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From Stephen Elliott
“Best novel” awards are not often thrown into metaphorical convergence with mixed martial arts. However, as the founders of the Tournament of Books point out, “Everyone knows that, behind the scenes, the National Book Award is both arbitrary and brutal, sort of like Keeping Up With the Kardashians meets Ultimate Fighting.
Thousands scramble for free books after Amazon used book vender abandons warheouse. There’s really some beautiful photography here, in addition to the many readings one could make of the article.
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Survey based on Catholic confessions found that the most common sin for women was pride (followed by envy and anger), while the most common sin for men was lust (followed by gluttony and sloth). The report was based on a study of confessions carried out by Fr Roberto Busa, a 95-year-old Jesuit scholar.
Is the fix for what ails the publishing industry a new model that “definitely guarantees” writers won’t get paid? Author and founder of the Concord Free Press Stona Fitch thinks so. Concord Free Press gave away all 1,500 copies of its first publication (Fitch’s Give and Take).
These artful pedestrian crosswalks are street art of a different stripe. Their most notable creator is Peter Gibson (aka Roadsworth), a street artist who got his start as a frustrated cyclist in Montreal. Having “found little encouragement in breathing car exhaust, having to share the road with eighteen wheelers and the prospect of receiving the dreaded ‘door prize’ (having a car door opened in your face)”, Gibson took up stencils and spray paint for a commentary on car culture (and a more prosaic “desire for more bike lanes”).