Posts by author
Maddie Oatman
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The Plight of the Eloquent
At the beginning of Avenue Q, the Broadway Musical notorious for its puppets who say and do dirty things, the fresh-out-of-college Princeton glides onto the stage (as well as puppets can glide), assumes a singing position, and earnestly asks the…
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Things to Think About: Publishing Links
The Department of Justice says nay to Google’s proposed Book Search deal. Joni Evans discusses the essential tools of publishing over the decades in The New York Times‘ “When Publishing had Scents and Sounds.” The publishing business might get a…
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Disturbing Journeys: A Look Inside Sex Trafficking
The recent Tides Momentum Leadership Conference featured innovators and activists from around the world passionate about discussing current challenges and striving to forge a more equitable and sustainable society. One such activist, Mimi Chakarova, has spent an extensive amount of…
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Is Indie Still Alive?
What’s hipper than indie culture? Discussing whether or not indie culture still exists, of course. In his essay for The Millions, “T.V. Party Tonight!,” Patrick Brown wonders about the reoccurring dichotomy between mainstream and alternative. In contrast to publishing consultant…
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Writing the Imaginary Novel
With the advent of a great novel comes a new and irrevocable universe its author has forged. Even the most minuscule detail imagined–a street name, a painting, a work of fiction–becomes, for a number of pages, a reality. Fiction writers…
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White-Washed Cover Against Writer’s Wishes
Justine Larbalestier’s thriller Liar is told from the perspective of shifty Micah, an unreliable teen who describes herself as an African-American with short nappy hair. It’s no wonder that the public and even Larbalestier herself were shocked when Bloomsbury’s USA…
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Muumuu House: Independent Press Embraces Online Genres
Muumuu House, an independent press edited by author Tao Lin, publishes not only poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, but also Gmail chats and Twitter selections on its starkly minimalist website. Lin’s most recent book Shoplifting from American Apparel garnered mixed reviews…
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Berlusconi in Tehran
In his piece for the London Review of Books, “Berlusconi in Tehran,” about the danger of authoritarian power within democracies, Slavoj Zizek examines the possible similarities between the victorious Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In light of the…
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An Imperfect Masterpiece: The Rumpus Interview with Members of Midwest Dilemma
Midwest Dilemma’s Timelines and Tragedies combines resonant storytelling with genre-bending indie-folk music and a plethora of eclectic instruments.
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The Digital Caste System
The arrival of the Internet and the wide dissemination of information that ensued has inspired the belief that technology may be able to break down hierarchies and allow for the equal access to and expression of information. In “The Not-So-Hidden…