News Around the Net

Steven Poole has some problem with the writing of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. He goes off like some critic responding to some Dan Brown novel.

The finalists for the 2009 Story Prize for short fiction have been announced. All three finalists are debut collections, including Daniyal Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, which seems like it's been a finalist for everything.

Various literary agents are opening up on Twitter about their daily workings. Now aspiring writers can see just what they do with their time. Absent from the list of Twitter-ers is Nathan Bransford, who probably does enough of opening up to the public with his great blog.

True, the publishing industry might be slowly getting taken over by the internet, but who are the real enemies of books?

Do you like stories? Riddles? Well, here's something for you. Don't worry, it's not a crappy action thriller, I promise. It's cooler than that.

Want to know how to not be a terrible writer? Tired of writers writing about writing? About musicians? You're not alone. Here are some rules to follow if you want to not suck.

To celebrate its 75th birthday, Penguin has chosen five books from each of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's and will reissue them with new introductions and such.

The death of the slush pile.