News and notes from the world of books: Alice Munro, the celebrated Canadian short-story writer, has won the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime
achievement. Awarded every two years, the prize pays out roughly $95,000. Munro’s next collection is “Too Much Happiness,” due out in November. John Freeman has been named acting editor of the British literary journal Granta. Alex Clark, the first woman to edit the magazine in its 120-year history, stepped down this week after a year on the job. Freeman, a regular contributor to The Chronicle’s book review section, has been Granta’s American editor since December 2008. “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” to be directed by Steven Spielberg, will open in U.S. theaters in December 2011. Variety reports that the motion-capture adaptation of the popular cartoon will open abroad first, in October 2011. Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot”) will play Tintin. The San Francisco Public Library is testing out new library cards made from corn. “We hope the new corn-based cards will turn out to be a good alternative to the traditional plastic library cards and that we can one day create all of the city’s library cards out of sustainable materials,” said Deputy City Librarian Jill Bourne. The new so-called ecocard will be free to new card holders and may be bought for $1 as a replacement for a lost card. This article appeared on page J – 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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