Book News Roundup: True grit for librarians, graphic artists, and local novelists

  • Charles Portis died this week at 86. America’s “least-known great writer” (as his New York Times obituary called him), he was the author of five novels. Most famously, True Grit, which was first serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, and most recently, adapted into a film by the Coen Brothers. Portis had been suffering from Alzheimers for a number of years, and he had been famously reclusive as his fame grew, which makes this line all the more remarkable: "He steadfastly refused to be interviewed, although he made himself available to talk about his life for this obituary."

  • Local librarian extraordinaire Nancy Pearl has, along with her husband, endowed a fellowship at UW for future public librarians. Congratulations to this year's recipient, Jacqui Howell. Kudos to the Pearls, and to all those who seek careers in public libraries. We think you're wonderful.

  • Novelist, and Seattle Review of Books regular, Donna Miscolta has announced her third book of fiction: Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories, coming out this fall from Jaded Ibis Press. Donna reveals some of the great blurbs she pulled on this blog post. Congrats, Donna!
  • You may have seen Todd Alcott's work before — he's a screenwriter-turned-graphic-artist who takes song lyrics from his favorite bands and turns them into parodies of archival pieces of history. His recent cover of Black Hole Sun, a mythical pulp SF book from the 60s, really hit the tone right on the head. His Etsy store is a ridiculous cornucopia of delicious odes to music and graphics of the past.