Features & Reviews
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The Last Book I Loved: The Romantic Dogs
I always blanch when someone tells me—and always so assuredly, it seems—“ I just don’t really like poetry.” It’s more people, more otherwise avid readers than I would like to think.
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Monofonus Givawaytacular
Monofonus, the Austin-based press that puts out the fantastic and spectacular IF Series, is giving its readers/viewers/listeners a chance to win a set of the entire IF Series catalogue, with its Givawaytacular.
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if:book
The Institute for the Future of the Book “investigates the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens.” As you may have noticed, here at the Rumpus, we’re pretty interested in that too. We, though,…
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Akashic Press Has A New Blog
“Living in Brooklyn (as 3/4 of the Akashic Staff does), discussions about Irony usually in end hipster-bashing sessions. Williamsburg is rendered as a mecca of self-posturing, detachment and apathy. It’s easy to be negative! Enter Trinie Dalton, who does the…
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Science Fiction Predicts The Present
“Science fiction writers don’t predict the future (except accidentally), but if they’re very good, they may manage to predict the present. Mary Shelley wasn’t worried about reanimated corpses stalking Europe, but by casting a technological innovation in the starring role of Frankenstein,…
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No Ordinary Pile of Index Cards
The novel Nabokov was working on when he died, The Original of Laura, is set to be released in the US on November 17th.
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ABA Challenges Big-Box “Predatory Pricing”
Two weeks ago, the American Booksellers Association, an organization of independent booksellers, asked the Justice Department to investigate what it describes as “illegal predatory pricing” by big-box retailers Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target. The price war began on October 15 when…
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Drying Out
“‘Listen, Truman,’ [John Cheever] told Truman Capote. ‘It’s the most terrible, glum place you can conceivably imagine. It’s really really, really grim. But I did come out of there sober.” Tom Shone’s “When Novelists Sober Up.” (via @Weegee)
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“Story of a Book Cover”
“[…] but I was worried that there was something else out there that we hadn’t thought of.” Ethan Watters, author of Urban Tribes, discusses his experiences choosing a cover for his new book, Crazy Like Us. The post includes images…
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Sam J. Miller’s 25-Word Reviews #2
Paranormal Activity (movie, dir. Oren Peli, 2009) Above-average scary. Neat pacing. Best with a full house in big cities. Overheard: “This is dumb good,” “We’re gonna have to get the bootleg.” The September Issue (movie, dir. R.J. Cutler, 2009)
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“C-A-P-P-U-C-C-I-N-O”
Rumpus New York Bureau Chief Rozalia Jovanovic has published a subjective account of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses‘ spelling bee: “James Frey, Ben Greenman and Maira Kalman Spell Some Words.” Also, if you haven’t done so already, you…
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So I’m Guessing There’s No Second Edition
A charming find on eBay: a 1927 guide on How to Play the Cinema Organ published at the exact moment that talkies were about to rub out the profession. The Jazz Singer came out in October of that very year.