The Zinophile: Black Flag and Neutral Milk Hotel in Half-Size Form

Two zines released in recent months each chronicle the life and times of a beloved band. One takes a historical approach and throws in some artistic history for context; the other takes a more collage-like approach, and in doing so evokes the diverse ways one can dedicate oneself to a particular artist. Black Flag and Neutral Milk Hotel are, admittedly, groups about which much has been written; still, each of the zines covered here brings a unique perspective to the […]

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Afternoon Bites: Will Hermes on Jeff Mangum, Edan Lepucki on self-publishing, William Kennedy on Fidel Castro, and more

At Occupy Writers, Will Hermes writes about Jeff Mangum. Do you like good writing about music and culture? Then you’ll probably want to read this. At Slate, Katie Roiphe looks at the syllabi of David Foster Wallace. Edan Lepucki discusses why writers of literary fiction should probably not self-publish. At The Paris Review, Elisabeth Donnelly talks with William Kennedy. The Free Music Archive has music up from The Ex’s collaboration with avant-jazz saxophone player Getatchew Mekuria. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn […]

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Morning Bites: Emily Books, lit mag names, Civil War stuffs, Klosterman, and more

Emily Gould’s indie bookstore/bookclub/pretty awesome idea, Emily Books, is up and running. Judging lit mags by their names. The trailer for Art Spiegelman’s MetaMaus. CNN talks to Chuck Klosterman. The always great Around the Mall blog continues their reports on exhibits from around the Smithsonian on artifacts from the Civil War.  This time around they tackle The Washington Eight. Who needs Radiohead when you can get Jeff Mangum to play Occupy Wall Street?

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Morning Bites: Lovecraft turns 120, Grossman and the Woolfs, Finnish Bellow, and more

Tomorrow, August 20th, is the 120th birthday of H.P. Lovecraft. Lev Grossman talks some Virginia Woolf.  Remember last year when he wrote about Virginia’s husband in The Believer?  (We’re just trying to give you things to read this weekend.) The short list is announced for the St. Francis literary prize. The writers and their nominated books are: Kevin Brockmeier, The Illumination; Joshua Cohen, Witz; Jonathan Dee, The Privileges; Yiyun Li, Gold Boy Emerald Girl; Marlene van Niekerk, Agaat; and Brad […]

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Bites: Adam Levin, Nabokov’s Butterflies, Emma Straub Reviewed and More

“Adam Levin’s The Instructions and the Cult of the Child” at The Millions. “I flipped back to page one, eager to fall back into this magnificent array of narratives. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.” – Pank on Emma Straub’s Other People We Married. Nabokov’s butterflies. Taking a look at the “godfather of neoconservatism,” Irving Kristol. Jeff Mangum announces he is going to dust off all those old Neutral Milk Hotel songs, and the entire world gets […]

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“in 1991 i moved to Athens ,Georgia in search of god, but what I discovered instead was Vic Chesnutt. hearing his music completely transformed the way i thought about writing songs, and i will forever be in his debt.” -Jeff Mangum, Neutral Milk Hotel

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