Booker chair expresses desire to “foster consensus”
“Chris Smith’s appointment as chairman of the judges for this year’s Man Booker Prize suggests that the prize’s administrators are anxious to avoid controversy,” Lilian Pizzichini argues.
The former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was in full New Labour-speak mode as he deliberated on the task ahead of him: “My role will be [...]
Rupert Thomson on writing and nightmares
One night last summer I awoke from a nightmare at 5 a.m. Bad dreams are fairly common for me — sometimes I have them back to back, all night, for weeks — but this was one of an ongoing, especially disturbing series about Miami as a totalitarian prison state that’s been ripped away from [...]
Writing workshops: what are they good for
Emma, a friend and classmate of mine, offers some interesting thoughts on writing workshops and success in publishing:
having both worked in fiction publishing and participated in a writing program, 90% of the benefit of such programs – the illustrious Iowa or otherwise – is that they buy you time, space and most importantly opportunity in [...]
“Death of the ebook” pronouncements premature?
Jim McClellan says the market for electronic books is growing, slowly but significantly:
Nick Rogaty, executive director of the [Open eBook Forum], admits that the number of ebooks sold is still a tiny fraction of the overall book business. But the figures show that electronic publishing is slowly growing into a viable business. The exit of [...]
Laptop theft victim suspects thief found her personal essay files clumsy and self-conscious
From Bloggy Mountain Breakdown’s “An Open Letter to the Fuck Who Stole My Laptop“:
On second thought, you’re probably not enjoying it too much. If you’re breaking into cars in the Winn Dixie parking lot at 2:00 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, odds are good that you do not have a full appreciation for the stability [...]
Because I care
I’m off to Florida in a couple of hours, but before I go I’m pre-posting a handful of random items I had planned to post on Thursday, the 29th. Thanks for the outpouring of condolences. I’ll be back early next week.
More on stupidity and civilization
The Guardian offers a couple of interesting excerpts from Francis Wheen’s How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions.
Stupidity, the foundation of civilization
I have my eye on The Encyclopedia of Stupidity:
Matthijs van Boxsel believes that no one is intelligent enough to understand their own stupidity. In “The Encyclopaedia of Stupidity” he shows how stupidity manifests itself in all areas, in everyone, at all times: stupidity is the foundation of our civilization. In short sections with such titles [...]
I don’t know, I think he’d be good in television
This isn’t the first time Daniel Radosh has touched a nerve with his remarks about other writers. Some years back Radosh wrote a disparaging piece about Michael Moore for Salon. Michael Moore responded angrily, calling Radosh’s article “libelous” and drawing Salon’s editor David Talbot into the entertaining exchange. (Thanks to John Warner for the heads-up.)
My favourite colour…
I suppose this is political, in a way — it’s a lamentation about the erosion of Canadian spelling. Here’s an excerpt:
Standard Canadian spelling follows British spelling in many, though not all, cases. (The British drive on “tyres,” use “aluminium” siding and “realise” that they can be sent to “gaol.”) Like other aspects of Canadian [...]
Blogger in hot water
There’s a big brouhaha over blogger Daniel Radosh’s criticisms of New York Times Magazine reporter Peter Landesman’s recent story about sex slaves. Radosh felt Landesman’s reporting was sloppy so he made an off-hand, somewhat irresponsible comparison to Stephen Glass. It was the flippant kind of remark bloggers toss off all the time. But Landesman hit [...]
Slightly less than twenty questions
Claire Zulkey interviews T. T. Coraghessan Boyle:
What did you learn at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop that made you the writer you are today? Or was it nothing, were you always the writer you are today?
The Writers’ Workshop gave me the time to become a writer (and a scholar: I worked simultaneously in the English [...]
Vanishing Point
A review of David Markson’s latest, Vanishing Point:
Markson’s technique, or device, is brazenly unorthodox. This book is a series of little snippets, from one word to a maximum of five or six lines. The narrative voice is presented as “Author” – never “the author” and not otherwise described. Author is writing on a 40-plus-year-old portable [...]
I’m a believer in facelessness
Now and then I check The Believer site to see if they’ve put Charles Baxter’s article “Loss of Face” online yet. Apparently, it’s about how the “modern face” is “woefully underrepresented in contemporary fiction” and I am dying to read it. (Not literally dying, though. No way am I driving an hour on [...]
Moby?
A decomposing sperm whale explodes on a Taiwan street. (Thanks to Aaron for the link.)
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