paper trail

Jan 21, 2011 @ 9:00:00 am

Jean-Philippe Toussaint

The competitors and judges of the 2011 Tournament of Books have been announced. If last year’s competition (see the post-game wrapup) is any indication, this is going to be great.

Crain’s New York and Galleycat: Bob Dylan has reportedly signed a six-book deal with Simon & Schuster. Andrew Wylie, the artist’s literary agent, was, according to one unnamed editor, seeking an eight-figure offer. Among the six books will be a followup to Dylan’s memoir Chronicles: Volume One.

At the Millions, Colin Marshall has written an informative “primer” about the novels of Jean-Philippe Toussaint. “Toussaint said that ‘what really matters is to pay attention to what is both infinitely small and infinitely large,’ that ‘a book must contain both darts and philosophy, bowling and metaphysics.’”

Dave Berman—the onetime mastermind of the band Silver Jews and the author of the excellent poetry collection Actual Air (more, please!)—has started a blog.