Morning Bites: Lovecraft turns 120, Grossman and the Woolfs, Finnish Bellow, and more

Tomorrow, August 20th, is the 120th birthday of H.P. Lovecraft. Lev Grossman talks some Virginia Woolf.  Remember last year when he wrote about Virginia’s husband in The Believer?  (We’re just trying to give you things to read this weekend.) The short list is announced for the St. Francis literary prize. The writers and their nominated books are: Kevin Brockmeier, The Illumination; Joshua Cohen, Witz; Jonathan Dee, The Privileges; Yiyun Li, Gold Boy Emerald Girl; Marlene van Niekerk, Agaat; and Brad […]

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The post-Bloomsbury sound of Princeton

Posted by Jason Diamond A few years back, the group Princeton released a four song ode to Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, John Maynard Keynes.  The EP was titled “Bloomsbury,” and without trying to sound like an overzealous hype man, it was one of the most perfect slices of lit pop that I’ve ever heard. Since then, the band have gone on to release a full length, and are back again with their newest single, “Clamoring For Your Heart.”

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Outside of Society, That’s Where Patti Smith Wants to be

Patti Smith was in the New York Times yesterday, discussing the PBS premier of the documentary, “Patti Smith, Dream of Life”, on Dec. 30th. The broadcast, part of the PBS series “POV,” is but the first step in what appears to be an all-out blitz to erase any remaining notions that Ms. Smith has not done enough work yet. That quote didn’t sit right with me, as I wasn’t aware  anybody thought Smith’s body of work was lacking anything — […]

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Bites: Ted Kennedy, Victorian Hero?, V. Woolf liked sci-fi, losing Afhanistan, newspaper bailout, Vol.1 is connected

Lit. The Rumpus shares what Peanuts would look like if it had been written by Charles Bukowski. Was Ted Kennedy a Victorian hero? This new study, “Hierarchy in the Library: Egalitarian Dynamics in Victorian Novels,” suggests that “novels are a cultural technology for teaching cooperation and suppressing attempts to gain dominance.” Virginia Woolf liked science fiction! (Thanks, The Rumpus) The New York Times takes a look at “The Evolution of Publishing” Levi Asher gets back to “Reviewing the Review” at […]

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