In our afternoon reading: thoughts on new books by Karl Ove Knausgaard and Benjamin Percy, revisiting Charles Mingus’s music, and more.
Weekend Bites: Diane Williams Fiction, Joe Rainey on Music, Bud Smith Interviewed, and More
In our weekend reading: stories by Diane Williams, an interview with Bud Smith, and more.
Weekend Bites: Alexander Chee, A. Igoni Barrett’s Latest, bell hooks, Richard Hell Talks Film, and More
In our weekend reading: an interview with Alexander Chee, a remembrance of Umberto Eco, an excerpt from A. Igoni Barrett’s forthcoming novel, and more.
Morning Bites: BOMB Fiction Contest, Tina Brown Picks, Ira Glass Soda Recipe, Debbie Downer Writes a Book and More
Rachel Dratch is writing a book. We are 110% behind this. BOMB Magazine has announced their 5th fiction contest, and Rivka Galchen is the judge. Tina Brown gives her “must reads” to NPR. Ira Glass gives us the secret recipe to Coca Cola Steve Martin is going to put out a second bluegrass album, and play five New York shows.
Indexing: On Spark, Comyns, Judt, Buckley 2X, Steve Martin, y más!
Tobias Carroll When I was in the midst of my holiday shopping, I picked up a copy of Muriel Spark’s Not to Disturb at Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore. I read (and was floored by) Spark’s Memento Mori earlier in the year; Not to Disturb is a bit less resonant but deeply enjoyable. It’s very Gothic — locked rooms, sinister plots, and multiple references to “him in the attic” — but there’s a Richard Lester-esque briskness at work as well.
Weekend Bites: No Good Witz Reviews, Be in a Safran Foer Film, Top Chef Aleister Crowley and More
At HTMLGIANT: Months after it came out, Kyle Minor still doesn’t think he’s read a good review of Joshua Cohen’s Witz. At Jewcy: For those of you who have always dreamed of being in a film adaptation of a Jonathan Safran Foer book, this is your big chance…considering you’re under the age of thirteen. At The Telegraph: Expectations are high for George W. Bush’s memoirs. At Galley Cat: Billy Idol gets a deal to put out his memoirs, Dancing With […]
Bites: Gentrification Lit, Adam Langer, Dustin Hoffman Loves Libraries, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin host the Oscars, and more
N+1 discuss “gentrification novels”. Discussed are Jonathan Lethem, Prospect Park West, etc. As a Park Slope resident, I feel a little bit shitty right now. Lit. Rare books for the “cultured traveler” Adam Langer, one of the great Chicago writers, tells us some music he likes. HTML Giant tells us about Warm Milk Press. The American zeitgeist implodes upon itself as James Franco, following his quirky stint on daytime television, is slated to guest star on 30 Rock. Dustin Hoffman: […]