Here are some other instances of Murdoch getting slammed, culled from an exhaustive list at io9 that you should read as well:

• Planet Fred—a movie about a tiny little alien who lives on the head of a media mogul who resembles Murdoch. Hard to believe this one isn't yet a classic.
• Max Headroom—a character named Grossman is an evil network boss who makes people's heads explode from too much advertising. True to life.
• Cold Lazarus—the book by Dennis Potter includes a Murdochian figure named Stiltz, who pushes fake, virtual experiences as a replacement for real ones. Eventually he gets killed. Draw your own conclusions.

Go read the full list at io9! And anyone who reads this book, please submit a report.

[Mixed Media]

"I've now gone through all the boxes and looked at all the books and a surprising number of them have been hollowed out with Polaroids stashed inside. The women depicted are varied (ethnically and size-wise) and the pictures range from softcore to extreme hardcore. Some of the images are very bizarre, at times grotesque.

At this point I'm at a loss as to what I should do with this stuff.

Hello! Send them to us, naturally.

[via Bookninja]

Bauer been named one of the "20 Worst Literary Agents" for her alleged fee-charging practices.

So will she sue us for reporting the news of her lawsuit? (We only wish we could locate the YouTube video made about her, titled "Crouching Snark, Hidden Dragon.")

Literary Agent Fights Her Online Critics

It's called Buying the Cow in the Age of Free Milk: The Get-Your-Man-to-Marry-You Plan, and it will be out in October.

"With a funny but firm hand, Lori Uscher-Pines, who herself maneuvered for a ring from her now-husband, offers the reader serious tips for securing a marriage proposal from the excuse-ridden, free-milk-gulping man she loves."

"Thayer Core was a blogger on one of those vicious new websites that had popped up in the last few years, displaying a hatred and vitriol that was unprecedented in civilized New York. The things the bloggers wrote made no sense [to Philip]. The comments made no sense to him. None of it appeared to be written by humans, at least not humans as he knew them. This was the problem with the Internet: The more the world opened up, the more unpleasant people appeared to be.

...Thayer Core was a bully, and like most bullies, he lacked courage. He was far too fearful to take physical action, striking out at the world instead from behind the safety of his computer."

"OK, let me be clear: I love GTA IV and I have no doubt that it is art, but an equal to "The Sopranos" or "The Godfather"? Narrative art of that caliber is distinguished by its ability to re-organize our preconceptions, to shift us into a world that's always been there but that we've been afraid to acknowledge, and I'm not convinced that GTA IV pulls off that miracle.

...For me, GTA IV is more an example of our evasions as a culture, more of a fairy tale, more of a story of consolation than a shattering cultural critique or even, dare I say it, great art. GTA IV is a game that allows you to forget how screwed-up and complicated things are in the real world; it could have done more, it could have put that screwed-up complicated world front and center."

Example: NYT reporter Jennifer 8. Lee's blog post from last year, in which she sighed in relief that "the manuscript does not suck" by re-printing a gushy e-mail from her editor.

Blogging can also be a colossal time-suck for a writer, unless writin' a blog is your job. But as publishing insiders will tell you, it's all a part of branding—and maybe even selling books!

Galleycat weighs in further: it's actually not such a bad idea if you do it right:

"Blogging isn't an end, but a means to an end—just one tool (and not always the best one) that you can use to spread the message that you are (or you publish) an interesting person who has something to say about the human condition worth paying attention to.

If you can't bring yourself to do that, you need to step back and consider some very fundamental questions about why you want to be a writer or a publisher. It would be great if we could just drop a book on the table and expect everyone to be bowled over by its intrinsic rightness—but we all know that's not going to happen. So we've got to go out into the world, and present our authentic selves in such a manner that what we have to say will resonate with others when they come across us in their own wanderings.

[Galleycat]

[Big Think]

From an interview in Windy City Times:

Sedaris: The Internet is so new to me. I didn't realize you could just go on and lie about people. I can get on a computer right now and write "Michelle Obama said to me she hates Jews." Somebody called me the other day: "Oh, there's that thing on Gawker that you try to pick guys up during your readings." I've never done that. Ever, ever, ever. I will have gifts for teenage girls when I go on tour because I'm always honored when they come and it's fun to make a big deal out of a teenager. I take the shampoo and conditioners from my room, and yesterday I went to the museum and got a bunch of cheap bracelets. I'll often talk about how pretty she is, like, "It must be so good to be you, and you're what guys in prison dream about." But a guy? I won't talk like that to a teenage boy because I don't want it to be weird or uncomfortable. Early on I saw somebody on a book tour try to pick someone up from the audience. They respect you and are in awe of you so it would be weird to put any move on them. Plus, I'm involved with somebody. So I was appalled because I've never done a thing like that.

Elle, you'll recall, boasts a creative director named Joe Zee, a free-spending man who hired his "rumored paramour," Keith Pollock, to head the magazine's website. That move didn't appear to be motivated by business sense, given Pollock's background in retail. But Pollock couldn't hang on forever with only Zee's support; he recently left the magazine (at about the same time as Hachette boss Jack Kliger, whose legacy wasn't helped much by Elle's recent performance).

Pollock, we hear, may have landed a job with the production company of Stylista, the new reality show starring Elle fashion news director Anne Slowey. But the magazine he left behind continues to wrestle with how to successfully establish itself online—and how to retain its traditional audience in print.

So could Zee's overt gayness be pulling the magazine's style so far away from the heterosexual side of the spectrum that it's turning off straight female readers? An Elle spokesperson says that in his role as creative director, Zee does "everything from styling, editing, working with the Art Dept, etc." But she says that his input on major decisions like cover choices is just one of "dozens" of voices.

But another insider characterizes the covers as "all Zee's doing." The truth is likely somewhere in between, but there's no question Zee is a major driving force in the magazine's look.

So with Kliger out, Pollock gone, and the magazine in a shaky position, could Zee's job be on the line as well—because he has made Elle TOO GAY? Probably not, really. But you be the judge:

There were many annoyed Time Incers today after learning that People Magazine sent over 300 people to the Bahamas for 3 days while lay offs continue, economy is shaky and Time Inc has a hiring freeze. Many would have preferred they spend the money for a company vacation, on the employees working double since Time Inc wont spend money on needed back up. Instead hiring freelancers, consultants and temps who dont need health care etc. Dancing with the Stars were flown out, Roger Daltry played (for those who dont know who he is, you are not alone) , a youtube singer bored them, they had massages, went to clubs, played golf and ate well. Nice message to Wall Street not to mention the other titles denied sales meetings.

• 
  Victor Ganzi, Hearst CEO—Ganzi quit this week, in a move that came as a shock to some. Though Hearst is not doing poorly, signs are there that it may be on the decline. Ad page counts at its top magazines are creeping downwards. Ganzi may have seen the writing on the wall.



• 
  Jack Kliger, Hachette CEO—Kliger lasted nearly a decade at Hachette, but stepped down this week. He leaves a company with an unsure future—layoffs, a questionable digital strategy, and stagnant ad growth will go down as big parts of the legacy of the end of his reign.



• 
  Jane Friedman, HarperCollins CEO—Friedman was sent packing from the publishing giant earlier this month, replaced by a man more than 20 years her junior. She spent nearly 30 years at Random House before coming to HarperCollins in 1997, and had a good deal of early success. But she was done in either by corporate infighting, or poor performance.



• 
  Peter Olson, Random House CEO—the book-loving, erudite bean counter was replaced last month by Markus Dohle, a robotic numbers guy who many feel will focus on earnings at the expense of "the romantic idea of literature." Uh, yea.

"It’s an honor and a fulfillment of all my lifelong dreams. To be considered only for my looks; I'd like to thank my Mom and Dad for the excellent genes and the lovely ladies of Penguin for recognizing my hotness."

Matt gracefully declined our offer of a pin-up photo shoot with our photog Nikola. Perhaps it was something I said:

I wanted to talk you into doing a really fun photoshoot... You wouldn't have to take your shirt off or anything (unless you wanted to.)

Anyway, congratulations!

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

[Photo of David Shoemaker by Andy Heidel of Galleycat]

[Book cover from Candy Covered Book's index]

The company's stock price since 2004:

So yes, Lyne oversaw a decline of more than 75% from the stock's February, 2005 high point. Was that due to her incompetence? Keep in mind that that high point came in anticipation of the company's resurgence when Stewart got out of jail. And Wall Street didn't seem to react ecstatically to Lyne's departure; the stock fell another 3% in the wake of the news this morning.

Magazines are on a longer, slower decline than the newspaper industry is, but an inevitable decline all the same. Public publishing companies with a big stake in magazines are going to see their revenues decline, their stock prices fall, and their investors get angry. They can fire people left and right, doing their best to momentarily assign blame for what is, in reality, a tectonic shift in the media marketplace. But they won't start seeing a real turnaround until the Internet has been fully monetized by old-guard media interests. And that day is a long way off.

Maybe Lyne's successors with do a better job; maybe they won't. Either way, magazine company stocks are a dangerous bet—for investors and CEOs alike.

UPDATE: From an interview conducted two weeks ago with Susan Lyne: "Q: Assuming you finally get some time off, what would be your dream vacation? A: My dream would be going somewhere I've never been that's reasonably exotic." Now she can! Also: Slate's Daniel Gross used Lyne's career path from journalism to the executive suite as the prime example of why journalists shouldn't become CEOs. Back in 2004. The more you know!

• High-end luxury advertisers (Hermes has the back cover on the premier issue).
• Freelancer-heavy editorial staff with "a little more freedom in terms of how they write" than newspaper writers.
• "You'll see the Journal approach in how we speak to [RICH MAGAZINE READERS'] lifestyle."
• "What we're always intently trying to do is transport the DNA of the Journal into the magazine."

It all adds up to: something incredibly similar to How To Spend It, the FT's glossy magazine. Why not shock us, WSJ.?

[Ad Age, WWD]

A couple of years ago he did a reading here in LA. Most of the audience was composed of the liberal, NPR types, women you volunteer for pledge drives, and the gays. He was asking for this blond twink's number who was legal but definitely under twenty-one. Sedaris wouldn't take no for an answer. So my friend and I get to the head of the line. He asks if our relationship is open. We say we're only friends. Sedaris asks if we "play" together. I thought he was kidding. He was creepy.

Also... there was a time where "This American Life" I believed taped at UCLA's Royce Hall. Again, it was a few years ago. I wasn't there but my friend was hit on by him. Sedaris came up with a line saying who was the biggest celebrity to hit on him. Then, the author said who was the most recent. He then gave my friend the name of his hotel and room number.

I should mention the e-book's free 7-day trial.
[Attraction Formula]

"Wetlands" opens in a hospital room after an intimate shaving accident. It gives a detailed topography of Helen's hemorrhoids, continues into the subject of anal intercourse and only gains momentum from there, eventually reaching avocado pits as objects of female sexual satisfaction and — here is where the debate kicks in — just possibly female empowerment.

[NYT]

[Photos: Rachel Kramer Bussel's Flickr]

Osama Bin Laden sang in an a cappella group. Lawrence Wright, in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Looming Tower, writes of Bin Laden's teenage years and the man's "desire to die anonymously in a trench in warfare." "It was difficult to hold on to this self-conception while being chauffeured around the kingdom in the family Mercedes," he writes. "At the same time, Osama made an effort not to be too much of a prig. Although he was opposed to the playing of musical instruments, he organized some of his friends into an a cappella singing group. They even recorded some of their tunes about jihad, which for them meant the internal struggle to improve themselves, not holy war. Osama would make copies and give them each a tape."

Anne Hathaway ("The Devil Wears Prada") — Vassar's Measure 4 Measure Art Garfunkel - Columbia Kingsmen Mira Sorvino ("Mighty Aphrodite") — Harvard Veritones Ed Helms ("The Office") — Oberlin Obertones Mayim Bialik ("Blossom," "Beaches") - UCLA Shir Bruin James van der Beek ("Dawson's Creek") - Drew 36 Madison Ave.

*Jessica Biel was rejected by the Tufts Amalgamates because her voice didn't blend. Debra Messing and Brooke Shields were also rejected by a cappella groups.

Andy Bowers (NPR) - Yale's Society of Orpheus & Bacchus Laurie Dhue (FOX News, Bill O'Reilly, has a segment "The Dhue Point") - University of North Carolina Loreleis Kurt Eichenwald (New York Times) - Swarthmore College 16 Feet Diane Sawyer - Wellesley Blue Notes Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly) — Duke

Karlin signed a contract for a book that was going to be tie-in for a new PBS series called "Spain ... on the Road Again," which starred flame-haired fatty celebuchef Batali and blonde actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

But in November 2007, a conflict arose when Mr. Pinsky allowed Mr. Batali to engage designers for the book, including one of Mr. Batali's relatives, instead of leaving the design to Mr. Karlin, as previously agreed, the lawsuit states. Mr. Karlin contends that Mr. Batali also expected him to write the book in its entirety, and refused to contribute recipes, pictures, or other material to the project, claiming to be too busy.

When Mr. Karlin asked to lessen his involvement in the book, the lawsuit states, Mr. Batali asked that the writer be fired from the project. He has not been paid, and is suing for $125,000, including the cost of two trips to Spain, according to the lawsuit.

Well, it sounds like Batali really flaked out here, and Karlin deserves to be paid for his hard work. Unless he's just making it up because he's, you know, a little bit of a dick.

[NYS; pic via NY]