No wait, that should read The Millions Interviewed. C. Max Magee, creator of The Millions has been interviewed by the literary community at LitMinds. In today’s post about Vonnegut, he admits that he once used to be a completist, that if he found a book he liked, he would read that author’s entire canon. I used to be the same way! Now I know why I read him everyday—we’re kindred spirits. Well, okay, maybe not spirits. We’re kindred readers.

As has been widely reported, Kurt Vonnegut died last night in Manhattan. Ed has a comprehensive list of links to interviews, reviews, etc.

Thanks to Bookslut for this link to a post by a woman who fainted the other day while reading Chuck Palaniuk’s short story “Guts” in his story collection Haunted. Man, if only I had the power to make you puke….

I’ve started a list of all the books I’ve read so far this year. You can see it at the top of the left column on this page. I read a lot more than I mention here. I find that I’m often not moved enough to write anything about a book whether it’s good or bad. It takes a certain spark for me to want to write something. Does that make sense?

I’ll keep updating my list. The list itself is up to date now, but I need to go back and add comments to many of the titles.

There’s lots of buzz surrounding the publication of Robert Bolano’s The Savage Detectives. There are lengthy articles in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Bookforum. I haven’t had a chance yet to read any Bolano, but I’m looking forward to it. It would be nice to see people embracing more literature in translation. Has anyone read any Bolano and have any comments?

Here’s a review from Mr. Bookdwarf:

Simon Rich got a lot of buzz in some circles with a piece in the New Yorker detailing what kids think grown-up dinner table conversation is all about. That story is included in Ant Farm, which appears in stores this week, along with a couple dozen others covering similar territory. The title story, for example, is a conversation between the ants trapped in an ant farm. Other vignettes focus on childhood trauma and triumph: how trigonometry might be useful (answer: only when confronted with madmen), and what it must be like to be one of the enemies inside a shoot-em-up video (answer: it sucks). One of the best stories mines the emotional vein of parents trying to make up for embarrassing mistakes, but in this case, it’s Abraham trying to convince Isaac that he shouldn’t tell his mom about the whole sacrifice thing.
Ant Farm is the sort of book that shy people shouldn’t read on the subway, because they’ll laugh and attract attention to themselves. They should read it at home. Non-shy people can read it anywhere.

• Interesting article in today’s NYT about Atul Gawande. His new book Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance hits stores today. I always like his essays—don’t you wish more doctors were like him?
• The latest book trend—InsiderLit. We need a better name. Or perhaps to not write anymore of it.
• Oscar Villalon takes on the fiction/non-fiction divide in today’s Chronicle. He says that authors, editors, and publishers shouldn’t play fast and loose labelling their work.
• Whoo! Another good review of Jamestown. This one brought my attention to some ideas I hadn’t thought of, mainly the idea of staging in the novel.
• Check out FSG’s Poetry Blog. They’ve got podcasts of authors reading their works. You can download a Paul Muldoon ring tone. That’s so….
• Everyone’s mentioned this article from yesterday’s NYT about the pre-pub author tour, with Steven Hall as the example. “In attendance were some of the biggest names in the tightly knit world of independent bookstores, who are still not accustomed to being wooed over fancy dinners.” (I was at that dinner!) “‘What they’re trying to do is make a statement about the book,’ he said. ‘They want you to go read it, and it gives them another five minutes. But you can’t manufacture these things. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, and the book has to deliver,” [Paul Yamazaki] said. ‘Ultimately it’s about the book.'” This is very true. You can’t do this for every book.
• There’s some douchbag author scamming bookstores across the country into special ordering his non-returnable print-on-demand book and giving false personal and payment information. The story begins here, when the owner of the Seattle Mystery Bookshop took a phone order for Shortcuts: 20 Stories to Get You from Here to There. The next day Publisher’s Weekly reported that many stores across the U.S. had been hit in the same way. And that’s not all. Several people have reported that the author/vanity press have done more harm. Now that’s pretty sleazy. If you know anyone who owns/works at a bookstore, I’d give them some warning.

I had a feeling that it would win and it surely deserves the prize. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road beat out all of the rest to win the Rooster. This is a book that’s lingered in my mind many, many months after I’ve read it. This book haunts you.
Coincidentally, Oprah announced yesterday that The Road will be her next selection for the Oprah Book Club. That’s great?

The PEN World Voices schedule has been announced. It’s in NYC, so I’m unable to go, which is too bad—-the lineup looks fabulous. It’s running from April 24th-29th.

Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe has hit the shelves. The Village Voice liked it, the Austin American-Statesman seemed confused. Again, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year (I’ve read a lot of books in 2007).