Posts by author
Ian MacAllen
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Women Read Women
Women read books written by women and men read books written by men, reports the Guardian. A study of Goodreads data suggests that people prefer reading books written by those who share their gender. The study also reveals that men…
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Ferguson: A Rumpus Roundup
Early in August, unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. While protests broke out in the weeks following Brown’s death, Wilson remained free, awaiting a…
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The Camel Library
We’ve seen libraries on bicycles. We’ve seen libraries on boats. But what about a library on a camel? Its been happening for two decades in Mongolia. Dashdondog Jamba has traveled more than 50,000 miles over the years crossing the Gobi…
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Politics and Football
The Millions takes a look at Rumpus columnist Steve Almond‘s book Against Football: Almond stalks through his arguments against the modern state of football at a pace that is both clipped and highly personal. There is a lot of shame…
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Language Wars
Most writers aspire to clarity in language. Politicians, of course, are the exception. Legislators are turning to language to obscure their intentions, claims Steven Poole over at the Guardian. Poole cites a trade deal between the EU and the United…
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Notable NYC: 11/22–11/28
Saturday 11/22: Kyle Erickson, Steven Leyva, Tafisha A. Edwards, and George Hackett join Huffington Post blogger Leslie Goshko for Kick Assonance, an evening of poetic works. KGB, 7 p.m., free. Molly Rose Quinn, Vanessa Gabb, Jesse Kohn, and Paige Taggart…
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Uber’s Very Bad Day: A Rumpus Roundup
Taxi app Uber is in some serious trouble. Since its launch, lawmakers and users have had plenty to complain about. Now the company faces charges of sexism, bullying, and even abusing its software to stalk a reporter.
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The Making of Michael Pietsch
Amazon and Hachette have, for now, resolved their dispute. But their protracted battle over pricing has made Hachette’s Chief Executive Michael Pietsch something of a hero to many in the literary community—in Distinction, Pietsch discusses his journey from a small Boston publishing…
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Amazon’s Book of the Year
Celeste Ng’s novel, Everything I Never Told You, was recently named by Amazon as the book of the year. Amazon’s editorial team reviewed 480 fiction and non-fiction books before coming up with a top 10. Ng sat down with Hermione Hoby…
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Professors Are the Canary in the Coal Mine
Though plenty of adjunct professors still teach students, the full-time, tenured, middle-class professor position is nearing extinction. Adjunct professors are paid at wages below the poverty line while the costs of the career—attending conferences, performing research, accessing academic databases—continue to rise. Sarah…
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Writing After 40
If the lists are to be believed, the only good new writers are under 40. It’s not just Buzzfeed, but also the New Yorker, Granta, and others who publish lists of great new—and young—authors. Joanna Walsh takes issue with this…
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Notable NYC: 11/15–11/21
Saturday 11/15: Emily Brandt, Emily Hockaday, Emily Hyland, Emily Moore, Emilia Phillips, Emmalea Russo, and Emily Skllings have an All Emily Reading. Berl’s Poetry Shop, 7 p.m., free. Alex Cuff and Jennifer Bartlett join the Segue Series. Zinc Bar, 4:30…