Author Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" has been burned at demonstrations and earned him a fatwa, gave his opinion on the now-deflated threats to burn the Koran by Florida Pastor Terry Jones. His thoughts? "I'm not in favor of burning books." Surprising! At the Brooklyn Book festival yesterday, he also chimed in on the Park 51 drama, coming out in favor of the plan. He said, "It's just a stupid argument. Of course they should be able to build a mosque there." And now the controversy can be over and done with, right? more ›

David Foster Wallace, in his essay "Authority and American Usage," spoke of a specific type of nerd: the "SNOOT." Ostracized by every other nerd group, the "SNOOT" was the nerd responsible for correcting your grammar. He knew when to use "whom" and not "who," would cringe any time you misplaced your modifiers, and complained about the grocery store's "10 ITEMS OR LESS" sign. It seems that there are few places SNOOTS may go to enjoy themselves outside of the Public Library, but Marty Markowitz is out to change that. On Sunday, September 13th, Markowitz and the Brooklyn Literary Council hosted the 4th Annual Brooklyn Book Festival at Borough Hall. Publishers, authors and readers alike converged over new books, lit mags and discussion panels to celebrate all things readable and to argue about what the Kindle is doing to society. more ›

This Sunday's free Brooklyn Book Festival is a one-day-only explosion of authors, publishers, poets and scholars, all gathering for discussions on four stages about anything and everything related to books, which are those heavy things people drag around for times when they can't read blogs. Check out some of the bold face names who'll be participating: Joan Didion, Jonathan Lethem, Dorothy Jonathan Franzen, Chuck Klosterman, Jimmy Breslin, Walter Mosley, and many, many more. Seriously, this festival is massive; marvel at the schedule of events here. more ›