Lit Bits and a Bit About Fatigue

• I'm rather miffed I didn't go to BEA and so while this is highly unprofessional, I'll admit that I suffered from party pooper syndrome the past two days. No posts. In deference to the fact that I had nothing new to post because all the "real" news was happening in NY whilst I was stranded in LA, dealing with the meanest conceivable fancy wedding cake woman I've ever encountered.  Proof: When it came time for introductions she said, "You can tell me your name, but I won't remember it, so what's the point?" Um??? Not how you work with a client that is about to buy one of your overpriced custom cakes. So, instead: cupcakes it is!
• Alyssa McDonald at The Guardian has a great post on authors as critics and takes particular aim at two of the more gloating author/reviewers out there: Martin Amis and Ian McEwan.  Coetzee & Kundera pass the test.
• Not that I'm on the cutting edge of thought or anything, but The Times' piece about Lost Boy Lit seems eerily reminiscent of my own musings a while back. Yes? No?  Of course, theirs is longer and better. I'm just saying...
• If Dan Wickett's pronouncement and the display table at my local bookstore are correct - this is Reading the World month. Yes, another month of other stuff.  But I dig works in translation and am fascinated by the "world" of literature I've not read. And, well, still couldn't because I don't speak a a few dozen languages. I'll likely jump into the fray. At some point. After I recover from not being at BEA and the harrowing cake experience.
• Did I tell you she also screamed at her staff in front of us, they screamed back at her and then she shouted across the bakery to her staff: "You are all lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame." While we sat, mouths agape, waiting to find the right moment to get the hell out.
• I'm suffering from Pessl Fatigue. It was bound to happen. It's difficult to discuss a book, in-depth, for two weeks, that you didn't love. You lack the enthusiasm to get you through the dicier bits. Some good points were made -- some are still left to be made. Do check out Round One, Two, Three & Four and make some points of your own. I'll wrap things up later this week once my Pessl Fatigue has subsided.