Jonathan Karp

On Thursday afternoon, the Free Library of Philadelphia was ready to go with a Sept. 6 event for Joe Posnanski, the author of Paterno, a forthcoming biography of the famed and vilified football coach. On Friday morning, the books publisher told the library to cross it off the calendar. Theyre holding off on the tour, Andy Kahan, the director of author events for the Free Library, said on Friday, adding that the publisher, Simon & Schuster, had said Mr. Posnanskis work obligations prevented his appearance. Simon & Schuster is backpedaling quickly in the final weeks before the publication of

The clauses have been cleared, the contract signed. "Catch-22" is an e-book. "Catch-22" first came out in 1961 and Simon & Schuster plans a special 50th anniversary edition in hardcover and paperback next year, featuring an introduction by Christopher Buckley and reprints of essays by Norman Mailer, Anthony Burgess and others.

Amid the gussied up romances, male action fables and screenplay-bound interpersonal dramas making up The New York Times’ trade fiction best-seller list, one book stands out like a corpse at a wedding. It’s called “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” currently the only book on the list to combine gory scenes of zombie mayhem with the romantic exploits of a beloved Victorian-era literary heroine. Nothing in the book world in recent months has made the kind of splash (or should we say, splatter) that this title has, from the frantic Internet buzz greeting the announcement in February of its publication to the huge sales following its release this spring. The book has even been added to the curriculum at several university English departments.

More Blogs