Found this cheap and decided to take a punt and I’m soo glad I did. Really insightful view that there is no innovation this millennium, I recommend this to any music fans…
David Foster Wallace: Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. (VIDEO)
Here’s a good video from David Foster Wallace. It caught my eye because I’m currently reading Both Flesh and Not (essays).
“Going Native” in Steampunk: James H. Carrott and Brian David Johnson’s Vintage Tomorrows on Tor.com
Recently, everyone and their grandmother are trying to place steampunk in the grander scope of things. Most of pop culture has poked at it at this point. Many in the SF/F community gives the subculture a passing nod (or are slowly edging away, since, being early adapters by nature, quite a few in sci-fi are tired of it already).
Still, questions about steampunk have set people in pursuit of the deeper meanings behind the aesthetic movement. Two years ago, Intel’s futurist Brian David Johnson wanted to answer the biggest one about steampunk’s rise: “Why now?” He was joined by a cultural historian James Carrott and they filmed a documentary, which permutated into a book by the same name: Vintage Tomorrows (or two books, actually. Steampunking Our Future: An Embedded Historian’s Notebook is the free e-book companion you can get online).
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Thomas Pynchon Paper Dolls
Ha. I think.
Six (More) Stoner Novels (And a Bonus Short Story)
It’s a day late, but here’s your 4/20 post!
A few years ago, to celebrate 4/20, Sam Munson at the Daily Beast wrote an article praising “The Best Stoner Novels.” Not a bad list—Wonder Boys, sure, Invisible Man, a bit of a stretch, The Savage Detectives, a very big stretch, but sure, why not. Anyway, six more stoner novels (not that we advocate the smoking of the weed)—
Junkie, William Burroughs
Burroughs’s (surprisingly lucid) early novel Junkie may take its name from heroin, but it’s full of weed smoking. Lesson: weed smoking leads to heroin. And the inevitable search for yage.
Doc Sportello, the wonky PI at the off-center of Pynchon’s California noir, is always in the process of lighting another joint, if not burning his fingers on the edges of a roach. A fuzzy mystery with smoky corners.
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
Hal…
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2013 Pulitzer Winner for Fiction & IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Shortlist
The 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction was awarded to Adam Johnson
Ten novels have been shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
City of Bohane
The Map and the Territory
Pure
1Q84
The Buddha in the Attic
The Tragedy of Arthur
Swamplandia!
From the Mouth of the Whale
The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am
Caesarion
Monday Funnies
Theme: Summer
A big thanks to Man Martin for showing us this Billy Collins poem titled “Lanyard.” Collins says it is about what “American children tend to do in the Summer.”
The irregular schedule of summer allows some folks more time to write than usual. I know I have stocked up on notebooks and Post-Its (because I have a dependency issue with small pieces of paper that are bright and adhere to things). I know there are writers composing on iPads, even phones. If you don’t already own an iPad, does this USB Typewriter make you want one? It’s pretty, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. Steampunk chic or silly? What do y’all think?
How do you compose? Longhand in a water stained Mead or Moleskine, on a laptop, phone, iPad?
The past two weekends have been fraught with graduation ceremonies, and I know we’ll see more high school graduations next weekend as well. This is important for two reasons. 1. Traffic and 2. These high school seniors are now graduates! For the recent high school graduate in your life, please direct them to The Oatmeal’s “What We Should Have Been Taught Our Senior Year of High School.” Here’s a sample from the English course, but do check all of the courses as they’re all important life lessons!
Monday Funnies
We’d love to have a semimonthly Monday Funnies post, but we need the help of the Bookbilly community. In the comments section, please let us know: Where do you peruse literary humor, whether it be cartoons, commentary, satire, or parody?
For our inaugural Monday Funnies post, first check out Man Martin’s Author Hotties. Man Martin has published Days of the Endless Corvette, Paradise Dogs, and Scoring Bertram Wiggly.
At Biblio Buffet, you can find a list of Literary Humor & Games.
According to The Onion, Court Orders Amazon.com to Adopt Bankrupt Bookstores’ Cats.
Enjoy Open Letters at McSweeney’s.
Thinkgeek has some wonderful parodies for purchase. Goodnight Moon was certainly a favorite in our house, so I find Goodnight iPad especially amusing.
Miscellany: Part One
When I heard this story on NPR my impulse was to go and immediately order a set of the last print edition of Encyclopedia Britannica; many folks had the same idea. I thought better of it, and we’ll keep our sub-par set of Grolier Encylcopedias from the early ’90s. It’s kind of sad though. I find myself, too often, explaining to people in their twenties how to use an index.
Every wondered how old books get that old-book book smell? Your question is answered.
Are you a writer who could benefit from the Rejection Generator?
The creators of the Rejection Generator recommend using it regularly to maintain a high RI, or rejection immunity.
You may choose a flavor of rejection: The Southern Gentleman, Big Chakra Dosing Agent, etc.
And lastly, some clarification of who is at fault for the lack of a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this time around. I feel terrible for the nominees, not to mention Maureen Corrgian, Susan Larson, and Michael Cunningham, who did all the footwork.
Amber Nicole Brooks 