Michael Kimball Live on HTMLGiant

This Thursday April 29, at 9 PM Eastern, Michael Kimball, author of Dear Everybody and more, will read live here at HTMLGIANT from his home in Baltimore. Special guest appearance by Andy Devine, author of the newly released Words. Mark your book and bring your good hat.  (Via HTMLGIANT)

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Justin Taylor: Nice Dude

Justin Taylor wrote about Zachary German at HTMLGiant Justin thought the tone of that was a little too harsh. This shows a lot of caring on the part of Mr. Taylor.  You should probably read his review simply based on the fact that there just aren’t enough nice people out there anymore.

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Non Gender-Biased Dudes of the Year

Sure, Ben Bernake won Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”, but who should win our prestigious “Non Gender-Biased Dude of the Year” award for 2009? Dave Eggers Our pals at Deckfight pointed out our penchant for news involving Mr. McSweeney’s, but why not? The dude is a mensch. Jason Schwartzman Chalk it up to family ties, but his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, tapped him to design the newest issue of Zoetrope: All-Story. Also of note: Could anybody other than Schwartzman […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Bites: Is New York Bad for Writers?, Should Bookstores Rethink Shelving?, East of Eden as Performance, the Death of the Man of Letters, How to Get Rid of Hipsters, and more

HTMLGiant asks if New York for writers is The Place to Be, or whether it’s just too damn expensive. Lit. Should bookstores shelve by publisher rather than author? (Thanks, The Rumpus) How East of Eden became a performance piece. A surprisingly interesting picture essay of the last 10 years of Nobel Prize winners in literature. The “slow death of the man of letters”? Hm. Shakespeare’s endless Answers: Why it’s smart to be a Shakespearean fool. Books as art. Very cool. […]

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Bites: Obama at the vineyard, Leni Zumas, Atlas Sound does Fleetwood Mac, and more

Tut tut bitches! Obama goes to Martha’s Vineyard! Leni Zumas tells The Rumpus about the last good book she read. Leni Zumas rules. Atlas Sound covering Fleetwood Mac maybe the biggest thing since Atlas Sound teamed up with Panda Bear. Three Guys One Book talk a little Updike. I like 3G1B (can I do that, or does it look like a code for the cousin of Swine Flu?), and I love Updike. I’ve never read Nicholas Mosely, but HTMLGIANT makes […]

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