Morning Bites: Philip Roth on Mentors, Benjamin Percy Interviewed, Adapting “Midnight’s Children,” and More

“The ethereal flute-like piping of Michael Jackson’s voice is what I wish I sounded like, but I’ve been burdened with a subwoofer that sounds a little like a drunk Darth Vader imitating the ringside monologue of a professional wrestler.” Benjamin Percy talked with The Nervous Breakdown. Alexander Nazaryan looks at the Caucasus in literature. “Like all great teachers, he personified the drama of transformation through talk.” Philip Roth pays tribute to his onetime homeroom teacher and mentor. Talking with Salman Rushdie about […]

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Morning Bites: Elizabeth Bishop on Brazil, Zoe Heller on Salman Rushdie, Miranda July Interviewed, and More

Benjamin Moser has a look at Elizabeth Bishop’s writings on Brazil at the Book Bench. Zoe Heller reviewed Salman Rushdie’s Joseph Anton for theNew York Review of Books. Miranda July talked to the folks at BOMB. New at Rookie: Emma Straub’s essay “On Being a Late Bloomer.” Matt LeMay looks back at Interpol, and a very specific moment in NYC music. Kendra Grant Malone, who’s reading tonight at Franklin Park, was interviewed at The L Magazine. More best of 2012 […]

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Afternoon Bites: Inside “Joseph Anton,” Patton Oswalt in Bushwick, Dylan Meconis on Comics Criticism, and More

A very happy 49th birthday to Jarvis Cocker. Salman Rushdie’s Joseph Anton is out this week. Rushdie spoke to Charles McGrath at the New York Times, and Sarah Weinman looks at the books of Rushdie’s ex-wife Marianne Wiggins. Eric Nelson on the time Patton Oswalt showed up at Brooklyn Fireproof. Dylan Meconis on ways you should not write comics criticism. Irvine Welsh talks about his latest novel, Skagboys, at Lit Reactor. How David Byrne listens to music. Steve Stern’s The Book […]

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