The Butler Did It

My regularly scheduled irregular posts will now resume: I've found an apartment in Brooklyn--in East Williamsburg, to be precise. (I still have to move, but the hard part is over.) Following the Bronx and Manhattan, this will be my third borough in three decades

Previously I had disclosed that our landlord requested a 24% rent hike (to $3,350/month) for our 1-bedroom/converted-2-bedroom apartment. I've just discovered, however, that my current landlord has had a change of heart; they've now listed our apartment for $3,900/month. Yes, the real estate market in Manhattan is that crazy.

I'll start off with a follow-up to a previous post: "Guess the Mystery Author." HarperCollins has been selling a secret title with a September 12 release date, without identifying the author or the topic. Via Media Bistro, we learn that everyone's guesses were off: the book is not by or about Colin Powell, Michael Brown, Porter Goss, Tom DeLay, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, Michael Moore, or even Princess Christina Oxenberg.

Instead, it's by Princess Diana's butler--his second book on their "relationship." (What--he's suddenly remembered "shattering, provocative and mesmerizing" stuff that didn't appear in the first book?)

Geez. What short-sighted publicist thought this was deserving of all the secrecy--and the inevitable letdown and derision? (Coming soon to the remainders section of your local bookstore...)

Perhaps next year we'll read a tell-all book by her chambermaid.