Oh, hello there, excerpt for Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84  in this week’s New Yorker.

• The A.V. Club has a great interview with Rudy Wurlitzer.  His novel and screenplays are discussed, and both Will Oldham and James Taylor are mentioned.

• Taking a look at Maus, 25 years after its publication.

• John Locke, the big daddy of liberal thought (and the guy that a Lost character was named after…) was born on this day, 379 years ago.  Brain Pickings tries to sum up his philosophies in three minutes.

• NPR has the entire Wild Flag album up for your listening pleasure.

• Favorite things read during Hurricane Irene hunkering down: This New York Times piece on tennis rivalries.

• Shoot, while we’re on the subject of tennis, Grantland has a piece on the guy who might be “the future” for the sport in America.