Posted by Tobias Carroll In a reasonably genius move, the Village Voice‘s Sound of the City music blog is reprinting some of the record reviews that Colson Whitehead wrote for said newspaper in the early 90s. First up: Basehead’s Not in Kansas Anymore. On Not in Kansas Anymore (Imago), Basehead drops most of those hip hop gestures—a little half-hearted scratching is all that’s to be had—leaving only the band’s mellow, minimalist arrangements. A college boy to the core, Ivey’s lyrics are pure […]
Are Electric Literature/Colson Whitehead the Greatest Tag Team Ever?
Today is Wrestlemania, tomorrow is the beginning of the Electric Literature/Colson Whitehead #Stuffmymusesays Twitter Contest. Which is more badass? or winning this…
Best of 2009: Books
Tobias Carroll’s picks Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem Midnight Picnic by Nick Antosca Scorch Atlas by Blake Butler AM/PM by Amelia Gray Lowboy by John Wray The Other City by Michal Ajvaz Asta in the Wings by Jan Elizabeth Watson Between Jan Elizabeth Watson’s novel of a brother and sister raised in isolation and Colson Whitehead’s Sag Harbor, this was a good year for novels evoking childhood. Both Watson and Whitehead deftly suggest their narrators’ adult destinies with a few […]
How to Write a Novel: Impractical Advice From People Who Have Done It
“Put your left hand on the table. Put your right hand in the air. If you stay that way long enough, you’ll get a plot,” Margaret Atwood says when asked where her ideas come from. When questioned about whether she’s ever used that approach, she adds, “No, I don’t have to.” Enough said, Margaret Atwood. I go through phases where I don’t care at all about the practices of other writers, as I’m fairly certain nearly all of us are […]
Bites: Hemingway’s African Snows, Colson Whitehead on Your Next Novel, The Virtuousness of Swiss Prisons, and more
Hemingway’s short story “The Snows of Kilimanjara” may make a resurgence in the coming years, as the African snows, once “as wide as all the world…and unbelievably white,” of the sky-high peak could be completely obsolete within as little as 12 years. Lit. Is the Internet making you illiterate? Colson Whitehead on choosing What to Write Next: play darts! The Millions has compiled a descriptive list of Difficult Books. I like this. Let’s read them. Somerset Maugham broke all the […]