At The Atlantic: Michael Chabon discusses his “wrecked” novel, Fountain City, which is partially seeing the light of day as part of McSweeney’s #36. At Galleycat: Adam Wilson finds a home for his debut novel, Flatscreen. At 3:AM Magazine: Part one in a series chronicling the grittier, hardboiled history of Minneapolis. At Flavorwire: Harry Potter cupcakes. At Jewcy: The top 10 art books of 2010.
The Twitterati of 2010
Posted by Vol. 1 Editors Welcome to the 2010 Twitterati awards. Please grab your gift bag on the way out. The winners this year are:
Bites: Post-Donald Barthelme, Loving Henry James, Leonard Cohen off the Road and More
At HTMLGIANT: We are living in post-Donald Barthelme times. Get used to it. At Big Other: Learning to love Henry James. At The Millions: Leonard Cohen’s tour comes to an end. No word if he will do a poetry tour or write a followup to Beautiful Losers in his spare time, but we will hold our breath in anticipation of something from him. At The Atlantic: The holocaust and literature aren’t always the best bedfellows. At Huffington Post: Justin Timberlake […]
Dick Watching: The Fossil Whale
Posted by Juliet Linderman 1. This has been a very tough year for killer whales. First, the buddies were totally stigmatized because of that whole orca-kills-trainer thing in Florida. Now, they’ve been slated for Canada’s endangered species list, along with Atlantic white sharks. From the Vancouver Sun: The offshore killer whale population, which includes an estimated 120 mature animals, is listed currently as a species of special concern, the lowest risk rating. Three other killer whale populations in Canadian waters […]
Weekend Bites: No Fatalities Reported at Lit Death Match, Favorites of 2010, Crazy Stuff Said at Bookstores and More
At The New York Times: Nobody died at the Literary Death Match, but we love the picture of Clay McLeod Chapman (above) doing his best boogeyman impression. At The Millions: Joanna Smith Rakoff and David Gutowski (Largehearted Boy) talk about stuff they’ve both read in 2010. At The Huffington Post: Another wacky list at HuffPo. This one is 9 crazy things said in bookstores. At Vice: NY Tyrant interviews Paula Bomer, author of Baby & Other Stories. At Impose: Josh […]
NYRBlog Pens Google Challenge, Avoids Confusion with Miami Blues Band NRBQ
Posted by Nick Curley Unable to drive fifty-five down the information superhighway, the New York Review of Books cooks up a preview passage from their Jan. 13th issue! Inside: Robert Darnton on Google Book Search, which has become “the largest library and book business in the world”, and on Google’s responsibility to help create a Digital Public Library of America. France, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Norway, and Finland have already begun plans to digi-make their own public libraries and archives. […]
Portlandia Makes January Okay
Posted by Jason Diamond Carrie Brownstein goes from being in Sleater-Kinney to being my favorite music writer to this new show with Fred Armisen. The show premieres in January on IFC. (Via The Awl)
Working on My Entry into the Ronald Reagan Centennial Poetry Contest
Posted by Jason Diamond When I think of Ronald Reagan, I don’t think of the Iran-Contra scandal or the whole nuclear arms buildup thing. In fact, those things might not even make it into the top five. When I think of president #40, the first thing I think of is poetry. I think of The Gipper and in my mind I hear “Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Ronald Wilson Reagan.” I see a picture of Ronald dozing off in an interview and I’m […]