(View entire post here)

A Thousand Splendid Suns Featured in New York Times (Pictures of the Day) Slide Show

On June 9^th, Riverhead author Khaled Hosseini's #1 New York Times bestseller, A Thousand Splendid Suns, made an appearance in The New York Times blog "Lens"—in the hands of a Marine. The soldier, from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, was resting at Camp Leatherback in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Lens is the photojournalism blog of The New York Times, presenting the most interesting visual and multimedia reporting — photographs, videos and slide shows.

To view the photo, click here and scroll to page 4.

Read an interview and watch a video with author Khaled Hosseini.

Show Me the Money: Gotham's The Art of Making Money Make National Headlines 

Bernie Madoff wasn't the only one who "made millions" in the last quarter–century: meet Art Williams, Jr., a master counterfeiter who is estimated to have printed $10 million in nine years. The Art of Making Money by journalist Jason Kersten is a riveting account of Williams' journey from small–town crime in Chicago's South Side to beating the anti–forging features of the "most secure" Federal Reserve note ever: the 1996 hundred dollar New Note. Craftily combining old–world techniques with digital technology, Williams not only used his fake money to support a million–dollar lifestyle, but also to find his long–lost father.

Williams is making national headlines again thanks to The Art of Making Money (Gotham Books) and its author's impressive event schedule: Kersten will appear on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition" and "The Diane Rehm Show" this Saturday, June 13th and Monday, June 15th, respectively. It doesn't stop there: CSPAN (BookTV) has broadcasted a panel discussion at The Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair that Kersten participated in. Lots of other national media including: Time, Maxim, Reader's Digest, Men's Journal, Playboy and Bloomberg News. A recent review over the Associated Press wire called it a "worthy addition" to other counterfeiting tales of geniuses who beat the system. Williams was raised in Chicago, and there will be a major media blitz there: local media such as The Chicago Tribune Magazine, WBEZ–Radio's '848,' WGN–AM Chicago, WLS–AM's "Roe Conn Show" and WTTW 'Chicago Tonight' will be featuring The Art of Making Money in upcoming reviews and interviews.

Last but certainly not least, with the popularity of past films about con artists like 21 and Catch Me If You Can, Paramount Pictures has optioned the project with Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Lasse Hallstrom (Academy Award winning director) in negotiations to star and direct. As Maxim says in its review, "The Art of Making Money couldn't have come at a better time," and it will still leave everyone wondering: how did he do it?

Read the prologue to The Art of Making Money and an interview with author Jason Kersten.

Dutton Editor Ben Sevier's Talk About Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You Resonates After BEA Editor's Buzz Forum 

Dutton continues to receive an overwhelming response to Ben Sevier's talk at the BEA 2009 Editor's Buzz Forum about This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. Booksellers who attended keep writing in! One of them, Brian Delambre of Joseph–Beth Books, raved that Ben Sevier gave "the best pitch I have ever heard." So we thought we'd share our favorite part of Ben's pitch:

"... We all say to each other all the time in publishing that the only thing that really sells books is word of mouth, and so I'll just close with a few thoughts on who the readers are that I think will like This Is Where I Leave You. Maybe this will describe you or maybe you'll recognize someone who shops in your store or visits your library or reads your publication. Here's my cheat sheet, and remember you need just need two of these to qualify:

• If you like Tom Perrotta you will like this book.
• If you enjoyed the movie Dan in Real Life you will like this book.
• If you like Nick Hornby you will like this book.
• If you cry in movies you will like this book.
• If you have a big family that drives you crazy you will like this book.
• If you have a small family that drives you crazy you will like this book.
• If you sing along when you watch The Big Chill you will like this book.
• If you have seen either The Royal Tenenbaums or Garden State more than once you will like this book.
• If you like any film by Wes Anderson or Hal Hartley or John Hughes you will like this book.
• If you have ever been so wronged by someone in a relationship that you don't know if you hate them or love them or both, you will like this book.
• Most importantly, if you like books about real, relatable characters living the big and small moments in their lives with depth and emotion and humor and warmth, you will like this book, because that is what Jonathan Tropper does as well as anyone writing fiction these days, and that is what makes This Is Where I Leave You an exceptional novel.

For more about This Is Where I Leave You, click here.

Penguin Weekly Update, Authors, Events, Media, Tours, Penguin Books