August 1, 2013 Video & Multimedia Commercial Fan Fiction By Sadie Stein And we mean that literally: this is a Tumblr of fan fic based on TV advertisements. And is there more fallow ground than this strange world of smart-aleck kids, idiot husbands, knowing wives, yogurt-eating singles, and maniacally friendly fast-food workers? We think not. (The Barilla pasta-stalker alone could be the basis for a series of thrillers.) Also, we offer the following as a prompt.
August 1, 2013 On the Shelf Defiance, and Other News By Sadie Stein “So many other good books … don’t waste your time on this one. J. D. Salinger went into hiding because he was embarrassed.” And other one-star Amazon reviews of classics. Anthony Weiner spokesperson Barbara Morgan’s recent rant against a campaign intern has led to several discussions of the usage of bag. A Russian novel uses fake Swedish blurbs; publisher is defiant. Speaking of Sweden! $255,000 worth of stolen rare books have been returned to the National Library. J. K. Rowling is planning to donate The Cuckoo’s Calling royalties to the Soldier’s Charity. (You will recall that Robert Galbraith was in the service.)
July 31, 2013 First Person Wild Things By Elisabeth Donnelly Somewhere between Kardashian news and a blog detailing where to buy every outfit worn by Taylor Swift I hit rock bottom. In the space between where I wanted to be—asleep—and where I was stuck—awake—I had chosen the easiest route, whiling away the ink-black night, slack-jawed and blindly clicking through whatever late-night gossip lit up the computer screen. The air was thick with heat on that sticky July night. No air trickled through the window screen. I was in a stupor, the particular sort of stupor that meant that nothing registered, that my reflexes were slow. I was vulnerable, mentally asleep, and regretfully awake. And I was hearing noises. We had just moved to the country. I was used to city life, city noises, city nerves. In the city, you steel yourself for danger, but there’s a comfort to being in a populated area, close to neighbors and cops. The bucolic loneliness of the country offers promises of peace, but to me, it’s sinister. You’re the only person screaming for miles around. Read More
July 31, 2013 Arts & Culture A Partial List of Things John Berryman Found Delicious By Elon Green Saul Bellow’s “Leaving the Yellow House”[1] His own poetry[2] Autolycus of The Winter’s Tale, deemed an “irrelevance”[3] “Bunny,” met in London[4] The Irish, who “all speak English and are blazing with self-respect”[5] A stone[6] A breeze[7] Theodore Roethke’s detail[8] A tribute, written by T. S. Eliot, about Ralph Hodgson[9] Dialogue in Don Quixote[10] An unspecified “new taste sensation”[11] Your “end”[12] An unspecified “author,” also “rational & passionate”[13] The body of a married woman, seen in a restaurant[14] His friend Ernest Milton Halliday’s marks at Columbia University[15] Risk[16] [1] Saul Bellow’s foreward to Recovery/Delusions, Etc.[2] Saul Bellow’s foreward to Recovery/Delusions, Etc.[3] Berryman’s Shakespeare[4] Dream Song: The Life of John Berryman[5] Dream Song: The Life of John Berryman[6] “Dream Song 121”[7] “Dream Song 339”[8] Freedom of the Poet[9] Freedom of the Poet[10] Freedom of the Poet[11] “Gislebertus’ Eve”[12] “Shirley & Auden”[13] “A Prayer for the Self”[14] “Dream Song 4”[15] John Berryman and the Thirties: A Memoir[16] Stephen Crane Elon Green is a freelance writer who oftentimes contributes to The Awl.
July 31, 2013 On the Shelf Crystallized Books, and Other News By Sadie Stein It takes some work to decipher this infographic charting writers in prison for nonliterary crimes, but we like that it exists. Larry McMurtry’s epic rare-book auction is now the subject of a documentary. The band Heaven’s new single, “Dandelion Wine,” is named after the eponymous 1957 Ray Bradbury title. Bibliotherapy: exactly what it sounds like. Artist Alexis Arnold’s Crystallized Book series: exactly what it sounds like.