Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Michael Crichton News - July 29, 2009



Vanity Fair Article Cites Michael Crichton Speech

In the August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair Michael Wolff begins his article Politico’s Washington Coup by referencing Michael Crichton’s speech Mediasaurus: The Decline of Conventional Media, which appeared in the Sept/Oct 1993 issue of Wired magazine. From the article:

In the fourth issue of Wired magazine, in the fall of 1993, just as the Internet was entering public consciousness, Michael Crichton, the author of The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, wrote an essay arguing that newspapers were doomed because they were too dumb. As information became cheaper, more plentiful, and easier to get, consumers, he argued, would become ever more immersed in their specific interests and understand that their more generally oriented paper—at least in the matter of a reader’s special interest, but also by inference everything else—had no idea what it was talking about.


Sixteen years later, the ultimate result of Crichton’s theory about the fallacy of general-interest news—and, as a corollary, the answer to the riddle of who’s going to report the news when traditional, general-interest news organizations stop doing it—is, for better and worse, Politico...more


Literary Agent Listed Sphere as Favorite Beach Read

On his blog, literary agent Nathan Bransford asked:
What are your favorite beach reads of all time?

Bransford wrote:
I'll start with SPHERE by Michael Crichton, CRYPTONOMICON by Neal Stephenson (NPR got that one right), and anything by Jane Austen.


Pirate Latitudes: Crichton's 16th Novel

There have been 15 novels published under Michael Crichton’s name, so Pirates Latitudes will be the 16th novel and the untitled, unfinished novel will be the 17th.

(And if we include the novels Crichton wrote under the pseudonyms of John Lange, Jeffery Hudson, and Michael Douglas, Pirate Latitudes would be number 26. Crichton’s official website doesn’t list his pseudonym novels.)

Novels by Michael Crichton

1. The Andromeda Strain (1969)

2. The Terminal Man (1972)

3. The Great Train Robbery (1975)

4. Eaters of the Dead (1976)

5. Congo (1980)

6. Sphere (1987)

7. Jurassic Park (1990)

8. Rising Sun (1992)

9. Disclosure (1994)

10. The Lost World (1995)

11. Airframe (1996)

12. Timeline (1999)

13. Prey (2002)

14. State of Fear (2004)

15. Next (2006)

16. Pirate Latitudes (scheduled 2009)

17. Untitled novel (scheduled 2010)

As John Lange:


1. Odds On (1966)

2. Scratch One (1967)

3. Easy Go (also published as The Last Tomb) (1968)

4. Zero Cool (1969)
(reprinted in 2008)

5. The Venom Business (1969)

6. Drug of Choice (1970)

7. Grave Descend (1970)
(reprinted in 2006)

8. Binary (1972)

As Jeffery Hudson:

9. A Case of Need (1968)

As Michael Douglas (Michael Crichton and Douglas Crichton):

10. Dealing, or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1970)

Links and more info on Michael Crichton at:
http://kahlessa.proboards80.com/index.cgi

Monday, July 13, 2009

Harper Collins Tribute to Michael Crichton

At this year’s BookExpo America, (which ran May 25-27, 2009 in New York City), Harper Collins held a reception to honor Michael Crichton. As reported in USA Today:

Crichton's legacy

When Michael Crichton, master of the techno-thriller, died in November at age 66, he left behind a completed novel, an unfinished one and a pregnant wife.

Crichton's fifth wife, Sherri, gave birth three months ago to John Michael Crichton, who was mentioned but not present at a cocktail party/tribute hosted by Crichton's publisher, HarperCollins, on Thursday night.

The publisher announced in April its plans to release Crichton's 18th novel, Pirate Latitudes, set in 1665, on Nov. 24, and an untitled 19th novel next year.

At the party, publisher Jonathan Burnham said Crichton left about 90 pages of a techno-thriller and a "lucid" outline of the plot, "a gift for another writer." Burnham said Harper Collins is close to signing someone to finish the book.

Crichton's longtime agent, Lynn Nesbit, wouldn't say much about the untitled book other than, "It's going to keep you on the edge of your seats."

She fought back tears as she recalled how Crichton, who published a novel while still a student at Harvard Medical School, hired her 40 years ago despite her inexperience.

"He told me, 'Let's grow up in this business together.' We did and we had a long run. ... Happily, he left so much behind." —Minzesheimer


And in her blog The Literary Life, Sara Nelson called the event “easily the most emotional of the fair.”

Links and more info on Michael Crichton at:
http://kahlessa.proboards80.com/index.cgi

Friday, July 3, 2009

Have You Reserved Your Copy of Pirate Latitudes Yet?

Barnes & Noble and Amazon are both taking pre-orders and reservations for Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes now. (Those who don't want to order online can call their local bookstore to reserve a copy.)

I've got my name down. The release date for Pirates Latitudes is Tuesday November 24, 2009 which is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I'll probably have it read by Thanksgiving--Crichton's novels seem to read very quickly for me.

Let the countdown begin! Only 144 days to go until we get to read a new Michael Crichton book!

Links and more info on Michael Crichton at:
http://kahlessa.proboards80.com/index.cgi

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