Monday, February 23, 2004



Google has bolstered their efforts to develop the beta feature Google Print into a major repository of online book text with the hiring of Tom Turvey, who started this week.
In his three years as vp of business development at ebrary, Turvey helped spearhead the company's content relationships with publishers. Prior to that, he was director of e-books at BarnesandNoble.com.
In their standard shy fashion, Google has not responded to queries about Turvey's hiring and his job title and responsibilities.
Bezos Lightened Amazon Stake
An SEC filing from last Friday indicated that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reduced his stake in the company from 28 percent to 26 percent in 2003, shedding approximately 4 million shares.

Coolest Thing in a Long Time
Paul Auster was 15 years old when he found the book that made him decide to become a writer:
I was a sophomore in high school when I read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. And I was so overwhelmed by the book, I said to myself:
If this is what a novel can be -- then I want to do it, too.

· Paul Auster: From Poetry to Novels With a Side Trip Out to Sea
· Coldest Thing in a Long Time