Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.
Censorship Archive
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Frank Zappa on Crossfire
Posted on December 30, 2005 | No CommentsHilarious. -
Next Up: Dr. Seuss’s “The Gender-Neutral Cat in the Hat”
Posted on November 25, 2005 | 1 CommentAs a kid grew up reading Richard Scarry, I find this PC revisionism offensive and utterly outrageous. (via MeFi) -
Okay, Cigarettes Are Evil, But This is Getting Ridiculous
Posted on November 17, 2005 | 3 CommentsEXHIBIT A: Clement Hurd author photo retouched. “HarperCollins said it made the change to avoid the appearance of encouraging smoking and did so with the permission of the illustrator’s estate.... -
Next on NPR: George Bush Lecturing About Responsibility
Posted on September 14, 2005 | No CommentsGarrison Keillor: “This summer, a radio station canceled a radio show of mine because I read a poem that used the word ‘breast.’” [Various sanctimonious words.] This summer, Garrison Keillor... -
When You’re a Fink, You’re a Fink All the Way
Posted on September 13, 2005 | No CommentsIf you have a Yahoo email account and you eventually find yourself writing about something that might be considered inexplicably dangerous (if not now, then perhaps in the not-too-distant future),... -
The Christian Science Monitor: A History of E****** — First Draft
Posted on September 13, 2005 | No CommentsSome scholars have suggested that it all began with a 1749 novel written by John Cleland. The novel’s title was composed of two words: The first being a slightly naughty... -
Even Penguins Can’t Placate Their Fear
Posted on August 25, 2005 | No CommentsBerkeley Breathed on Opus strips devoted to reporting: “Yes, and they weren’t appreciated by my clients a year ago. It’s a different time than it was in my prime years,... -
Always. Be. Listening.
Posted on August 25, 2005 | No CommentsWe’re in meetings most of the day, but in the meantime: To paraphrase Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross: “The States are weak?” Fucking States are weak? You’re weak. I’ve... -
Disagree With a Politician and You’re a “Security Threat” — Even When You’re a Minor
Posted on August 23, 2005 | No CommentsCommon Dreams reports on a very disturbing incident that occurred at a Delaware Barnes & Noble (as more specifically reported here). Eighteen year-old Hannah Shaffer saw that Senator Rick Santorum... -
Pero, Piense en Los Niños!
Posted on August 15, 2005 | No CommentsOur Rocky Mountain pal and colleague has the scoop on the campaign to divest Denver’s libraries of racy fotonovelas. After having removed 6,000 of these “tawdry” books, a full review... -
Photographic Protest
Posted on February 18, 2005 | 2 CommentsSo freelance photographer Steve Malik was taking some photos of MUNI Metro. Suddenly, a hodgepodge of fuzz came and tried to arrest him. But get this: there’s no statute in... -
It’s Good to Be Right When You Have 500 Imaginary Parents Backing You Up
Posted on February 17, 2005 | No CommentsOne thing that always amuses me about reactionary revisionists, aside from the fact that, on the whole, they have no sense of humor and rarely appreciate the finer joys of... -
Did the Van Man Wear Ray Bans?
Posted on January 21, 2004 | No CommentsRonald Jordan, known as the White Van Man, stole tens of thousands of Lonely Planet guides and hawked them on the street with help of a few shadowy vendors. But... -
Bright Lights, Big Menu
Posted on January 13, 2004 | 1 CommentI was going to pull some second-person take on Jay McInerney as New York Times restaurant critic. But, dammit, Liz Spiers beat me to it. Kate DiCamillo has won the... -
The Cincinnati Enquirer is a Purveyor of Filth
Posted on January 9, 2004 | 1 CommentCincinnati Enquirer: “And for those outraged that the low-rated Doonesbury survived while Boondocks didn’t, we made the decision to drop Boondocks because we did not want to keep publishing a... -
I Love You Too, Irvine (Sort Of)
Posted on January 8, 2004 | No CommentsTo his supreme credit, Alexander McCall Smith claims that his remarks about Irvine Welsh have been “misinterpreted.” Welsh’s status has been downgraded to “a partially indecent hooligan whom I’ll never... -
Bonfires of the Vanities
Posted on January 7, 2004 | No CommentsDemonstrating to the world that nihilism begins in India, a mob has destroyed 30,000 ancient manuscripts because Oxford University Press spilled the beans about a Hindu king’s parents. Strangely, a... -
Shorties
Posted on January 7, 2004 | No CommentsAnd the Whitbread goes to Mark Haddon’s The Very, Very Curious Incident of the Dog Who Was Let Out by the Baja Men in the Morning, Afternoon and Night Shortly... -
Memo to Writers: Please Stop Dying!
Posted on January 5, 2004 | No CommentsWriter Roy Clarke has been kicked out of Zambia. The cause? Calling President Levy Mwanawasa a “foolish elephant” and two ministers “baboons.” Apparently, Fleet Street tactics don’t get you far... -
Heft, Hate, Outlines and Vanity
Posted on December 14, 2003 | 2 CommentsLooks like Vollman’s got competition. Muhammad Ali’s definitive life story weighs 75 pounds, runs 800 pages, costs £2,000, and includes over 3,000 photographs. The mammoth bio, however, is a team...