Purple Prose
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today 2 talk about 21 Nights, the just-announced debut book from Prince. Available September 9, 2008, it's a multi-media volume filled with poetry, lyrics, and 124 full-color images from photographer Randee St. Nicholas, who had an all-access behind-the-scenes pass ("on stage, backstage, and into his sleeping quarters") into the public and private life of the multi-award winner. The book highlights the energy of last year's record-breaking sold-out 21 concerts in 21 nights at London's O2 Arena, and will come packed with Indigo Nights, an exclusive 15-song CD featuring one brand-new song and 14 live versions of Prince classics and recent favorites that captures Prince's "speak-easy, after-hours, raw, after-show
sessions of pure unadulterated jams."
--BTP
Last night, at an awards ceremony in New Orleans, the 
It's only rock 'n' roll (and she likes it). In yesterday's 
Harry Potter fans will be seeing double as 
Bestselling author Christopher Rice published his first novel, 
Authors
hate answering the question "what is your book about?" because deep down
most of us are arrogant enough to believe that our books are about everything. Birth, death, love, grief.
You name it, I probably think it’s in there somewhere, albeit sometimes only in
the form a throwaway character, like a wisecracking gas station attendant who
pops off a few good lines about living in the present as my main character
bounces on the balls of his feet, impatient to be rung up so he can race to his
next car-chase. But the longer I write for a living, the more it becomes clear
to me that while arrogance is a helpful tool for dealing with one’s own
negative reviews (or the death threats that have been posted alongside your
promotional video on YouTube), the question “what is your book about” is one
that I better have a coherent answer to long before it’s posed to me by anyone
besides the ever-present critic who lives in my head. Otherwise I find myself
writing entire chapters about the shape of a certain box hedge because I’ve
lost my way and fallen prey to that childish belief that writing is about
nothing more than filling up a page. (It is, kind of, but only when you’re past
deadline.) That said, I can say with confidence that my latest thriller, 
Just moments ago, Little, Brown announced the official publication date of 
New York magazine knew what they were talking about when they
said, "If you've laughed in the last ten years, Ben Karlin was
responsible." Karlin's career kicked off as the editor of 
James Beard Award-winning Seattle chef 
"I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!"
New Year's
is a time for family, so we gathered together a family of friends to celebrate
the arrival of 2008, which we all agree will be a special, positive year for
all of us. We spent it at our farmhouse in Provence, with Ina and Jeffrey Garten, who
arrived on the TGV from Paris with plenty of champagne and chocolates. For the feasts, my husband, Walter,
made his spectacular scrambled eggs with fresh black truffles, a remarkable
oyster casserole prepared with gigantic fresh oysters from Brittany,
and a wedding-cake sort of cheese course: the fat creamy Chaource cheese from Champagne which he cut
into three layers and spread with truffle butter and truffles. I dried grapes
from our vineyard and prepared a "Vintage 2007 Old Vines" raisin bread, and
offered a golden sponge cake made with lemons from our trees, fresh local
olive oil, and almonds, and prepared a mixed berry sauce from summer fruit we
froze for the occasion. We both have new books coming out this year--Ina's is Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, out with Clarkson Potter in October,
and Walter and I have written our memoirs, 
There's a little corner of Paris that probably has
more American foodies than many major American cities. The city's 6th and 7th
arrondissement is inhabited by a happy party of part-timers and full timers,
and since food is our mission, we tend to gather often for multi-course feasts.
Cookbook writers Dorie Greenspan and Ina Garten are a stone's throw from our
apartment on Rue du Bac. Eli Zabar and his wife Devon Fredericks are not far
away, and restaurateurs Johanne Killeen and George Germon are just about to
move in, too. So there’s never a problem if you need to borrow a tin of caviar
or a few fresh black truffles!
