paper trail

Sep 13, 2011 @ 4:00:00 am

Bob Mould

Anthony Bourdain, the author of Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw, has made a deal with Dan Halpern, the publisher of HarperCollins imprint Ecco Press, to start an eponymous line of books. The tough-talking chef and adventurous diner will acquire three to five books a year—and not just about food. “We look forward to publishing an unusual mix of new authors, existing works, neglected or under-appreciated masterworks, and translations of people from elsewhere who we think are just too damned brilliant not to be available in English,” says Bourdain. “We're presently looking at an initial list composed of chefs, enthusiasts, fighters, musicians, and dead essayists.”

Andrew Hultkrans reviews Bob Mould’s new memoir about indie rock, pro wrestling, and overcoming self-hatred. (For more Mould, see his interview at the Sound of Yound America.)

Amazon is considering an e-book rental service that will allow readers to borrow digital books, a la Netflix.

Campaigns to digitize old newspapers are offering scholars new avenues for historical research, which, the New York Times speculates, could mean that “evidence of illicit trysts, business deals gone bad and scandals forgotten will likely surface somewhere, somehow.”

More than a year in the making, the Toronto Review of Books will finally launch on September 20. To get a sense of what’s in store, check out Bookforum’s 2010 interview with founding editor Jessica Duffin Wolfe.

Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn continues to defy the publishing downturn: the Ft. Greene shop (and local bookstore to several of our editors) has announced plans to add a cafe and events area, as well as additional office space. Just as implausibly, they also plan to start selling e-books.

Does the demise of Ikea’s Billy bookshelf mean that people are no longer buying books?