paper trail

Nicole Krauss sells books for $4 million

Nicole Krauss

Nicole Krauss (The History of Love) has reportedly sold her next two books for $4 million to Harper, making a departure from her previous publisher, Norton. The first of these two books, Late Wonder, is described rather abstractly as “a searching and metaphysical novel about transformation, about moving in the opposite direction from all that is known and apparent.” The second title, How to Be a Man, is a book of stories.

A sneak peak at the cover of Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, Purity, which, as some have pointed out, features an image that bears resemblance to Gerhard Richter iconic paintings of the Baader-Meinhof group.

John Waters performed an updated version of his one-man show, This Filthy World, at this year’s Tennessee Williams conference in New Orleans. “Trash and camp just don’t cut it anymore,” said Waters, who wrote the introduction to Williams’s journals, and still honors the playwright as a crucial influence. “Filth still has a punch to it. The right kind of people understand it and it frightens away the timid.”

The New York Times Magazine is making moves to increase its web presence. Last week, the magazine hired Jazmine Hughes, who was previously a contributing editor at the Hairpin, as its new associate digital editor.

Last week, the Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz responded at length to reports that he has tested positive for a banned substances. As the Times points out, Ortiz chose an interesting place to publish his “blustery rant.” “Instead of being reported by a newspaper or a website known for breaking news, Ortiz’s remarks appeared as a first-person essay on The Players’ Tribune, Derek Jeter’s digital venture.”