iran’s literary renaissance.

Reader’s Digest to seek bankruptcy protection.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1850, Honore de Balzac died at the age of fifty-one.

“Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms.”

-Sherlock Holmes

(or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, if you like)

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MY FATHER, MY SON, by Tony Napoli and Charley Messina is given the coveted ‘must read’ by a reviewer at The Brooklyn Eagle as a story of personal redemption.  And, hey, it has the Mafia in it.

José Manuel Susperregui seeks to debunk Robert Capa’s famous photo, ‘Falling Soldier’, in his new book, SHADOWS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

Publishers Weekly has a whole list of new non-fiction to ogle.

R. Dwayne Betts, ex-con and poet, leads us through how he came to be both in his memoir, A QUESTION OF FREEDOM: A MEMOIR OF LEARNING, SURVIVAL, AND COMING OF AGE IN PRISON.

From the YouTube description:

Its Your World Comedy speaks with Bill Knoedelseder, author of I’m Dying Up Here: The Story of Standup Comedy in the 1970s:

Today in Literature: On this day in 1945, George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published after delays brought about by World War II paper shortages.

The big headline coming out of John Carey’s upcoming William Golding biography is the late author’s confession of an attempted rape when he was a teenager. The Guardian Book Blog’s Kathryn Hughes wonders about the motives of revealing such a thing in one’s diaries and if it will discourage serious scholarship.

GalleyCat shares some job opportunities in the publishing industry.

True Crime writer William Dale Hudson dies under mysterious circumstances.

Australian publishers not so quick to embrace the Kindle as the standard news reader.

Lynn Harris comments on the history of confusion between her name and the late author, E. Lynn Harris.

The LA Times gives some indication as to what to expect from literary monster mash-ups in the coming months (years?).

The National’s John O’Connell looks at England’s “oldest enfant terrible”, Martin Amis, on the eve of his 60th birthday.

Random House, Portobello Books and Arcadia Books, along with other publishers, team up with Arts Council England to promote Dutch literature in Great Britain.

“Zodiac” screenwriter James Vanderbilt gets the gig for “Spider-Man 5″ and “Spider-Man 6″.

“To be able to write a play a man must be sensitive, imaginative, naive, gullible, passionate; he must be something of an imbecile, something of a poet, something of a liar, something of a damn fool.”

-Robert E. Sherwood

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True crime account RUNAWAY DEVIL: HOW FORBIDDEN LOVE DROVE A 12 YEARD OL TO MURDER HER FAMILY, by Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose, couldn’t read as fiction.  It’s just too impossibly awful.

The New York Times shows its hand for this week’s list.

Martin Stannard gets lauded in Edinburgh for MURIEL SPARK: THE BIOGRAPHY.

Library Journal looks at a pair of books that reexamine Ronald Reagan, his life and his legacy.

From the YouTube description:

This documentary is a TV biography of Jane Austen. It was broadcast on 23rd Oct, 1995 on BBC1, following the BBC adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice” and “Persuasion” and “Sense and Sensibility” and “Emma” were forthcoming. It is based on some audio-video materials available at the time: video recording of the 1995 Annual General Meeting of JASUK, slide show on Jane Austen’s life presented by Deirdre Le Faye, audio show on the life of Jane Austen, “My Solitary Elegance” written and performed by Judith French, scenes from movie adaptations, locations and places associated with Jane Austen and her family and all these accompanied by commentaries and opinions on Jane Austen’s life and writing by acclaimed Austen experts, biographers, writers and enthusiasts.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Audio: Aleksandar Hemon reads “Stairway to Heaven”, the first story from his new collection, Love and Obstacles.

Robert McCrum says the US (and, soon, the UK) has reached its “iPod moment” for eBooks.

This week’s Poet’s Choice: Brian Barker’s “Elegy with a Mute Bell”.

NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature shortlist announced.

The Sunday Herald presents a spirited debate on the literary quality of Scottish literature.

Charles McGrath looks at the cottage industry of the unauthorized literary sequel.

Times Online’s Andrew Collins figures out the key to Dan Brown’s success.

The Independent’s Emily Dugan profiles Ray Howgego, whose Encyclopedia of Exploration is “a 3.7 million-word odyssey that experts believe is the largest unaided single-author work in the English language”.

Jefferson Barbour takes a literary look back at Woodstock.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1762, Samuel Johnson departed for his controversial taxpayer-funded trip to Devonshire.

“The cure for mixed metaphors, I have always found, is for the patient to be obliged to draw a picture of the result.”

-Bernard Levin

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Faiza Guène rolls out her second novel foray into the world of immigrants in hopes of capturing for natives how foreign it is to be foreign in SOME DREAMS FOR FOOLS.

A few days ago, The Christian Science Monitor heaped praise on Richard Holmes’ THE AGE OF WONDER.  Now CNN is at it.  It’s either got a great publicist or is the genuine article.

Bich Minh Nguyen gets a great review for her debut, SHORT GIRLS, from the Chicago Tribune.

And then they give us THE TALL BOOK: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE ON HIGH, by Arianne Cohen, who they tell us is 6′3″.

Lewis Segal interviews Rose Eichenbaum, author of The Dancer Within:

The Nation’s Joanna Scott presents a brilliant retrospective of Isak Dinesen.

James Joyce’s grandson to allow a bargain version of Ulysses to flood the market as the copyright expiration nears.

Trying to establish yourself as a writer is hard enough without having to worry about family members murdering you over it.

Lev Grossman discusses his new novel, The Magicians.

Winners announced for 2009 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest.

Authors and celebrities gather to raise money for the East Hampton Library.

The Village Voice has some fun with the possibilities of David Mamet’s take on The Diary of Anne Frank. Bonus: Mamet does the weather report.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain, inspiring Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to invoke the phrase “Midnight’s Children”—which gave Salman Rushdie the title for his 1981 Booker-winning novel.

“For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.”

-Ernest Hemingway

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Art fraud makes for great reading in PROVENANCE: HOW A CON MAN AND A FORGER REWROTE THE HISTORY OF MODERN ART, by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo.

Chattanooga pride comes through in this review of Jon Meacham’s Pulitzer achievement with AMERICAN LION: ANDREW JACKSON IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

Julie Kramer scores a win with her sequel to her mystery novel, STALKING SUSAN, called MISSING MARK.

Then the Star-Tribune lays down a little tougher commentary on Norman Lebrecht’s THE GAME OF OPPOSITES.

From the SimonSchusterUK YouTube description:

Discover Philippa Gregory’s favourite film, biggest pet peeve and get a sneak peek at her idea of perfect happiness:

The Atlantic presents an excerpt from convict-turned-poet R. Dewayne Betts’ A Question of Freedom.

After escaping the clutches of North Korea’s labor camps, Laura Ling (with the help of her sister, Lisa) is shopping a book deal.

BBC, as part of its Poetry Season, opens up voting for England’s favorite poet. Alison Flood lobbies against Kipling and in favor of Gerard Manley Hopkins. (If anyone cares, my pick would be Phillip Larkin.)

The National Writers Union lines up against the Google Book Settlement.

Knopf Doubleday announces that a e-version of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol will be released simultaneously with the hardcover edition.

Boyd Tonkin warns of hard times ahead for fiction writers.

Paul Sonne goes in search of Flu Lit.

Google clears the path for authors and publishers who have made their work available under Creative Commons licenses a way to distribute their works through Google Books.

Alex Beam dusts off Paul Fussell’s seminal essay on authors fighting back against bad reviews.

GalleyCat reports that the shortlist for this year’s Thurber Prize for American Humor had to be expanded from three to four candidates: Sloane Crosley, Ian Frazier, Don Lee and Laurie Notaro.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1834, nineteen-year-old Richard Dana boarded the merchant brig Pilgrim on the voyage that would inspire his international hit, Two Years Before the Mast.

“Here I am paying big money to you writers and what for? All you do is change the words.”

-Samuel Goldwyn

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Dave Woods has a new book report out, this time featuring one of his friend and collegue’s books - against his usual prohibition - because Peg Meier’s TOO HOT, WENT TO LAKE: SEASONAL PHOTO’S FROM MINNESOTA’S PAST.

Here’s a batch of comic book reviews to fill the graphic void we’ve had here lately.

THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC, wins veteran author, Richard Russo, a warm review in the Star Tribune.

Horn Book Magazine grants us a peek at their latest issue’s book review section.

From the YouTube description:

Thomas Beller and Said Sayrafirzadeh visited The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss the new anthology Lost and Found: Stories from New York. Thomas Beller is the editor of the anthology and the author of three books, Seduction Theory, The Sleep-Over Artist, and How To Be a Man. Said Sayrafirzadeh is the author of When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood and a contributor to Lost and Found. Guest host Mike Pesca conducted the interview.