A curmudgeon’s literary paraphernalia
It has not always been so, but few aspects of online aspiring-writer culture are more irritating to me nowadays than “literary lifestyle” tips and paraphernalia. (Library-scented perfume. Dictionary wallpaper. Moleskines. Bookshelves fashioned of reference books pulled from library dumpsters. The onslaught is maddening.)
But every curmudgeon is at least something of a hypocrite, and I [...]
Dispatch from Twain’s final decade
A previously unpublished letter by Mark Twain on the failure of civilization appears in the December Harper’s.
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Aunt Maude: teacher, car dealer — and Twain fan?
Maud is a nickname now, one most of my friends call me, but it started as a pen name. I chose it years ago as a sort of homage to Maude Newton, my great-great aunt, a woman nobody wanted to answer questions about.
For the longest time, I only really [...]
Twain, quote magnet
Quotations scholar says Mark Twain is the most common victim of erroneous quote attribution in the U.S.
Literary quips, observations, and warnings #6
Many writers say that they write what they do because the novels they want to read don’t exist.
I don’t think about my own book quite that way, but to me one of the most frightening things about writing fiction is the corollary to this idea: namely, if you have an [...]
Hannah on writing and Twain
“Just start talking, as Mark Twain did”: from Barry Hannah’s (handwritten) writing tips, scanned at HTML Giant. (Via; via.)
Once more, with feeling: Who Is Mark Twain?
My latest NPR appreciation is of Who Is Mark Twain?, a collection of previously unpublished writings by my favorite essayist. Here’s an excerpt:
Best known for crowd-pleasers like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and for his lucrative speaking tours, Mark Twain was a writer whose livelihood depended on maintaining enough down-home [...]
Whenever Twain was about to publish a book
As a bona fide Twain obsessive, I am of course almost unnaturally excited about Who Is Mark Twain?, a forthcoming compilation of some of the Huck Finn author’s previously unpublished work.
Last December The New Yorker offered a preview: “The Privilege of the Grave,” which sheds light on Twain’s thoughts about death and posthumous publication. [...]
Fitzgerald & Twain
F. Scott Fitzgerald claimed that a Twain quip inspired his reverse-aging story, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
The New Yorker, Mark Twain, and Christians live forever
The New Yorker recently made everything — from its very first issue to the latest — available to subscribers online. This means you can read Mark Twain’s “The Privilege of the Grave” right now.
Although previously unpublished, the essay will be immediately recognizable as Twain’s to anyone who’s had even [...]
Book apps for the iPhone keep getting better
Many people I know have no interest in reading longer-form works on a screen when printed books have always served them well, and that’s completely fair enough.
Obviously I’m not hostile to the book as a printed object. There are hundreds (thousands?) of them in my apartment. No doubt there will soon be hundreds [...]
Clint Eastwood to tackle Mark Twain biopic?
“He’s gonna bookend the movie playing Samuel Clemens in the hospital.” Please, God, no. Not Clint Eastwood.
Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio
Amara Lakhous’ excellent Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio is this month’s Words Without Borders Book Club pick, and I’m leading the discussion.
If you order the book now, you’ll be at less of a loss for something to do once the ballots have been counted, the colors on the map are [...]
The Witches, Demons, & Thieves trivia quiz
Thanks to all who came out to Housing Works for our Witches, Demons, and Thieves Puritan Halloween party last night. I’m on deadline, so no time for a recap, but we had fun.
For those who couldn’t make it, here’s the kinda-on-theme trivia quiz we handed out. The best part — aside from [...]