Booknews Roundup

This week the Pirate Bay sale threatened to run aground after the buyers were accused of being on the take and de-listed on the Swedish stock exchange. Allegories abound and metaphors were sighted off the port bow. I wonder if Johnny Depp will get a role in the eventual movie. (via WIRED magazine) Speaking of movies and metaphors, the challenges faced by an award-winning and beloved childrens book that's only about ten sentences long shouldn't surprise us, but it does. This transition from pre-adolescent fantasy to post-modern film is brought to you by the letter N, Y and T. But this tale of a childrens book's coming of age wouldn't be complete without this compelling illustration edition. That Gap ad is magical. (Five words I never thought I'd write.) (via NewYorkTimes and Geektyrant) Tuesday is the big day and the District of Columbia grits its teeth and braces for the onslaught of conspriacy buffs as it makes preparations "to be Dan Browned" on Tuesday (I prefer my cities medium-rare, thanks). Meanwhile, the Publishing Industry prays to be Dan Browned. Makes me wonder where I left my decoder ring. (via MSNBC, AFP, the L'il Orphan Annie show and the makers of rich, chocolaty Ovaltine) Of course there isn't a publisher or bookseller who doesn't wish Dan Brown could take a leaf from James Patterson's playbook. Patterson writes a couple books a day, I think and gets by with a little help from his friends. To his credit, Patterson's a heckuva nice guy and it reportedly very generous to his co-authors. As a writer, it must be odd to be the CEO of "Your Name Here" Inc. (Speaking of the Beatles, do you think there's much hope we'll see an author's edition of "Rockband" that comes with a typewriter and a bottle of Scotch? Maybe not.) (via Reuters, .CNET, Paul, John, George and Ringo) And in other news: This article on flexible screen makes me wonder if my pondering about dancing text isnt so far off, and the melee of authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians and lawyers currently centered on Googlebooks is giving me a headache. If you can summarize it or make it funny, more power to you. (via WIRED magazine, Yahoo/Reuters, ALA, and NewYorkTimes).