Posts Tagged: Wall Street Journal

Periphery: Exploring Bombs, Boundaries, and Family History

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Have you ever seen a feathery shadow at the edge of your eye? Was it a figure? Did it cross into your vision, like a hummingbird there and gone?

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The Rumpus Review of The Big Short

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My reading of the audience’s reaction to the bombast of The Big Short is not that people genuinely find the story amusing, but rather, that we are experiencing discomfort while simultaneously expecting to be entertained.

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The Million-Dollar Debut

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While most debut novelists are seeing advances shrink, a handful of authors are seeing the reverse: million-dollar paydays. Consider Garth Risk Hallberg‘s City on Fire, released earlier this year. The 900-plus-page book earned a $2m advance. The novel will have to sell more then 300,000 copies to earn back the money. The Wall Street Journal […]

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The Rumpus Interview with Erik Larson

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Bestselling author Erik Larson talks about his new book, Dead Wake, his transition from journalism to history, and what, in his opinion, makes a first-rate nonfiction novel.

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A Wrinkle in the Wrinkle

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The Wall Street Journal has an article that questions the traditional interpretations of A Wrinkle in Time: Ms. Voiklis said she wanted readers to know the book wasn’t a simple allegory of communism. Instead, it’s about the risk of any country—including a democracy—placing too much value on security. The tension between safety and personal freedom […]

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Word of the Day: Esemplasy

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(n.); unification; to make into one; the unifying power of imagination; accredited to Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) “Austen is far from superficial … Her books are intimate and compelling. She has a voice that somehow seems to chime even with a modern sensibility. She is, in essence, timeless.” –Alexander McCaul Smith, from “The Secret of […]

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Robots Take Over the Library

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In the first step of what will undoubtedly be the robot uprising, two robots will be joining the staff of the Westport, Connecticut library. The robots will primarily assist in teaching coding, but they’re also programmed to recognize faces, practice tai chi, and kick soccer balls. The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

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The 24 Amtrak Residents

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Earlier this year, Alexander Chee tweeted about his enjoyment of writing on trains. Amtrak jumped aboard and decided to launch an Amtrak residency program granting writers free, multi-day train rides where they could write. Amtrak has announced the first 24 recipients of the residency. The Wall Street Journal sums up the program: The writers will […]

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Read Slowly, Read Better

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Reading is healthy, but not all reading is created equally. Advocates of slow reading suggest that dedicated periods of thirty to forty-five minutes away from other distractions can lower stress and maximize reading benefits. And reading online content just isn’t as beneficial as reading in distraction-free environments: One 2006 study of the eye movements of […]

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Tehran Taxi Library

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A taxi driving husband-and-wife team converted their cab into a library with more than 40 titles, reports The Wall Street Journal. Mehdi Yazdany and Sarvenaz Heraner sell about 30 books a day, but also give away books to passengers who don’t have the money to pay. Iran’s international disputes have hurt Tehran’s economy in recent […]

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Letter Play

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“The challenge is simple: Create an image from a word, using only the letters contained in the word itself—and using only the shapes of the letters, without adding extra parts.” Facebook creative director Ji Lee has released a new collection, titled Word as Image. Here’s a sampling of his creations, along with some tips for […]

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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #46: Dane Golden in Conversation with Alan Paul

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Beijing was changing under his feet, and expatriate Alan Paul was changing, too. A transplanted suburban dad, he was a “trailing spouse” who followed his wife on her promotion and relocation from New Jersey to Beijing. A writer used to watching the kids while working for Guitar Magazine and Slam, the leisure of overseas domestic […]

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Lucky Peach Y’all

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McSweeney’s and David Chang’s new hunger-inducing venture, Lucky Peach, is out now. Check out the McSweeney’s attention in the Wall Street Journal. The first issue is ramen-themed. Being that there’s some sort of transitive property of common interest among those who like food, indie publishing and technology—Lucky Peach will also come in the form of […]

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A Necessarily Incomplete But Hopefully Helpful List That Proves The Slush Pile Has a Pulse

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A couple of weeks ago, I ranted against a Wall Street Journal article that proclaimed “The Slush Pile is Dead.” The slush pile, for those who are unfamiliar, is the name for the large amount of unsolicited writing that’s submitted for publication to magazines and web sites. Part of the reason for my reaction to […]

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Breaking: Writers Are Eccentric And Enjoy Bathtubs, Charts

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The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed a bunch of writers to see how they do it. Of course, they called it “How to Write a Great Novel,” but I’m not sure if trying to copy exactly what these writers do is really recommended. It’s fun, though, in a voyeuristic sort of way. Here’s a few […]

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Saturday Morning Links

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Just in time for your next dinner party: mermaids are considered halal. In case you were wondering. Here’s a really cool museum idea: 80 years of patent models. The Wall Street Journal reminds us why R. L. Burnside matters. Didn’t know they had it in them. Why do cars look like douchebags? The human kind, […]

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Rediscovering the Forgotten

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The drive to digitize ancient manuscripts is growing quickly, and in the process, scholars are discovering works they never realized they had. The current technology is good enough that scholars can make sense of scrolls too delicate to be unrolled, charred or blackened by fire, or painted over. Among the discoveries are “never-before-seen versions of […]

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