Teen murderers in idyllic Vermont: "They are us, and they are ours."

Dan Simmons (of "Hyperion" fame) wants to demolish the wall between genre and mainstream fiction.
What does he mean? Is he serious? And who is he to talk?

"One Book, One City", the latest American groupthink initiative:
"All Together Now" column at mobylives
"It's a novel idea..." from the Guardian
"Pick a book with depth..." from the Sentinel

Taxonomists are being driven to extinction

A bicycle chain the size of a grain of salt.