“In a controversial program aimed at enhancing border security, Texas sheriffs have erected a series of surveillance cameras along the Rio Grande and connected them to the Internet. “Thousands of people are now virtual Border Patrol agents — and they’re on the lookout for drug smugglers and illegal immigrants. “Robert Fahrenkamp, a truck driver in [...]
Archive for February 23rd, 2009
“The Eyes of Texas,” or: 43,000 Virtual Texas Deputies Patrolling the Rio Grande
Posted in American West, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Current Events, International Affairs, Politics, Science & Technology, The Americas on February 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Summer (of the Short Story) Comes Early
Posted in Books, Literature, Writers & Writing on February 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Ahead of their publication later this year of six new short story collections, Harper Perennial has kicked off promotion of its “2009: Summer of the Short Story” campaign by launching a new blog, Fifty-Two Stories. As reported by Publishers Weekly, the publishing house announced “that each week in 2009 it is posting a new short story. Some are [...]
That Cover Girl Face, or: The Hot-or-Not Author Syndrome
Posted in Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Sex & Gender, Writers & Writing on February 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Writing in The Virginia Quarterly Review, Jacob Silverman denounces the “lazy and shallow tactic” of discussing an author’s looks in a book review. He recalls the often overheated commentary about Marisha Pessl‘s dust jacket photo in her 2006 debut novel, Special Topics In Calamity Physics, and takes Janet Maslin to task for her February 15th New York Times review [...]
