Notes in the Margin Weblog

Madoff Case Echoes Rich Lode of Swindler Literature – NYTimes.com:

In the “there’s nothing new under the sun” department, this article points out some of the literary predecessors to the Bernie Madoff financial scandal:

‘You must realize that money making is one thing, religion another, and family life a third,’ Mr. Voysey matter-of-factly tells his son Edward, who is appalled to learn that his father has been operating a pyramid scheme for decades with his clients’ money.

Mr. Voysey — the affably corrupt character in Harley Granville-Barker’s 1905 play ‘The Voysey Inheritance’ — is one of Bernard L. Madoff’s literary predecessors, and his compartmentalized view of the world may suggest how Mr. Madoff, a philanthropist and a pillar of the financial world and Jewish life, enmeshed family and friends in what federal authorities are calling a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Literary Map of Maine | Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram:

What a delight! The Literary Map of Maine is a partnership between the Maine Sunday Telegram newspaper and several of the state’s libraries and humanities groups. Here you can read about such classic authors of American literature as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Sarah Orne Jewett, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Henry David Thoreau. There’s also an entry for Robert McCloskey, author of the popular children’s books Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal. More current authors include Stephen King, Richard Russo, Tess Gerritsen, Elizabeth Gilbert, and John Irving.

Books | “Promised Land” looks at books that shaped who we are | Seattle Times Newspaper:

Some books are so well-known that almost no one actually reads them. They have had so much influence that we ‘know’ them merely by living in the world they have helped create. And yet, as the distinguished poet, novelist and critic Jay Parini demonstrates in ‘Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America,’ there’s a lot to learn by giving them another (or a first) look.

The Seattle Times reviews Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America by Jay Parini.

Going Down the Road – In a Town Apart, the Pride and Trials of Black Life – Series – NYTimes.com:

Eatonville, the first all-black town to incorporate in the country and the childhood home of Zora Neale Hurston, is no longer as simple as she described it in 1935: ‘the city of five lakes, three croquet courts, 300 brown skins, 300 good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools and no jailhouse.’ It is now a place of pilgrimage. Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Ruby Dee have come to the annual Zora! Festival in Eatonville to pay their respects to Hurston, the most famous female writer of the Harlem Renaissance.

This article is the sixth in a NY Times series highlighting the American Guide Series of travel books written during the Depression by the Federal Writers’ Project.

Update – Hartford – Writers Unite to Keep Twain House Afloat – NYTimes.com:

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT, has for some time now been in financial trouble. The New York Times reports on the latest fund-raising effort aimed at saving it: “On Tuesday, Tom Perrotta, Tasha Alexander, Phillip Lopate and at least seven other nationally best-selling authors will gather in the auditorium to read Twain’s works.”

If you’ve never seen the Twain House in Hartford, don’t miss these photos.