GeekWeek

Digital Book Revolution Putting Store Model "Under Pressure"

You know that something's up when the CEO of Barnes & Noble, Leonard Riggio, is saying this about the power of digital books: "The store model is under pressure, whichever way you look at it." Today's Wall Street Journal did a profile of the number one bookseller with the digital...

Nicholas Sparks Douches It Up For USA Today

Nicholas Sparks is a genius. Just ask him. Sparks says: "I'm going to interrupt you there. There's a difference between drama and melodrama; evoking genuine emotion, or manipulating emotion. It's a very fine eye-of-the-needle to thread. And it's very rare that it works. That's why I tend to dominate this...

William Shakespeare, Victim of Longest Credit Arbitration In History

A play which was uncovered nearly 300 years ago is finally credited to William Shakespeare. According to the BBC News, "The work, titled "Double Falsehood", was written by the playwright and another dramatist, John Fletcher. Theatre impresario Lewis Theobald presented the play in the 18th century as an adaptation of...

THE BASEBALL CODES Reveals the Unwritten Rules of the Sport

"The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime" by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca is the tome that promises to unveil the countless unwritten rules of baseball. According to Yahoo News, the book describes, "Major League Baseball as a complex, intricate game with...

Why Wizards Can’t Discover Quantum Mechanics

Have you ever wondered why most fantasy books and movies are set in feudal agrarian societies? It's because a wizard will seriously screw up a scientist's day.

Salman Rushdie To Write Book On His Decade In Hiding

The publication of THE SATANIC VERSES by Salman Rushdie in 1988 sparked an immediate uproar in the Islamic world and caused the Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa for the author's life. The book's irreverent treatment of the prophet Muhammad was so controversial that it lead to violence around the...

Google's Digital Library Plans Face Resistance

Google's effort to create the world's largest library by scanning millions of books for use on the Internet faces a courtroom fight as authors, foreign governments, corporate rivals and even the U.S. Department of Justice line up to challenge it. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin already has read more than...

Steve Jobs Collaborating On Biography

Now Apple’s chief executive is set to collaborate on an authorized biography, to be written by Walter Isaacson, the former managing editor of Time magazine, according to two people briefed on the project. The book, which is in the early planning stages, would cover the entire life of Mr. Jobs,...

Crime Novelist Dick Francis Dies, This Video Is Stranger Than Fiction

For me Francis will always be defined for his 1956 Grand National ride on the Queen Mother's horse Devon Loch. Leading the race with less than 50 yards to go this happened ... No definitive reason has ever been uncovered, it is a mystery as strange as any ever penned...

THE BEST OF ALL FLESH Zombie Anthology Available Now

I bet you're wondering what I, author of a good half-dozen GeekWeek posts, does when he's not writing for this fine site. Well, I keep myself busy writing for a number of other sites, as well as various kinds of fiction. Back in 2001, I published a short story called...

Interview With Best-Selling Spy Novelist Alex Berenson

Alex Berenson is a reporter for THE NEW YORK TIMES and the author of a series of popular spy novels featuring the character of John Wells. The first of those books, THE FAITHFUL SPY, was published in 2006 by Random House and won the prestigious Edgar Award for best first...

How Rachel Weisz Proves The iPad Is A Game Changer

Esquire's moving cover from esquireuk on Vimeo. This might be the most important 13 seconds in publishing. I could go into a long-winded commentary about how this is the warning shot of a cultural wind-change... How the digital magazine experience can not only rival, but easily surpass the print experience....

"CATCHER IN THE RYE" Author J.D. Salinger Dies

J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose "The Catcher in the Rye" shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91. Salinger died of natural causes at his home on Wednesday, the author's son said in a statement from Salinger's literary...

GO MUTANTS! aka Heather Has a Fourth Hand That You Can't See Until You Do (a new novel from Larry Doyle)

Doyle's I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER (the book, not the movie) was a thing of beauty. This one, part comic book, part throwback to the 50s high school drama, part comedy... wait hold that... all comedy... this one is fantastic. I got a sneak preview of the first few chapters...

Whatcha Gonna Do When Linda Runs Wild On You?

This is bound to be a "must-read" ... unless your name is Hulk Hogan of course. Linda was the real power behind the throne. Hulk never made a move without consulting with her and it will be very interesting to hear her take on everything. This is not a lady...