Notes in the Margin Weblog

Three Hauntingly Unforgettable Literary Houses : NPR:

Just in time for Halloween, NPR presents this list of three formidably haunted houses: “In some novels, the house is as much a force as any of the people in the story. When that happens, the human characters had better beware.”

What’s the Funniest Novel Ever? – Paper Cuts Blog – NYTimes.com:
“In Rolling Stone’s new comedy issue, prominent comedians are asked to name the ‘funniest movie ever’ and the ‘funniest TV ever.’ “

And so, asks David Kelly on the New York Times book blog, what’s the funniest novel ever?

Here are some of the books nominated by the editors of the Times’s Book Review:

• “Lucky Jim” (which got the most votes),
• David Lodge’s “Small World”
• “The Code of the Woosters”
• “Leave It to Psmith”
• “Bech: A Book”
• “Sabbath’s Theater”
• Carl Hiaasen’s novels
• Jim Harrison’s early novels (“Warlock,” “A Good Day to Die”)
• Richard Russo’s “Straight Man”
• Michael Chabon’s “Wonder Boys”
• “Catch-22″
• “Candy”

Of course, Kelly points one, we must differentiate between “the greatest comic novel (“Don Quixote”? “Tristram Shandy”? “Ulysses”?) and the novel you find the funniest.” He adds that, while “A Confederacy of Dunces” isn’t great literature, Ignatius J. Reilly cracks him up.

So, what’s the funniest novel you’ve ever read? Post a comment here.

Hoaxes hit bookstores – Los Angeles Times

It’s a scam aimed at independent book stores holding author appearances: Someone calls claiming to be the scheduled author, relates the story of an emergency, and asks the store owner to wire money to Western Union. Most of the events seem to be occurring in southern California. And although most of the scams are aimed at making money, one was apparently politically motivated, aimed at forestalling an event featuring a political writer that was supposed to be filmed by C-SPAN.