Planethalder (Free subscription) | 28/11/2009
I was off work for the first two days of the week just gone. I was supremely lazy and didn't even leave the house (or change out of my sweat pants). Here's what I did: After M left with Little Planet to go to daycare and then work, I washed up the breakfast dishes and then... well that was the extent of my domestic duties for the day! I blogged I finished reading Jeffrey Eugenides' superlative, Pulitzer...
Flavorwire (Free subscription) | 25/11/2009
Charis Wilson met legendary 20th century photographer Edward Weston when she was 19 and he 48. Their intense relationship -- both personal and professional, as she acted as his wife, model, writer, companion, and driver -- lasted until 1945, when she left him after his health and patience deteriorated. Wilson was certainly more than a static muse for Weston, as her literary talents helped secure him...
Reading matters (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel The Road has been chosen as the best book of the decade by The Times. The newspaper compiled a list of 100 books, an incredibly eclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction, with some intriguing choices, including the following books reviewed on Reading Matters: Unless by Carol Shields Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson Cloud...
Fluid Pudding (Free subscription) | 09/11/2009
I believe Meredith’s dance on the soccer field today pretty much sums up how I feel to have this weekend behind me. Good News: Our next book club selection is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Even better news: The next book club meeting will include flaming cheese.
Lily of the Valley (Free subscription) | 01/11/2009
39. Inkvartering – Tora Dahl (thrifted for 5 kr) 40. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides (thrifted for 10 kr)
49 Writers (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
We're eagerly awaiting our own upcoming interview with Alaska poet Joan Kane , but we can understand why she's a little busy today, as the secrecy veil lifts over receipt last night of a coveted $50,000 Whiting Writers Award. New York magazine had this to say about the prize, which was awarded to ten writers and playwrights. "...the Whitings are a ticket out of water-treading obscurity. Not everyone...
Nicola's Blog (Free subscription) | 21/10/2009
A fun wee fun book quiz. Thanks Christina ! What To Do: Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It’s a lot harder than you think! Describe yourself: Naïve. Super (Erland Loe) How do you feel: American on Purpose (Craig Ferguson) Describe where you currently live: Neither Here Nor There (Bill Bryson) If you could go anywhere,...
MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 21/10/2009
It takes a lot to bring America's greatest living fiction, non-fiction, and journalism writers into one room, but if one woman could do, it's Tina Brown . The Daily Beast editor-in-chief hosted the first ever Norman Mailer Colony soiree at Cipriani last night, to celebrate the non-profit in which promising young writers get to live in Norman Mailer's house in Massachusetts for a week to a month. Guests...
the Literary Saloon (Free subscription) | 04/10/2009
Yet another international author-prize, announced conveniently a week before the Nobel: German newspaper Die Welt has announced that Philip Roth erhält WELT-Literaturpreis 2009 . He's only the eleventh winner; previous winners include Daniel Kehlmann (2007), Yasmina Reza (2005), Amos Oz (2004), Kertész Imre (2000), as well as others extensively reviewed at the complete review (Jeffrey...
About Literature: Contemporary (Free subscription) | 30/09/2009
Over at The Millions , C. Max Magee and company are taking the literary pulse of the 21st Century by listing The Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far) . Though admittedly premature, this list of twenty books was in fact discerned not only by contributors from The Millions, but also a respectable panel of 48 writers, editors, and critics, who were all asked a single question, "What are the best...
the Literary Saloon (Free subscription) | 26/09/2009
At The Millions they have now run down the top twenty 'Best of the Millennium' works of fiction, both as determined by their panel and voted on by their readers; see Best of the Millennium, Pros Versus Readers for both lists. (As I've mentioned, I think it's way too early (like about 950 years too early) to be doing this kind of thing -- and the 'millennial' label is fairly silly (books of the decade...
Little Epic Against Oblivion (Free subscription) | 25/09/2009
Despite both the amusing image of Gob Bluth and the catchy glam rock melody of Europe's song "Final Countdown" that come to mind, I'm sad to say that, as of yet, The Millions has not posted the complete list of "The Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far)." I guess it'll happen later today, but since I'll be in the throes of my poetry comprehensive exam, I may not post the final...
the Literary Saloon (Free subscription) | 22/09/2009
It seems way too early to be doing this kind of thing to me, but it's always a fun exercise: The Millions has gotten together 48 writers, editors, and critics to try to figure out what The Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far) is. Five new titles revealed every day this week -- 16-20 look pretty dubious to me so far. (The only one under review at the complete review is Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex...
The Millions (A Blog About Books) (Free subscription) | 21/09/2009
At the center of this story Jeffrey Eugenides has placed the two great standards of the human race: a pair of genitals, and a heart.
About Literature: Contemporary (Free subscription) | 20/09/2009
In a live broadcast from Central Park on Friday, Oprah Winfrey annnounced that Say You're One of Them , a collection of stories from Nigerian author Uwem Akpan, is the latest Oprah's Book Club pick. Each of the five stories in Say You're One of Them is narrated by a child from a different country in Africa, and each, through the lense of a child, opens a door into the hard lives of these children...
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