Links & Reviews

- In today's Globe, word that former FBI agent Robert Wittman writes in his forthcoming book that the stolen Gardner art is likely under the control of the Corsican mob, and that he was close to recovering some of the art several years ago until bureaucratic bumbling stymied the effort. The reaction to this book is going to be fascinating to watch.

- The April Fine Books Notes is up: it includes a piece by yours truly on the Guglielmo Libri thefts, an interview with Robert Pranzatelli (editor of the new literary magazine The Folio Club), among other goodies.

- From the NYTimes, "How Green is my iPad?"

- Over at the Book Bench, Meredith Blake recalls a 1985 show, "Tomes and Talismans," which she calls "quite possibly the finest post-apocalyptic educational series about library science ever produced by Mississippi Public Television." All 13 episodes are now on YouTube - I may just have to watch!

- National Archivist (and fellows Simmons LIS alum) David Ferriero was profiled in the NYTimes this week.

- Author Marc Aronson argues in the NYTimes for a new model for image permissions and fees.

- The April AE Monthly is out, and contains a piece on the auction of unclaimed items from John Sisto's library (more than 1,100 items from this collection were repatriated to Italy after it was determined they were stolen). The remainder brought $29,315.

- In the WSJ, Alexandra Alter interviews James Shapiro about Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?

Reviews

- Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ: reviews by Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury) in the Guardian; by Nick Rennison in the Sunday Times; by Boyd Tonkin in the Independent.

- Michael O'Brien's Mrs. Adams in Winter: reviews by Alan Cate in the Cleveland Plain Dealer; by Christine Stansell at Slate; by Grace Jackson in the Harvard Crimson.

- James Shapiro's Contested Will: reviews by Jennifer Howard in the Chronicle of Higher Ed; by Laura Miller at Salon.