Morning Bites: Remembering Roger Ebert, Lipsyte Talking to Himself, Gatsby Trailer, and More

We’re about as crushed as anybody else about Roger Ebert’s passing. But two things helped us feel a little bit better This Onion piece. (Which is weird, because how many times do you honestly get to say that The Onion made you cry?)  This Fresh Air interview Siskel and Ebert from 1996.  Sam Lipsyte interviews himself. That sounds kinda dirty.  There is a whole bunch of Billy Chilidsh art for you to go see in Chelsea right now.  So the […]

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Adaptation: Five Books That Must Never Be Adapted For Film

  When David Cronenberg turned William Burroughs’s masterwork Naked Lunch into a somewhat linear, entertaining narrative, literary fans everywhere were pleasantly, if not resentfully surprised.  Cronenberg, in doing so, proved himself not only a master storyteller, but able to do something that few directors could, adapt dense, postmodern classic novels into solid films.  On the other hand, when director Gary Walkow attempted to turn William Burroughs’s seminal novel Queer into a film by combining it with the story of Burroughs’s wife’s […]

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Weekend Bites: John Brandon in the Times, Shane Jones Interviewed, Braff Visits the Rebbe, Deserving Rick Moody and More

John Brandon’s Citrus County, reviewed in the New York Times by Daniel Handler An interview with Shane Jones. Dan Chaon on the Bat Segndo Show. Rick Moody’s Five Fingers of Death is a deserved book. Joshua Braf Goes to 770 Eastern Parkway. “I walk into lobbies of untold beauty. I ascend in elevators fit for the gods. Then I walk outside again and see the street defaced by the cruel storefronts of bank branches and mall chains, scornful of beauty.”  […]

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Bites: Disney Punx, Another Shitty Read for Republicans, Ebert’s Book Reviews, Tim Burton Getting Annoying, and More

At Vice, Nick Gazin discusses Walt Disney, punk, and not caring that his punk friends didn’t like Walt Disney. Barry Hannah passed away.  At The Faster Times, Lincoln Michel remembers him.  At Tin House, an interview with the late writer. Mitt Romney wrote a book that will probably appeal to “people” who read the books by Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck.  Boston Globe talks about that book. Gigantic Magazine had a good old time. The book reviews of Roger Ebert. […]

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