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"It is a very sad thing that nowadays 

there is so little useless information."

                  - Oscar Wilde

Writing that Counts: 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners

The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced last week. (I love that Bob Dylan got a nod.)

FICTION
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books)

DRAMA
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

HISTORY
What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press)

BIOGRAPHY
Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson (W.W. Norton)

POETRY
Time and Materials by Robert Hass (Ecco/HarperCollins)

POETRY
Failure by Philip Schultz (Harcourt)

GENERAL NONFICTION
The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins)

MUSIC
The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang (G. Schirmer)

SPECIAL CITATION
Bob Dylan

Avada Kedavra! Rowling Curses Lexicon's H. Potter Plots

Does J.K. Rowling have a right to protest thievery of her H. Potter material? Yes. Will she win? Sadly, no.

Rowling's in court this week testifying against a proposed H. Potter encyclopedia published by Lexicon. Word is she was planning her own encyclopedia (with proceeds donated to charity, no less) when Lexicon beat her to the punch and produced their own version. Yes, she's the richest woman writer in the world; but I say to you- she still has a right to own her own ideas.

You may say Rowling has enough success to share, and there's certainly enough fan-base willing to shell out for every bit of merchandising even vaguely related to her hit series, but I stand in defense of Rowling's intellectual rights. The woman produced an iconic story, a story that made both children and adults excited to read, excited to purchase books and cherish them, and excited to look for others to fill the gap now that they've concluded. It seems there are plenty salivating to take advantage of that excitement. Though copyright laws allow for nearly anyone to publish a companion series to her story without violating her rights, I wish we'd let her exhaust her efforts before encroaching on them. Can there be too many books on one subject? Quality over quantity, I say. Putting out nine hundred different companion books while the real author is still alive and writing: Riddikulus!

Find out more: Rowling Testifies Against Lexicon Author.

Reading is Sexy: Because You Heart Shopping Almost as Much as Reading

Perhaps you're in the mood to put down that book and pick up your credit card. Want to tell the world you're clever via witty merchandising? If so, check out a few of my favorites...

• Sarah Utter: Be it mug, t-shirt, or bumper sticker, grab something from her super cute Reading is Sexy line, and broadcast your brains and your girl bits simultaneously.

• Literary Luminaries: Waiting on the weather for that trip to the lighthouse? You'll relish the rain when you get to break out your Virginia Woolf umbrella. Or spend monsoon season catching up on correspondence with the delightfully artsy Great Writers boxed note card set.
  

• Shakespeare's Den: What could be more fun than a James Joyce finger puppet? You might even be inspired to craft your greatest work of poetry with a genuine quill pen, or give the gift of kitsch with author action figures.
  


• Cafepress: Spice up your cubicle with some cheesy literary goodness. Choose a design and put it on just about anything, from magnet to clock to mouse pad to bbq apron? I love that I can put Leopold Bloom on 90 products; yes, everything from my dog to my bum. Don't like anything they have to offer? Make your own.

• Smart Women: Though I've been a fan of the Smart Women Thirst for Knowledge cups since I saw them in Bust many years ago, I only recently discovered their line of library/office goodies. I plan to buy the sweet Reader's Journal as soon as stock replenishes.
  
  
• Speaking of Bust, you don't have to be into women's lib to dig these Dorothy Parker martini glasses. Because sometimes a good book is best paired with a drink. (Hemingway, anyone?)
  


• Library of Congress: I'm always on the lookout for curious decor for my future hypothetical library in my future hypothetical mansion. I adore this lovely print Disgusted With Life, She Retired to the Society of Books for my reading room, as well as these vintage Federal Art Project propaganda prints.

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Why not seize the pleasure at once?
How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!
-Jane Austen