Laura Albert, the author who made her big splash by posing as a former teen drug-addict and prostitute-tuned-writer named J. T. Leroy, is suing her publisher, Bloomsbury, for blowing “a golden opportunity to promote her work following a 2007 fraud trial.” Though Albert is not known for her honesty, she is apparently very meticulous: She’s asking for $131,573.60.
Graywolf Press will publish a bilingual edition of poetry by 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who is currently serving a prison sentence in China for “inciting subversion of state power.”
At the Awl, Miles Klee has almost outdone David Shields. Klee has constructed a surprisingly lucid story—fittingly named “Ibid”—made completely out of sentences from other works; the narrative contains eighty-five footnotes, including sources as diverse as Dante, Susan Sontag, and Jim Thompson.
The blizzard of literary events continues unabated this weekend. Two of the best are n+1’s reading tonight, featuring ten quick appearances by contributors including Caleb Crain, Keith Gessen, and Carla Blumenkranz at Brooklyn’s cozy BookCourt; and Saturday’s Moonlighter Presents series, which “encourages the public presentation of secret hobbies, passions, thoughts, opinions, and research,” with readings by Triple Canopy’s Sam Frank, as well as Sean Tommasi, and Cecily Swanson.
