Edward Champion's Return of the Reluctant

Rundown with the Devil

• Gore Vidal's Civil War play On the March to the Sea has been revived and revised. The protagonist's name has been changed to Hal I. Burton, all paternal figures will be referred to as "Bagh Dad" instead of "Dad," and the palatial home has been rechristened "The Other White House."
• The Man Booker International Prize nominees have been announced and already folks are stewing over who got left out. Which includes Salman Rushdie. In related news, it turns out that the fatwah was actually reinstated not by Iran, but by literary fans who have been annoyed by Rushdie's inability to write a decent novel since Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
• Spread the love for Dashiel. January Magazine and Pop Matters celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Maltese Falcon
• Larry McMurty's son is a singer-songwriter? I wonder if he's nabbed some tips from Kinky Friedman.
• Random House has obtained a minority stake in Vocel, which specializes in educational content transmitted over cell phones. While Random House plans on distributing language study guides and video game tips, since e-books have for the most part failed, will cell phone users actually read a book over a Nokia?
• And there's more on the revival-in-progress of Upton Sinclair and Sinclair scholar Lauren Coodley's tireless efforts.