David Aaronnovitch’s survey of global conspiracy theories ably debunks chestnuts old and new, but avoids closer analysis of what inspires them in the first place.
Chinua Achebe was briefly interviewed in NYT Magazine last week. In the interview he talks about current Nigerian politics, focusing on the weakness of the Nigerian Acting President, Good Luck…
“To become a literary star, having talent helps, but so does carving out a place in the tangled, incestuous web of the publishing world. Our interactive field guide illustrates how…
This week in New York Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood holds a reading series, Threepenny Review celebrates its thirtieth birthday, A Public Space throws a launch party for Issue 10, Paris Review…
Robot journalists! What could possibly go wrong? (via Book Bench) “Houses are not homes – they are holes and caves.” Apparently, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is a short story writer.…
“Last year a friend came to stay with me for a night, when he was between apartments. […] “Now I enjoy weird, unresolved sexual tension as much as the next…
“The year my boy Danny turned six, my wife Penny and me took him down to Lexington and got him good and scanned because that’s what everybody was doing back…
“But there is another issue, too: one for which you can’t blame publishers or booksellers. The thing about being funny is that it’s really hard. “It’s a lot harder than…