The Spoof – New Dead Sea Scrolls Translation Prove Da Vinci Code False:
Translators, Archaeologists, and Bible Scholars in Jerusalem have just finished work on the translation of another of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This one, known as The Gospel of Peter, also describes the time period after the crucifixion (historically covered only in The Acts of The Apostles) and proves many of the allegations of Dan Brown’s bestselling The Da Vinci Code to be false.
Ishmael Abraham of the Israeli Center for Translation of Ancient Manuscripts released the following statement: “We have finished with The Gospel of Peter and are now ready for publication. The things found in this scroll will rock Judaism and Christianity to their very cores and blow new believers in the role of Mary Magdalene out of the water.”
“This gospel is apparently written by the Apostle Simon Peter or his scribe. It relates the struggles of an infant church movement in bringing Christianity to the Roman, Jewish, and Greek world and chronicles the early missionary efforts by the early apostles and others. It also gives us a more intimate look into the family life of Jesus of Nazareth, called The Christ.”
“We must remember historically that Jesus was very close to Peter. He was one of the first disciples to be chosen, he went with Jesus to the Mount of Transfiguration, he became the Chief Apostle and man in charge after the Ascension, and he walked on the water. This find and translation is significant because it comes to us from a man in the inner circle of the early Christian movement.”
Very droll.
Science Fiction Weekly Interview:
Terry Pratchett on the origins of Discworld, his Order of the British Empire and everything in between
The greatest living novelist?
The Sun Online – Life: Second coming of Mr T:
Off-screen, Mr T is lending a helping hand to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
The tragedy deeply affected the 53-year-old Christian star, who was so moved by what happened in New Orleans that it convinced him to give up his trademark gold chains.
He said: “I watched my people, the black people, screaming, begging and crying just for water.
“They didn’t want diamond rings or new houses, they just wanted water, and they couldn’t get any.
“I knew that soon I would be going around visiting these people in homeless shelters and it would be a sin against God and a sin against humanity to go around there wearing a million-dollars worth of gold chains, rings and diamonds.
“It would be wrong for me to say ‘it’s going to be alright buddy’ and then go about my business. That would be a lie.
“People need to see that Mr T has a heart of gold, not just the gold that drips around my neck.
“That’s my wardrobe, my uniform, but I will never wear it again.”
Right on.
Harper’s Set to Name Its Next Editor – New York Times:
Harper’s Magazine is an intellectual hothouse that tends to grow its own. The magazine will announce today that Roger D. Hodge, 38, will succeed Lewis H. Lapham as editor in April, and Mr. Hodge is no exception. After being turned down for an internship in 1996, he got a call back a few days later and has remained planted at the magazine since, holding a variety of jobs, most recently serving as deputy editor.
Lapham was a liability to Harper’s. His essays have been way too predictably liberal. The editor of a magazine needs to surprise.
A Political Warning Disguised as Thriller – New York Times:
A Political Warning Disguised as Thriller
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
Published: November 29, 2005
Here is the plot of the former counterterrorism czar Richard A. Clarke’s new book, “The Scorpion’s Gate”: there is trouble again in the Middle East, and the United States is on the verge of getting involved in another war. An arrogant, gung-ho secretary of defense and his eager-beaver under secretary are intent on regime change in a certain Arab country with huge oil reserves. They charge that this nation’s government has ties with Al Qaeda and is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. The “SecDef,” who has a taste for pre-emptive wars and a simultaneous desire to reconfigure the armed services, is regarded with skepticism by many members of the uniformed military, but he enjoys the confidence of the president. When it becomes clear that intelligence estimates do not support the SecDef’s theories – and in fact suggest that his invasion plans could further destabilize the Middle East – a small band of intelligence analysts and military officers decide to see if they can thwart the rush to war.
Skip to next paragraph
John Earle
Richard A. Clarke
THE SCORPION’S GATE
By Richard A. Clarke
305 pages. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. $24.95.
Readers
Forum: Book News and Reviews
In his much-discussed 2004 nonfiction bestseller “Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror,” Mr. Clarke criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war on terror and its willful determination to go to war against Iraq, but this time he is not talking about real events – he is writing fiction.
Though Mr. Clarke’s fast, twisty plot could easily be turned into an implausible Tom Cruise action-adventure movie, “The Scorpion’s Gate” is less interesting as a Tom Clancy-esque thriller than as a kind of parable. Indeed its often absurd plot is primarily a vehicle for its author to lay out his views about the current Iraq war
I’ve been getting lots of searches on this book. I’m not planning to read it, though … sounds like not a very good novel.
Event – 29-11-05
Bond author Raymond Benson to teach film noir course in Illinois
James Bond continuation author Raymond will be teaching another Film Studies course at William R. Harper College in Palatine, Illinois this spring–FILM NOIR: AN AMERICAN GENRE, reports his official website.
The course will look at the fascinating style and sub-categories of film noir through a screening of eight films over eight weeks.
“Continuation author” not a strong enough credential …
grrm: Whew.Well, I’m back home again in Santa:
the New York and Ann Arbor signings each drew more than 600 people. Hot damn.
I was at the Ann Arbor reading. It was amazing. the line was so long I had to bail before getting my signed copy.
The Book Babes on Chasing the Almighty Dollar: Anne Rice, Harold Bloom, Religion and Bestsellers:
In the past decade, the entire book-publishing industry has discovered religion, in one way or the other. And the astounding success of The Da Vinci Code has simply added fuel to the printing press. Whether in the form of Dan Brown, Marilynne Robinson or a half-dozen other authors whose books are perched on my desk, mainstream publishers have learned that God-talk sells books.
You can bet that the folks at Knopf, who shepherded Rice through her vampires-and-witches phase, are chanting hosannas over the transformation that led to Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.
Interesting pseudo-”think” piece by The Book Babes.
grrm: Aaaarrrgh!:
Finally got caught up on all the football games that Parris TIVO’d for me during my book tour. Yesterday I got to watch the Jets and Giants play live for the first time in six weeks.
Argh. You’d think with two teams, I’d at least have one kicker who could make a goddamned field goal. The Giants gave me three heart attacks, and the Jets added a fourth…
I take some solace from telling myself that, aside from the three missed field goals and all those false starts, the Giants played damn well against a tough Seahawks squad and are still in the thick of things.
As for my poor Jets, well, they should get a high draft choice, at least.
The New York football news has been pretty dismal this year. Maybe George will get tired of it and start writing …
Googlephobia – The War to Take Down Old Media:
Google may be the giant asteroid that is going to make the old-media dinosaurs extinct—but the publishing industry is trying to head it off.
Hey, baby, the asteroid’s already hit…
Personally, I’m thrilled about the opportunities in Google Book Search.
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