Forbes has compiled a list of the highest-earning writers this year. James Patterson is in first place, earning $90 million. Gillian Flynn, the author of the “literary thriller” Gone Girl, is in 12th place, at $9 million.
The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize has been announced, and includes Joshua Ferris, Richard Flanagan, Karen Joy Fowler, Howard Jacobson, Neel Mukherjee, and Ali Smith.
A hacker claims to have taken over the email account of Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, and is promises to release Nakamoto’s “secrets” if someone will pay him 25 bitcoins, or $12,000. A head administrator at Bitcoin says the hacker is likely just “some troll in it for the laughs.”
Susan Cheever, John Cheever’s daughter, takes A.N. Devers on a walk through her father’s house in Ossining, New York. John Cheever bought the house—which was built in 1795 and rebuilt in the 1930s—in 1961. It is the only house he ever owned. “I pray that our life in the new house will be peaceful and full,” Cheever wrote soon after. “I pray to be absolved of my foolishness and to be returned to the liveliness, the acuteness of feeling, that seems to be my best approach to things.” The house is now for sale for $450,000.
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency is holding a contest to find new columnists for the website. Submissions should a description of the writer’s vision for the column, a sample column, brief descriptions of additional columns, and a biographical note.