the Observer

  • Book Collecting Thrives

    Book collecting of antique and rare books remains big business. For example, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the original British version of the first book in the Harry Potter series, could be worth as much as $40,000—only five hundred…

  • Rumpus Round-Up: All the Abramson News Fit to Print

    Jill Abramson, the first woman to head the New York Times as executive editor, was abruptly fired Wednesday and replaced by managing editor Dean Baquet. The New Yorker attempted to explain why, with the leading theory being Abramson’s discovery several…

  • Alex Shakar in the Observer

    The New York Observer provides context for Alex Shakar’s Luminiarium, this month’s Rumpus Book Club selection. The article discusses the contemporaneous crafting of Luminarium with his spiritual evolution, the ups and downs he experienced with The Savage Girl, his last…