2011
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Out With the Old, In With the New
We always hear about new words being added to the dictionary—things like acronyms are being rewarded with official word legitimacy. So, we’ve learned that the dictionary can stay modern, but what about those antiquated words that have been lost from…
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The Gifts of the Blarney Stone
Sebastain Barry’s latest novel, On Canaan’s Side, follows aging Lilly Bere as she crosses the Atlantic to America and slowly watches everyone around her die.
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Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
This has been touched on before, but prehistoric life was basically all boning all the time. Once Upon A Time In Yugoslavia will fulfill all my internet needs this week. The Railton Mobil Special! Who wants to take a road…
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Happy Feet and the Mbaqanga Rhythm of the Boyoyo Boys
“Gumboots” is what inspired Paul Simon to break out the accordion and kick-start Graceland.
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An Interview with Alex Shakar
Last month’s Rumpus Book Club selection, Luminarium is blowing up all over the interweb. The Bat Segundo (a “cultural podcast”) interviews Alex Shakar. You can hear it or read an excerpt from the interview here. Shakar discusses his perspective on…
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Erin Rose’s Tech Links
App slaughter: Google’s killing off some products. The internet’s official red light district (.xxx) has arrived. Let the games begin! Not so green after all: Indoor weed farming and production is really bad for the environment. Did you see this…
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The Latest in Superhero Stories
Michael Chabon knows how to turn a phrase. Complex language is part of what makes his work so idiosyncratically his and his veteran wordsmith tendencies are widely applicable and translatable over different mediums (he’s co-writing an HBO series with his…
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Bookforum Love
Bookforum’s daily roundup of internet gems shone their literary spotlight on our poetry editor Brian Spears whose piece “The Death and Resurrection of BlazeVOX,” we recently published. We wanted to reciprocate the love. So, here it is. We love you…
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The Importance of Bulgarian Fiction
Bulgarian fiction is making waves. Miroslav Penkov moved to the US for college, whereupon he became further interested in illuminating the stories of his country, which was the impetus for writing East of the West. Stories of the homeland are…
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September’s Rumpus Book Club Selection
The Rumpus Book Club is closing out summer and welcoming the fall with advanced copies of Show Up, Look Good, our highly-anticipated September selection. Written by Mark Wisniewski and published by Gival Press, this novel has been reaping in a…
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On Demand Books
Politics and Prose in D.C. is exemplifying the latest in indie bookstore innovation—they’re introducing the printed-on-demand book. Apparently it takes six minutes to turn over a print book, and customers can watch it happen. And it’s all made possible by…