I was returning tonight from one of my most enjoyable readings yet—a packed house, literally standing room only, at the Bailey Library in Winthrop—when a doe sprang in front of my car. People in the audience had just been asking me about my next novel, and I'd said it begins with a deer-car collision. I avoided the doe (or she avoided me), but my heart continued to race for a while, as much at the uncanny coincidence as the near-death encounter.
"I Write Like" Stephen King
Stephen King. Photo by "Pinguino"A new Web site has become the talk of the literary blogosphere. I Write Like has an intriguing gimmick: just cut and paste a sample of your writing into a text box, hit the analyze button, and an algorithm will tell you which famous author you write like. I pasted much of The Poacher's Son into the site and learned that my prose most resembles that of Stephen King. This was news to me, but I'm in good company: the New York Times fed all of Moby Dick into the program. It turns out Herman Melville also wrote like King.
The Girl with the American Adaptation
David Fincher, the director of Se7en and Zodiac, has been hired to direct an English language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The script is by Steve Zaillian, who wrote Schindler's List, and Daniel Craig is rumored to be playing Michael Blomkvist. The part of Lisbeth Salander has not yet been cast.
Having just watched the Swedish version of Stieg Larrson's novel, I'm saddened by the idea that American audiences can't be bothered to watch movies with subtitles. It's more the shame because the film by Niels Arden Oplev is one of the finer adaptations of a (fairly complicated) novel that I've seen. There's absolutely no need for another version except to squeeze more money out of the worldwide Larsson phenomenon. I only hope to God that Fincher and Zaillian don't set their motion picture in the United States.
The Shame of Malaga
Over at the day job I have a new Editor's Note up discussing Colin Woodard's excellent article about the State of Maine's belated apology for one of the most shameful chapters in state history. I don't say this about every Down East story, but Colin's article is a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand Maine's past—and present.
Small-Town Premiere
Living in a small town comes with its share of trade-offs. There might not a decent Chinese restaurant for fifty miles, but you get to know people in all sorts of interesting contexts. Last night, for example, the best-selling author Tess Gerritsen hosted a premiere of the new TNT TV show based on her books, Rizzoli and Isles, at the local opera house. At the pre-party beforehand at the exquisite Camden Harbour Inn, I ran into not only the literary folk you might expect, but also my physician and dental hygienist among the attendees. In fact half the town of Camden seemed to be at the showing; the opera house was literary packed with Tess's many friends and fans who had come out to cheer on her new success. After the show (which I genuinely enjoyed), we all flooded out onto a foggy Camden street where a hired trolley was waiting to return people to their cars up the hill. You know you're living in a special place when half the community turns out late on a misty Monday night to watch television together.
Update on 2010-07-13 13:11 by Paul Doiron
The TNT clip I posted seems to work on some browsers and not others (my iPad) for instance. But you can see it at the link to the Rizzoli and Isles program above.