Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The Pulitzer Prize winning author, Michael Chabon, was recently elected to fill the role as chairman of the board of directors of a prominent artist colony. The Associated Press reported this in December, 2010: Michael Chabon, the novelist, screenwriter and father of four, has a new responsibility. He has been elected chairman of the board of the directors of the MacDowell Colony, the century-old artist residency program based in Peterborough, N.H. Chabon, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," replaces Robert MacNeil, author and television newsman who is retiring after serving 17 years. MacNeil turns 80 in January. Chabon, 47, has been a resident nine times at MacDowell and told The Associated Press on Monday that he was eager to contribute to an institution that had done so much for him. See that AP story here.

Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism from KERA's Think Podcast

[2010-12-15 13:00:00] How did a small desert town on the Persian Gulf become a shining beacon of global capitalism and how has the economic downturn tarnished its image? We'll talk this hour with the former Associated Press Persian Gulf correspondent, Jim Krane. His book "City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism" (Picador, 2010) is now out in paperback.

Download the podcast here.

"George W. Bush Memoir Has Sold 1.1 Million Copie"s by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

George W. Bush has joined Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in an exclusive club: presidential authors who have sold at least a million copies of their books. The Crown Publishing Group announced Wednesday that Bush's memoir, "Decision Points," has sold more than 1.1 million copies. It was released Nov. 9.

NPR syndicated this AP bit, which can be found here. In the book, he defends the use of water-boarding to extract critical information from terrorists: The Times (UK) reported this earlier this month:

George W. Bush has claimed that information extracted from terrorist suspects by “waterboarding” saved British lives by preventing attacks on Heathrow and Canary Wharf. In an exclusive interview with The Times, the former US President offered a vigorous defence of the coercive interrogation technique: “Three people were waterboarded and I believe that decision saved lives.” He denied that waterboarding, which simulates drowning, amounted to torture. Asked if he authorised the use of waterboarding to get information from the captured al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he was unequivocal: “Damn right!” In his new book he writes: “Their interrogations helped break up plots to attack American diplomatic facilities abroad, Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf in London, and multiple targets in the United States.”

Read the full Times article here. There's also this NPR All Things Considered podcast with and about the former president. See also: A Charge to Keep, George W. Bush on God and Country: The President Speaks Out About Faith, Principle, and Patriotism, Spoken from the Heart, The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment

Suit against ‘Harry Potter’ author to proceed from Books - The Boston Globe Book Reviews and Best Sellers Lists ... by Associated Press

A British judge refused to dismiss a plagiarism lawsuit against “Harry Potter’’ author J.K. Rowling yesterday, saying claims the best-selling author stole ideas from an obscure fantasy book deserved to be considered at a proper hearing. Rowling and her publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing, had applied to court for the case to be dismissed immediately, saying the copyright infringement claims brought by the estate of late author Adrian Jacobs had no real chance of succeeding. But Justice David Kitchin ruled that the claims, brought by Jacobs’s estate trustee, Paul Allen, had a chance of success — although he described this as being “improbable.’’

It's a rite of passage, for big franchises like this.

'$#*! My Dad Says' tries to move past novelty from SFGate: Entertainment by Jake Coyle, Associated Press

Justin Halpern knows that not everyone is supportive of a guy fortunate enough to turn a Twitter feed into a best-selling book and a prime-time network sitcom. His good luck instantly breeds hostility, he says, "and it's kind of a justified feeling because it's just a Twitter page." Hits on the Web haven't typically transferred well to TV (see "Quarterlife"), but Halpern might be an exception. His Twitter feed, "$#*! My Dad Says," amassed a huge following (now more than 1.7 million followers) simply by quotes he relayed from his 74-year-old father, Sam Halpern, a classic curmudgeon with a penchant for expletives. His similarly titled book debuted on the New York Times list of best-sellers. Then the CBS sitcom starring William Shatner as Halpern's father premiered to 12.5 million viewers, more than twice that of "30 Rock," its much more acclaimed Thursday night competition.

Read the full SF Gate story here.