NPR : News

Filed Under:

Book News: DOJ Approves Penguin, Random House Merger

By: Annalisa Quinn // February 15, 2013
comments

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

  • The Justice Department approved the proposed merger between publishers Random House and Penguin, which will likely take place in late 2013 and give the new entity control over about a quarter of the English-language market. Other antitrust authorities such as the European Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau and have yet to give their approval. Meanwhile, the publishing world is still reeling from the disappointing news that the new company won't be called "Random Penguin."

  • Randi Zuckerberg, former Facebook marketing director and sister of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins for a memoir (called Dot Complicated) as well as a children's book.

  • Vampires in the Lemon Grove author Karen Russell on meeting her favorite writers: "Recently I got to meet Louise Erdrich, and what I really wanted to do was to thank her for creating worlds that have such a deep spiraling life. But what came out of my mouth was something on the level of: 'Hey, Louise, are these pimentos in the dip?' "

  • The New Yorker's Carolyn Kormannon explores the "intricate and raw" erotica of John Donne — who was described by a contemporary as "a great visitor of ladies."

  • Need a distraction from news about meteors and asteroids? Check out the weird and whimsical world of book sculpting.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Arts & Culture

NPR

China Builds Museums ... But Will The Visitors Come?

China is on a spree to build world-class museums and has opened about 100 of them annually in recent years. Two of the biggest opened on the same day last fall on opposite banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River. But filling these museums — with both art and visitors — is proving more challenging.

Food

NPR

Nutrition Group Says Chocolate Milk Is OK, No Need For Aspartame

The nation's largest group of nutritionists is urging the FDA to reject the dairy industry's petition to change the definition of milk. The petition aims to allow aspartame or other alternatives to be used to sweeten milk in an effort to boost consumption in schools.

Politics

NPR

Battle Lines Harden In Debate Over Blame For IRS Controversy

The Treasury Department's inspector general, who faulted the IRS for flagging conservative groups for extra scrutiny, is now investigating how the agency is monitoring the political activities of tax-exempt groups. These so-called social welfare organizations are not supposed to be primarily about politics, although many seem to be.

Technology

NPR

Microsoft Unveils Its new Xbox One

Microsoft has designs on your living room. The software giant's new game console — Xbox One — uses speech-recognition technology and physical commands. Not just to control games, but also your TV, Skype and recorded video. Microsoft demonstrated the new device Tuesday.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.