Posts by author
Sam Riley
-
Monetary Support for Indie Bookstores
Anybody who appreciates the community value of their local independent bookstore knows about the monetary pressure imposed by Amazon and internet-based competitors. So if you really appreciate the value of independent booksellers and the literary community it supports, why shouldn’t…
-
Soulful Videos for a Soulful Sound
UbuWeb’s got some sonically-stimulating films of musician Arthur Russell, directed by Phill Niblock. This one is the first of a series of two films (20-30 minutes long), a soulful visual experience reminiscent of the sound of Russell’s music. There are…
-
Burning Books
The contemporary burning of books is taking on a new significance. Burning books is an act historically associated with censorship and limited freedoms, a symptom of an overpowering and centralized government or religion. However, these days, the burning of books…
-
Life as an Undocumented Immigrant
Jose Antonio Vargas considers his life as an undocumented immigrant in the NY Times Magazine, tracing back his entrance into the US as a twelve year-old, to his college graduation and career as a journalist. Though America is the country…
-
Beautiful Sounds and Lyrics to Match
Check these first drafts, artfully constructed by The Mountain Goats’ front man, John Darnielle. He relays to the Atlantic, the challenges and the emotionally fraught state from which his music was created. He describes song-writing as a sort of deception,…
-
Reading on Vacation
Writers reflect on the vacation reading or yesteryear. You find out about Ester Freud’s beach days, which were long enough to allow an entire devouring of Anna Karenina. Also, hear what it’s like to concentrate on Proust in a hostel…
-
Rewire Your Brain
Now body hacking exists! A new startup focused on “rewiring your brain” accounts for your caloric intake, exercise habits and sleep patterns, all to make you into a happier person. “Much as an engineer will analyse data and tweak specifications…
-
Those Presumptuous Blurbs
How do you pare down a novel into a pithy, attractive two-to-three word sentence? Nobody has really mastered the art of the back cover blurb and many esteemed literary figures have had their work inaccurately summarized and oversimplified to fit…
-
How To Title Your Book
Title-stress is apparently really common. This being so, authors have responded by finding various methods to assuage the agony and test the waters before finalizing the name of their work (like practice telling your peers at a party without cringing).…
-
More Writers Taking TV Turns
Veteran director, Darren Aronofsky, is directing a new television series called “Hobgoblin.” How is this piece of news relevant to the literary community? Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman are writing the pilot, swept up in the TV magnetism that has…
-
Where Has All the Anonymity Gone?
What are the cultural consequences of cell phone cameras, social media websites, and online photo hosts? The degradation of anonymity and an obscured understanding of privacy. It’s shockingly simple to identify people on the web—whether to scorn them for an…