Creating a satire on your own culture is a doubled-bladed dagger. Satirists seldom become lionized or praised for their efforts as pointing out failures and dangers and the ridiculous presence of deluded emperors wearing invisible clothes tends to invoke more embarrassment than wisdom or appreciation. Sometimes greatness is achieved - most readers and critics still applaud Joseph Heller's "Catch-22"...
There's a bit in Joseph Heller's " Catch-22 " where Captain Black runs something he calls the "Glorious Loyalty Oath Campaign", where everyone in the squadron finds themselves forced to sign oaths pledging their loyalty in order to get absolutely anything or everything: " Almost overnight the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade was in full flower, and Captain Black was enraptured...
A clickable index of titles covered so far... 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke A Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol l All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara Arden of Faversham, possibly by William Shakespeare Around the World in Eighty...
So, we're starting to get some tantalizing glimpses of the where the publishing industry is likely to be in the next couple of years. First of all, Publishers Marketplace reoprted last week on former HarperCollins boss, Jane Friedman who officially announced her new venture Open Road Integrated Media at Frankfurt, though the unit was first reported on in August when her funding of $3 million was disclosed....
So Salman Rushdie came to Winnipeg to give a lecture. I went. I lost the little green notebook I’ve been taking notes in for the past few months. Including the lecture tonight. Selah. Here’s what I remember: He talked a lot about literature. Moreso than I thought he would. I’d have thought it would be a more [...]
Friedman to publish Catch-22 e-book 19.10.09 - The Bookseller Joseph Heller's Catch-22 will be published as an e-book for the first time as part of Jane Friedman's new publishing venture, Open Road Integrated Media . Speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, the former HarperCollins chief executive described Open Road as a "content marketing company", which creates "enhanced"...
I was looking at a list of banned books , and found myself amazed anew at the idea that anyone would feel so powerful and so right that they would take it upon themselves to attempt to control the flow of information into another person's life, another person's mind. And yet books are banned every year--books many of us consider great, important, wonderful works of literature. Consider the list below,...
"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind." Joseph Heller's Catch-22 The Washington Times reports that, only weeks prior to the deadly attack, several intelligence report were issued warning of an imminent assault on the base. From the article:...
Barnes and Noble’s forthcoming rival to the Kindle will feature an E Ink screen as expected. Gizmodo is running all kinds of photos but does not reveal the price of the unit expected to be unveiled officially this month. Intriguing detail: There’ll be “a multitouch display like an iPhone underneath.” What do you think of [...]
Friendly bet, lazily monitored, you got it.Two years? We can make it easier than that [maybe; if they close my library it could take me a couple of years]. Of the top 100 books of all time, only 42 have been banned or challenged [I was a tad confused in my earlier post], which means we can cross Rand and Wolfe [and a host of others] off the list without even batting an eye.The Revised Listbold =
Have you ever written a story (an essay, a screenplay, a poem…), then decided it wasn’t worth the price of the paper and ink you wasted on it? Have you imagined people laughing when they read it (and not in a good way)? Have you believed your work had no sparkle, was boring, was not [...]
Over the weekend, National Security Adviser James Jones said President Obama will repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell after he gets some other stuff off his desk. One has to assume among the biggest priorities on Obama's desk are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where we desperately need gay translators who were discharged under Don't [...]
I ran across this while trolling some student media sites and found myself wondering if Joseph Heller ever considered writing about student newspapers. The gist of the story is that a pro-life group tried to run a 12-page insert in...
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