In our afternoon reading: thoughts on Joe Koch’s new collection, the cover of Paul Lisicky’s next book, and more.
#tobyreads: Catching Up on Modern Classics, and Savoring Plot
I’m pretty sure that most serious readers have a list of books that they should have read by this point, but haven’t. It might be mental; it might be in a word processing document or scrawled in the back of a notebook or stored externally in a service like Goodreads. Maybe it’s some combination of all of those things. This week’s column involves a look at two of those; it also involves misdirection, fantasy trilogies, and the enjoyment that comes […]
Indexing: On “Waiting for the Barbarians,” Reading Bradbury’s Favorite Writer, “That Summertime Sound,” Riley/Cale in ’71 and More
A roundup of what our contributors have been consuming.
Morning Bites: Jarvis Cocker editing, DFW’s possible fabrications, flash fiction, and more
Faber & Faber hires Jarvis Cocker as its editor-at-large. We’re pretty sure Jarvis is the secret sauce the publishing industry needs to get rolling again. So maybe David Foster Wallace fabricated some things… Justin Taylor reviews Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams. Guernica has a new flash fiction series. J. M. Coetzee moves his papers to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. Tavis Smiley to tackle poverty in a new series on PBS.
Bites: Chicago reflects, James Ellroy, new Eastwick, Twilight soundtrack, and more
The Guardian looks at literary Chicago, in it’s more “reflective period” in the wake of the Granta issue that focuses on the Windy City. Lit. To answer your question Gawker: no, we don’t need another Eastwick. Mental Floss has Kurt Vonnegut reading Breakfast of Champions three years before it’s released. (via 92Y) Minneapolis Star Review (via Largehearted Boy) talks to James Ellroy. And over at The Cult, they talk to Mr. Ellroy also. I guess because I’m a blogger, […]
Bites: Bookslut on Tao Lin, Tao Lin on Bookslut review, J.R.R. Tolkien’s family are gonna get paid, more Proust, Generation X playlists, more
Bookslut reviews Shoplifting From American Apparel. Tao Lin calls this review ‘damning’ via his Twitter. Everything is totally cool between the heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien and HarperCollins. (Thanks Vulture) New Yorker weighs in on Times Square vs. The High Line Sarkozy had more in common with Napoleon than you thought. (Thanks The Awl) Chicago Subtext asks: “What book would Oprah never, ever pick as a book club selection? Why?” I sat long and hard on this one, and came […]