Courtesy of YouTube user woodychaos. From the Wikipedia description:

The Charles Bukowski Tapes are an altogether more than four hours long collection of 52 short-interviews with the American cult author Charles Bukowski, sorted by topic and each between one and ten minutes long. Director Barbet Schroeder (Barfly) interviews Bukowski about such themes as alcohol, violence, and women, and Bukowski answers willingly, losing himself in sometimes minute-long monologues. Amongst other things, Bukowski leads the small camera team through his parents’s house and his former neighbourhood, but the largest part of the interviews takes place in Bukowski’s flat or backyard. The documentary includes a scene in which Bukowski reacts violently toward his wife Linda Lee.

Related: The Charles Bukowski Tapes 1

Alexandra Penney shares an excerpt from her new book, The Bag Lady Papers: The Priceless Experience of Losing It All. (The Daily Beast)

Martin Amis strikes back. (The Independent)

In light of the accusations of plagiarism against JK Rowling, Marjorie Kehe rounds up “5 interesting tales of plagiarism.” (CSMonitor.com)

Charles Pellegrino to scrub an impostor from future editions of The Last Train From Hiroshima. (Washington Post)

Will the simple joy of bookshop browsing become a thing of the past in the age of Amazon and eBooks? (Guardian Books Blog)

New Yorker editor David Remnick’s Obama book coming in April. (Miami Herald)

A rare copy of the first Superman comic book fetches a million bucks. (The Boston Globe)

Jason Boog recaps the Black Quill Awards. (GalleyCat)

Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalists have been announced. (LATimes)

Richard J. Tofel looks at how the iPad may put the final nail in the coffin of the newspaper industry. (The Daily Beast)

Despite a slow year for most formats, eBooks had one hell of a 2009—with sales jumping 176%. (Publishers Weekly)

“On this day in 1995 James Alfred Wight, better-known as James Herriot, died at the age of seventy-eight. Wight went to the Yorkshire Dales in 1940, fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College. Over 2300 packed his memorial service in York Minster Cathedral; over 100,000 a year now visit the museum at the site of the original practice; over sixty million copies of his books have been sold.” (Today in Literature)

“Do change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones.”

-Roddy Doyle

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Publishers Weekly has nonfiction reviews.

Library Journal has self-help.

USA Today has mysteries and thrillers.

Zombies are apparently the new vampires, so they’re apt to be everywhere.  In preparation, do consider Roger Ma’s THE ZOMBIE COMBAT MANUAL: A GUIDE TO FIGHTING THE LIVING DEAD.

And author Michael Palmer is praised for his latest thriller, THE LAST SURGEON.

Courtesy of YouTube user woodychaos. From the Wikipedia description:

The Charles Bukowski Tapes are an altogether more than four hours long collection of 52 short-interviews with the American cult author Charles Bukowski, sorted by topic and each between one and ten minutes long. Director Barbet Schroeder (Barfly) interviews Bukowski about such themes as alcohol, violence, and women, and Bukowski answers willingly, losing himself in sometimes minute-long monologues. Amongst other things, Bukowski leads the small camera team through his parents’s house and his former neighbourhood, but the largest part of the interviews takes place in Bukowski’s flat or backyard. The documentary includes a scene in which Bukowski reacts violently toward his wife Linda Lee.

James D. Watts looks back at Ralph Ellison’s 40 year struggle with his “Oklahoma Book,” now released as Three Days Before the Shooting. (Tulsa World)

McCrum pushes back against the contention that 2010 is a bad time to be a writer. (The Guardian)

M.A. Orthofer introduces his latest addition to the complete review, Macedonio Fernández’s The Museum of Eterna’s Novel (The First Good Novel). (The Literary Saloon)

Christopher Plummer talks about his portrayal of Tolstoy. (Poughkeepsie Journal)

Touré dissects the psychology of blacks who seek to pass as white through the prism of literary characters. (NYTimes)

MacAllister Stone shares the details for the 2010 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. (Absolute Write)

Christopher Fowler remembers Mary Renault as part of the ‘Forgotten Authors’ series. (The Independent)

Carol Rumens takes on a new poem of the week: “A Letter to a Brother of the Pen in Tribulation” by Aphra Behn. (Guardian Books Blog)

“On this day in 1903 the Canadian novelist and short story writer, Morley Callaghan was born. Though prolific and successful, Callaghan was so overlooked by the critics for much of his career that Edmund Wilson thought him “the most unjustly neglected writer in the English language.” As Hemingway discovered, he could be underestimated as a boxer, too.” (Today in Literature)

“Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades, do what you need to and get it back. Remember writing doesn’t love you. It doesn’t care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.”

-AL Kennedy

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Ted Conover makes poetic relevance of roads in his book on thoroughfares around the world in THE ROUTES OF MAN.

The Star-Ledger, out of New Jersey, offers up a list of books to enrich Black History Month.

The man who made the prize is detailed for us by James McGrath Morris in PULITZER: A LIFE IN POLITICS, PRINT, AND POWER.

Jim Murphy gives young readers a lesson in one of the most famous moments in military history in TRUCE.

From the 92ndStreetY YouTube description:

Poet Lucille Clifton passed away recently at the age of 73. The New York Times recalled that Clifton: “…received a National Book Award in 2000 for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000, published by BOA Editions. In 2007, she became the first African-American woman to win the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a $100,000 award that is one of American poetry’s signal honors.

Her book Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir, 1969-1980 (BOA, 1987) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1988.”

Her relationship with the 92Y Poetry Center dates back to 1969, when she won our Discovery (http://bit.ly/9I2mhl) poetry contest.

In tribute to her we are sharing this clip of her reading of Voices on Nov 3, 2008. Clifton reads four poems, Out of Body, Mataoka, Albino, and Cream of Wheat.

Unterberg Poetry Center webcasts and access to our archive are made possible in part by the generous support of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

Spain to (finally) recognize poet Miguel Hernandez as a victim of Franco and not a traitor. (BBC)

Turning on Martin Amis may be one of the few growth industries these days. (The Independent)

How’s this for some Sunday reading? Ten rules for writing fiction, courtesy of Elmore Leonard, Diana Athill, Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Helen Dunmore, Geoff Dyer, Anne Enright, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, Esther Freud, Neil Gaiman, David Hare, PD James and AL Kennedy. (The Guardian: part 1 and part 2)

Writing is a dangerous business. Mark Sanderson explains. (Telegraph)

Matt Schudel remembers poet Lucille Clifton. (Washington Post)

Perry Middlemiss shares the results of the Australian Book Review’s ‘favorite Australian novel’ readers’ poll. (Matilda)

Adam Robinson makes the case that Amazon can be a losing proposition for small publishers. (HTMLGIANT)

Allston offers up some interesting literary tidbits, including that Salinger made Penguin made £4.5 million over the past nine years. (Telegraph)

M.A. Orthofer comments on The Independent’s profile of French author Anna Gavalda. (The Literary Saloon)

Orville Buddo rounds up the month’s poli-book best sellers. (NYTimes)

“On this day in 1852 Nikolai Gogol died at the age of forty-two. His unique style is a comic-tragic-absurd hybrid which has led to him being labeled the Hieronymous Bosch of Russian Literature. Having come under the sway of a fanatical priest late in life, and then been subjected to the treatments of several quack doctors, Gogol’s last days mirrored one of his bizarre stories all too closely.” (Today in Literature)

“Being a writer in Hollywood is like going into Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest with a great idea for a Bar Mitzvah.”

-David Mamet

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Bellweather Prize-winner Heidi W. Durrow is applauded by The Washington Post for THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY.

The LA Times takes a look at YOU: ON A DIET - THE OWNER’S MANUAL FOR WAIST MANAGEMENT, by Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz.

Kentucky poet Wendell Berry has his collection LEAVINGS named his finest.

And The Guardian posts a fat list of new reviews that should definitely get you through Saturday.

The official trailer:

Timothy B. Tyson weighs in on Hollywood’s treatment of his book, Blood Done Sign My Name. (Wall Street Journal)

Huw Nesbitt explores the tragic set of circumstances that have locked tranlations of Borges in limbo. (Guardian Books Blog)

Jackie Collins is back with book #27. (Oneindia News)

Jake Kerridge profiles Ian McEwan on the eve of the publication of his new novel, Solar. (Telegraph)

Will Apple’s prices for eBooks be lower than we thought? (NYTimes)

The Daily Beast looks at the most avid readers and book collectors to ever occupy the Oval Office. (The Daily Beast)

Andrew Albanese recaps the Google Settlement fairness hearing. (Publishers Weekly)

M.A. Orthofer parses the Jakarta Globe’s profile of translator John McGlynn. (The Literary Saloon)

“On this day in 1909 the Italian poet F. T. Marinetti published “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism” in the Paris newspaper, Le Figaro.” (Today in Literature)

“It’s better to be good than evil, but one achieves goodness at a terrific cost.”

-Stephen King

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Roger Rosenblatt scores a review from Carolyn See for his novel, MAKING TOAST: A FAMILY STORY.

The Daily Beast’s John Avalon show us, WINGNUTS: HOW THE LUNATIC FRINGE IS HIJACKING AMERICA.

Frank Serafini encourages children to peer and ponder in his photobook series.  Here’s the latest, LOOKING CLOSELY AROUND THE POND.

Salon Magazine praises newcomer Zachary Mason’s audacious entrance with a new takes on Homer in THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY.

From the Simon and Schuster YouTube description:

Christopher Cook asks author Philippa Gregory about writing on witchcraft in her novel The White Queen:

Casanova’s diaries go for £4 million to an anonymous buyer. (The Guardian)

The bizarre story of Charles Laurence’s banned book. (The Daily Beast)

Zoe Ruiz chats it up with Gary Young. (The Rumpus)

Ready, set… submit! Pyr now accepting unagented submissions. (Pry-o-mania)

M.A. Orthofer examines the impact of Shanda Interactive’s purchase of Readnovel.com, “consolidating their control over the Chinese online writing scene.” (The Literary Saloon)

Paul Theroux talks eBooks with Morning Media Menu. (GalleyCat)

Scott Thill wants to measure your interest in James Cameron’s planned ‘Avatar’ novel. (Wired)

Damien G Walter issues a plea to Iain M Banks. (Guardian Books Blog)

The law of unintended consequences: blowhard Beck helps sales of anarchist book. (Publishers Weekly)

“On this day in 1947 Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano was published. The novel had been a full and difficult decade in the making — including a desperate and ultimately fatal struggle with alcohol that would at one point drive him to drink olive oil in the mistaken belief it was hair tonic — but the critics thought it comparable to Thomas Wolfe, or better than Hemingway, or second only to Joyce.” (Today in Literature)

“Any place you love is the world to you,” exclaimed a pensive Catherine Wheel, who had been attached to an old deal box in early life, and prided herself on her broken heart, “but love is not fashionable any more, the poets have killed it. They wrote so much about it that nobody believed them, and I am not surprised. True love suffers, and is silent. I remember myself once– but it is no matter now. Romance is a thing of the past.”

- Oscar Wilde

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I don’t make any old excuse to link to something I’ve written, but Chris Harrald and Fletcher Watkins have written THE CIGARETTE BOOK, and I couldn’t help but recall my own ode to the cancer stick.

If you can’t wait for me to harvest each night’s small bushel of book reviews, GalleyCat’s gone and compiled a list of Twitter reviewers to feed your habit faster than I can.

A battle to change our perception of war is the focus of Ted Morgan’s VALLEY OF DEATH: THE TRAGEDY AT DIEN BIEN PHU THAT LED AMERICA INTO THE VIETNAM WAR.

The Atlantic profiles two books that celebrate misogyny: Henry de Montherlant’s THE GIRLS and CHAOS AND NIGHT.