There’s been a lot of hype lately over Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! Jane Austen is still the first-billed author of the book, even though she had no hand in the zombie mayhem that has been added to her novel. Grahame-Smith has taken quite a few liberties with the original regency romance, and the result is, erm, interesting… and not entirely true to the intentions of Austen’s story.
That sort of creative liberty with a classic literary favorite is fine when the work’s copyright has expired, but not so fine when the work is still in copyright. Take, for example, the still-in-copyright The Catcher in the Rye. Evidently, a Swedish-American author has tried to steal the characters right out from under J.D. Salinger’s nose. John David “J.D.” California has evidently written a book called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, to be published through the somewhat obscure Windupbird Publishing. 60 Years purports to be a sequel to Salinger’s 1951 novel (a claim California later retracted). But Salinger is not taking this lying down. His literary agency has consulted lawyers following the publication of 60 Years, and it seems the reclusive Salinger is prepared to file suit. [Via La Times Blog]
That sort of creative liberty with a classic literary favorite is fine when the work’s copyright has expired, but not so fine when the work is still in copyright. Take, for example, the still-in-copyright The Catcher in the Rye. Evidently, a Swedish-American author has tried to steal the characters right out from under J.D. Salinger’s nose. John David “J.D.” California has evidently written a book called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, to be published through the somewhat obscure Windupbird Publishing. 60 Years purports to be a sequel to Salinger’s 1951 novel (a claim California later retracted). But Salinger is not taking this lying down. His literary agency has consulted lawyers following the publication of 60 Years, and it seems the reclusive Salinger is prepared to file suit. [Via La Times Blog]
In other “uppity author” news, last Wednesday Pulitzer- and Nobel-award-winning author Toni Morrison, undeterred by a Michigan high school’s recent move to ban her acclaimed novel Song of Solomon, launched her new Free Speech Leadership Council. The Council, operated through the National Coalition Against Censorship to extend anti-censorship advocacy, defends censored works and promotes learning and free access to knowledge and information. As for the reason books are banned, Morrison explained in an interview author Fran Lebowitz, “‘Knowledge is bad’ is the Bible’s message… It is sinful. It will corrupt you and you will die.” Books, she explains, are censored out of people’s fear of knowledge. The Free Speech Leadership Council hopes to counteract that fear, and bring back full access to banned texts. [Via Mediabistro and Google]--Rachel Frier
Photo J.D Salinger courtesy Wikipedia; Toni Morrison/AP Photo
Photo J.D Salinger courtesy Wikipedia; Toni Morrison/AP Photo
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