By MOTOKO RICH on Jan 06, 2009 10:50PM

Author of ?Conversations With God? Admits Essay Wasn?t His

A personal Christmas tale posted online by the author Neale Donald Walsch turns out to belong to someone else ? the writer Candy Chand, who first published it 10 years ago.

By DWIGHT GARNER on Jan 06, 2009 09:09PM

Books of The Times: When Labels Fought the Digital, and the Digital Won

Steve Knopper?s stark accounting of the mistakes major record labels have made in the digital era suggests they are largely responsible for their own demise.

Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF on Jan 06, 2009 09:01PM

Arts, Briefly: Winfrey Web Site Notes Fabricated Memoir

Oprah.com, the Web site of ?The Oprah Winfrey Show,? has posted a disclaimer acknowledging that Herman Rosenblat admitted he had invented portions of his Holocaust memoir.

By BRUCE WEBER on Jan 06, 2009 10:45PM

Richard Seaver, Publisher, Dies at 82

Mr. Seaver defied censorship and conventional literary standards to bring works by rabble-rousing authors like Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller and William Burroughs to American readers.

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI on Jan 06, 2009 02:04PM

Books of The Times: In War and Floods, a Family?s Leitmotif of Love, Memories and Secrets

Jayne Anne Phillips?s intricate, deeply felt new novel fuses wildly disparate influences into something incandescent and utterly original.

By MOTOKO RICH on Jan 05, 2009 10:57PM

Executives Replaced at Borders as Sales Fall

The book retailer said that George L. Jones would be succeeded by Ron Marshall, a private equity executive with experience turning around ailing companies.

Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF on Jan 06, 2009 10:20PM

Arts, Briefly: Laura Bush Signs Deal for Her Memoirs

Scribner has acquired Mrs. Bush?s not-yet-titled book, which will include her experiences in the White House, and plans to publish it in 2010.

Jan 07, 2009 06:00AM

HK to restore Bruce Lee's old home (AP)

AP - The Hong Kong government has agreed to preserve a former home of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee and turn it into a tourist attraction, an official said Wednesday.

Jan 07, 2009 04:53AM

Small Fla. town embraces Travolta during tragedy (AP)

AP - This small central Florida town is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. Maybe that's why actor John Travolta moved his family here.

Jan 07, 2009 04:49AM

Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck welcome 2nd daughter (AP)

AP - It's another girl for Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck.

Jan 07, 2009 03:47AM

DiCaprio, Eastwood are Palm Springs film winners (AP)

AP - The world economy is in dire straits, but you sure wouldn't know it from the red carpet at the 20th-annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. The actresses were dripping with jewels, actors donned high fashion, and logos of jeweler Cartier and automaker Mercedes-Benz loomed large behind all as they posed for photographers.

Jan 07, 2009 02:21AM

UK scribe Peter Morgan joins Hollywood royalty (Reuters)

Reuters - Public figures must shiver when Peter Morgan shows up at a cocktail party.

Jan 07, 2009 01:59AM

Little known actor lands lead in "Tron" sequel (Reuters)

Reuters - Disney has picked a relative unknown to play the lead role in "Tron," its $150 million sequel to the 1982 cult classic by the same name.

Jan 07, 2009 01:31AM

Sony Classics gets early start on Sundance (Reuters)

Reuters - The Sundance Film Festival won't begin for eight days, but already it has seen its first prominent acquisitions target enter the negotiation phase.

Jan 06, 2009 09:32PM

The only thing we have to fear is "Fear is Real" (Reuters)

Reuters - "13 -- Fear Is Real" is the dripping-with-irony title of a CW-staged reality show that scarcely could be more fake.

Jan 06, 2009 08:10PM

"True Beauty" another TV travesty (Reuters)

Reuters - The Ashton Kutcher-ing of television continues with ABC's "True Beauty," a pandering show that finds the actor who gave us "Punk'd" and "Beauty and the Geek" serving as one of eight executive producers.

Jan 06, 2009 11:43AM

Video games inspired by TV, movies, board games (AP)

AP - Like so many American creations — baseball, comic books, rock 'n' roll — the video game is a mongrel art form. Literature, music, art and film all get jumbled together in this relatively new medium, but even that isn't enough: Designers have to figure out how to make the whole package interactive as well.

Jan 06, 2009 12:50AM

FX's "Damages" the best drama on TV (Reuters)

Reuters - If you don't love "Damages," you may well be in a coma -- or at least in the throes of some sort of brain rot.

Jan 05, 2009 03:56PM

City Ballet's 'Nutcracker': nearly recession-proof (AP)

AP - Economic downturn? You'd hardly have felt it from the crowds packing every day into Lincoln Center for New York City Ballet's "Nutcracker," mainly parents with little girls in tow, dressed in their best Christmas finery.

Jan 05, 2009 02:25PM

Rock's vets shouldn't be overlooked (AP)

AP - "Why don't you come back, baby? Why don't you go away?" Elvis Costello sings in the duet "Go Away" with indie rock favorite Jenny Lewis on his recent CD, "Momofuku."

Jan 05, 2009 01:25PM

The AP notes 2008 CDs that deserve a second look (AP)

AP - The AP takes a look at some of 2008's overlooked albums: