End Notes for Thursday, 25 August 2011

WELCOME TO END NOTES, Advance Copy's weekly trawl for all the book and publishing news that's fit to print, with some music thrown in for good measure. Email me at: books@currentintelligence.net.

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In-House: Our H-Net review of the week (they appear Mondays) is Niall Ferguson, Charles Maier, Erez Manela, Daniel Sargent's The Shock of the Global: The 1970s in Perspective, reviewed by Rudiger Graf. The less I say about Niall Ferguson, the better. Nonetheless, the decade that brought little beyond crisis to the West is begging for systematic study and nuance. Our Reviews page can be found here.

OED: Or, rather, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary; it's news because there is a new edition and it includes such fun new words as "sexting," "jeggings," and "cyber-bullying."

Obama's Summer Reading List: The man cannot get a break these days. Obama's summer reading list has been made public, leading to complaints there's nothing about politics and he doesn't read books authored by women.

Dick Cheney: Long regarded as Cardinal Richelieu to Dubya's Louis XIII, Dick Cheney has written a memoir of his experience in the Bush Administration, In My Time, which will be published next Wednesday. Cheney promises that it will make people's heads explode in Washington. Michiko Kakutani says it might, but mostly due to frustration. Cheney has come out swinging, engaging in the usual spin and half-truths. Wonderful. Can't wait to read it.

Common People: About 15-20 years ago, Pulp had a massive hit in the UK with their song "Common People," about a rich girl who wants to know how common people live, so she takes up sleeping with Jarvis Cocker, the front man of the band. It's a seething, sneering declaration of class. Problem is, class ain't what it used to be, in the UK, or anywhere, really. In the US, the working classes are now convinced that economic policies that favour the rich are a good thing for them and in the UK, the working classes have gentrified and the rump of the class that's left is generally regarded as white trash. Owen Jones' new book, Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class looks at the breakdown of working class culture over the course of the 20th century in the UK. I can't wait to read it, in the meantime, Andrew Gamble reviews.

The Booker: The Economist has video of discussion about the Booker long list. Meanwhile, Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending is the best-selling book on the long list.

Not the Booker: The shortlist reading for The Guardian's Not the Booker has kicked off.

Borders: Elizabeth Minkel is surprised by the ambivalence which has greeted the death of the number 2 book merchant in the US. I'm not sure why this is surprising, there's a reason Borders died: customer ambivalence.

e-News: Apple and various US publishers are being sued for price fixing. And consumers of e-books tend to be women.

English History: The uber-prolific Peter Ackroyd is writing a six-volume history of England. This should be exciting; Ackroyd is a rarity, not only prolific, but he generally turns out excellent work. His histories are always lively and engaging. Vol. I, which covers the pre-historic to the death of Henry II, the first Tudor, is published next Friday. Euan Ferguson of The Guardian sat down with Ackroyd this week.

Ikea: It's ubiquitous. It's in your home, it's in mine. In fact, I'm sitting on my Ikea couch right now as I write this. But I'm feeling a little dirty about it right now. Swedish journalist Elisabeth Asbrink has a new book, And in Wienerwald the Trees Remain (that's the English translation of the title, the book does not seem to have been translated into English); in it she claims that Ikea's founder Ingvar Kamprad did more than flirt with Nazism as a young man. She found evidence of the Swedish secret police having a file on Kamprad from 1943, the year he joined the Nazis as a recruiter.

Confession: I must confess, I just cannot get through Peter Carey's The True History of the Kelly Gang. I first tried to read it about a decade ago. Last week I tried again. This time I got a hole 100 pages in, but no further. I know the book is a big deal, winning the Booker in 2001. But I just don't care. I know, this makes me a bad historian.

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MUSIC

The Brothers Gallagher: Last week, Noel Gallagher announced he was suing his brother and former Oasis band-mate, Liam, for slander; the newest twist to the torturous relationship between the brothers. This week, Noel dropped the suit, Liam apologised. Bloody clowns.

Bad Covers: Rolling Stone asked its readers what they thought the worst covers songs of all time were. These are the results.

Smells Likes Teen Spirit: I cannot believe that Nirvana's 1991 classic is 20 years old. The album came out my first year of university. I'm feeling ancient. Anyway, 10 myths about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.

Lady Gaga: Apparently she's a threat to Chinese national security. I don't know about that. More like a threat to good taste in China.

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VIDEO

And finally...: As always, some video. First, in honour of Niall Ferguson's new book about the 70s, I give you Mike Watt's classic, "Against the 70s." I loved this song back in 1995, brilliant. Then, Shabazz Palaces have finally released their debut album, Black Up. Here's a video from the album, for "Swerve." And finally, Pulp, with "Common People." Have a good week.