The Daily Rumpus
Get Overly Personal Emails
From Stephen Elliott
Via the Poetry Foundation, Open Culture has a 23-minute experimental film by Sandra Lahire using audio of Sylvia Plath reading her poems aloud.
Mixing images of Plath’s obsessions (ouija boards, horses, violent self-harm) with photographs of the poet and her work, the film delves deeply into an existence that Plath herself, in a voice-over interview, calls “living on air.”
Perfect for those of us who wish Plath would out of the ash rise with her red hair.
...moreSylvia Plath wrote a children’s book…and apparently Jim Carrey is going to as well?
Brain Pickings has scans of the text and charming illustrations of Plath’s book, a story about young Max Nix and his bright yellow It Doesn’t Matter suit.
...moreI 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.
...moreHow much of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is autobiographical, and how much is fictional?
Is her unflinching exploration of suicidal depression more meaningful if it’s a record of real life or if it’s invented?
The Guardian tackles these questions (and posts a fun, short video interview with the designer of the book’s original cover).
...moreSylvia Plath may not be best known for her paper dolls, but we don’t usually envision Mark Twain as an avid fan of scrapbooking, either.
Check out this cool collection of the artwork of famous authors, which also includes William Burroughs’s gunshot paintings and Charles Bukowski’s watercolors.
...more“It’s always interesting when a very strange book is also an enduringly popular book.”
This Poetry Foundation essay is appreciating The Bell Jar, which is embarking on its 40th year of publication. Initially unnoticed for its literary prowess in Britain, it’s been sustainably successful here, and most likely had a profound presence during your teenage years.
...more
In her new book, The Art of Cruelty, Maggie Nelson draws upon a wide range of work (from Diane Arbus to Brian Evenson to name just two) as she grapples with what cruelty means and how its representation impacts us.
An account of the marriage between Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller says a lot about the actress’s hygiene and sexual habits. The relationship, not so much. “Do not chew on the headphone cords!” — From @electriclit, passive aggressive library signs.
Marc Jacobs is pissing off literary West Villagers by opening a book store.
At The Guardian, Christine Granados has some fightin’ words for Cormac McCarthy and lists other authors she feels write the American southwest better.
...moreFor National Poetry Month, Poems Out Loud is featuring people reading their favorite poems aloud. The construction worker who describes his job as “a lot of digging” loves Walt Whitman, and not just because he writes about “common Americans” and “physical labor.” Another man falls in love with poetry when he first encounters Sylvia Plath, even though she was a “well-heeled New England” woman, and he’s a Jamaican immigrant.
...more