Things Noted Here & There

Philip Hensher,"Anonymity protects too many critics," Independent, 19 April, reports that the Amazon sock puppet,"Historian," is Orlando Figes's wife. Unsurprisingly, she's been praising his books and criticizing those of his peers. See also: Caroline Davies,"The professor, his wife, and the secret, savage book reviews on Amazon," Guardian, 18 April; Robert Barr,"Harsh Amazon reviewer unmasked as author's wife," AP, 19 April; and Dave Itzkoff,"No More Mystery Behind Savage History Reviews: The Author's Wife Did It," NYT: Artsbeat, 19 April. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

James McConnachie reviews Nick Bunker's Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World, A New History for London's Sunday Times, 18 April.

François Furstenberg,"The Best Road Trip Ever," Slate, 18 April, reviews Leo Damrosch's Tocqueville's Discovery of America.

Dennis Drabelle reviews Claire Harman's Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World for the Washington Post, 18 April.

Dwight Garner,"Ex-Pat Paris as It Sizzled for One Literary Lioness," NYT, 18 April, reviews Keri Walsh, ed., The Letters of Sylvia Beach.

Jonathan Yardley reviews Alan Brinkley's The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century for the Washington Post, 18 April.

Tevi Troy,"For Obama and past presidents, the books they read shape policies and perceptions," Washington Post, 18 April, argues that books influence presidential attitudes.