Table-Talk of Parkus Grammaticus for July 12–13

I. My latest Astral Weeks column, on a YA novel by John Scalzi, is up at the L.A. Times. (Strange photo?!) Tantalizing excerpt:

No wonder Scalzi would want to linger in the universe he's created. For the follow-up, "The Ghost Brigades" (the title refers to troops generated from the DNA of the dead -- including Perry's late wife), he gave Perry's voice a rest; it's told in the third person. Perry, now in his 80s, returned to narrate 2007's "The Last Colony," in which he and his once and future wife Jane Sagan (it's complicated) spearhead a colonial venture that turns out to be an elaborate trap (it's also complicated). The ending is right out of "The Forever War" -- or do I mean "Hannah and Her Sisters"?

II. The Chosun Ilbo story on Personal Days that appeared in Korean is now readable in an accurate translation. (The photo, alas, is inaccurately credited—it's Sylvia Plachy's portrait of moi.) Tantalizing excerpt:

If the author Ed Park stands out among his fellow Korean-American writers, it is because there is no trace of Koreanness in his work.

III. Salon gives props to new essays by Dzyds Jessica and Mike on Moving Image Source, and calls it:

"the wide-ranging, deep-thinking film magazine America has long lacked, published online. Launched only last month by the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, N.Y., Moving Image Source also includes an international calendar of film and TV-related events and a guide to online research resources. Edited by critic and former [PTSNBN] editor Dennis Lim, it has almost overnight become a must-read for serious film and television buffs."

IV. Someone gives the highlights of my St. Mark's reading on Thursday!

UPDATE: Post hoc propter hoc? You be the judge! John Scalzi himself blogs about my review of Zoe's Tale—and it turns out he and Keeler Society honcho Richard Polt are old buds/collaborators!...Levi has a Galchen-inspired dream—and the NYT reviews Atmospheric Disturbances!

PLUS: A nice assessment of Personal Days from the blog Afropologë, which brings up a good point: "It's a quick, easy and inexpensive read, taking only $13 out of my wallet and a couple hours of my time (the story only spans about 241 pages of this small paperback)."