Fast Book or Fast Buck?: Bret Easton...

Fast Book or Fast Buck?: Bret Easton Ellis’ gruesome novel, “American Psycho,” was scooped up quickly by a new publisher after being dropped by Simon & Schuster. Alfred A. Knopf is rushing the book into print while it is still hot. Simon & Schuster dropped the book because of lurid descriptions of dismemberment and torture of women by a deranged yuppie. Knopf President Sonny Mehta said Ellis has merely “written a novel depicting aspects of a society that he and the rest of us are living in.”

Banzai: Thousands of people carrying lanterns and waving flags thronged to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo over the weekend to celebrate Emperor Akihito’s enthronement. Akihito, accompanied by Empress Michiko, waved to the crowds from a palace balcony, then waved lanterns as the crowd, 47,000 strong, shouted “Tenno heika banzai,” or “Long live the emperor.” Akihito is the first Japanese monarch enthroned as a symbol and not a living god.

Homecoming: As little girls squealed and a high school pep band played, Gina Marie Tolleson made her triumphant return home to Spartanburg, S.C., as the new Miss World. “I’m just really, really touched,” said the 21-year-old student Sunday after being crowned Nov. 8 in London. As to the future, that’s uncertain, except that, “I’m not interested in being a movie star or film star,” said Tolleson, who is studying broadcast journalism at the University of Georgia.

Emergency Ambulance: U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s quick response when he suffered a mild heart attack prevented more serious problems, a doctor says. The 50-year-old Massachusetts Democrat had a taxi rush him Saturday night to a hospital after he suffered chest pains while exercising at a health club. Doctors performed an angioplasty to clear a blocked artery to the heart, and the congressman was resting comfortably Monday.