SNARK WATCHMAN Friedman

• Snark warning: Jon Friedman quotes former Village Voice "Op-Ad" columnist Leslie Savan telling Time to prevent their website from becoming "snarky, which is often mistaken for being hip and cool." That definition was wasted on Friedman, who's something of an expert on the term after writing a three-part series earlier this year.

• The sweet smell of excess: Danielle Steele, author of your mom's guilty vacation reads, is teaming up with Elizabeth Arden on a perfume called Danielle. Naming a consumer product after a novelist effectively reverses the trend of product placement in novels, which reached its apex in 2001 when Fay Weldon released The Bulgari Connection.

• Insane: Writer-turned-fugitive Peter Braunstein may claim insanity when his trial begins in early January. Braunstein is a former writer for Women's Wear Daily and The Village Voice (among others), but that's not the insane part. He's charged with arson, kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault for allegedly attacking a former colleague last Halloween, stripping her nude, tying her up, molesting her, and and making her try on stilettoes over the course of 13 hours.

• Piecing Together the Real Celebrity Dirt
• Stories Worth Talking About by 9 a.m.

Sign in to post a comment here.