Reader's Notes - Miami Book Fair

     If Passing Notes has been a little light on content this week, there are two reasons.  First, I've had a low-level but persistent cold -- what we call here at the homestead, "The Creeping Crud." Second, I've been in full-tilt-booky mode getting ready for the Miami Book Fair, which has its gargantuan street fair this weekend.  I have three author panels to introduce and a full schedule of interviews to conduct both today and tomorrow.  If everything goes smoothly, I might get a chance to just sit in the audience -- or even buy a book.
     If you plan on being at the Book Fair this weekend, I'll be tweeting my location from time to time, so stop by and say hello.  Now's as good a time as any to connect on Twitter.  Be sure to stop by the booth for 88.9 FM WDNA. If you can't be there, you can always follow the (quiet, thoughtful) action on C-SPAN2.
     The highlight of the day for me will be hearing Salman Rushdie read from and talk about his newest work, Luka and the Fire of Life.  I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity sit down with Sir Salman afterwards and ask him about Bono, cricket, and other things.  That's the kind of content we're working to bring to you!  Gotta remember my press pass.

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PN 137 - James Ellroy, 'The Hilliker Curse'

Today on Passing Notes we speak with James Ellroy, author of LA Confidential, The Black Dahlia, My Dark Places, and Blood's A Rover -- among others.  Ellrot's latest book is a memoir, The Hilliker Curse, an examination of a lifetime of his relationships with women.  Our conversation can be heard Friday at 11:05 am on 88.9 FM WDNA in Miami and online at wdna.org.  This feature will be posted later today as a podcast, as will, over the weekend, my conversations with music critics Alex Ross and Greil Marcus.  Those later podcasts were originally promised for this week, but I've been fighting off a serious cold, and my voice has been in very poor shape.  Ack.

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Reader's Notes - The Great Gatsby Delusion

Here is an excellent piece by Sarah Churchwell of the UK Guardian expressing a full-throated skepticism at the viability of creating a motion picture version of The Great Gatsby that captures the magic of F. Scott Fitgerald's novel.  News is that no less than Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Julet, Moulin Rouge) will give the book a go, and that Leonardo DiCaprio will play Gatsby.  I've read Gatsby many times over, and taught it just about as often, and I find that the film versions annoy even the most indolent students, who really do prefer the book to the movie.

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