I love Lev Grossman and all (his essay in the last issue of The Believer was fantastic), but I get this sneaking suspicion that he hates being a bestselling author. Example 1: Example 2: “How I Got Published By Lev Grossman; or, A Series of Unfortunate Events“
Happening: Largehearted Lit, December Edition
This Sunday night, 5PM at the Knitting Factory, Largehearted Boy, and curator Jami Attenberg present another night of Largehearted Lit. If you were at the last one, you witnessed Libba Bray deliver a soul-stirring rendition of The Modern Lovers “Roadrunner”, and Lev Grossman getting some “nerd rapper” to do his thing. Not sure what everybody has in store this month, but doing the research, we think this is going to be pretty good since Emma Straub & Marie Mutsuki Mockett […]
Bites: Zadie Smith, Obama Bowing, Studs Terkel was a Watched Man, Pondering Proust, End of the Decade Lists, New Moon vs. Gilmore Girls, and More
SF Chronicle and L.A. Times both review Zadie Smith’s Changing My Mind. The Millions comment on the reviews “non-committal, guarded praise” and go on to call it “wunderkind jealousy”. The Guardian says of Smith, “criticism is a bodily pleasure“. Time Out New York weighs in on Changing, name drops a bunch of other great writers while doing so. End up liking the book. Lit. The FBI kept an eye on Studs Terkel, considering him a “suspected communist”. Surprised? Saul Bellow […]
We Celebrated Being Us!
Last Thursday, our friends Juliet Linderman, Lev Grossman, Adam Wilson, John Wray, and of course Bob Powers, helped us celebrate one year of our live reading series, and the launch of this here website you are reading these words from. And while we could tell you about how much fun we had (lots), and how much we appreciated all the people who came out and their kind words (lots), we are just going to point you to Jami Attenberg’s blog, […]
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 […]
Conversation: David Gutowski (Largehearted Boy) and Jami Attenberg Discuss Largehearted Lit.
By Jason Diamond So here’s the thing, I had never met either David Gutowski or Jami Attenberg in person. I’ve read Gutowski’s Largehearted Boy for quite some time, and thanks to it, became fond of Ms. Attenberg’s writing. When I e-mailed David a proposal to ask a few questions about the inaugural Largehearted Lit, (taking place this Sunday at the Brooklyn Knitting Factory with Lev Grossman and Libba Bray), he suggested we bring Jami into the conversation since she is […]
Happening: Our Launch Party/Storytelling 1 Year Anniversary!!!
On Thursday, October 29th, Vol. 1 Brooklyn will celebrate an anniversary and a birth. Join us in celebrating the official launch of our website, Vol1Brooklyn.com. Born out of a passion for news, opinions, observations and conversations, Vol1Brooklyn.com is the literary-minded culture blog of your dreams. The same evening marks the first birthday of our reading series, Vol. 1 Brooklyn Storytelling. With the simple conviction that everyone has a story to tell–and those stories should be told–Vol. 1 Storytelling has over […]
Does the Nobel Committee Put Politics Before Literature? Should We Care?
Whether or not it’s true that her political background is more illuminating than her literary one (I don’t think it is), after last year’s debacle we should all come to expect from the Nobel committee a fickle attitude toward art for art’s sake as well as a literary anti-Americanism. Hey, it’s their prize, not ours.