What the world is reading

Dark,devious and devilish,JK Rowlings first post-Potter novel,The Casual Vacancy,reads like an episode of Postman Pat written by the makers of The League of Gentlemen,writes Bidisha in her latest column. Yet,critics have been just as foul-mouthed as Rowlings meanest characters. Some have criticised the way it swings from openly abusive relationships and grinding poverty to the easy suburban comedy. Rowlings books,including Potter,certainly reflect the claustrophobia of identikit suburbia,whether it be fictional Little Whingeing,where Harry grew up,or real Chipping Sodbury,where she spent time herself,argues Bidisha. It is not middle-class values she is attacking but middle-class hypocrisy,concludes Bidisha.

Slate

Awkward action-star transformations

My initial reaction to an early shot in the Looper trailerthe time-travelling protagonist in a sleek red convertiblewas to ask,Thats Joseph Gordon-Levitt? writes Katie Kilkenny. Further examination of the trailer revealed that Gordon-Levitts new neo-noir face is decidedly awkwarda hardened and planar visage nearly devoid of expression apart from a few new wrinkles around the eyebrows and mouth that suggest many hours of brooding. But Kilkenny hopes that Gordon-Levitt pulls off this odd transformation in Looper,because the past is littered with awkward transformations of talented actors into wannabe action stars. If Gordon-Levitt really has the goods to become an action star,maybe next time well get to see his real face,concludes Kilkenny.

Vanity Fair

What Katie didnt know

Tom Cruise was in a state because he didnt have a girl,begins Maureen Orth. Mike Rinder,the founding director of Scientology International and former head of the Office of Special Affairs,claims that Tom Cruise had said this to him while waiting for David Miscavige,considered to by Scientology honchos to be the chairman of the board. Miscavige prided himself on being able to produce with a snap of his fingers anything Cruise desired,as well as to remove whatever he considered to be obstacles,such as his last wife,Nicole Kidman,says Orth. Cruise post-Cruz needed a devout Scientologist to be with him,she continues. Thus began an elaborate auditioning process to find him a beautiful true believer to share his life,someone who would not object to having Miscavige as a powerful presence in the relationship. But Katie Holmes has blindsided Cruise with the divorce and by keeping primary custody of Suri. This would be automatic grounds for disconnection if she were married to any other Scientologisthundreds have suffered deeply for years because of mandated separation from their families.

Chicago Sun Times

Our soldiers still dying in a war half forgotten

It was a bittersweet moment this week to see the 95-member 713th Engineer Company return to Indiana after completing the Indiana National Guards deadliest deployment ever, begins the editorial in Chicago Sun Times. The soldiers were glad to be home,but couldnt forget their six comrades who died in the yearlong deployment. Some analysts say conditions are worse than when the surge began. Fifty-one American and allied troops have been killed by Afghan soldiers and police officers this year. This marks the official end of the surge in which 30,000 extra US troops were sent to Afghanistan,but it doesnt end the debate over how quickly to wind down what is now Americas longest war.