Peter Jackson, he of the Lord of Rings fame, was so wowed by The Lovely Bones that he adapted the screenplay himself and wants to direct.
“I can report that the response is overwhelming to the very stylized and very dark drama that's literally haunting: it's about a ghost. As good as the script is, the final deal for The Lovely Bones, with terms and all, will surely be as big as Jackson's King Kong-sized talent,” reports Nikki Finke.
Charles J. Shields couldn’t interview Harper Lee for his biography of her. She told all her friends not to talk to him. Shields describes the process he went through to track down information. (via Return of the Reluctant)
Pat Holt, the former editor of the Chronicle Book Review, challenges editors to stir things up by creating a panoply of choices in a section.
It’s Michael Chabon week all over the country. His picture graced the entire front page of the Los Angeles Times Book Review section last Sunday, and he was the featured cover story in last Sunday’s New York Times Arts section, where a reporter followed him around Sitka, Alaska, the site of his fictional homeland for the Jews. Oh, and don’t forget Michiko Kakutanti’s rave review.
The Los Angeles Times posed him on his front porch in Berkeley in a spread on Tuesday, the release date of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. Chabon was in New York on April 30 for a book release party hosted by his friend, the editor of Details.
Chabon is a Berkeley boy, and he isn't letting down his hometown. He will be at Cody's Books in Berkeley (there is only one store left now, on Fourth Street) on Saturday May 12 at 7 pm.
He'll also be
talking to Vendela Vida at City Arts and Lectures on May 7.
2 comments:
Hearing all this talk of the new Chabon release makes me sad…
A year ago, I would have been thrilled and probably obtained an advanced reading copy. He’s been my “favorite” author since I first read his debut novel THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH back in the early 90s.
But I can no longer support the work of an author who has no regard for the story and characters that put him on the literary map.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a film version of
MOP coming out later this year… Written and directed by the guy who brought us DODGEBALL, in which he’s CHANGED 85% of Chabon’s original story.
And the sad part is… Michael Chabon himself APPROVED of the script! WHY would he do this? I can only think of one possible answer: $$
If you are a Chabon fan, esp MOP, I suggest you do NOT see this movie. You will be sadly disappointed at the COMPLETE removal of the gay character, Arthur Lecomte, and the fabrication of a romantic love triangle between Art Bechstein, Jane Bellwether, and a bi-sexual Cleveland Arning. And really, what is MOP without the presence of Phlox Lombardi? Alas, she’s barely in it.
I heard an interview with Chabon today on NPR-- Fresh Air.
Incidentally, last night I suffered through the final part of King Kong (have been watching it in 1-hour segments, each at least 1 week apart). After awe at Jackson's work with LotR, and appalled at King Kong, I sure as heck hope that he and his writer team do a better job of crafting a screenplay of Lovely Bones than they did with King Kong.
Post a Comment