After days of discourse from reviewers from both sides of the party line, the memoir of former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lands in bookstores today -- giving interested readers a chance to check out the real details within. In Duty, Gates’ takes on players in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq under both George W. Bush and President Obama, for a nuanced tale that, agree or disagree with, remains faithful to one man’s bird’s eye view. [via Slate]

French pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery changed the world when he wrote The Little Prince. He then disappeared forever in 1944, while flying his plane on a French anti-Nazi spy mission. Now MacArthur Fellowship recipient Peter Cis has written and illustrated an biography for ages five and up: The Pilot and the Little Prince: The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry will be published this May, in honor of the 70th anniversary of Saint-Exupery’s doomed flight, one year after the publication of his beloved book. [via The Bookseller]

Lou Reed — first leader of seventies band the Velvet Underground, then continuing his grouchily groundbreaking work as a solo act for decades after — will be memorialized in a new biography. The tentatively titled Lou: A New York Life, will be written by Will Hermes for Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Hermes is well prepared for this new task: his previous writing has focused on Velvet Underground contemporaries like Talking Heads and the Ramones, guaranteeing us an insider look at the outsider rock that was the soundtrack to some of New York City’s grittiest years. [via The New York Times]

Director Lee Daniels, of last year’s hit "The Butler" fame, is currently in talks with The Weinstein Company to head a currently untitled biopic on social critic/comedian Richard Pryor. The project will highlight Pryor’s many entertainer roles, from funnyman, to actor, to jazz singer. Rumoured to be in the running to play the lead role are Marlon Wayans, Eddie Murphy, and Michael B. Jordan. [via Vibe]