Celebrated artist of the female form, Peter Paul Rubens, was “a man of controlled appetites, with a modest disposition and a reputation for tact and discretion.” He was also a diplomat, spy, and peace-maker, according to Mark Lamster’s new book “Master of Shadows.”

Other Book Review Highlights:

• A history, slightly obsessive, of Strunk & White’s little style book.(NYT)

• Michael Chabon’s new essays: “First Person Masculine”?(NYT)

• Has anyone else noticed that James Joyce has been tryin’ to change a lot of lives these days? Here’s another: How Joyce Can Change Your Life.“(The Second Pass)

• Wait, Malcolm Gladwell wrote another book?  Jeesh.  What the Dog Saw “makes readers think” (unlike that byline).(The Guardian)

• Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, film and book (but mostly film).  (The Rumpus)

Lit.

• Over at The Millions, writer Garth Risk Hallbert details the “Kakutani Two-Step.”

• A framed portrait of New Yorker editors Harold Ross, William Shawn, Robert Gottlieb, Tina Brown, and David Remnick is available for purchase at Emdashes.  It’s drawn by Pollux, Emdashes’ resident cartoonist.  (Also at Emdashes, is ongoing coverage of the New Yorker Festival)

• Ten neglected novels from the Times.

• I love bookforum.com‘s themed news link…conglomerates.  From Friday, “High School Requirements.” My favorite?  “The Unimportance of Gym Class.“

Misc.

• The Millenial Muddle: How Stereotyping Became a Thriving Industry and a Bundle of Contradictions (Chronicle of Higher Education)

• MILK: inspired graphic art at The Rumpus.

• American news media might be getting the brunt of recent Balloon Boy coverage.