Stanley Fish, guest op-ed columnist for the Times, delivers some scandalous news about the book industry and its nefarious machinations:

How about the blurbs, especially if a few of your favorites are touting the merits of an author new to you? I used to take direction from blurbs until I told a very famous mystery writer that he was right to have praised a book I had bought on his authority. He replied that he didn't remember it, probably hadn't read it, and was no doubt doing a favor for his publisher. Members of that club, it seems, pass blurbs out to each other like party favors.

We're as shocked as you are! You know what this means, of course: Jay McInerney may not have even read Dana Vachon's new book! Rereading McInerney's blurb with this new information is a lot like being date raped by Jay McInerney. You just keep praying you'll finally pass out. —balk

Murder, I Read [NYT]

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