“Progressive, liberated women were clearly so frightening one hundred years ago that equating them to undead, bloodthirsty creatures borne of Satan didn’t seem so unusual.” – The Bowery Boys on Theda Bara and other early 1900s “vampire” women. We really hope the Patti Smith Golden Age we’re living in lasts a hundred years. Dangerous Minds dug up two new videos of her that you’re going to like. Love songs from around Brooklyn. Levi Asher at Lit Kicks talks Robert Caro. Joshua […]
Morning Bites: Lolita Makeover, Hemingway on The Knicks, Tesla Banjos, Vanessa Veselka, and More
“I think raising some real class-consciousness is essential to challenging the rich bastards that are eating through this world’s people and resources like Pac-Man.” Levi Asher talks to Vanessa Veselka (pictured above) at Lit Kicks. Ron Hogan talks to Rachel Shukert and Reverend Jen. Giving Lolita a new look. Ernest Hemingway shares his thoughts on New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni’s Resignation. Nikola Tesla meets Deliverance. A list of imported foods that make us sick. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.
Who will Criticize the Critics?
Posted by Jason Diamond Things I picked up and though about while reading the NY Times Sunday Book Review series of essays, “Why Criticism Matter” this morning.
Is Seymour Krim the Patron Saint for the new Generation of Jewish Writers?
I’m sitting here corresponding with Mark Cohen, editor of Missing a Beat: The Rants and Regrets of Seymour Krim, for an interview for a Jewish website. Levi Asher hosted Mr. Cohen a few months back on Lit Kicks, then came the Joshua Cohen (no relation to Mark) review in The Forward, and this weekend Akiva Gottlieb threw in his two cents about the collection. Is Krim the great forgotten Jewish writer that’s finally getting his due?
Harold Bloom “Fail”
Who am I to take on Harold Bloom? Well, I am also an American Jew. My four grandparents were not murdered in the Shoah, but my Grandma Clara’s entire family back in a town called Potok Zloty near Lvov were, so I guess I have a right to speak on the Jewish question too. I’m sorry to say that the old lion has gone soft. This is a poor article, beneath the standards of the New York Times. (Lit Kicks) […]
Passover Bites: Franzen’s Cover, Warhol’s Pals, Cheever’s Story, Atwood’s Addiction, Kerman’s Excerpt, Neil Young on Skype, and More
Jonathan Franzen has a new novel coming out and The Millions show us the cover. The New Republic posted a John Cheever story from 1936. Margaret Atwood might need a Twitter intervention. Levi Asher on Reality Hunger. An excerpt from Piper Kerman’s book, Orange is the New Black. Andy Warhol had a lot of friends that he took pictures of. Neil Young, Jonathan Demme, and Skype. Titus Andronicus and rock from New Jersey. Bluto, Otter, D-Day, Boehner, Cantor, Brown, and […]
Literary Buzzword: Joshua Ferris
By Jason Diamond There’s no denying that Joshua Ferris has a pretty impressive resume: great reviews for his first book, Then We Came to the End, stories in some of the best literary publications, and a good amount of buzz for his second novel, Unnamed. But is the buzz helping or hurting? Ron Charles of The Washington Post calls the book, “a dreary, aimless novel“, and our pal Levi Asher at Lit. Kicks would rather watch Jersey Shore than check […]
Weekend Bites: Kubrick’s Napoleon, Book Reviews as Christmas Catalogs, Poe’s Letters Fetch Mad Cash, The Sport of Kinks, and More
The story behind Stanley Kubrick’s never made epic, Napoleon is now in $700 dollar book form thanks to Taschen. New York Magazine wrote about it Human Resources is a bit apprehensive about anybody else attempting a film about the tiny French leader. Lit. Dear New York Times Book Review, Levi Asher thinks you look “like a Christmas catalog“. If you have a book called Sex Dungeon for Sale, the only natural thing to do to celebrate it’s coming out is […]