Cultivating a Scruffy Image
“Vonnegut’s genius was to stake out this experience of anticlimax as his novelistic territory. His heroes are bemused bit players whose lives are measured by their distance from great affairs,…
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Maria Chiang
104 posts
Maria Chiang is a usually a fun person.
More Burgess
“Manchester-born Anthony Burgess, who died in 1993, wrote at least 33 novels, 25 works of non-fiction, two volumes of autobiography, three symphonies, and more than 250 other musical works including…
Real David Crockett
“Wallis points out early on that Crockett was most definitely not ‘born on a mountain top’ and only started wearing his iconic coonskin cap when he needed to boost his…
Leonardo da Vinci’s To Do List
“‘It is useful,’ Leonardo wrote, to ‘constantly observe, note, and consider.’ But when you are Leonardo, what sorts of things are buzzing around in your head? Well, Toby Lester describes…
Neuroscience vs. The Novel
“All fiction has at its heart the enigma of character. Its most basic pleasures involve analyzing how human beings act, speculating as to what motivates their actions, and, ultimately, judging…
Harsh Rejections
“Prescience is no hard science, but hindsight can be a kick in the shins nonetheless, especially for the editors who sent these rejection letters to writers who would later become…
Fleshbot For Sale
“Gawker Media chief Nick Denton told All Things D this morning that Fleshbot ‘Just hadn’t fit for a long long time’ but that he held onto the property ‘because [he…
Occupy UC Davis Roundup
This past Friday, November 18th, peacefully protesting UC Davis students were relentlessly pepper-sprayed. This is one of the videos that has caught the nation’s attention. Watch: Students stand silently in…
Literal Literary Characters
“We all know truth is stranger than fiction, and some things (and people) are just too good to have been made up. We’ve already shown you quirky cartoon characters based…
A New Column from Michelle Tea
“Hi. My name is Michelle Tea. I turned 40 this year and realized I forgot to have a child. Now I am trying to get pregnant before all my eggs…
Rome, Then
“Unlike the aged books and dead writers who have come to Rome, current writing by foreigners about or set in Italy tends not to add to my knowledge or interest…
“Try Not to Cry on Your Pasta”
“Some people have a legitimate reason to feel depressed, but not me. I just woke up one day feeling sad and helpless for absolutely no reason.” “Adventures in Depression” by…