The University of South Carolina has acquired Elmore Leonard's papers, one hundred and fifty boxes of them, plus a stash of his Hawaiian shirts.
Robots are writing fiction. A sample written by the Georgia Institute of Technology's "Scheherezade": “John took another deep breath as he wondered if this was really a good idea, and entered the bank. John stepped into line behind the last person and waited his turn. When the person before John had finished, John slowly walked up to Sally. The teller said, "Hello, my name is Sally, how can I help you?" Sally got scared when John approached because he looked suspicious. John pulled out a handgun that was concealed in his jacket pocket. John wore a stern stare as he pointed the gun at Sally. Sally was very scared and screamed out of fear for her life. In a rough, coarse voice, John demanded the money."
Guernica, which has published online for a decade, is coming out with a print magazine. The 255-page issue (or "book," a some people were calling it) was released last week; another one will appear, the publisher said, “next year, roughly the same time, maybe.” The magazine remains a nonprofit.
The High Times is celebrating its fortieth anniversary.
McSweeney's is becoming a nonprofit. “We’ve always been a hand-to-mouth operation," Dave Eggers said. "Every year it gets just a little harder to be an independent publisher,”
Memories of Karl Miller, the former editor of the London Review of Books, from Neal Ascherson, Andrew O'Hagan, and John Lanchester. O'Hagan: "Some people look at you and only see what you don’t have, and for them there is no such thing as you at your best. I know some people found Karl disapproving, but I never did. For all the lampoons and the teasing, his grip was warm. He really liked to see funniness in other people, which not all funny people do. He put more effort into being your friend than many people half as grand, and that was one of the things that made him unforgettable to many of us who felt a bit easier in the world because of Karl."
