THIS MODERN WORLD

Via Bors:

KURTZ: Did one of the founders — did I get this right — of Google ask you why you didn’t just publish your book online?

AULETTA: Yes. In my second interview with co-founder Sergey Brin, he came in on his rollerblades and he threw his knapsack down on the table and he said, “Ken, let me ask you a question.” He said, “Why don’t you just publish a book for free online and get a much larger audience for it?”

And I said, “Well, I might get a larger audience, but who’s going to pay me an advance so I have money to live on since I’m on leave from “The New Yorker” to do this? And by the way, Sergey, who’s going to edit my book and who’s going to do an index? And who’s going to market it? And who’s going to pay for my expenses to come out here as many times I’m coming out here?”

And, of course, at that point, Sergey Brin changed the subject.

A startling announcement from the prestigious Institute for the Advancement of Conservative Science.

Long time since I’ve posted here, but I hope this is worth the wait: I’m just about to depart for Peru and Bolivia, a trip marking the first leg of my work on a new book about microfinance for Bloomsbury.

Since the start of 2009, I’ve made nearly 1000 small business loans in the developing world via Kiva, Babyloan, and similar platforms, and I’ll be spending chunks of the next 18 months or so basically going out to see the results. And along the way I’ll be writing a book about the whole experience.

After South America (and some time at home catching up on my own life), the next stop will probably be India. Then Southeast Asia. Then Eastern Europe. Then East Africa. And so on. Or that’s the plan, anyway. Which will definitely change as this goes.

If I can find time and a signal, I’ll be posting entries here at TMW as well as my own site. When both are in short supply, I’ll at least try to squeeze up short notes and links via my Twitter feed, which you can also easily access on the right side of my own blog.

Next stop: Ollyantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, near Cusco…

I just noticed that The Very Silly Mayor is #41 in the Amazon category of Books > Children’s Books > Animals > Birds > Fiction.

The only thing standing between me and #1 is those damn Pigeon books, I’ll bet.

— An article on The Very Silly Mayor, from the Wilmington NC Encore, here. (The Mayor, of course, can be ordered here — and now that we’re past Halloween, isn’t it time to start thinking about the holiday gift-giving season? You bet it is!)

— I talk cartooning with Jen Sorensen, here.

— And: a small me-related moment from Saturday’s PJ show can be seen at the start of this YouTube video.