A weekly appreciation for the art of the review.
Surreal Doppelgängers, Sublimated Anxiety, and Ominous Missives: On Amelia Gray’s “Threats”
Threats by Amelia Gray Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 288 p. “Did you ever get the feeling that something isn’t quite right?” It’s a question asked by one character to another in passing late in Threats, Amelia Gray’s first novel, but it could also serve as the book’s epigraph. Though a rough description of the novel might make it sound like a familiar plot wrapped in kitchen-sink details — a middle-aged man wanders a small Ohio town, traumatized after the sudden […]
Afternoon Bites: New Amelia Gray Fiction, Book Arks, Believer Book Award Shortlist, And More
“Mr. Kahle had the idea for the physical archive while working on the Internet Archive, which has digitized two million books. With a deep dedication to traditional printing — one of his sons is named Caslon, after the 18th-century type designer — he abhorred the notion of throwing out a book once it had been scanned. The volume that yielded the digital copy was special.” The New York Times reports on Brewster Kahle’s “ark full of books.” Amelia Gray’s […]
Indexing: Amelia Gray Fever, Flaubert By Lydia Davis, Russian Protest Reading, Finishing Pulphead, And More
A roundup of things consumed by our contributors.
Afternoon Bites: Amelia Gray on luck, Pulp comics, working in coffee shops, and more
Daily links for February 13, 2012, including appearances from Pulp, Amelia Gray, and Animal Man.
Afternoon Bites: Sports Tape Trading, Amelia Gray, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and more
At Three Guys One Book, Jason Rice looks at the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-edited anthology The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. The Los Angeles Times profiles Shalom Auslander, Amelia Gray, and Todd Zuniga as literary “Faces to Watch” in 2012. Joshua Lars Weill looks at sports-tape trading, at The Classical. Flavorwire selects their 10 most anticipated books of 2012. The fine people of ComicsAlliance have selected their 11 best comics of 2011. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, and our Tumblr. Got tips for […]
Indexing: Hodgman & Balzac, NYRB Classics, William Faulkner disciples, Walton Ford, Martin Amis, and more
A roundup of things consumed by our contributors. Jason Diamond I went to Walton Ford’s opening at the Paul Kasmin Gallery a month or so ago, and became pretty obsessed with his work. I guess I’m including this because the exhibition closes on December 23rd, and if you’re in New York, I want you all to see it.
Afternoon Bites: Dennis Cooper, Maureen Johnson, Amelia Gray, and more
“I don’t think I restrain myself from judgment, though. In fact, I’m wary of writers who claim to do so, people who say “I just tell the story.” Nobody “just” tells a story. Every comma is judgment.” Jeff Sharlet, interviewed at Harper’s. Maureen Johnson, author of many an acclaimed young adult novel, reviews the film Young Adult. Renee Zambo interviews Amelia Gray, at Necessary Fiction. More smart folks talking about the books that they like: Dennis Cooper does the “Year in Reading” thing at […]