At The New Yorker, Richard Brody compares the emergence of the groundbreaking Paris Review Interviews to the talks with directors that began appearing in Cahiers du Cinéma around the same time, in 1954. The stakes there and then were even higher, in that the literary world didn’t contest the artistic centrality of authors to literature, whereas the world of . . .
“Let the laughers stand up!”: A poetry reading becomes an inquisition after people enjoy themselves at it. (Via.)
Punch’s humor had no place in a Private Eye world, but The Book of Punch Cartoons provides a survey of the evolution of the cartoon itself, says Charles McGrath.
Last night my pal Terry Teachout read from Pops, his smart, engaging, and widely-praised new biography of Louis Armstrong, and showed some footage. While answering questions afterward, Terry recommended that everyone listen to this week’s New Yorker podcast, which includes an audio clip of Armstrong trying to cajole his wife into bed in the wee hours. His horn has to . . .
Mike Cane researches publishing in the Great Depression. Previously: Was 1935 “the worst time in history to be starting out as a writer”?