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Watterson on Schulz bio

Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson reviews the new biography of Charles Schulz in “The Grief that Made ‘Peanuts’ Good.” (See also.)

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The Smart Set: Lauren Cerand’s weekly events

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30pm and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication, with the date in the . . .

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Happy weekend from the anxious babysitter

Here’s one last picture of Granddaddy, the last cotton buyer in Drew, Mississippi. He’s gazing (in adoration? nervously?) at the great-granddaughter (i.e., me) he bragged about to the reporter.

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Profiled at Yahoo Picks

Thanks to Gordon Hurd, who interviewed me for Yahoo! Picks. (I should note: The NYer’s mention wasn’t an endorsement.)

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Jean Thompson responds to King’s “What Ails the Short Story?”

Below writer Jean Thompson (Throw Like a Girl) offers a rejoinder to Stephen King’s charge that short story writers are hastening the decline of the form with airless and insular tales. “When circulation falters,” says King, “the air in the room gets stale.”   The 2007 edition of the Best American Short Stories, edited by Stephen King, is out, and . . .

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