Other
-
“Boundless optimism and boundless cynicism”
“To me at least there was a sense that the Post is a dying art form. It’s a paper already nostalgic for itself: The headlines, the blotter, all touch back to the days when Hearst and Pulitzer duked it out…
-
The Plight of the Anglocentric Dictionary
Beware–your Oxford English Dictionary is missing thousands of words! It has been revealed that former OED editor, the late Robert Burchfield secretly deleted thousands of words that he deemed too “foreign” and placed the blame on other editors. Allison Flood…
-
Home Sweet Omaha
Nebraska: golden Midwestern land of corn, cows, and…call centers? Kathleen Massara writes for n+1 about growing up in Omaha. Massara’s Nebraska has a lot more frustrating cubicle jobs than, say, Willa Cather’s, but then again, maybe they aren’t so different…
-
A Soundtrack for Writing
What music do you write to? GalleyCat has accumulated a decent-sized list of songs that are guaranteed to churn out inspiration.
-
Protecting Possum Man’s Hard Drive
What do you do with a loved one’s letters, photos, and journals when they pass away? What about their emails, online accounts, and computer files? In an essay at Locus Online, Cory Doctorow describes his efforts to preserve the digital…
-
Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
Today’s theme is “things Dan finds neat”. This 1930s illustrated guide to hypothetical alien life is my favorite thing today. This story about the official Chinese newspaper not getting that the Onion is a joke is my second favorite thing…
-
Everybody Loves a Good Looking Book
There might be some light at the end of the tunnel for independent bookstores. At NPR Books, Lynn Neary discusses the rising popularity of pretty, hardcover books and their power to be undefied by the monumental e-book. More people are…
-
How to Talk to Mothers of Dying Children
If I wrote about my son in a sentimentalized, cloying, tragic way, perhaps I’d be accused of a woman who writes “silly little stories” instead of epic American novels that engage deep human truths in profound and complicated ways. If…
-
“A Humiliated Boy’s Idea of Manhood”
What do Raymond Chandler’s protagonists have in common with hip-hop artists? At The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates investigates: “I’ve had the privilege of reading The Big Sleep, between bouts of dabbling with the new Kendrick Lamar. Both works are technically impressive. And both…
-
Mercury Theatre’s War of the Worlds
In case you missed it last weekend on KCRW, Rumpus pal Richard Park’s radio drama “Wayne Coyne’s Human Head Shaped Tumor” is now available at your listening convenience. The show debuted in McSweeney’s and features original performances by Wayne Coyne,…
-
Peter Orner Reading Thursday at Booksmith
If you’re in the Bay Area, don’t miss Rumpus columnist Peter Orner‘s reading at Booksmith this Thursday to celebrate the paperback release of his novel Love and Shame and Love. It will include a conversation with fellow author (and occasional…