Mumpy's Library

Literary identity theft or an unconscious unintentional act?

The controversy continues over whether young author Kaavya Viswanathan intentionally plagiarized from the works of Megan McCafferty. 

Black Friday Book Bargains

Wishing to avoid the large retailers this Black Friday I spent the day browsing through three used bookstores. 
I walked away with bags of books including two books by Frank Herbert (The Dosadi Experiment & The Jesus Incident).    I am looking forward to a weekend of reading. 
How did others spend Black Friday?  Any great Book Bargains?

Cancergiggles: Mountains are Easy

Some of you may be familiar with the Cancergiggles Blog.  Now you can enjoy Cass Brown's humor and experiences in book form!  Cancergiggles (Mountains are Easy) published yesterday. 
"At the beginning of January 2004 Cancergiggles began life as a series of random articles which I posted on the internet.  With about 3 years experience of living with cancer and having come close to being a very dead person, I thought I may be able to pass on a few thoughts which may help or comfort people who found themselves in a similar hilarious sitution." --Cass Brown

Not enough Dick in movies?

If you agree, then you are in luck.  A Scanner Darkly will be based on the Philip K. Dick novel of the same name.  Fred is a narcotics cop out to bust drug dealer Bob Arctor.  Arctor takes massive doses of Substance D, a drug that splits the brain into two opposing entities.  So is Fred really out to catch himself?
A Scanner Darkly will be filmed using a combination of live action and overlaid animation.  The film stars Keanu Reeves, Robert DowneyJr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder.

Other great Philip K. Dick  stories that have been transformed to film include Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner), Second Variety (Screamers), We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (Total Recall), Imposter (Imposter), The Minority Report (Minority Report), and Paycheck (Paycheck).

Simon Says You Win!

If you belong to a book club that enjoys mysteries, then head on over to the Simon & Schuster, Nelson George Book Club sweepstakes.  Win a phone call from  Nelson George author of the new D Hunter mystery The Accidental Hunter.  Two lucky book clubs will win.

Cardinal Speaks Out Against Da Vinci Code

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone claims that the bestselling book  The Da Vinci Code is an absurd book of lies that poses a risk to the Catholic Church.  He will be attending a roundtable discussion, as keynote speaker, in Genoa this week to refute the book.  What I find interesting about this is that The Da Vinci Code is FICTION.  Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, has never made any claims that the book is non-fiction.  The Cardinal, and the Church, appear to be in an uproar over a clever piece of fiction writing. 

Art Theft: Today's Headlines Mirror Upcoming Novel

Yesterday theives broke into the restaurant of the Hotel Refnes in Oslo, Norway Sunday night.  They removed three artworks by Edvard Munch, the painting The Blue Dress and two lithographs, which they pried from the walls with crowbars.  The stolen artworks were recovered by police today and suspects have been brought into custody.
This is not the first time.  Munch's artwork has been a popular target for art thieves.  In August of last year three gunmen stole two pieces of artwork from the Munch Museum in broad daylight.
In 1994 Munch's painting The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway the same morning that the Winter Olympic Games began in Oslo.   This exciting tale, and the successfull sting operation to recover the artwork, is the basis for Edward Dolnick's new book The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves and The Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece. 
The Rescue Artist releases in hardcover June 28, 2005.

Judges Announce Man Booker International Prize 2005 Contenders

The first ever Man Booker International Prize 2005 will be announced in London in mid-2005.  Judges John Carey, Alberto Manguel and Azar Nafis have announced that they have narrowed the contenders down to eighteen authors from around the world.  The judges list includes Margaret Atwood, Saul Bellow, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gunter Grass, Ismail Kadare, Milan Kundera, Stanislaw Lem, Doris Lessing, Ian McEwan, Naguib Mahfouz, Tomas Eloy Martinez, Kenzaburo Oe, Cynthia Ozick, Philip Roth, Muriel Spark, Antonio Tabucchi, John Updike, and A.B. Yehoshua.

Gonzo is Gone: Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005

Hunter S. Thompson journalist, activist, and author was found dead in his Colorado home Sunday.  Police have ruled the cause of death to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. 

Thompson will be remembered for his "gonzo" style and for such works as Hell's Angels, Hey Rube, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. 

New Sherlock Holmes Novels on the Horizon

Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist, beguiles us with his first crack at Doyle's infamous sleuth Sherlock Holmes.  Holmes and Watson are summoned to assist in the investigation of the murders of Queen Vicoria's architect and palace forman by Holmes' brother Mycroft.  Upon arrival Holmes and Watson find themselves the target and begin to unearth a plot against the Queen and an assasination of The Italian Secretary to Mary Queen of Scots at the same location three hundred years before.

The Italian Secretary will become available April 10, 2005.

Mitch Cullin's depiction of Holmes in A Slight Trick of the Mind is of an elderly man in his twilight years who divides his time between writing correspondence, completing a manuscript regarding a previously undocumented case, and sharing his love of beekeeping with his housekeeper's young son.

A Slight Trick of the Mind will become available April 19, 2005.

For fans who want even more Holmes should keep an eye out for Laurie R. King's latest Mary Russell novel Locked Rooms due out June 2005.