Since its publication in 1973, Thomas Pynchon’s acclaimed novel Gravity’s Rainbow has been a marvel of verbiage which has delighted and perplexed all who dare crack its pages. Most startling of all are new revelations that some of the book’s most artful and curious phrases bare striking parallels to the inner life of Lebron James, a twenty-eight year old professional basketball sensation who has been named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player four times, yet has hosted the ESPY Awards only […]
Happy Birthday, Thomas Pynchon
On May 8, 1937, Thomas Pynchon was born. And thus, all of us at Vol.1 Brooklyn would like to wish a very happy birthday to the author who gave us Gravity’s Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49, Against the Day, and many more. Alternately: We Await Silent Tristero’s Cake. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.
A Hot Cup of Pynchon
Today at Jacket Copy: Carolyn Kellogg drinks Trystero Coffee, named for the conspiracy threaded through the Thomas Pynchon’s book The Crying of Lot 49.
Weekend Bites: John Cage Bio, Jen Gilmore’s Year, Pynchon on the Screen, Holiday Roads and More
The New Republic reviews Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage Something Red author, Jennifer Gilmore, talks about her year in reading at The Millions. Somewhere in heaven, John Hughes is smiling while listening to this cover of “Holiday Roads” by The Walkmen. Paul Thomas Anderson to adapt Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice into a film. Ernest Hemingway wants a Big Papa t-shirt for the holidays. Taking the plunge into Freedom.
Bites: Glenn Beck Likes Books, Daniel Nester, James Wood, Nerdcore, Klosterman on Balloon Boy, Kurt Vile, and More
Over at MobyLives, they talk about Glenn Beck being the new Oprah for a bunch of writers we could really care less about. We wonder to ourselves if this post was just a genius ploy by Melville House to get Beck to notice Shoplifting From American Apparel? Lit. Daniel Nester and Vol. 1 Brooklyn contributor Claire Shefchik make nice after Shefchik reviews his book. We think everything is going to be okay. James Wood talks about Thomas Pynchon’s characters. Conversational […]
Bites: Chabon Interviewed, Granta Changes, Literary Doppelgangers, Grand Theft Auto & Inherent Similarities, Anderson to adapt Dahl, Real Chocolate, and more
Michael Chabon is interviewed at Jacket Copy on fatherhood and the writing process: “I think in a way, that’s sort of what you’re engaged in doing as a writer, too. You come into this inheritance of things that have been done and the ways in which they have been done, and people who influence you sort of pass along what they think is important, and what they think you need to know how to do. But over time you begin […]
High-Brow v. Low-Brow: Thomas Pynchon, the Simpsons, and Why Academia Sucks
Thomas Pynchon loves The Simpsons. Remember this the next time you feel superior at a dinner party for being one of those people who never watches television, and you choose to tell others about it even if they work in television. Oh, and if you’ve recently written an obscure academic book on said recluse which will probably never be read, esp. by the writer himself, well, that helps with the shame. “True Tales of Conversational Vengeance,” Matt Selman (TIME)
Bites: Frank Portman’s playlist, Roger’s monograms, Michael Pollan, indie bookselling as football, and (maybe) one last mention of Inherent Vice
Frank Portman, of one of my favorite pop-punk bands, Mr. T Experience, has a new book out called Andromeda Klein. He gives Largehearted Boy a great playlist for Book Notes. N+1: Not so into zombies/alien films, but likes District 9. Indichik put up an MP3 of Beach Fossils last week. I forgot to mention it, but it’s well worth mentioning considering this guy is putting out some of the best stuff I’ve heard all year. New York Times Book Review […]