The Paris Review celebrates issue #200. “Do we even have to say that physical beauty is beside the point when discussing the work of a major author? Was Tolstoy pretty? Is Franzen? Wharton’s appearance has no relevance to her work. Franzen perpetuates the typically patriarchal standard of ranking a woman’s beauty before discussing her merits, whether she is an intellectual, artist, politician, activist, or musician.” – Victoria Patterson at the Los Angeles Review of Books takes Jonathan Franzen to task […]
The Week In Reviews: Dyer’s Russian Madness, Bolaño’s Reich, Adam Wilson’s Rewards, Shake Shack’s Burgers, And more
A weekly appreciation for the art of the review.
Morning Bites: Eisenberg And Shawn, Finding @Horse_ebooks, Writing Desks, The Clean On The Road, And More
“I want to be her when I grow up.” – Hanging out with Deborah Eisenberg and Wallace Shawn at the Center For Fiction. Feast your eyes on the desks (and bed) that contributors to The Millions write on. Tracking down the greatest Twitter spambot there is, @Horse_eBooks. Now’s the time to restate Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The Clean is touring with Times New Viking. This is glorious news. Aaron Gilbreath on finding antique bottles in the desert. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and […]
Stephen Malkmus Has Always Been Good Looking
There are some things that are just worth posting for the hell of it, and a picture of young Stephen Malkmus is one of those.
I Saw God And/Or Alvy Singer Or: The Time I Stalked Woody Allen
I’ve been waiting a really long time to see Woody Allen in the flesh, and the other night I finally got to.
Band Booking: Jonathan Meiburg Of Shearwater
What went through Jonathan Meiburg’s head when, in 2008, he formally left critical darlings Okkervil River? I’d be willing to wager either a sense of duty or a feeling of dread; a now or never sort of thing that only he could truly understand. Sure, his band Shearwater was gaining fans every day. Signing a contract with indie giants Matador couldn’t hurt either, but it couldn’t have been easy.
Morning Bites: Barney Rossett, Literary Slackers, Fuck Yeah Menswear Book, Kardashian Kraftwerk, And More
Plenty of people paid tribute to the late Barney Rossett: Loren Glass at the Los Angeles Review of Books tweeted their September piece on Rossett and the history of Grove Press, The New York Times called him “The publisher who fought Puritanism, and won,” and Richard Nash plans to tweet a link about Rossett for each day of Lent. The first look at the Fuck Yeah Menswear book. Adam Wilson thinks Jesus was the first literary slacker. Wilson also talks to Julia Jackson at […]
Saul Bellow’s Son Will Make You A Vase And Maybe Talk About The Ramones
The coolest part of The Forward’s article on Saul Bellow’s potter son isn’t the fact that spawn of one of the greatest writers of the last century is more content with creating vases and bowls than following in his father’s footsteps, it’s more about how he discovered the craft.