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Graphic Books Best Sellers: Pogo Possum and Friends

By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES

Volume two of “Pogo,” by Walt Kelly, which continues the deluxe reprinting of the newspaper strip starring Pogo Possum and set in the Okefenokee Swamp, is at No. 4 on the graphic books hardcover best-seller list this week. This volume introduces some cool characters: Tammanany the Tiger, Uncle Antler the bull moose, and three bats named Bewitched, Bothered and Bemildred. Carolyn Kelly, the cartoonist’s daughter, designed and edited the book, as well as restoring some of the strips. This volume also features annotations and commentary by the comic historians R.C. Harvey and Mark Evanier.

Lavish collected editions of comic strips have been in vogue for a while now. Fantagraphics, which is publishing “Pogo,” has been steadily releasing “The Complete Peanuts.” The publisher promises 25 volumes over 12 years. The series began in 2004, and volume 17 came out in April. (Ben Schwartz wrote about how much collectors crave these compilations.)

As always, the complete best-seller lists can be found here, along with an explanation of how they were assembled.

Book Review Podcast: ‘America’s Unwritten Constitution’

By JOHN WILLIAMS
Todd St. John
Podcast Archive

Listen to previous podcasts from the Book Review.

This week in The New York Times Book Review, Robert P. George reviews “America’s Unwritten Constitution.” Mr. George writes:

In “America’s Unwritten Constitution,” Akhil Reed Amar, a commendably unorthodox and, in some ways, iconoclastic constitutional scholar at Yale Law School, bucks dominant opinions on both sides of the political spectrum. He contends that the written Constitution points to an unwritten one, and he argues that we can interpret with both intellectual honesty and analytical rigor. Aware that the idea of an unwritten constitution has been abused by judges and scholars on both the left and right, Amar insists that the idea itself is sound — indeed indispensable to the cause of constitutional fidelity — and needs rescuing from its abusers.

This week, Mr. George discusses “America’s Unwritten Constitution”; Leslie Kaufman has notes from the field; Jonathan Mahler talks about the fate of Detroit; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.

An Apology for the Oxford English Dictionary’s Ill-Timed Word of the Day

By DAVE ITZKOFF
Oxford UniversityOli Scarff/Getty Images Oxford University

Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has apologized for what it called “a coincidence of the worst kind” after the dictionary’s Web site named “bloodbath” as its word of the day on Tuesday, after last week’s deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn.

The Guardian reported that a word-of-the-day entry that ran on the OED.com site, defining bloodbath as “a battle or fight at which much blood is spilt; a wholesale slaughter, a massacre,” drew rapid criticism from readers on Twitter, who called it “tasteless and gross” and said it was “in very, very poor taste in light of recent events.”

The post at OED.com said that “we apologize for any distress and upset caused by what might seem to be a highly insensitive choice” and explained that the word of the day is “selected months in advance by an editorial committee, and is distributed automatically each day.”

The post said that the timing of the word was “a coincidence of the worst kind.” It added: “What we hope to show with our words of the day is that even seemingly commonplace words can have interesting etymologies; however we have taken today’s word down from the OED Online homepage and are now taking immediate steps to review our scheduling and selection policy.”

Designers on Their Favorite Book Covers of 2012

By JOHN WILLIAMS
Peter Mendelsund

We recently asked people in and around the world of graphic design to name one of their favorite book covers from 2012 and briefly describe its appeal. We didn’t allow for repetition of choices, but several of those polled mentioned the cover chosen by the designer Jon Gray, who writes:

The book covers that Peter Mendelsund designs are most often brilliant. He is annoyingly talented and, worse, consistent. My favorite this year is his cover for Ben Marcus’s novel “The Flame Alphabet.” A simple idea beautifully executed in rich, warm colors. Like all the best designs, it makes you wish you’d thought of it yourself. It serves as a reminder that a book can be so much more than data consumption on an electronic device. You want to hold it, own it and buy it for your friends.

Mr. Gray’s selection, and 18 others, can be found here.

Dead Sea Scrolls Go Digital

By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER

The Dead Sea Scrolls were buried in caves for centuries, and then enmeshed in controversy over scholarly access since their discovery in the late 1940s. But as of today, some 5,000 high-resolution images of the scrolls are readily available online, thanks to a collaboration between the Israel Antiquities Authority and Google.

“Only five conservators worldwide are authorized to handle the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Shuka Dorfman, the director of the authority, told The Associated Press. “Now, everyone can touch the scroll on the screen around the globe.”

The digitization project, the result of two years of scanning using technology developed by NASA, allows users to zoom in on details of the often highly fragmentary scrolls, which contain versions of every book of the Hebrew Bible (except the Book of Esther), including one of the oldest known copies of Genesis and a copy of Psalms containing one of the oldest known references to King David.

The scrolls, believed to have been written or collected by an ascetic Jewish sect that settled in the desert at Qumran in the Judean desert after fleeing Jerusalem sometime around the second and first centuries B.C., also include a number of non-biblical books that provide insight into the origins of Christianity. Five scrolls were previously digitized, and posted online by the Israel Museum last year.

Debut Poetry Collection Coming From James Franco

By DAVE ITZKOFF
The artist, author and actor James Franco.Martin Tessler for The New York Times The artist, author and actor James Franco.

Perhaps the only way that James Franco could surprise us now with his unpredictable creative pursuits is if he simply chucked them all to spend time splitting rocks at his local quarry. And yet Mr. Franco, the artist, author and actor (whose films include “Milk” and “127 Hours”), continues to add to his eclectic résumé, announcing plans on Monday to publish his first book of poetry.

Graywolf Press, an independent Minnesota publisher, said that it had acquired a new poetry collection by Mr. Franco called “Directing Herbert White,” which it plans to release in April 2014.

The collection takes its title from a poem Mr. Franco composed about his work on a short film that he, in turn, adapted from the poem “Herbert White,” by Frank Bidart.

Mr. Franco said in a telephone interview on Monday that this poem was “about my relationship to that poem, Frank’s relationship to the poem as I have learned about it from knowing Frank and the adaptation process,” and “how Frank puts so much of himself into the figure of this psycho necrophiliac.” The other works in the collection, he said, were “a way to blend film and poetry and performance and persona — all the things that I think are related to that poem and that process I went through of adapting that poem.”

Mr. Franco, who has portrayed poets in films like “Howl” (which cast him as Allen Ginsberg) and “The Broken Tower” (in which he played Hart Crane, and which he also wrote and directed), is not simply an admirer of well-crafted verse: he also holds a master of fine arts in creative writing from Brooklyn College in New York and an M.F.A. in poetry from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. His previously published writings include a short story collection, “Palo Alto.”

Jeffrey Shotts, the poetry editor of Graywolf Press, described Mr. Franco’s new poetry collection in a statement as “a frank and illuminating set of scenes from inside filmmaking and fame.” He said that these poems “are, in part, a series of portraits of American successes and failures from within Hollywood, as a young actor comes of age.” He added, “But they are also smart and highly aware notes of caution of what can happen when the filmed self becomes fixed and duplicated, while the ongoing self must continue living and watching.”

Graphic Books Best Sellers: A Wave of New Series on the Manga List

By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES
“Bleach,” volume 53

Six series are new to the manga best-seller list this week. I haven’t read many manga series, but every so often a title strikes a chord. Last year, I recommended “Drops of God” as part of the 2011 Holiday Gift Guide and “Message to Adolf” made it on to my list of favorites this year. Part of my resistance is the sheer breadth of some manga series. For example, “Bakuman,” which enters our list at No. 5 this week, is on volume 17. “Black Bird,” at No. 6, is on volume 15. The two volumes of “Bleach” new to the list are Nos. 52 and 53. Other series simply don’t strike my fancy: “Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal,” at No. 1, is only on volume 2, but I’m not interested in “Duel Masters champions” who are assisted by mysterious spirits. Nor do I think I’m the right audience for “Sailor Moon,” volume 8 of which is on the list at No. 10.

This week, in an attempt to broaden my horizons, I decided to try the first volume of “Bleach,” which chronicles the life of Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenager who becomes a Soul Reaper, whose job it is to send spirits into the afterworld. While “Bleach” is relatively new to me, it is a phenomenon to others: in Japan, the series has sold millions of copies and spawned an animated series, video games and even musicals. I did not become an immediate fan, but this introduction had a certain charm. There were some humorous bits (“You lost your powers? What are they, socks? Where did they go?”) and some pathos, as when the tortured soul of a sibling, who is haunting his sister, is forced to realize: “You were so caught up in your loneliness. . . . You forgot about hers!” Next on my list to try: “Bakuman,” about two grade-school boys who want to break into the manga industry.

As always, the complete best-seller lists can be found here, along with an explanation of how they were assembled.

Film Based on Rushdie Novel Survives India’s Censors

By RANDY KENNEDY

A movie adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s 1980 novel, “Midnight’s Children,” – whose magical-realist exploration of the partition of British India was highly praised but also generated a libel suit by Indira Gandhi that Mr. Rushdie lost – will be shown in India without any cuts from the country’s film review board, the BBC reported.

“India here we come-intact! Great news,” the film’s director, Deepa Mehta, wrote on Twitter. “Midnight’s Children went through Indian Censor board without one picture cut. Salman Rushdie and I thrilled.”

The film, which is scheduled for release in India early next year, was shown in September at the Toronto Film Festival and was also recently screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala, in the southwest of India.

The filmmakers initially feared that the movie would be kept out of India altogether because of its critical portrayal of Mrs. Gandhi, who was India’s prime minister for 15 years.

Book Review Podcast: Old Hollywood

By JOHN WILLIAMS
Evan Gaffney
Podcast Archive

Listen to previous podcasts from the Book Review.

This week in The New York Times Book Review, Molly Haskell reviews two new books about old Hollywood: “The Noir Forties: The American People From Victory to Cold War,” by Richard Lingeman, and “The Entertainer,” in which Margaret Talbot writes about the career of her father, the actor Lyle Talbot. Ms. Haskell writes about Ms. Talbot’s book:

Talbot père comes across as a sort of Zelig-with-personality, a life-embracing man whose career spans, and illuminates, the first 60 years of the 20th century. When opportunity knocks, Lyle is already halfway through the door, cheerfully ready to adapt to every new form and possibility popular culture throws his way. From midway barker in a local carnival to bumbling magician to hypnotist’s subject to traveling roadshow mainstay to actor in a theater troupe specializing in melodrama, Lyle is there. He moves on when these Victorian specialties become passé. And when the talkies beckon, handsome Lyle is ready for his close-up.

On this week’s podcast, Ms. Haskell discusses her review; Leslie Kaufman has notes from the field; Liesl Schillinger talks about the world of high fashion; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.

Like a Fairy Tale: Hans Christian Andersen Story Is Found in a Box

By CAROL VOGEL

A fairy tale about a lonely candle that wants to be lighted had been languishing in a box in Denmark’s National Archives for many years. In October it was discovered by a retired historian, who now believes it is one of the first fairy tales ever written by Hans Christian Andersen.

The historian, Esben Brage, said on Thursday that he had unearthed the six-page manuscript at the bottom of a box while searching through the archives of some families from Andersen’s hometown, Odense, in central Denmark.

“I was ecstatic,’’ Mr. Brage told The Associated Press. “I immediately contacted the curator to tell him about my discovery. I never imagined this.’’

The six-page manuscript, called “Tallow Candle,” is dedicated to a vicar’s widow named Bunkeflod who lived across the street from Andersen’s home. Ejnar Stig Askgaard, a Hans Christian Andersen expert, said the work was probably one of Andersen’s earliest.

“I often get calls about stuff thought to have been off Andersen’s hand,” he said. “Most of the time it is not. This time I was thrilled. This is a very early attempt at prose by Andersen, who was then 18.’’ Mr. Askgaard explained that Andersen knew Mrs. Bunkeflod and visited her regularly, reading to her and borrowing books from her.

Andersen wrote nearly 160 fairy tales before his death in 1875, including classics like “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Little Mermaid’’ that have been translated into more than 100 languages.