Robert B. Parker, best known for a series of novels starring Boston private eye Spenser, has died at 77. Sarah Weinman has quickly gathered an excellent list of relevant links. . . . M.A. Orthofer reacts to the recent and widely-linked-to Wall Street Journal piece about the “death of the slush pile.” . . . How would you like to be a famous author in the early 20th century named Winston Churchill? Bummer. . . . Book Patrol unearths a book about the sex lives of Civil War soldiers, a side of their lives “that they and their families tried to hide from posterity and Ken Burns.” . . . In 1967, Leonard Woolf was sounding a pre-Hitchens note. . . . I’ve been meaning to see An Education for a long time now. After reading Maud Newton’s description, I’d also like to read the book on which it was based. . . . Blake Morrison on the art of the first sentence. (Via Books, Inq.) . . . Illustrations from French children’s books, 1900-1949. (Via Bookslut) . . . Garth Risk Hallberg wonders if there are too many literary prizes.