An interview with Philip Roth in this past weekend's Guardian suggests that the narrator of Roth's new novel, Indignation, might not be telling his story from the grave as so many reviewers have understood, but rather that he's in some sort of pre-death morphine haze. In the book, the big reveal is plain enough: the character basically says "I am [dead] and have been for I don't know how long." Robert McCrum of The Guardian though, writes, "it is ambiguous how much his memories are actually posthumous or feverishly imagined on the point of death."

Then the kicker:

In American literature, the 'posthumous novel' is a rare device, exploited most recently in Alice Sebold's bestseller The Lovely Bones.  read more »

In the new issue of Rolling Stone—the one that features Sean Wilentz's "How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party" on its cover—Andy Greene writes about the enduring appeal of the Coen Brothers' 1998 film, The Big Lebowski.

That the movie was a flop and yet has grown into an enormously successful cult phenomenon, including its own circuit of Trekkie-like conventions has been well-documented. In March, Entertainment Weekly's Clark Collis offered a personal take on the movie and its afterlife called "The Dude & I":

I don't think I had ever tasted a White Russian prior to attending my first Lebowski Fest in 2003, but since then I've consumed far more than anyone with high cholesterol should.  read more »

Finally, some good news for all those 30- and 40-something would-be novelists who fear that there's no chance their work will ever get published in an environment overrun by eager, hungry, beautiful writers barely out of college. Meet Lorna Page, the 93-year-old debut novelist whose book, A Dangerous Weakness is getting a ton of press coverage in the U.K.

Drawing heavily from a June 26th press release touting the book, several British papers have brought Ms. Page's story to the public. The Telegraph's Stephen Adams describes Weakness as the story of "a woman who becomes involved in a bitter power struggle after receiving an apparently innocent invitation by an old school friend to spend Christmas at her Swiss lodge."  read more »

The 2008 presidential election here in the United States is very important to the French. How important? “Too important," said Douglas Herbert, business editor with the TV news station France 24, "to be left to the American electorate to decide.”

In this, France is not alone. Across Europe, journalists and editors interviewed by The Observer say, people are coming down with the 2008 fever.  read more »

FishbowlNY is reporting that Guardian America—the Washington-based Web site with which The Guardian is hoping to target American readers--has set its official launch date for Oct. 23 and has found a few prominent critics to contribute original content on a freelance basis.

The site was originally supposed to go live in September, but Michael Tomasky, who has been heading the project since March, told The Observer last week that various family emergencies in the office had pushed the launch date back to the third week of October.

According to Fishbowl, Mr. Tomasky has lined up a few freelance writers for the site: the critic Richard B. Woodward will write about arts and culture, Inigo Thomas will cover culture and society, Alisa Solomon will write about theater, and as reported last week by The Observer, soon-to-be former BookForum editor Eric Banks will write about horseracing.

As Gawker reported this afternoon, Eric Banks is resigning his post as editor-in-chief of BookForum after four years on the job; once he closes the April/May issue, he told The Observer, he’ll cover horseracing for Michael Tomasky at Guardian America, and possibly also help with the site’s books and arts coverage. That will just be part-time work, though, he said—he hasn’t yet decided what else he wants to do.  read more »

The Guardian’s new Web site for American readers was supposed to be online by the end of last month, but according to Michael Tomasky, who has been heading the project since March, the launch has been postponed until the third week of October because several staff members have had family emergencies to attend to back in London.

The site, registered at GuardianAmerica.com, will run stories from The Guardian’s British print edition that are likely to interest readers in the United States, as well as original content produced by Mr. Tomasky’s staff in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Tomasky recently made three new hires: As Fishbowl DC has reported, Elana Schor and Megan Mulligan are both coming over from The Hill. And Mr. Tomasky told The Observer today that he has also hired Daniel Nasaw of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Ms. Schor and Mr. Nasaw will report on Congress and the presidential race, respectively, while Ms. Mulligan will serve as a senior editor.