The Daily Rumpus
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From Stephen Elliott
I can imagine complaining along these lines in an editorial meeting at a British publishing house, and being sighed at: “Yes, of course the 1960s cover is beautiful – I love it – but Waterstones and Tesco won’t stock it.”
At the London Review of Books‘ blog, Fatema Ahmed takes a critical look at the cover of a new edition of The Bell Jar, which depicts a woman applying makeup.
...moreThis one time in the 19th century, some guys were hanging out in a store when a shotgun accidently went off, wounding one Alex St Martin in the stomach, exposing his breakfast and his digestive system.
While the part about the breakfast is completely upsetting, the uncovering of the human digestive anatomy was actually both helpful and upsetting.
...moreGood things happen when people who grow up listening to Thriller become poets.
There’s going to be a new Bukowski exhibit down Southern California way, including his “annotated racing forms” that will teach you his system for playing the horses.
Jason Pinter takes on the idea that men don’t read.
...moreBlog is a fun word to say, even if I’m tired of hearing other people say it.
Michaelangelo’s poem “When the Author Was Painting the Vault of the Sistene Chapel.” (via)
“Hey Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobbering Time!” Jacket Copy has fun with illustrators’ pictures of their favorite literary figures and characters.
...moreRory Stewart’s LRB article “the Irresistible Illusion,” analyzes the language current Western leaders use when speaking about Afghanistan. Then he compares it to similar speeches made by others since 1868.
Spoiler: Nothing new has been said in over 140 years.
If anything, according to Stewart, our rhetoric has gotten worse.
...more