Annalisa Quinn

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• The nomadic Irish poet Desmond O'Grady, who had a bit part in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, has died, The Irish Times reports. O'Grady lived much of his life abroad, in Paris, Italy (where he met ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• A copy of 1938's Action Comics No. 1, which features the first appearance of Superman, sold for a record-breaking $3,207,852 to an unnamed buyer on Sunday. Darren Adams, the owner of Pristine Comics, posted it on ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Former Meet the Press host David Gregory is writing a book about his Jewish faith, Politico reported Thursday. "Let me emphasize that this book has always been intended as an exploration of an aspect of David's ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Germany's culture and media minister is speaking out in support of a campaign by more than 1,000 German-speaking authors who have accused Amazon of manipulating bestseller lists and delaying deliveries. In a statement translated into ...

From its start nearly 25 years ago, The Simpsons was different. Not only was it animated, it had a Murderer's Row of voice actors and writing talent. It was absurdly funny and more than occasionally touching. Today, the show still embraces an uncommonly wide range of ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Laura Ingalls Wilder's rough memoir of frontier life, which served as the basis for her Little House on the Prairie series, will be published this fall as Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography. The Associated Press ...

This post was updated at 2:25 p.m. ET.

A video that was released online Tuesday in which the extremist group the Islamic State claimed to behead American journalist James Foley is authentic, according to U.S. intelligence analysts. Foley was abducted in Syria in 2012.

The video was uploaded to YouTube ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• J.K. Rowling has returned, ever so briefly, to the world of Harry Potter with a profile of the "Singing Sorceress" Celestina Warbeck. (You'll remember her song "A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love" from the sixth Harry ...

You've heard this story before. You may even have experienced it, or thought about it: A woman who apparently has it all — loving, financially successful spouse, posh home, wonderful, healthy kids, great job — still feels something is missing from her life. Could it be passion? Adventure? Risk? ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Ann Leckie's debut novel, the space opera Ancillary Justice, has won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel. The book, which is narrated by the artificial intelligence of a starship that has been transplanted into a single ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• The literary executor of George Orwell's estate says that online retailer Amazon's recent use of a quote by the writer to bolster its case against publishing giant Hachette comes "as close as one can get to the ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Amazon has launched a new store and a pickup center with Purdue University, its second university store after the retailer teamed up with the University of California, Davis earlier this year. The store (or "cobranded experience," as ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• A major Christian retailer has suspended sales of celebrity pastor Mark Driscoll's book A Call to Resurgence. On Friday, LifeWay Christian Resources pulled the book from its website and stores while it "asses[es] developments regarding his ministry," ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin told an audience at the Edinburgh International Literary Festival that his teachers said sci-fi would rot his mind. "When I was 12 or 13, I had teachers take away ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• The dispute between publisher Hachette and online retailer Amazon has escalated yet again, with dueling petitions and a debate over the interpretation of a George Orwell quote. On Sunday, the group Authors United ran a full-page ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• The planned acquisition of Perseus Books Group by Hachette and Ingram has collapsed. The deal, which was announced in June, would have seen Perseus' publishing imprints go to Hachette and its distribution business go to Ingram. Hachette, ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Google and Barnes & Noble are working together to compete with Amazon on same-day delivery of books, The New York Times reports. Beginning today, the Internet giant and the struggling retailer will offer same-day delivery to ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle has been ordered to pay more than $30,000 in legal fees to Leslie Klinger, an author and Sherlock Holmes expert who successfully challenged the estate's copyright. Calling the estate's grip ...

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• A 1980 children's story by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones author and wanton murderer of his own characters, will be re-released this October. Set in the world of his Song of Ice and Fire series, The ...

When Nimco Ali was 7, she thought her family was going on vacation. They flew from their hometown in Manchester, England, to Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.

Ali doesn't remember the exact location. But she clearly remembers what happened there.

The young girl found herself in a dingy room, ...