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On going feral — and being surprised — while writing

When I met a friend to see a show last fall, I turned up disheveled and withdrawn, with only seven of my fingernails painted, and I tripped on the stairs as we were descending to our seats. He caught my arm before I could plummet. “What’s going on with you, Maud?” he said. “I’ve become feral,” I told him. “I’m . . .

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New York goes after online booksellers for sales tax

New York’s taxing agency is fixing to open up a can of whoop-ass on Internet retailers like Amazon that traditionally have been protected from sales tax collection requirements and liability because they lacked nexus with, or a “physical presence” in, the state. (For background, see my 2003 comments on the “Internet Tax Freedom Act” at MobyLives. Many thanks to GMB . . .

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R.I.P. Mailer

As you’ve no doubt heard, Norman Mailer has died. In his honor, The Paris Review posts Andrew O’Hagan’s 2007 interview, and much more.

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