Bernard Kerik ungraciously accepted $75,954.52 in royalties from In the Line of Duty, which ReganBooks published to raise money for "the families of heroes" killed on 9/11. [NYDN]
"Members of the cognoscenti are buzzing about Terry Castle's recent essay in the London Review of Books ridiculing her former friend, the late Susan Sontag. Castle cattily portrays her 10-year friendship with the skunk-maned intellectual as a tedious affair in which she was reduced to being a 'sidekick' to the pompous, self-important scribe who treated her like a chauffeur and personal assistant." [Page Six] [LRB]
Camille Paglia argues that "critics can no longer read, poets can no longer write, and the unacknowledged legislators of our age are writing advertising jingles for peanuts." [Telegraph]
"Most parents try to shield their children from adult thoughts and desires. But for children of novelists, whose desires are available for public viewing, there's no protection." [Salon]
"Starting this month, the mayor of [Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico] is requiring all 1,100 members of his police force to read at least one book a month, or forfeit career advancement." [LA Times]