Posted by Jason Diamond Last week somebody actually told me that “Mark Twain is so hot right now.” While I’m just like everybody else who has been waiting nearly a decade to hear one of America’s greatest writers meet Zoolander, I was hoping it would be by finding out that “You can derelict my balls” was actually a quote from some obscure piece Twain wrote about President Grover Cleveland. But this was as good as I think I’ll get.
Weekend Bites: A Nobel Laureates Commute, Blake Butler & NY Tyrant on Franzen, Márquez Used and More
At The New York Times: Peruvian Nobel laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa, discusses teaching Borges at an Ivy, investing his money, and the killer commute from Jersey to Manhattan: ““It’s very nice. But not if you take the train at 5 or 6 o’clock. It can be a Kafkaesque commute.” At Vice: Blake Butler and NY Tyrant take HTML GIANT’S “Mean Week” on the road, and trash Jonathan Franzen over at Vice. Hilarity ensues. At Boing Boing: Star Trak characters reading […]
Tasting Mark Twain’s Extract
Read the extract.
Weekend Bites: Adam Langer, Non-Fiction Previews, Israeli Literature, Stupid Lists and More
LitKicks on Adam Langer’s new book, Thieves of Manhattan. The Second Pass non-fiction Fall preview parts one and two. The new era in Israeli literature. The New York Times talk about Mark Twain’s autobiography. The ten best caves in literature? Really?
Mark Twain is Still Awesome
The news that Mark Twain’s autobiography will finally see the light of day is excellent news that I’m sure you have all read about on 100 different blogs. Just in case you only read one blog, and that blog happens to be this one, I’m happy to tell you the awesome news. And in the event that this happens to be the only blog you read, you are a seriously disturbed person.
Mark Twain Scaring Some Kids
Anything Mark Twain did is Better Than Anything You’ll Ever Do.
“He was less well-known, but no less talented, as a literary critic. Proof of it has resided, mostly unnoticed, in a small library in Redding, Conn., where hundreds of his personal books have sat in obscurity for 100 years. They are filled with notes in his own cramped, scratchy handwriting. Irrepressible when he spotted something he did not like, but also impatient with good books that he thought could be better, he was often savage in his commentary.” NYT via […]
Weekend Bites: New Jersey Rock, Dr. Seuss on the Couch, Twain’s Political Legacy, Portnoy Turns Forty, and More
In the New York Times: Ted Leo, Titus Andronicus, and New Jersey rock Speaking of T.A., Pitchfork basically echo my statement made a few weeks back, about the bands newest album, The Monitor, being one of the best albums of the year. Levi Asher plays analyst on Dr. Seuss. The enduring political wisdom of Mark Twain. Portnoy’s Complaint is 40. “Can you turn a J.D. Salinger into a Mark Cuban?” Huh? Indie rock and classical composers: the list. L Magazine […]