Death of Salesmen: Thoughts on “A Hologram for the King” by Dave Eggers

I don’t think I’ve ever actively sold anything in my entire adult life; inadvertently, maybe, but I’ve never stood with a person and given them reason as to why they should purchase something. I’m too passive, too grossed out by monetary transactions. I’d like to say it’s something rooted in my Eastern European Socialist bloodline – but it isn’t: my family were and are capitalists who loved the American Dream enough to come here; they dig on free trade, and said they were […]

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Afternoon Bites: Taschen’s Sale, McDonald’s Cribs Mad Men, Jonah Lehrer, and more

Taschen is having a massive sale. Michelle Dean weighed in on the Jonah Lehrer self-plagiarism scandal. We know this is totally beside the point, but doesn’t Jonah Lehrer look like Matt Saracen? Just saying. Alex Pappademas interviewed Bob Nastanovich for Grantland. They talked about horse-racing. There’s a pretty good interview with Dave Eggers over at Page-Turner. Michael Goetzman interviewed Mark Dery at the LA Review of Books. Employees at the McDonald’s locations in the London Olympics Park and Athletes Villages […]

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Morning Bites: Zadie on Libraries, Book Perfume, Kiwi Punks, Elliott Talks to Eggers, and More

Zadie Smith on defending libraries at the New York Review of Books blog. Stephen Elliott talks to Dave Eggers at The Rumpus. Laurent Binet talks to Critical Mob about HHhH. Did you catch Hemingway & Gellhorn on HBO?  Brad Listi talks to Jery Stahl about it at the Other People podcast. Book perfume is finally a thing. A documentary on New Zealand punks circa 1982 at WFMU. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.

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Afternoon Bites: Tobi Vail on The Who, new Julia Wertz comics, Steve Erickson’s playlist, and more

At Largehearted Boy, Steve Erickson provides a playlist for his latest novel, These Dreams of You. Carolyn Kellogg has an evenhanded look at the recent and unsettling news about the subject of Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun. Tobi Vail on The Who’s Quadrophenia, touring with Beat Happening, and more. Laura Hudson talks to the former members of Pizza Island about their current projects; this includes the welcome news that Julia Wertz has a new book coming out later this year. The secret […]

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Showering with Dave Eggers

Posted by Jason Diamond There is a slight chance that if you subscribe to The Thing long enough, you will be able to furnish your entire abode with their issues. In the past, the periodical has put out a Starlee Kine cutting board, coffee mugs by an experimental geographer, and Jonathan Lethem glasses with case.  They’re basically a couch and a knife set away from being more prominent in your apartment than IKEA. Now you have an opportunity to spend every day cleansing yourself […]

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