September 21, 2012 This Week’s Reading What We’re Loving: Sea Monsters, Children’s Books By The Paris Review I spent a recent vacation totally engrossed by Richard Ellis’s Monsters of the Sea. An accomplished marine artist and writer, Ellis examines the great sea monsters of history—from the sea serpent to the Kraken to the mermaid—and explains the sources of the myths (basking shark, giant squid, and manatee, respectively). The book is a combination of lore, history, and scientific inquiry, and a fun and accessible read. Plus, it introduced me to the Journal of Cryptozoology. —Sadie O. Stein I tripped into a fit of digital nostalgia this week when I discovered Stylist’s compilation of opening lines from classic children’s books. There are even thumbnail covers, and the combination somehow makes the Paris Review office smell like the library I went to when I was a kid. To prevent sentimental overdose, I recommend a mix-and-match game: combine three opening lines and begin your own canonical text for youngsters. “In a hole in the ground it was too wet to play, if you really want to hear about it”; “Once upon a time, a little girl named Laura got the dog drunk on cherry brandy so she was sent to bed without eating anything.” And so on. —Samuel Fox Read More
September 21, 2012 Bulletin Object Lesson: Undermining By The Paris Review We can’t express how excited we are to show you Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story. To recap: the editors approached twenty contemporary masters, asked them to choose their favorite short stories from our extensive fiction archive, and then write an introduction explaining what makes said story so good. The result? Stories we already loved, stories we didn’t know we needed in our lives, and a veritable M.F.A. between two covers. (Publishers Weekly is actually the one who said that!) A must for the reader, the learner—for anyone! Today’s quiz: Can you guess who wrote the following selection? I had an odd figure for a modern dancer. Rubanesque, my composer boyfriend called my body when pressed for compliments. This was long before I found the tiny crimson panties tucked beneath his buckwheat pillow. I also heard him say Rembrandt. My mother, it’s worth noting, took figures very seriously. I often felt this was another feature of her generation, like the typing and the meals on trays. In my time, I believed, a body could be different and still be okay. But when the composer mentioned Botero, I lost confidence. Find out! And pre-order a copy today!
September 21, 2012 On the Shelf Books for Readers, Nonreaders By Sadie Stein A retired bibliophile in Manila has turned his home into a public library. He also runs a “book bike” to book-deprived areas. “As a book caretaker, you become a full man,” he says. Remembering the late, legendary Knopf editor Ashbel Green. Authors: consider working naked. Books for nonreaders. (Not illiterates; those who don’t enjoy books.) From MoMA, the A to Z of alphabet books. [tweetbutton] [facebook_ilike]
September 20, 2012 Bulletin Never Fear! Your Mugs are Coming! By The Paris Review Friends! We are so excited about the enthusiasm with which you have greeted our super-duper new mug! (We can’t wait either.) But we wanted to warn you: due to a slight print delay, they’ll be shipping out a little later than we planned. We didn’t want you to worry and thought we’d tell you right away: you will get your mug in plenty of time for fall cider sipping! They will arrive in early October, so sit tight!
September 20, 2012 Bulletin Tonight: “Get in the back of the van!” By Sadie Stein When BAM asked The Paris Review to choose a film for screening in concert with the Brooklyn Book Festival, the choice was obvious. So, tonight, please join Leanne Shapton, Lorin Stein, and yours truly for a special screening of the cult classic Withnail and I. To the uninitiated: the film, directed by Bruce Robinson, stars Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant as two wastrels in 1969 London who decide to take a restorative holiday in the countryside; obsessively quotable mayhem obviously ensues. Some find it baffling; some find it disturbing; for the rest of us, it is a magnificent obsession. All three camps are invited! Starts at 7 P.M. Discussion to follow. Click here for tickets.
September 20, 2012 Arts & Culture Dead Authors at Fashion Week: Part 3 By Katherine Bernard Virginia Woolf attends the Burberry Prorsum Spring 2013 show. I dread not the PR girls at the door this morning at Burberry Prorsum, though the invitation I possess is not mine. Sneaking in? Dressed as a fashion dude? I hardly consider dressing as a man to gain entry immoral; unlike me, half the so-and-sos present don’t even know what Prorsum means; O! Prorsum; Opossum. Those people invited who are supposedly “forward” thinking; people who discuss fashion though they’ve never worn Burberry; never felt the blue-black silk lining of a trench-coat sleeve; the plunge of putting on a sturdy work of satin and cotton sateen. I wanted to come in holding something. Flowers? Yes, flowers, since I do not trust my taste in Filson bags. I take my seat and then, parading in from backstage quite composedly, the models are copper-rose clones; carrying swollen candy satchels; attractive and shiny hosts in a grand entryway; it is all perfectly correct. Some designers are to be seen as poets. Christopher Bailey; coming and going with a pin in hand; a pin and a vision; no country but England could have produced him. Happiness is this, I think. The lights come on and the end suddenly comes in a rush; the luster has gone out of it; no showgoer looks photoworthy like before; glimpsing the future, that hot pants are still in for spring, ruins everything. We rise instantly. Then: “Virginia! Your menswear look is Uh-mazing! Your oxfords are so cute!” Somehow I am recognized, in people’s eyes, in the swing and shuffle as we depart, it’s become known who I am. “Comme des Garcons,” I hear a lady with silver hair ornaments say, and now I confess a bit of shock overtakes me. Suddenly everywhere in the crowd I see women in blazers and fine gray-white trousers; ladies wearing collared shirts like spruce old men. Is that a tie? Awesome prorsum. [tweetbutton] [facebook_ilike]