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.
New York Times Archive
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Belgian Meritocracy
Posted on May 23, 2007 | No CommentsLadies and gentlemen, the storied sport of finch tweeting. (via the avian dialectologists and comparative Belgianists at Language Log) -
Central Arbiter, My Ass
Posted on April 17, 2007 | 1 CommentRobert Brustein: “I realize the changes at the Times are part of its effort to keep financially afloat when the print media are failing to attract enough readers. And yet,... -
It is TLC, Not THC
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “Because of an editing error, a report in the National Briefing column on Wednesday, about a measure passed by the Georgia House to ban the sale... -
Sarah Lyall Summarized
Posted on March 19, 2007 | 4 CommentsLONDON, March 18 — Lionel Shriver has written a new novel, The Post-Birthday World. But you don’t need to know about that, even though the book is one of the... -
Kurt Eichenwald: $2,000 for “Editorial Integrity”
Posted on March 6, 2007 | 4 CommentsRemember that Kurt Eichenwald essay from December? Eichenwald wrote a New York Times Magazine story investigating a 13-year-old boy who was sexually exploited through the Internet. But today’s New York... -
Nike Is NOT, Repeat NOT Sponsoring the New York Times
Posted on November 29, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “A front-page article on Friday about the board-sports gear businesses run by hardcore practitioners misstated the given name of the chief executive of Quiksilver, the largest... -
More Snobbery from the NYT Obituaries Department
Posted on November 20, 2006 | No CommentsAs Locus has observed, this Stanley Meltzoff obit makes no reference of his science fiction contributions. -
Gray Lady Music Critics Are Getting a Little Too Familiar
Posted on November 16, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “A picture caption on Monday with the continuation of a music review of ‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia,’ at the Metropolitan Opera, misstated the given name of... -
New Gray Lady Corrections Policy: No Free Will?
Posted on November 13, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “The article also referred incorrectly to how Mr. Fagles learned Latin and Greek. He did not teach himself while in college; he was taught in courses.”... -
Dave Itzkoff: Firm Champion of White Male Speculative Fiction Authors Everybody Else Has Heard Of
Posted on November 3, 2006 | 1 CommentIt’s bad enough that Sam Tanenhaus feels that Dave Itzkoff’s science fiction column is only worth an appearance once every solstice. (His last column appeared on September 24, six weeks... -
No Brownies for Dwight Garner Either!
Posted on October 20, 2006 | 3 CommentsIn this week’s Inside the List, Dwight Garner remarks upon the Observer’s riff upon the NYTBR list and notes, “One sad and striking thing about this list of beautiful books... -
Maybe This “Garment District” Thing on Bloggers Explains Tanenhaus’s Snobbery
Posted on October 11, 2006 | 1 CommentNew York Observer: “‘It will be so much better when you can just say “Hey” across the table or down the hallway,’ said Mr. Rosenthal. ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to... -
Don’t Undersell It or Anything, Michiko
Posted on October 5, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “The Books of The Times review on Saturday, about ‘State of Denial’ by Bob Woodward, referred imprecisely to the number of American military casualties in the... -
Not Graphic Enough, Keller! And Besides Where Was This on Thursday?
Posted on September 12, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “A front-page article on Thursday about an announcement by President Bush that 14 high-profile terror suspects had been transferred from secret prisons run by the Central... -
A Future for Newspapers?
Posted on September 6, 2006 | No CommentsTimes Reader: More experimenting from the Gray Lady. -
Screw the Hometown — How About a URL, You Elitist Schmucks?
Posted on August 30, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “An article in Weekend on Friday about free online audiobooks of works in the public domain referred incorrectly to Arlene Goldbard, a writer who discussed on... -
Tanenhaus Will Travel Up a Kurtzian River Very Soon
Posted on August 27, 2006 | 1 CommentVanity Fair: “Not only are the people at the Times aware of their new readers’ likely lack of constancy, they’re paranoid about it. In some sense, it’s the central obsession... -
Is an Online Bonanza In Store for the Gray Lady?
Posted on August 22, 2006 | 1 CommentMartin Nisenholtz, the Times senior vice president for digital operations, has a hard-on you wouldn’t believe. Not only is the man gushing more rapidly than a newly hatched guppy (Internet... -
The Gray Lady is Afraid of Bloggers
Posted on August 14, 2006 | 1 CommentWell, this is quite interesting. The New York Times Corrections page is now hidden behind the TimesSelect paid subscriber wall. Is Bill Keller afraid that bloggers will point out the... -
Today in Investigative Journalism: A Widow Who Loves Her Micturating Dogs
Posted on August 9, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times: “No. 4417749 conducted hundreds of searches over a three-month period on topics ranging from ‘numb fingers’ to ’60 single men’ to ‘dog that urinates on everything.’…It did... -
Someone Should Start Paying Attention to What Manohla Dargis is Downloading
Posted on July 31, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “A film review on Wednesday about ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ referred incorrectly to contestants in the fictional children’s beauty pageant of the title. The critic intended to... -
Boy, They Really Are Short-Handed at the Times, Aren’t They?
Posted on July 28, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “The article also erroneously included one person among those who attended a screening of the film in Washington last week. The conservative author Michelle Makin did... -
Gray Lady Deathwatch
Posted on July 24, 2006 | No CommentsEditor and Publisher: “Early last week the Times said it will consolidate production at its newer plant in the College Point section of the city’s borough of Queens, eliminate 240... -
One Step Closer to “Assfuck”
Posted on July 21, 2006 | No CommentsEditor and Publisher: “Three days before it briefly published the word ‘shit’ for the first time ever — and then scrubbed it — The New York Times, whoops, did it... -
Two-Headed Baby? Better Send That Item Through Again, Boys
Posted on July 7, 2006 | 1 CommentNew York Times Corrections: “An article on Wednesday about the phrase “Collyers’ Mansion,” used to refer to a dangerously cluttered dwelling, misstated the authenticity of an artifact found in the... -
Oral About Okrent
Posted on June 19, 2006 | No CommentsIn my career as a litblogger, I was never persuaded that an ombudsman was a good idea. This isn’t because I have any particular beef against ombudsmen. It is simply... -
Visual Tumult and Banner Heckling Doesn’t Count
Posted on June 15, 2006 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “An article on Sunday about commencement speeches around the country referred imprecisely to audience reaction to a speech by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Boston... -
Because If It’s Web ANYTHING, the Times Gets Its Panties in a Bunch
Posted on June 7, 2006 | 2 CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “An article in Business Day yesterday about the introduction of an online spreadsheet program by Google misstated the name of a company acquired by Google that... -
Gray Lady Interview Policy: No Depth Perception?
Posted on May 31, 2006 | No CommentsChip McGrath talks with John Updike. While the results are certainly better than, say, a sycophantic and humorless conversation with Sam Tanenhaus, one reads this Updike interview wondering whether McGrath... -
I Don’t Think Friedman’s Going to Be Happy About This
Posted on May 30, 2006 | 2 CommentsGraphic spotted on the Gray Lady’s website: So after a mere eleven years as a columnist, Dowd’s a classic?