This isn’t good news for the Education Media & Publishing Group—which and owns HMH—but rather than pick on HMH for its or for telling the media about their I’d rather just point out the frightening statistic that triggered this downgrading:

Moody’s maintains that HMH remains vulnerable to state and local spending in the United States on so-called basal and supplemental K-12 (twelfth grade) educational publications. It says those categories posted a 22.8pc decline in sales in January 2009. (from )

A 22.8% decline in sales in one month is pretty severe, especially when talking about educational publications. Book sales overall were although they did (like all other retail sales) by more than 10%.

On the positive side of things, Cees Nooteboom—one of Drenka’s authors—has been getting some good buzz for Nomad’s Hotel, such as this write-up in And Filip Florian—another HMH author whose sounds pretty interesting, and is under review—will be the feature author at the next month.

Mulisch’s Dutch publisher commissioned six novellas from noted Dutch authors, taking Mulisch’s novels as their departure points. It’s an unlikely homage to a writer whose exuberantly inventive, philosophical works depart from the understated realism of most Dutch literary fiction. “Dutch writers and painters are naturalists, describing normal life. That tradition is not mine.” (via )

Strange way to celebrate someone, although the idea of six authors writing novellas based on Pynchon books would be fun. Besides, when you’re as big as Mulisch—and I’d argue that along with Cees Nooteboom, he’s the most well-known contemporary Dutch writer—you deserve this sort of odd homage.

Although Mulisch and Nooteboom overshadow everyone else (at least in terms of sales), there are quite a few interesting contemporary Dutch and Flemish authors out there. Especially in terms of Flemish. I highly recommend by Dmitri Verhulst and, when it comes out, Paul Verhaeghen’s