In this week’s edition, Amazon stops selling all books that frame LGBTQ+ identities as a form of mental illness; Alec MacGillis’s Fulfillment explores how Amazon managed to take over America; the UK’s Competitive Markets Authority (CMA) launches an investigation into Bertelsmann’s $2 billion bid to purchase Simon & Schuster; novelist Angie Kim on why she incorporates anti-Asian harassment scenes into her work; and more.

Amazon to Stop Selling Books that Frame LGBTQ+ Identities as Mental Illness
The Guardian (US edition)
“Amazon will no longer sell books that frame gay, lesbian, transgender and other sexual and gender identities as a mental illness in response to queries” by conservative politicians.

UK Watchdog CMA Investigates Penguin Owner’s Simon & Schuster Takeover
The Guardian (US edition)
“The UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Penguin Random House’s $2bn (£1.45bn) takeover of Simon & Schuster, a deal rivals have warned will create a “behemoth of books” with too much power in the global publishing industry.”

I’ve Experienced Anti-Asian Harassment and Written it into My Novels. I’m Not Ready to Move On
Washington Post
Korean American novelist Angie Kim pens an op/ed about why she incorporates anti-Asian harassment scenes into her work.

IAF and WIPO Sign Memorandum of Understanding
International Authors Forum
The International Authors Forum (IAF) signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that aims to ensure authors can continue to help shape contemporary culture and diversity of thought by promoting the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights around the world.

What is Amazon Doing to Our Country?
The New York Times
The NYT Book Review critiques Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America by Alec MacGillis, who “deftly unravels the strong grip Amazon has on the United States, from the ground level — in the inhumane working conditions of the warehouse, in rural towns upended by deindustrialization and subject to the glint of Amazon’s economic promise — to the gilded halls of Washington, D.C., where Amazon’s lobbyists flock.”

Paris Review Names New Editor
The New York Times
“Emily Stokes, previously a senior editor at The New Yorker, is succeeding Emily Nemens at the literary magazine.”

Books on Hurricane Katrina and Native American Removal Win Bancroft Prize
The New York Times
“The scholars Claudio Saunt and Andy Horowitz have won the award considered one of the most prestigious in the field of American history.”