Twitter torches Dan Brown’s “Inferno”

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:42:00 +0000

Dan Brown just published a new novel. It’s hard to miss, what with there being a tower of "Infernos" beside every supermarket checkout. Soon, your mom and co-workers will be asking you what you thought of the Big Twist at the end when Robert Langdon uncovers whichever conspiracy it is this time round. Then in 18 months, the whole cycle will begin anew when the inevitable Tom Hanks movie juggernaut rolls out.

While Dan Brown books are page-turners, they’re also littered with wordcount-boosting details, like the specific height of buildings or the exact make and model of Langdon’s current vehicle of choice. And let’s not even start on the bizarre mixed metaphors.

It’s pretty easy to make fun of Dan Brown. Just ask Telegraph columnist Michael Deacon, whose written-in-the-style-of-Dan-Brown "Inferno" review went viral last week. "Inferno" may have a ready-made readership of millions of "Da Vinci Code" fans, but it’s hard to deny that Brown’s writing style reads like a cross between a Wikipedia entry and the internal monologue of an art history professor.

Dan Brown to bring back symbologist Robert Landgon in “Inferno” this May

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:45:00 +0000

Doubleday has announced that Dan Brown, the bestselling author of code-breaking thrillers "Angels and Demons," "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Lost Symbol," will release another book following the adventures of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time as he "is drawn into a harrowing world" revolving around Dante's "Inferno."

Brown said in a statement that "Although I studied Dante's 'Inferno' as a student, it wasn't until recently, while researching in Florence, that I came to appreciate the enduring influence of Dante's work on the modern world." The author is "excited to take readers on a journey deep into this mysterious realm.a landscape of codes, symbols, and more than a few secret passageways."

Although Doubleday announced the news earlier this morning, the publisher left it up to readers to "crack the code" (so to speak) of the title using social media. Readers were invited to submit tweets with #DanBrownTODAY, whose profile pictures were then added to a mosaic that unlocked the title image on the "Today Show."

Doubleday will release the book May 14.

Salon.com > inferno

Twitter torches Dan Brown’s “Inferno”

Dan Brown to bring back symbologist Robert Landgon in “Inferno” this May