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On the Shelf

June 15, 2011 | by

A cultural news roundup.

  • Legendary travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor died this week at ninety-six. Described by the BBC as “a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene,” Fermor authored twelve books and numerous articles. A BBC tribute gives him his due.
  • Australian minister for small businesses Nick Sherry has declared that the bookstore is doomed. Speaking in Canberra, the politician declared, “I think in five years, other than a few specialty bookshops in capital cities, you will not see a bookstore. They will cease to exist because of what’s happening with Internet-based, Web-based distribution ... What’s occurring now is an exponential take-off—we’ve reached a tipping point.”
  • Not one but two prominent “lesbian bloggers” are revealed to, in fact, be straight men.
  • Francine Prose and Keri Hulme have sharp words for Naipaul.
  • Rehabilitating the original “Uncle Tom.”
  • Murakami publicly criticizes Japan’s nuclear policy.
  • The return of Batgirl.
  • Actor Mark Rylance quotes poet Louis Jenkins in his Tony acceptance speech.
  • Werner Herzog will narrate an audio version of surprise-hit “bedtime story” Go the Fuck to Sleep.
  • The 100 greatest nonfiction books?

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    2 Comments

    1. Adam | June 17, 2011 at 1:11 pm

      The Paris Review interviewed Patrick Leigh Fermor once, no? I remember reading something about him in the PR and then reading one of his books. I can’t recall which book of his I read but I remember liking it. Thanks for the info, blog! I want to go back and read him again.

    2. Sadie Stein | June 17, 2011 at 1:19 pm

      Yes, in 2003, Issue 165! He’s wonderful, isn’t he? Most recently, the published correspondence between PLF and the Duchess of Devonshire makes for fascinating reading. I know Peter Terzian mentioned his “Time of Gifts” in a Culture Diary at one point, too: (http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2010/09/29/a-week-in-culture-peter-terzian/)

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