the buzz log

Hankering to craft a murder? Now you can rent the perfect environs to plot your misdeeds.

The holiday home of Agatha Christie, the First Marm of British Mystery, just opened to the public. Restored by the National Trust, the newest tourist stop in Greenway, England, scored some Search traction for the creator of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. The 1,933% spike boosted "agatha christie" into the top 2,000 terms in the past 7 days. Mysteriously, while Christie's thought to have a huge female following, males 13-64 were guilty of conducting 83% of searches.

Like many outlets, the Independent took the occasion to re-evaluate her enduring appeal, despite "cardboard" characters and "implausible" settings. (One explanation for the "Abba syndrome:" She's the "ultimate narrative technician.") The AP listed 15 mysteries set in Devon, the area in which Greenway is located, while Daily Telegraph unfolds a detailed scene of this retreat more accessible by boat than by auto, plus hosts a video of the surroundings.

While the Georgian mansion gives insight into her archaeological collections, Christie actually never penned a murderous word here, although she did host private readings.

No reason to stop you from renting part of this home for nefarious literary purposes. The only limitation (besides the logistics in getting there): The holiday apartment is limited to 10 people ... the same number of the doomed party in the biggest mystery bestseller ever, "And Then There Were None," set in a remote Devon retreat. 

Filed under: Travel, Authors, Home and Garden, England, Mysteries

First Lady Laura Bush gets $1.6 million advance to write her memoirs, but what about No. 43?

Given publisher interests, AP recommends to George W. Bush about penning his recollections, "Take your time." Youch.

If it makes Dubya feel any better, the New Yorker explains that, typically, First Lady reminiscing is "often more hotly anticipated than those by their husbands." After all, they've had to stand by their man, but stepping down from the political perch presumably frees them in a way that the Oval Office tenant can't.

Also, as in back in the 2004 campaign, Laura has been the better half as far as approval ratings go. The end of her husband's presidency and that Oliver Stone film have renewed Search questions about her, including "laura bush car accident" (a fatal incident that occurred when she was 17) and "laura bush smoking" (a habit she quit in the mid '90s. She reportedly still puffs under stress.)

One who hasn't sought the spotlight, Mrs. Bush won't be delivering a "tell-all." One publisher who listened to her book pitch called the encounter "the most frustrating meeting of its sort I've ever had," although she "really couldn't have been nicer."

Her advance reveals expectations may be less than Hillary Clinton's $8 million payoff (which broke first-day sales records) but not so far from what her mother-in-law and Nancy Reagan received. Of course, sales will depend on how much she'll spill, or at least if readers get a peek of the attitude revealed in a National Journal article: When Laura Bush first visited her husband's family in Kennebunkport, Mama Bush asked her, "And what do you do?" Her daughter-in-law famously replied, "I read, I smoke, and I admire."

For links to other First Lady books about their White House years:
"Living History" (2003) Hillary Clinton
"Barbara Bush: A Memoir" (1994) Barbara Bush
"My Turn" (1989) Nancy Reagan
"First Lady From Plains" (1984) Rosalynn Carter
"The Times of My Life" (1978) Betty Ford
"A White House Diary" (1970) Claudia Alta Lady Bird Johnson
"The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt" (1961) Eleanor Roosevelt (she published 7 books during her husband's tenure)
"Recollections of a Full Life" (1914), Louise Taft
"The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Graft" (written 1895, first published posthumously 1975) Julia Dent Grant

Links to books by First Husbands, AKA the Presidents
"My Life" (2004) Bill Clinton
"Ronald Reagan: An American Life" (1999)
"A Time to Heal: An Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford" (1979)
"RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon" (1978)
"Vantage Point" (1971) Lyndon B. Johnson
"The White House Years" (two volumes, 1963 and 1965) Dwight D. Eisenhower
"The Memoirs by Harry S. Truman" (two volumes, 1955-56)
"The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover" (three volumes, 1951-52)
"The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge" (1929)

Filed under: George Bush, Authors, Books, Women, Presidents

So, what have you been reading lately? We won't be surprised if you answer, "Eat, Pray, Love." The spiritually-inclined travel memoir, which for many months has dominated the New York Times bestseller list, recently catapulted into a genuine online phenomenon after the Oprah Winfrey Show featured author Elizabeth Gilbert on not one but two episodes.

Some of the more garbled searches for the book read like the transcript of a game of Telephone. We can imagine these searchers at the bookstore, requesting "eat pray live," "love eat pray," or (our personal favorite) "eat sleep pray." Never fear; however you phrase it, the booksellers will likely know exactly what you mean. And don't feel bad if you're not ready to jump on the bandwagon. Some people have confessed to the Yahoo! search box, "i disliked eat, pray, love."

The bulk of Eat, Pray, Love's online followers are women in their thirties and forties. No surprise there—Elizabeth Gilbert was in her thirties when she faced a midlife crisis and set out, book deal in hand, to eat well in Italy, pray deeply in India, and find balance in Indonesia.

What's next? Why, the "eat pray love movie," of course, currently in development with Julia Roberts. It won't be the first time Elizabeth Gilbert's exploits have made it to the big screen. An article she wrote for GQ inspired the movie "Coyote Ugly." Sounds like Gilbert has a knack for turning her adventures into the kinds of stories screen sirens want to star in. Nice work, if you can get it!

Filed under: Authors, Books