In considering Katie Roiphe’s recent essay about how young male American writers have “repudiated the aggressive virility of their predecessors,” Mark Athitakis offers several sharp points, and wonders what Roiphe would make of Richard Ford’s Frank Bascombe, one of many characters who complicate the picture. . . . Speaking of aggressive virility, in his soon-to-be-published book about Warren Beatty, Peter Biskind estimates how many women the leading man has taken to bed. Even assuming a generous margin of error, it’s a startling number. . . . James Mustich starts 2010 eagerly awaiting 20 books. . . . The Millions also previews the year in books. . . . And Chad Post of Open Letter points to compelling translations being published in the next three months. . . . James Morrison (aka the Caustic Cover Critic) starts the year “with some sleaze.” . . . In soliciting choices for hated books, Joseph Sullivan says of his: “When done, I immediately went out and bought two hamsters and a cage so that something could rip that book apart and pee on it.” . . . The site Odd Books is updated far too infrequently for my taste, but it’s always worth the wait.