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Amazon Reviews Are the New Battleground of American Politics

Is history being written “not by the victors, but by the customer reviews“? The day after the release of Hillary Clinton’s What Happened, the Amazon review section for the book began to mirror the electorate: a slew of five stars, and a slew of vitriolic, aggressive, often violent one stars. Amazon then removed about 900 of the reviews, citing “community guidelines.” White Nationalist reddit users have also used one-starring attacks to drop the rating of Mark Bray’s AntiFa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. There’s little data about how much a book’s star rating on Amazon influences sales, but how many people will be turned away from a book because of star ratings left by people who have admittedly never, and will never, read it?

The Rupi Kaur Backlash Begins

Rupi Kaur, the famous poet who got her start on Instagram, has sold over 2.5 million copies of her book Milk and Honey, and has just released a new collection called The Sun and Her Flowers. The think-pieces about how her work isn’t “real” poetry have begun, a few of which are linked to in this NYT profile. The pieces are undeniably condescending, perhaps having to do with the fact that Kaur is a young (25) woman. Her style isn’t for everyone, but I find it both refreshing and predictable that a young woman of color would be responsible, at least in part, for making poetry mainstream again.

LeVar Burton Reads Goodnight, Moon to Neil deGrasse Tyson

And because it’s Monday and it’s been a rough October, here’s a video of LeVar Burton (yes, that LeVar Burton) reading a children’s book to Neil deGrasse Tyson (yes, that Neil deGrasse Tyson).

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Author Protest Prompts Seuss Museum to Replace Mural

The first Children’s Literature Festival was to take place this weekend at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss museum in Springfield, Massachusetts, but protests from some scheduled participants over a mural has caused a shake-up both of the festival and of the museum’s exhibit itself. In question is a mural from Dr. Seuss’ first book which authors Mike Curato, Mo Willems, and Lisa Yee called an “obviously offensive” drawing of a Chinese man. The three authors withdrew from the festival in protest of the mural. The museum has since taken down the mural and says they will replace it.

25 Years of Poetry on the New York City Subway

This year marks the 25th anniversary the MTA’s Poetry in Motion program, which puts posters of poems in New York City subway cars. The program was started in 1992, but fell fallow for a time before being reinvigorated in 2012. To date, more than 200 poems have appeared in subways as part of the program.

Writing Science Fiction in Trump’s America

In a long essay for The LA Times, John Scalzi mulls the particular challenge for a science fiction writer in Trump’s America. Scalzi writes that when the whole world feels unsettled, then it’s hard to know what trajectory to follow, which of a range of immediately frightening possibilities to pursue. The task would be easier, he suggests, if the world could perhaps settle for a minute: “Then I could get back to writing work that’s minimally allegorical and not, intentionally or otherwise, something that looks like straight-up reportage.”

Today in Books is sponsored by 27 Hours by Tristina Wright from Entangled Teen.

Rumor Mora fears two things: hellhounds he can’t kill, and failure. Jude Welton has two dreams: for humans to stop killing monsters, and for his strange abilities to vanish.

But can a boy who loves monsters fall for a boy who kills them?

Nyx Llorca keeps two secrets: the moon speaks to her, and she’s in love with her BFF, Dahlia. Braeden Tennant wants two things: to leave his mother’s shadow, and to unlearn Epsilon’s darkest secret.

If they can’t stop the war of extinction, their wishes will never come true, and the things they fear will be all that’s left.

Next Fantastic Beasts Film Reveals New Characters

It looks like the big news is that Nicolas Flamel will appear in the new Fantastic Beasts. The alchemist will be played by actor Brontis Jodorowsky. And remember how I was raving about Jessica Williams a while back when we learned she’s getting her own series? Probably not. Well, the comedian will also appear in the next Fantastic Beasts, although her role hasn’t been revealed. No mention of Johnny Depp in this Pottermore news announcement…

Leonard Cohen’s Book Will Be Published Next Year

Cohen’s manager announced that a book of the singer-songwriter’s final poems will be published in October 2018. The Flame was reported to have been completed in the months leading up to his death. His manager said the collection tackles “the flame and how our culture threatened its extinction” (I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds legit), and the book’s publisher, Canongate, described the collection as “an enormously powerful final chapter in Cohen’s storied literary career.” The collection will include a wide selection from Cohen’s notebooks.

Watch The Trailer For The Philip K. Dick Adaptation

Not Blade Runner 2049… Amazon Video released the official trailer for their new, Philip K. Dick anthology series, Electric Dreams. The series will be 10 standalone episodes exploring fantasy, humanity, and of course a totally sci-fi future. The cast includes Anna Paquin, Janelle Monáe, Steve Buscemi, and Greg Kinnear.

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