Blog

Pynchonmania

Bookstores plan to stay open till midnight for release of Pynchon’s Inherent Vice on 8/4. Also: early reviews & Pynchon Guide to LA.

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The hot young author debate, circa 1882

Cultural theorists often portray the modern preoccupation with authors’ appearances as symptomatic of our uniquely shallow, soulless society. Shallow it could be, but new? Probably not. Consider the collection, in the current Harper’s, of journalists’ reports on the flamboyant clothes Oscar Wilde wore in 1882 while traveling the U.S. and Canada for a speaking tour. Here’s a sampling: · A . . .

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Two poets’ houses

As John Keats’ home reopened in London after a costly renovation, Langston Hughes’ sold for $16K in a foreclosure auction.

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LaValle profiled

My friend Victor LaValle’s Big Machine — about which more soon — inspires comparisons to Pynchon’s work, and to horror films.

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