As the Kindle 2 ships to customers today, GalleyCat spotted a new interview where super-agent Amanda Urban criticized Amazon's business practices. Urban represents such major authors as Toni Morrison, Bret Easton Ellis, Nora Ephron, and Cormac McCarthy.

She explained at Haaretz: "Amazon prices books at $9.99. Books in hardback cost $30.00, and the stores give a discount and the price goes down to $15.00. Amazon is not regulated the way retail outlets are, so they can do whatever they want ... They can definitely wipe out the publishers. The problem is that the publishers need them. Amazon isn't an easy company to do business with. It's a very secretive company; they will not share any of their sales data."

Interestingly enough, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos used one of McCarthy's novels to illustrate the new e-reader's dictionary feature at the Kindle 2 press conference. The long interview also includes insight into Morrison's writing style and McCarthy's appearance on Oprah Winfrey's Book Club. (Via Literary Saloon)