Laila Lalami

This weekend BookExpo will be at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Here’s the official website and a list of their special events, which include discussions/readings with the likes of Marjane Satrapi (of Persepolis fame) or Jhumpa Lahiri (who will talk about her new novel, The Namesake)

I haven’t blogged about the whole Jayson Blair fiasco, mainly because it didn’t surprise me one bit. But for those who want the latest on that story, journalism.org maintains a list of sites.

Anthony Boadle writes about Finca Vigia, near Havana, where Hemingway lived for some 20 years.

“David Wiskus gives new meaning to the term “working lunch.” The Denver tech-support worker installed a program on his Handspring Visor hand-held that allowed him to manipulate the screen on his office computer from a booth at a local diner. As he lingered for hours over burgers and fries, he could actually open windows and move documents around on his screen via the hand-held — creating the impression to anyone who walked by that the diligent Mr. Wiskus had just stepped away from his desk.” How to Fake A Hard Day at the Office
Via the Morning News.

The world’s oldest multiple-page book, a six-page manuscript in the Etruscan language, has gone on display in Bulgaria’s National History Museum in Sofia.

I never thought I’d see a turn-around like this one. Ariel Sharon actually used the word ‘occupation’ in reference to Israel: “I think that the idea of keeping 3.5 million Palestinians under occupation is the worst thing for Israel, for the Palestinians and also for the Israeli economy.” And, predictably, his core supporters are confused.

“Despite dozens of books and short stories chronicling the intimacy and complexity of human relations, Gordimer’s personality remains elusive. Long ago she was dubbed the symbol of South Africa’s restless white conscience and today, with apartheid a memory and Gordimer approaching her 80th birthday, that is what she remains - a symbol. Of the woman little is known. ”
The Guardian profiles Nadine Gordimer.

800 people have died in yesterday’s earthquake in Algeria. Go to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies website if you wish to make a donation.

Wife insures herself for 100,000 against becoming ugly. Insert your own joke here.

First it was the staged toppling of the Saddam statue, now reports are emerging that the rescue of PFC Lynch was a well-orchestrated news stunt as well. I guess the bit of sarcasm here was well-earned.