Who Knew That Typing "Noooooooooo!!!!!!" Was So Stressful?

Who Knew That Typing “Noooooooooo!!!!!!” Was So Stressful?

Matthew Stover, author of the Revenge of the Sith novelization: “I was shaking, and I practically burst into tears — but that probably had a…

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Is This What They Mean by Gray Lady?

Is This What They Mean by Gray Lady?

Most Hilarious. NYT Correction. Ever.

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This Week in the New Yorker

This Week in the New Yorker

A new story from Alice Munro.

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Never Write Blog Posts

Never Write Blog Posts

Not the public variety. The ones where you utter foolish statements ragging on people close to you and broadcast it to the public at large….

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2005 -- The Year of the Bad Boys

2005 — The Year of the Bad Boys

Banville, Vollmann and now…Gilbert Sorrentino winning the Lannan Literary Lifetime Achievement Award. If 2005 isn’t the year for literary underdogs, I don’t know what is….

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Perhaps It's Because Today's Films Need More Dancing

Perhaps It’s Because Today’s Films Need More Dancing

James Tata says that Catherine Hardwicke’s Lords of Dogtown is well worth seeing. But more intriguingly, there is this description: “There is a scene where…

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Indie Bookstores:  Not Unlike a Bedside Manner

Indie Bookstores: Not Unlike a Bedside Manner

Bookdwarf, who is apparently more quick on the draw with my hometown newspaper than I am, points to this interesting claim by A Clean Well-Lighted…

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It's Good to Be a Schizophrenic Artist

It’s Good to Be a Schizophrenic Artist

The Guardian: “A survey comparing mental health and the number of sexual partners among the general population, artists and schizophrenics found that artists are more…

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Get Rich or Die Writin'

Get Rich or Die Writin’

New York Times: “Now the rapper and actor 50 Cent, in conjunction with MTV, has announced the start of his own publishing imprint, G-Unit Books,…

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Lies, Damned Lies and Freakanomics

Lies, Damned Lies and Freakanomics

Freakanomics. Like every sophisticated American looking for a conversational entry point at a cocktail party, you’ve read it and been astounded by the conclusions. Yes…

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DFW/Moody

DFW/Moody

On Monday night, I attended the David Foster Wallace/Rick Moody reading at the Herbst Theatre. But I do not offer a report here, predominantly because…

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Television is Unprofitable

Television is Unprofitable

The pictures tell the story.

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Brevity is the Soul of Litcrit

Brevity is the Soul of Litcrit

The Ten Word Literary Supplement (via Jenny D) [UPDATE: And speaking of helpful abridgements, the immortal Jimmy Beck has digested the Bad Sex nominees.]

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You Don't Need Game Theory to Unearth the Real Answers

You Don’t Need Game Theory to Unearth the Real Answers

In light of newfound mathetmatical formulas unearthed by certain folks, we offer the following easy-to-understand corollary: β = (L – P) X 500,000 Where L…

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Another Day, Another Childhood Icon Gone

Another Day, Another Childhood Icon Gone

RIP Stan Berenstain (via Galleycat)

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Ethical Nightmares from Tanenhaus's Dream Factory

Ethical Nightmares from Tanenhaus’s Dream Factory

Sam Tanenhaus apparently has no problem violating the New York Times’ Ethical Journalism Guidebook. So opines Ariana Huffington, who notes that assigning Kathryn Harrison, who…

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Movin' On Up

Movin’ On Up

2004: San Francisco is the 10th most literate city. 2005: San Francisco is the 5th most literate city. New York City, the publishing capital of…

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Bad Sex Award Longlist

Bad Sex Award Longlist

The Bad Sex Award longlist has been announced. And it looks like John Updike, ever the fey pervert, has finally made it into the mix….

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More Literary Networks

More Literary Networks

The ever-resourceful Bud Parr has launched MetaxuCafe.

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End of the Year Fiction Lists

End of the Year Fiction Lists

It’s not even December yet, but the fiction lists keep rolling on. For the record, we won’t reveal our lists until the end of the…

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Vollmann Gets the Critical Treatment

Vollmann Gets the Critical Treatment

Several people have emailed me this Michael Wood NYRB article on Vollmann. But since Mr. Esposito was first, he gets the prize. Good readin’, yo.

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But He Doesn't Look Anything Like Campbell Scott

But He Doesn’t Look Anything Like Campbell Scott

Harper’s has named a new editor. His name is Roger D. Hodge. He is 38 and was once turned down as an intern, only to…

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The Goldberg Variations

The Goldberg Variations

I have been informed that the Goldberg Brothers have taken Pinky’s Paperhaus by storm!

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Notes on Vegas

Notes on Vegas

The fundamental difference between Las Vegas and Reno is that, in Vegas, people disguise their loneliness through lust. In Reno, people are merely lonely. Which…

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More Random Observations

More Random Observations

1. The people in Riverside gather together for an annual ceremony that essentially involves some random guy hitting a light switch. That and a few…

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Next Up: Dr. Seuss's "The Gender-Neutral Cat in the Hat"

Next Up: Dr. Seuss’s “The Gender-Neutral Cat in the Hat”

As a kid grew up reading Richard Scarry, I find this PC revisionism offensive and utterly outrageous. (via MeFi)

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While There's Still Battery Power Left!

While There’s Still Battery Power Left!

Chapters Bookstore is in trouble and the Happy Booker (and several authors) are on the case. There’s apparently another book named White Teeth. Harry Potter?…

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A Few Random Observations on Reno

A Few Random Observations on Reno

I am a bit thrown back by the question: “Smoking or nonsmoking.” The Cal-Neva casino has the following message on its marquee: “Dog and draft:…

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Notes from a Reno Blackjack Table

Notes from a Reno Blackjack Table

I put a Jackson on the blackjack table. It is a $3 table, but I play $5 hands so as not to be completely declasse….

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All Signs Point to Lunatic

All Signs Point to Lunatic

The Cool as Hell Theatre Podcast talks with a man named “Rex Reginald” who claims to be the author of a book called The Party…

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