More Round-Up Items . . . Because It's the New Year and You Could Use Them | Art&Seek

More Round-Up Items . . . Because It’s the New Year and You Could Use Them

by Jerome Weeks 6 Jan 2009 9:26 AM

Last week, Stephen Becker weighed the comparative merits of Doubt-the-play vs. Doubt-the-movie. Now Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune does the same — and throws in Frost/Nixon-the-play vs. Frost/Nixon-the-movie as well. He’s a theater critic, guess which side he comes down on. There are low expectations in the publishing world for Laura Bush’s memoir. And […]

Last week, Stephen Becker weighed the comparative merits of Doubt-the-play vs. Doubt-the-movie. Now Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune does the same — and throws in Frost/Nixon-the-play vs. Frost/Nixon-the-movie as well. He’s a theater critic, guess which side he comes down on.

There are low expectations in the publishing world for Laura Bush’s memoir. And we’re not talking about its quality or political interest here. The industry is in serious belt-tightening mode, so it’s looking for big sellers:

“Book sales are falling, with retailer Borders on Monday reporting an 11.7 per cent slump in holiday sales at its stores.

However, the success of American Wife, a fictional account of Mrs Bush’s life by novelist Curtis Sittenfeld, indicated strong interest in the first lady that could justify a high fee.”