A Library of People
Books can teach readers quite a lot, but sometimes talking to expert might be easier. That’s why Ronni Abergel created a library of people, where users can borrow humans instead…
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Ian MacAllen
1314 posts
Ian MacAllen is the author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2022). His writing has appeared in Chicago Review of Books, Southern Review of Books, The Offing, 45th Parallel Magazine, Little Fiction, Vol 1. Brooklyn, and elsewhere. He tweets @IanMacAllen and is online at IanMacAllen.com.
Technology Gets Literary
Technology website CNET did something rather unexpected last week: it published fiction. “The Last Taco Truck in Silicon Valley” is the site’s first foray into literary fiction, part of a…
This Week in Indie Bookstores
LAist takes readers inside Los Angeles’s iconic The Last Bookstore, a “sprawling temple” of books, and talks with owner Josh Spencer. A Hong Kong bookstore, one that hasn’t been closed…
American Housewife by Helen Ellis
Ian MacAllen reviews American Housewife by Helen Ellis today in Rumpus Books.
Notable NYC: 3/5–3/11
Saturday 3/5: Elizabeth Isadora Gold and Brenda Shaughnessy discuss The Mommy Group. BookCourt, 7 p.m., free. Lisa Jarnot and Lara Mimosa Montes join the Segue reading series. Zinc Bar, 4:30…
The Many Libraries of the New York Public Library
Not every library can be a grand palace. Consider for a moment the Mid-Manhattan branch of the New York Public Library, a far less glamorous workhorse than the more famous…
A Prize for Small Presses
Novelist Neil Griffiths wants to celebrate indie publishers with a new literary prize. He plans on fronting £2,000 ($2,820) for prize money to be split between publisher and author in…
Archives for the Future
Preserving information and data archives in the digital age presents a new kind of challenge. Physical books may degrade over time, but even a book in poor condition can be taken…
Notable NYC: 2/27–3/4
Saturday 2/27: Xaver Bayer, Sibylle Berg, Iris Hanika, and James Hannaham join moderator Siri Hustvedt and the Festival Neue Literatur for No Joke, a look at things that make people…
China Bans Foreigners from Publishing Online
China has issued a ban on foreign-owned media from publishing online within the nation. Global news agencies like Reuters, Dow Jones, the New York Times, and Bloomberg have invested considerable…
Pirating Research Papers
Academic publishers have been raking in huge profits, and their reluctance to giving open access to academic journals without collecting fees limits researchers. One Russian scientist has found a solution, a…
This Week in Indie Bookstores
Chicago’s Wicker Park has been gentrifying, but Quimby’s, a quirky indie bookstore, remains a haven for alt lit. Amazon probably doesn’t care whether customers buy anything from its physical stores. The New…