May 15, 2013 | by Sadie Stein
Flavorwire rounds up handwritten outlines. (That’s William Faulkner’s outline for A Fable written on the wall.)
“The Good Union bookstore, which usually sells school textbooks, said it had sold roughly eighty sets of the trilogy in the past month. By comparison, Taobao’s current number one best seller, Travel Keeps You Young, sold four hundred copies last month.” Contraband 50 Shades hits China.
Judy Blume, on the big screen for the first time.
“I saw women on the street cars with their little changer belts … And they had caps with bills on them and they had form-fitting jackets. I loved the uniforms! So I said, ‘That’s the job I want.’” Maya Angelou’s teenage ambition.
Meet the Man Booker International Prize finalists.
TAGS Judy Blume, Maya Angelou, roundup, William Faulkner
May 14, 2013 | by Sadie Stein
“I am happy, but in debt … I have no job. My [U.S.] visa is out of order. There may be a war. But I have an epithalamion to write and cannot worry much.” A journal W. H. Auden kept in 1939, believed lost, has been found. (Not sure where; details are vague.) It will go to auction next month.
Meet the “grand impresario of American etymologists” and his “unique self-published journal, Comments on Etymology.”
David Hare is adapting Behind the Beautiful Forevers for the London stage.
Reading the stoop books of Brooklyn.
Speaking of the borough of kings: a topless book club.
TAGS Brooklyn, etymology, poetry, roundup, W. H. Auden
May 13, 2013 | by Sadie Stein
Tessa Hadley on how to write tedium, interestingly.
Speaking of alleviating boredom: good reads for a long flight.
Can there ever be too many literary-tattoo roundups? Well, whatever your answer, here’s a good one!
LeVar Burton schools Stephen Colbert and Carey Mulligan on The Great Gatsby. But you don’t have to take his word for it!
Dan Brown apparently deals with writer’s block by hanging upside down.
TAGS Dan Brown, LeVar Burton, news, roundup, Tessa Hadley
May 10, 2013 | by Sadie Stein
“I waited until my first book was published to learn the genre, and when Oprah announced ‘It’s literary fiction!’ just seconds after my pub date, I was overcome with joy.” At McSweeney’s, Jessica Francis Kane tries to make the Genre Reveal Party happen.
Stewart Brand, the human proto-Internet.
Viggo Mortensen, Johnny Depp, and 50 Cent: just three of the celebrity publishers on the scene.
Short fiction, annotated.
“Around the time we had our first home computer, my dad started to keep track of all of the books that he read in an Excel Spreadsheet. He kept his spreadsheet up to date for almost twenty years, and he’d accumulated 10,496 books before his death. My dad rated his books on a 1-10 scale, but his average score floated around 7.5/10, so I think he generally enjoyed most of what he read.” A tribute to a devoted reader.
TAGS books, Johnny Depp, news, publishing, roundup, Stewart Brand, Viggo Mortensen
May 9, 2013 | by Sadie Stein
Iconic book covers and their (often less-than-iconic) adaptation posters.
Speaking of: children’s books that (arguably) should never have been filmed.
The stories behind classic book titles.
The New York Times points up the growing trend of poets laureate around the country.
An author calls for an end to gendered book covers and issues a challenge, with excellent results.
TAGS adaptations, books, film, news, poetry, roundup
