We're cutting over new hardware today, which means that today's news aggregate is a little abbreviated. We'll post a News Extra on Wed Aug 23, featuring MR news in the blogosphere, to make up for it. See you then!

CELEBRITY NEWS

[08.21.06]—The Chicago Tribune Literary Prize was announced this week. Louise Erdrich's The Painted Drum earned kudos for the fiction category, and Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie captured the children's literature award.

BOOKS

[08.13.06]—Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong'o—Writes Stuart Kelly for Scotsman.com—"I have every expectation that his new novel, Wizard of the Crow, will be seen in years to come as the equal of Midnight's Children, The Tin Drum or One Hundred Years of Solitude; a magisterial magic realist account of 20th-century African history. It is unreservedly a masterpiece." This review was written in conjunction with the recent Edinburgh International Book Festival. Pantheon, 2006

[08.12.06]—The Whale Caller by Zakes Mda—Writes James Smart for The Guardian—"With its likable mix of the mundane and the improbable, this new novel by academic and playwright Zakes Mda fits effortlessly into the magic realist tradition." Penguin, 2006

MIXED MEDIA

[08.18.06]—The Illusionist—Writes Ann Hornaday for the Washington Post—"As the intrigue builds, The Illusionist becomes not only a love story infused with the captivating romance of magic realism, but also a subtle, eerie augury of the cataclysm that lies ahead for Austria. Eisenheim, as befits Norton's solemn characterization, uses his sleights of hand not simply to divert his audiences, but to comment on such weighty matters as time, the soul and the nature of power itself." Directed by Neil Burger, who adapted the film from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steven Millhauser's short story of the same title. Starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel and Paul Giamatti.

[08.18.06]—House of Sand—Writes James Verniere for the TownOnline.com—"Largely allegorical, House of Sand is an example of magical realism at its most minimalist, an at-times thin tale about the passage of time and the way we lay down roots almost involuntarily." Directed by Andrucha Waddington, who adapted, with Elena Soarez and Luiz Carlos Barreto, the 1964 classic novel, Woman of the Dunes, written by Hiroshi Teshigahara.

[08.15.06]—5 Cups of Coffee—Writes James Hebert for the San Diego Union Tribune—"In Gillette Elvgren's play… java doesn't just mark the days; it also becomes a catalyst for time warps and all sorts of supernatural happenings. " Showings through September 17 at Lamb's Players Theatre in Coronado, Ca. For tickets and information

[08.11.06]—The Bird People in China—Writes Mark Hinson for the Tallahassee Democrat—"Miike's tale plays around with magical realism - turtles power a boat like horses on a stagecoach, there's a school that teaches people how to fly with cloth wings—to come up with one strange "Bird" of a movie." With director Takashi Miike; in Japanese and Chinese with English subtitles.

COMMENTARY

Due to today's hardware cutover we'll be postponing this feature until later in the week. Thanks for your patience!