SCARLETT FEVER
The gods at Esquire have seen fit to name sultry, hard-to-spell actress Scarlett Johansson as 2006′s “Sexiest Woman Alive.” And to paraphrase Annie Lennox, who am I to disagree? Wait a sec – what’s that, honey? Ah, yes, forgive me: Second Sexiest Woman Alive. And dammit, wouldn’t you know it, one issue after I let my subscription lapse.
MINIMUM TO THE ‘MAX’
To help relaunch its adult-oriented MAX line of comics (think DC’s Vertigo), Marvel is offering MAX SAMPLER for a buck. The one-shot issue gives readers a sneak peek at its horror and crime titles: HELLSTORM: SON OF SATAN, FOOLKILLER, ZOMBIE, WISDOM, PUNISHER MAX and HAUNT OF HORROR: H.P. LOVECRAFT. If you’re lucky, yours will not come with the stitched-in promo comic for Comedy Central’s latest lame animation series FREAKSHOW.
JEEPERS ‘CREEPERS,’ WHERE’D YA GET THAT DOG-EARED PAPERBACK?
With Friday the 13th just hours away, what better time than for David Morrell’s CREEPERS to embark on a book tour? That’s right: The book itself, not the author. Sponsored by HorrorWorld.org, the rather ingenious tour consists of volunteers depositing 50 specially prepared CREEPERS paperbacks in busy places where people mingle and read, such as coffe shops, train stations and malls. The inside front page asks those who find the books to log on to HorrorWorld, where the books will be tracked. After reading the book, participants are asked to leave the tour copy where someone else can find and enjoy it (and be eligible for prizes in the process, including advance copies of Morrell’s next novel, SCAVENGER, slated for spring 2007. This is a unique promotion that fits the spooky adventure, which we very much liked.
AND NO ROBIN WILLIAMS!
The Book Standard has launched a new site, Book Trailerpark, focusing specifically on book-related video content, including book trailers, author interviews and more. You can check it out here, vanilla face.
THIS WEEK IN AMUSING PRESS RELEASES
In this brand-new occasional feature to your NEWSGASM report, we look at hilarious and/or suspect press releases for books we otherwise will never cover on these pages. First out of the gate? This choice bit from the press release for Weam Namou’s novel THE MISMATCHED BRAID: Seek out the humorous real-life story of THE MISMATCHED BRAID, which contains a modern-day tribal lifestyle and a number of Iraqi jokes, like this one: a surgeon is performing surgery on Saddam’s testicles when he accidentally drops one on the floor. “Oh God, I’m dead! Oh God, I’m dead!” he cries then resolves to replace the testicle with a small onion. The operation is a success, but afterwards Saddam’s wife visits the doctor, complaining, “Dr., every time I kiss my husband down there, I can’t stop crying.”
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Friendly reminder time: You have roughly two weeks left to enter our contest to win one of five copies of Elizabeth Kostova’s THE HISTORIAN. Don’t dilly-dally. Or we won’t let you enter our next contest, to be announced next week.
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