Robert Stilling said he began searching for the poem after reading a 1947 letter by Frost's friend, Frederic Melcher, referring to the work in a copy of the poet's book "North of Boston." He said that when he read the letter, it set off "little scholarly alarm bells." Stilling found the poem among books and manuscripts purchased by the University of Virginia. Melcher, who founded the trade journal Publishers Weekly, once owned the collection.

It took several months to check whether the poem had been published before and to confirm that the handwritting was Frost's. The poem is titled "War Thoughts at Home" and is dated 1918. It is 35-lines long and was apparently inspired by the death of another poet in World War I. The poem will be published next week by The Virginia Quarterly Review.

Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of The Virginia Quarterly Review, told Reuters, "You can tell Frost is troubled by what is going on in Europe at the time." Frost died in 1963 at age 88.

It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris

Forever by Judy Blume

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Photographs taken with invisible infrared light and a special infrared camera suggest that at least one of the details was hiding in plain sight, the scientists and conservators said. The sitter in the Louvre Museum's 16th-century masterpiece, believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant, was originally painted wearing a large transparent overdress made from gauze, they said. Under normal light, part of the garment is visible on the right-hand side of the painting, but appears simply to be part of the background. "You can see it when you know what you're looking for," said Bruno Mottin, a curator in the research department of the Center of Research and Restoration of the Museums of France, known as C2RMF.

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Mr. Mottin said such transparent robes were worn by expecting or nursing mothers in 16th-century Italy. The robe's reappearance in the "Mona Lisa" would dovetail with scholarly research indicating that the painting might have been commissioned to commemorate the birth of Lisa Gherardini's third child. The imaging also shows, although less clearly, that some of the sitter's hair was rolled into a small bun and tucked under a tiny bonnet with an attached veil. (The images are too cloudy to be reproduced on newsprint.) "That is not surprising," Mr. Mottin said. "The bonnet was usually worn by women in the 16th century." More generally, the researchers said they realized that centuries of grime had obscured some elements of the painting.

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While the "Mona Lisa" has become famous for the sitter's calm, some say enigmatic, smile, it appears that the composition was not always so restful. For example, the new images show that at one point one of her hands was painted in a clenched rather than a relaxed position. "It was as if she was going to get up from a chair," Mr. Mottin said of the version Leonardo ultimately changed.

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Among other cutting-edge technologies, the scientists used a newly developed Canadian laser camera to construct an extremely detailed three-dimensional model of the painting. It reveals that while the "Mona Lisa" may be old and dirty, it is not, as had long been thought, particularly fragile. "We have a good handle on the physical state of the painting," Mr. Taylor said. While the wood panel on which it is painted is quite warped at points, he said, the 3-D model shows that it is sound and that the paint remains well bonded to its surface.

Miss Setterfield, 42, who taught French privately until a month ago, has hit the number one slot in the New York Times bestseller list just a week after her book was published, knocking established authors like Frederick Forsyth, Jennifer Weiner and Nora Ephron off their perches.

The rights to the book were snapped up for ?800,000 in the UK and more than ?526,000 in the US and have been sold in 31 countries. But rather than splashing out her newfound fortune, the unassuming former tutor said she would rather celebrate by curling up with a good book and a cup of tea. Miss Setterfield, who lives with her accountant husband Peter Whittall, 41, and their four cats, said: "It has left my head spinning. In a way it has all happened rather faster than I would have liked. "It has been like having a crash course in the world of publishing and has left me bemused. "I hoped I might have this kind of impact with my third or fourth book but never expected it from my first. It is a huge shock."

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With a limited income, the couple had to scale back on their holidays to France and meals out while Miss Setterfield said she could only think wistfully of buying shoes and make-up. It was only when she dug her notes out again and attended a creative writing course two years later that she began to write in earnest her Gothic mystery tale about a reclusive novelist who tells her life story to a biographer. Five years after she embarked on her plan to write a novel, she sent sample chapters to four agents - and the rest is history.

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"I thought of the idea and scribbled some notes down, which were then put in a drawer and stayed there for a very long time. We had to really cut back on luxuries during that time. I am a real foodie but could only dream of meals out. Luckily my husband was very supportive. When I finally took the notes out I wrote my first draft. After that things moved very quickly. If you ask anyone who has ever thought of writing a book how they feel about getting their work published, they will tell you that nothing could be more thrilling. Any serious writer would view it as an enormous privilege to be able to devote the best of their time to what they love and that is what I will now be able to do."

The National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards, will bestow its 2006 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters on Adrienne Rich in recognition of her incomparable influence and achievement as a poet and essayist. For more than fifty years, her eloquent and visionary writings have shaped the world of poetry as well as feminist and political thought. She won the National Book Award in 1974. Poet Mark Doty will present the Medal at the 57th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner in New York City on Wednesday, November 15. The evening will be hosted by writer and humorist Fran Lebowitz.

Also that evening, the National Book Foundation will award Robert Silvers and, posthumously, Barbara Epstein, co-founders of The New York Review of Books, with The Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. This award recognizes the important contributions they have made ? through The New York Review ? to the serious discussion of books for more than forty years. David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, will present the Award.

In making the announcements, Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the Foundation, said, "Adrienne Rich, Robert Silvers, and Barbara Epstein have been major forces in the literary world for decades, mavericks and visionaries who have held all of us who love books and writing to the highest possible standard. They remind us that books have the power to enrich our world. Our Board of Directors is honored that they will accept these awards."

This is the second year that the National Book Foundation has presented the Literarian Award, which was established to recognize individuals whose life?s work has enhanced the literary world as a whole (Lawrence Ferlinghetti was the 2005 recipient). "With The New York Review of Books, Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein raised book reviewing to an art and made the discussion of books a lively, provocative and intellectual activity," said Augenbraum. "From Mary McCarthy and Edmund Wilson to Gore Vidal and Joan Didion, The New York Review of Books has consistently employed the liveliest minds in America to think about, write about, and debate books and the issues they raise." Robert Silvers will accept the award on behalf of himself and Epstein, who died earlier this year.

Angelina Jolie doesn't just adopt malnourished children - she spends hundreds of thousands of dollars for weird art pieces of them. Star magazine reports that the movie siren and mother of three - two adopted kids, one from Cambodia, one from Africa and a biological daughter named Shiloh - stopped by a Los Angeles warehouse and blew almost $400,000 on three pieces by in-your-face Brit artist Banksy.

A $226,000 painting - titled "Picnic" - depicts a white family of four merrily lunching under an umbrella on a red checked blanket while 15 starving Africans - including several children with distended bellies - look on. A $75,000 purchase - a white bust with a bleeding bullet hole in the forehead - was a particular favorite of Jolie's. "She went nuts for that one," an onlooker told the mag. "She told [her baby daddy], 'I must have that one.'"

For another cool $75,000, she picked up a portrait of a man hit in the head with a custard pie.

An elephant that was elaborately spray-painted for a California art exhibit, which caused an uproar among animal activists, was washed by order of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services.

The 38-year-old female elephant, named Tai, was given a nontoxic paint job for last week's opening of the "Barely Legal" exhibit by British artist Banksy. The elephant was painted in the same red and gold pattern as the exhibit's walls, and she was placed in a living room that included furniture. Ed Boks, head of the city's Animal Services Department, ordered Sunday that the elephant be completely scrubbed down to bare skin and that a child-safe face paint be used.

"The paint they had been using, although nontoxic, according to government regulations was unsafe and even illegal to use the way they had been using it," Boks said. On Sunday, Tai was placed unpainted in the living room exhibit. "Well, it's better than being painted," said Bill Dyer from In Defense of Animals, who objected to the use of the animal in the exhibit.

The fellowships, often referred to as "the genius awards," recognize people in a broad range of disciplines who show exceptional creativity and the potential for continued innovative work.

Each award provides $500,000 over five years and comes with no stipulations, allowing each fellow to use the money as he or she sees fit. No one may apply for the MacArthur Fellowships. Each year the foundation chooses several hundred people from diverse fields who serve anonymously as nominators. A 12-member selection committee then recommends final candidates to the foundation's Board of Directors.

David Carroll, 64, author and illustrator, Warner, N.H. He has written several books on the ecology of New England's deciduous hardwood forests and wetland habitats, providing detailed descriptions of creatures that live in swamps, bogs, and other areas threatened by human development.

Adrian LeBlanc, 42, narrative journalist, New York. She specializes in "immersion reporting," spending 10 years with a family in the Bronx before she wrote Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx, which was published in 2003.

David Macaulay, 59, author and illustrator, Norwich, Vt. His illustrated books on architecture, engineering, and other disciplines "demystify the workings and origins of objects as mundane as a stapler and as monumental as a cathedral."

Sarah Ruhl, 32, playwright, New York. Her works include "Passion Play: A Cycle," in which she traces the politics of religion from the Elizabethan Age to modern times, and "Orlando," an adaptation of the novel by Virginia Woolf.

George Saunders, 47, professor of creative writing, Syracuse University, N.Y. His short-story collections combine seemingly discordant elements, including satire, surrealism, and colloquial language.

Fan fiction, stories by amateur writers about characters from their favorite books, movies and television shows, was once mainly a fringe pursuit. Now, it's changing the world of fiction, as Internet exposure helps unknown authors find mainstream success. Some Web sites are attracting unprecedented numbers of readers and, in some cases, leading to book deals. They are also feeding the appetites of readers and viewers who can't get enough of shows like "Lost" or "House."

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One sign of the growing influence of these authors and stories is that media companies, usually quick to go after people who use their copyrighted material, are increasingly leaving fan fiction writers alone. Mindful of the large, loyal audience the writers represent, many companies are adopting an attitude one media professor describes as "benign neglect." While most professional writers say their lawyers advise them not to read fan fiction to protect themselves against charges of plagiarism, some say they check the numbers of fan fiction stories posted about their work regularly as a measure of their success.

The rise of fan fiction is part of the spread of amateur-created content online, from viral videos to music playlists and blogs. Increasingly, audiences have become used to watching videos posted by other users on sites such as YouTube and MySpace. Reading fiction online is another extention of this trend.

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Some authors take a less friendly view of the genre, however. "No matter how flattering, it's still robbery," says fantasy novelist Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, whose vampire works have inspired a number of fan-fiction writers. She estimates that her attorney has sent out about 20 "cease and desist" letters to writers and owners of fan sites. Ms. Yarbro says this has caused some of the writers and sites to take their stories down.

Over the next few years, MGM is planning to release half a dozen films, some in the $150 million to $200 million-plus range. Studio is ready to unveil such high-profile projects as "Terminator 4"; one or two installments of "The Hobbit," which Sloan hopes will be directed by Peter Jackson; and a sequel to "The Thomas Crown Affair" with Pierce Brosnan.

As luck would have it, I interviewed Peter Jackson this afternoon. We talked about everything he's involved in and in the next week you'll see the interview go up in pieces, including one about The Hobbit. But he did say that he woke up this morning to see that MGM says he's making The Hobbit with them, which was strange. He said that as unbelievable as it may be, he's never once talked to any studio, be it New Line or MGM, about doing THE HOBBIT. So, as of today Jackson has not talked to anybody about doing the movie, but he did say he'd like to do it, even though his schedule gets more crowded every passing week. So, if MGM wants to do this thing it might be a good idea to see if Jackson is up for it, no?

As some might know, the rights to The Hobbit. are kind of jumbled. If I have it right, MGM owns the distribution rights, yet somehow New Line owns the rights to make the film. Meaning New Line could make the movie, but couldn't release it. I'm thinking MGM is trying to partner with New Line in order to do this thing, which would be really cool if I don't say so myself. I'd love to see Smaug realized in the Peter Jackson LOTR universe.

Porn producer Paul Barresi is writing a book, Pellicano?s Enforcer, about how he allegedly helped incarcerated former private-eye-to-the-stars Anthony Pellicano protect celebs from negative stories.

In one chapter that's been posted on an Internet site, Barresi tells how someone came to him trying to sell a story about Cruise ? similar to the one that Cruise successfully sued porn star Kyle Bradford (a.k.a. Chad Slater) over ? and Barresi details how Cruise?s team got the story killed.

Barresi neither proves nor disproves the claim, but Cruise, says a well-placed source, "cannot be happy with the story," adding, "it's been a tough time for Cruise and my bet is that his lawyers are going to come out with both guns blazing ? legally speaking of course."

Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, told the Scoop that the allegations made by Barresi are "utterly, one hundred percent false" and "we can prove it." He adds, "If Mr. Barresi were to publish what we have seen on that Web site, I absolutely would recommend appropriate legal action against both Mr. Barresi and the publisher." Fields also says that he?s "considering" steps to have the chapter removed from the Web site.

The plot centres on British naval captain Will Laurence, who seizes a French ship and discovers an unhatched dragon egg - a gift from the emperor of China to Napoleon. When the egg hatches, he is forced to become the dragon's keeper. The monster is called T?m?raire (meaning "Daring" in French).

"T?m?raire is a terrific meld of two genres that I particularly love - fantasy and historical epic," Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter. "I can't wait to see Napoleonic battles fought with a squadron of dragons. That's what I go to the movies for." Jackson is also planning to turn T?m?raire into a computer game franchise. "As I was reading these books," adds the New Zealander director, "I could see them coming to life in my mind's eye. These are beautifully written novels, not only fresh, original and fast-paced, but full of wonderful characters with real heart."

The book series was written by New York computer-programmer-turned-novelist Naomi Novik."I was warned that whatever happens in Hollywood, you should assume it is 10 degrees below reality," explained Novik. "So if they say Peter Jackson has it, it really means Peter Jackson's assistant's personal trainer has it." "I never took it seriously until [the film rights agent] called myself and [my literary agent] and said, 'Peter wants the book.' There was lot of screaming in my household when I first got the call," she said.

What is the price of a disappointed reader? Should we really be compensated for suffering through a bad ? or a dishonest ? work? These are important questions, with implications for other books and writers. Can we sue an author now on the grounds of aesthetic differences? What about a reviewer with whom we disagree? Is any untruth or fabrication we find in a work of nonfiction now considered actionable?

What I find even more troublesome, however, is the idea that Frey should have settled at all. Sure, he eclipsed the line between fiction and nonfiction in his memoir, but throughout the early days of the scandal, that was his defense: that the line between the two is a fine one. That's not such a bad argument; memory, after all, is fallible (although Frey lied not because his memory was flawed or incomplete but because he thought that it was not enough).

But whatever his intent, "A Million Little Pieces" clearly moved many readers ? Oprah included ? or it wouldn't have been as successful as it was. Why did it elicit such an emotional response, and is that response rendered invalid if its source is revealed to be a lie? I'm not sure that this is territory we, as a culture, want the courts to enter because it has serious implications for how we interact with art.

Creativity, after all, is a matter of illusion. We take raw materials (ink, paper, memory, point of view) and fashion something that, no matter how faithful to our experience, is a contrivance, an invention, an elaborate shadow play. That's the miracle ? that we can believe it at all, that these tools, imperfect as they are, can stir us into trusting something that is, on the most basic level, not actually there. We accept this when it comes to fiction but have other expectations of the memoir, which we seem to believe ought to be held to higher standards, as if memory had any objectivity.

I don't mean to defend Frey, whose betrayal has everything to do with breaching just this trust. Still, I can't help coming back to the original reaction of his readers, which was nothing if not real.

"I am so pleased to have written my first children's book and to have my dear friend Wendell Minor illustrate it. I thought it would be a daunting project, but with six grandchildren and eleven step grandchildren, I've been telling stories to children for a long time," said Mary Higgins Clark.

"We are thrilled to reunite longtime friends Mary Higgins Clark and Wendell Minor in such a special collaboration," said Rubin Pfeffer, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Children's. "Through his art, Wendell catches the spirit of Mary's brilliant writing and truly brings Ghost Ship to life for children. It's as if this pairing was always meant to be."

Set in Cape Cod, Ghost Ship is the story of a friendship between two boys, one visiting his grandmother on summer vacation in Cape Cod and another a cabin boy for a sea captain with stories to tell of his adventures on the high seas centuries before. Evoking the mystery and history of the high seas and the rich stories of Cape Cod, this is a book for children and for families to share and to make the world of long ago very near and real.

"Mary Higgins Clark is an amazing storyteller and in Ghost Ship she creates a story rich in character and adventure that will inspire young readers to imagine the stories of their own past," said Paula Wiseman, V.P. and Editorial Director, who will be editing the book.

Readers who bought the book on or before Jan. 26, the day Frey and the publisher acknowledged that he had made up parts of the book, will be eligible for a full refund, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the negotiations. The readers claimed in a lawsuit that they had been defrauded because the book was sold as a memoir instead of fiction.The settlement must be approved by a judge.

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A Manhattan federal court judge consolidated the lawsuits in June. Ten of the 12 plaintiffs have accepted terms of the settlement, which call on Frey and Random House to pay out no more than a total of US$2.35 million, the Times said. That total covers the refund to consumers, lawyers' fees for both sides and an unspecified donation to charity.

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Consumers getting refunds will have to submit a receipt and a page or cover of the memoir, and in the case of audiobooks, a piece of packaging as proof of purchase, the newspaper said. They also will have to submit a sworn statement that they bought the book because they believed it was a memoir.

Police remained tightlipped over how they recovered the national treasures Thursday. Munch Museum director Ingebjoerg Ydstie said "The Scream" had been banged hard in one corner and "Madonna" had a roughly one-inch hole and some loose paint.

"Our skilled conservators will be able to repair the damage," she said. "The Scream" is probably the best known of Munch?s emotionally charged works and was a major influence on the Expressionist movement. In four versions of the painting, a waif-like figure is apparently screaming or hearing a scream. The image has become a modern icon of human anxiety.

"The Scream" and "Madonna" were stolen in a brazen daylight raid on the Oslo city-owned Munch Museum on Aug. 22, 2004. Police announced their recovery but refused to say how they found the paintings. Almost two weeks ago, the Norwegian news media began reporting that David Toska, considered the mastermind of one of Norway?s most notorious bank robberies, was secretly negotiating with police for the return of the paintings.

The reports, citing anonymous sources, said he wanted milder terms in a 21-year prison sentence. Police refused comment. During the trial of three suspects in the Munch theft, prosecutors suggested the paintings were stolen to draw police focus away from solving the commando-style bank robbery four months earlier that left a police officer dead in the western city of Stavanger. Thirteen men were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in the robbery of Norsk Kontantsevice, or NOKAS. Their appeal begins Monday. Leif A. Lier, now a private investigator, headed the police inquiry that led to the recovery of another version of "The Scream" that was stolen in 1994.