Totally Shocked That 55% of Americans Know the True Meaning of Socialism

The results of the poll taken by Democracy Corps don’t really shock me: 57% think Obama is too liberal, 51% disapproval rating, etc. The 57% of Americans who think Obama is a socialist is what gets me.  I hate to sound like an uppity liberal douchebag from New York, but do those people polled really understand what socialism is?  I know when you ask questions like “is the president doing a shitty job,” or “is Obama too liberal,” that’s easy […]

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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: L Mag Dislikes Tao Lin, Depressing Books, Rewrite of The Prince, the Polanski Problem, Chicago, Ahmadinejad, Conde Nast, and more

L Magazine wouldn’t like Tao Lin.  Apparently only two people came to one of Lin’s readings at a bookstore in California, and the tiny magazine rejoiced.  To contrast, here is what Vol. 1 has said about Lin’s latest novel and publishing imprint. Lit. The Top 10 Most Depressing Books. Another list, The National Book Foundation’s “Top 5 Under 35.” The Millions has a charming essay about one writer’s experience at an artist’s retreat in Wyoming.  The Millions, also, interviewed Tao […]

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Bites: Banned Books Week, Rumpus on Tao Lin, Moby-dick on TV, Mamet’s Anne Frank dismissed, Obama’s intelligence, Iran’s fears, and Sarah Palin’s book

It’s Banned Books Week.  Whether the tradition is pointless, harmful or trivial, READ.  You’ve got a lot to choose from. Lit. Gene Hackman has retired from acting to write historical novels. The Rumpus interviews lit-man Tao Lin Maps of sin created by plotting per-capita stats on “things like theft (envy) and STDs (lust).” (Thanks, The Rumpus, yet again) A $25.5 million telepic of……Moby-Dick! TV movies of romantic, winding literature are my pornography.  (Not in that gross way, though.  Ew.) George […]

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