technology

Ira Silverberg is stepping down as director of literature programs for the National Endowment for the Arts; Apple executive Eddy Cue testified in the DOJ's e-book pricing lawsuit; the origins of eight famed author's pen names; and other news.

L. Gordon Crovitz weighs in the on the DOJ’s e-book pricing lawsuit against Apple; Alexander Nazaryan shares his thoughts on our constant use of web-enabled devices; Apple unveiled its new iBooks for Mac computers; and other news.

Novelist Jonathan Safran Foer examines how technology is shaping our humanity; the first photos have surfaced of Paul Thomas Anderson's screen adaptation of Pynchon's Inherent Vice; Amazon made its Kindles available in China; and other news.

Amazon executives have testified in the Department of Justice e-book pricing lawsuit; In Norway, the Bible is selling more copies than E. L. James; Justin Alvarez examines the state of the modern library; and other news.

The Gersh Agency and Diversion Books have launched an imprint to publish titles by Gersh's clients; John Dvorak examines the actual cost of e-books; A. N. Devers looks at autographed first-edition book clubs; and other news.

BookExpo America is this week in New York City, and e-books take center stage; You Are One of Them author Elliott Holt discusses a favorite Chekhov story; the Atlantic explores why Sylvia Plath commands the public imagination; and other news.

Apple CEO Tim Cook testified today in front of a Senate committee to answer questions about Apple's use of tax loopholes; audiences at Cannes were given a taste of Shane Salerno's Salinger documentary; Choire Sicha looks as Blake Bailey's new biography, Farther & Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson; and other news.

Pearson has terminated nineteen employees; actor Jeremy Irons revealed his love for T. S. Eliot; the New Yorker surveyed novelists Margaret Atwood, Donald Antrim, Rivka Galchen, and others, asking them to discuss character likeability; and other news.

E-book sales almost doubled in 2012; Ruth Graham investigates the roots of the ubiquitous wedding poem; Benjamin Lytal looks at the close relationship between the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Willa Cather, and other news.

Microsoft is considering purchasing Nook Media LLC for one billion dollars; the New York Times considers how Harvey Weinstein will entice viewers of the upcoming Salinger film; Jessica Francis Kane shares tongue-in-cheek advice on throwing a genre-reveal party; and other news.