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Also: Afaa Michael Weaver on being a black poet abroad; ebook sales jumped 44 percent last year; Cormac McCarthy's beach body.
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Also: Illinois school district bans The Perks of Being a Wallflower; W.H. Auden's 1939 journal discovered; Bret Easton Ellis on gay stereotypes.
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The U.S. Senate seems ready to let states collect sales tax from more online retailers. Support for the measure has increased as businesses have converged their online and offline sales. "We're looking for consistency" in how taxes are collected, says the owner of a St. Louis pet store chain.
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A bill making its way through the Senate would make more online retailers collect sales taxes. The battle over the bill pits online retailers against brick-and-mortar stores — and, in some cases, against other online sellers. Amazon has endorsed the bill, while eBay is the loudest voice against it.
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Amazon spent years trying to avoid charging sales tax. Now, the company supports a bill that would require it.
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It's called a use tax. Accountants and tax lawyers are some of the only people who pay it.
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Also: Scottish science fiction writer Iain Banks says he has late stage gall bladder cancer and likely won't live into 2014; a blog calculates the price of Hogwarts Castle; some unfounded literary rumors; and the "politically subversive" poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
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Amazon.com, already a major force in the publishing world, announced on Friday the acquisition of Goodreads, a reader recommendation website. Reaction from readers was mixed.
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Also: Sam Lipsyte is interviewed by household pets; a new study tracks mood in literature; and Bret Easton Ellis' new book.
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Some of the most powerful U.S. rocket engines ever built have been raised from the depths off Florida. The Apollo-era motors are to be restored and put on display. Meanwhile, NASA has pulled unused copies of the same engine out of storage and fired them up as part of its program to build new heavy lift rockets.