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Rumpus Articles
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Searching the Library of Babel
About six months ago, as I was nearing the end of Jorge Luis Borges’ Selected Non-Fictions, I came across the chapter titled “Prologues to The Library of Babel.” The chapter began with a list of authors whose works were selected…
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Diagnosing the Mad Cat Artist
This week the Rumpus will be in Yorkshire, England. Or at least the triumvirate will be. On exhibit there at the Chris Beetles gallery until September 13 will be the work of “cat artist” Louis Wain, who died in 1939.…
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Morning Coffee
Is your time too valuable to spend doing errands and chores (obviously if you are reading this it is)? Might we suggest “instead men?” “How Is America Going to End?“ The inside scoop from the world’s leading futurologists. Plus “Choose…
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Big Man Japan @ Just Press Play
“With Tokyo constantly under attack by giant monsters, of course you need giant ultra-heroes to defend its citizens; but when something that catastrophic had become the mundane for almost a century, what happens to the hero’s status in society? Do…
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The Man Who Invented Borges
Dzanc Books is one of my favorite recently-minted small publishers, and not just because their first two titles were by my brilliant friend Roy Kesey. Just check out their mission statement for an idea why I like them. They have begun…
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Vices vs. Olé
“I slam my fist on the table. ‘We need a book about the 7 Vices of Highly Creative People before the whole country ends up in a straitjacket!’ Bobby agrees enthusiastically, grabs a stack of napkins and begins writing. All…
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide
Ben Bachelder has been hitchhiking since 2000, traveling by thumb in “35 countries and six continents including Antarctica.” Over the years Ben has become a featured writer at digihitch, an online community for hitchhikers and self-described “site of subcultural movement.”…
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Harry Patch
Radiohead has released a new song titled “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” and is donating the proceeds to the British Legion (download it for £1.00). The song is “a tribute to the memory of Harry Patch, the last surviving World…
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Random Media Notes
Rumpus editor Stephen Elliott on online content theft and how it spreads. ESPN puts the squeeze on its employees’ twitter habits. Euna Lee and Laura Ling credit Clinton with ending North Korean “nightmare.” Chuck Norris is a birther, writes “I…
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Attack of the E-Readers
Looks like Amazon‘s Kindle has got some competition. Sony announced two new e-readers today, The Reader Pocket Edition and The Reader Touch Edition. The Pocket is small (5-inch screen) and lightweight, whereas the Touch has a (surprise!) touch screen, an…
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The Wind Has Stopped Blowing (Your Pockets Are Filled With Wind)
It’s April and I’m back home for Passover and Easter and my brother’s birthday. I’m wandering my parents’ farm. The air is cold and I expected warm, the trees are sparse and I expected leaves. Yesterday it rained and rained.…
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Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno
“Isabella Rossellini’s bizarre and hilarious look at sex in the natural world as she explores the mating habits of worms.” See more of Rossellini’s “Green Porno” here.