Better reading through Google.

Since Donna's been talking about how Google changes the way we make arguments, I thought I'd mention the way that Google might potentially change the way we read books--that is, if you're not already convinced that authors are dead. Slate opines that a "major" literary figure will soon be unmasked as a plagiarist by Google book search, which allows you to search untold billions of books (perhaps an exaggeration) sentence by sentence for suspicious similarities. Who will this author be? Emily Dickinson? Benjamin Franklin? I've got to say, this is like the least interesting blind item ever.

And, while I'm talking about Slate, which I do not often do, what about this review of Day Break? I'm watching this show because a) I have a misguided affection for Taye Diggs from his buppie comedy days, and also b) for the same reason I watch Bones: Hapa power! But since Slate calls the show "a Twilight Zone take on race and law enforcement in America," now I can say that instead.

To conclude this strangely disjointed post: Please read Gene Yang's American Born Chinese. It is excellent. Also, enjoy your dinner tomorrow. But don't try and claim any historical precedent for it.