Become a Rumpus Member
Join NOW!The novelist, CIA operative, and founder of the Paris Review died on Saturday. Two days before, the New York Times Magazine published an extensive look at Matthiessen’s life. His family descended from whalers, he spied on communists, and at one point, he and his wife underwent LSD therapy.
...moreWhen the judges of a lucrative “debut-detective-novel writing contest” chose Alaric Hunt’s murder mystery Cuts Through Bone, they didn’t realize it was written in prison by an actual murderer. Click here to read a New York Times Magazine piece about Hunt’s crime, his novel, and what Minotaur Press decided to do with a criminal’s crime novel. While […]
...moreMy own mother bought our clothes at the mall. She didn’t allow pork in the house and mostly cooked curry. The saris she wore didn’t require needlework. Growing up in Wyoming, Nina McConigley longed for an authentic pioneer life like she read about in the Little House on the Prairie books—and resented her mother, an immigrant […]
...moreWhat happens when you put a well-regarded social psychologist fixated on order in an academic system that rewards breakthrough experiments over failed ones? You get one of the biggest con jobs in academic history. The New York Times Magazine profiles Diederik Stapel, whose experiments on behavioral issues like racism and greed were completely faked.
...moreThe relationship between writing and running has a long history, so perhaps it’s not surprising to see a cluster of longreads having to do with ultrarunning. One is this New York Times Magazine profile of Kilian Jornet Burgada, “the most dominating endurance athlete of his generation,” who, judging by the article, seems to be some sort of […]
...moreA big thank you to Maud Newton for shouting out the Happy Baby movie in the New York Times Magazine. Fun fact from her blurb: “[Stephen] Elliott accidentally sent the chapters out of order to his editor, Dave Eggers, who actually preferred them that way.” We love you back!
...moreLast month, The New York Times Magazine asked readers to share photographs of loved ones who passed away in 2011. The result is “The Lives They Loved,” an interactive feature revealing 291 photos that “illustrate a story from their lives.” Much love for friend, writer, and continual inspiration, Devin Lomax Bolkom Smith.
...moreVeteran cartoonist Lynda Barry is highlighted in this New York Times piece, which explores her current roles, specifically that of a “creativity guru,” teaching creative writing classes for nonwriters. “Narrative, Barry believes, is so hard-wired into human beings that creativity can come as naturally to adults as it does to children. They need only to […]
...moreNew York Times Magazine withdraws altered photo essay. Is unconcious plagiarism, ala Maureen Dowd, real? Yes and no. Pandora, online radio stations, reach fee deal. Analyst who made forecast about Up admits to being wrong. NFL says no to players tweeting during the game. How much money are Facebook and Myspace making? (via Mashable)
...more