Finally, the date of Michael Chabon’s guest-appearance on The Simpsons has finally The Futon Critic been announced:

“When Homer forgets Moe’s birthday, Moe’s anger inspires Lisa to write about him for her school report. She finds a poetic side to Moe and helps him get published in ‘American Poetry Perspectives.’ However, when Moe is featured at a literary conference where he encounters celebrated authors Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, Tom Wolfe and Jonathan Franzen, all guest-voicing as themselves he takes all the credit despite Lisa’s feelings in the all-new ‘Moe’N’A Lisa’ episode of THE SIMPSONS Sunday, Nov. 19 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT).”

Brian K. Vaughan clearly likes The Escapists #4, in stores today

“I love this issue more than my wife,” Vaughan said in a forum posting.

Vaughan said “it’s all thanks to the art team,” Steve Rolston and Jason Alexander.

“If you’re not reading this book, what the hell is wrong with you?” he said.

In this issue, Max, Case, and Denny become increasingly irritable toward each other as a high-powered corporate lawyer moves in to yank their Escapist rights. Meanwhile, within the comic they’re making, the Escapist faces samurai-wielding female warriors, who have taken Luna Moth hostage.

The issue costs $2.99. For a preview, click here.

Sienna Miller apologized Friday for making disparaging comments about Pittsburgh in a Rolling Stone interview.

“Can you believe this is my life?” Miller says in the interview. “Will you pity me when you’re back in your funky New York apartment and I’m still in Pittsburgh? I need to get more glamorous films.”

In a statement issued by her publicist, Miller said her comments were taken out of context and that she was referring to how she had not had a chance fully explore the city due to the mostly night shooting schedule.

“What I have seen of it is beautiful. I came once before to visit The Andy Warhol Museum whilst researching a film and found both the city and its inhabitants warm and gracious,” she said.

Miller’s father, who lives about 85 miles north of Pittsburgh in Meadville, planned to show her around this weekend, she said.

Sienna Miller might find starring in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh difficult after insulting the book adaptation’s city namesake.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Miller referred to Pittsburgh as something that starts with “sh” and rhymes with “Pittsburgh” in an interview with Rolling Stone.

“Can you believe this is my life?” Miller says in the interview. “Will you pity me when you’re back in your funky New York apartment and I’m still in Pittsburgh? I need to get more glamorous films.”

The mayor of Pittsburgh isn’t happy.

“I think obviously we have a great town, and I disagree with her comments,” said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, having been briefed on the Rolling Stone story. “She was probably in the more elite facilities in and around the city. I think if she would have interacted with regular Pittsburghers, she would have found differently. She needs to get out with us regular folks.”

Miller apparently rarely leaves her hotel, the newspaper reports.

Michael Chabon fans waiting for his next novel, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, can now get a sneak peek at the novel in the latest issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review.

“We’re not permitted to post the excerpt online (sorry), but anyone who subscribes can get instant access to the piece online (while they wait for their print issue to arrive),” editor Ted Genoways said via e-mail.

Alternatively, you can also order a single copy of the issue for $11.

Chabon is also scheduled to read the excerpt, titled “The King in Black,” at the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison, Wisconsin on Oct. 19, Genoways said.

“Not only will Michael be reading, but we’re also sponsoring a conversation between Chris Ware and Marjane Satrapi, and reading by Dan Chaon (who Michael chose for the O. Henry in 2001),” Genoways said.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union is scheduled to hit bookstores in May 2007.

“And in case anyone is worried. The new novel is fantastic,” Genoways said. “You won’t be disappointed.”

In his intro to the quarterly, Genoways previews Chabon’s piece.

“More than a mere work of fiction, the novel is a counterfactual experiment imagining a different outcome for post-Holocaust Jews.”

“It is the year 2000,” Chabon explains in the intro, “but the world is not as we now know it. Israel does not exist, and Alaska is not-quite-Alaska.”

Genoways wraps up, saying, “The novel — and excerpt published here — is, at heart, a great detective story in the style of Raymond Chandler. (Chabon’s title for the excerpt is a winking reference to Chandler’s story ‘The King in Yellow.’) Nevertheless, the ghost of the Holocaust pervades.”

The latest VQR also features an excerpt from a work-in-progress by Art Spieglman (Maus), and new subscribers will also receive a fiction supplement designed by Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library).