- I think “quirky leftist novelist” is a poor summation of Vonnegut’s achievements. I’ve seen better usage of adjectives on OKCupid. (And, apparently, this isn’t the only egregious recontextualizing.)
- Yann Martel is starting a book club, hoping that the Prime Minister will bite. Martel received a “mostly indifferent” reception from the House of Commons when he appeared to champion funding for the Canada Council of Arts. Then again, perhaps the suits were grumbling about extending $170 million in funding for those damn Bohemians who dared to sully the halls of Ottawa. (And compare this with the NEA’s $139.4 million, a budgetary boost that is one good thing you can apply to the Bush administration, although it’s not nearly enough.)
- Michael Ondaatje lists his five most important books.
- Who knew that Pleasanton had a poet laureate? Presumably, we’ll be seeing more sestinas for strip malls and 7-11s.
- AM New York: “The critical savagery could be written off as a prudish reaction to a book that is more than a tad pornographic. Or it could be the result of Mosley’s own missteps — a dirty book, after all, is a very delicate proposition, and not always easy to take seriously.” Or it could be that the United States needs a Bad Sex Award and this is the only way the literary community can take badly written sex scenes to task.
- Joyce Carol Oates on one of my favorite childhood authors, Roald Dahl.
- John Freeman speaks! (via Critical Mass)
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s excellent novel, The Wizard of the Crow, has won a California Book Award. (via Mark)
- There’s now a Dickens theme park about to open up in Kent. What I like best about this park is the unique day care facility. You can drop your kids off for the day, where numerous “Fagins” will ensure that your kid is locked in a room and fed nothing but gruel. There, your child will learn the ways of the streets, sneaking out to pick the pockets of unsuspecting tourists and engaging in a progressive education with a teenage instructor named Nancy. This is the kind of approach that instills character in today’s youth. And I must salute these developers for not stooping to cheap Disney-style theatrics, recreating every facet of Dickens without fear of public rebuke. (via Jenny D)
- Jason Silverman on the “sci fi” label. (via Locus)
- Lionel Shriver on Rupert Thomson. (via Rarely Likable)
- BLCKDGRD has an interesting entry comparing the n+1/litblogs war with Don Imus. (via Dan Green)
- In celebration of National Poetry Month, the good Prof Fury digs up a Jack Butler poem.
- The Virginia Tech massacre hits the speculative fiction community.
- There are thirty-two cameras within 200 yards of Orwell’s former home in London. (via Jeff)
- Shakespeare’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (via Silliman)
- Ed Norton as Bruce Banner? This does not augur well. (via My Nemesis)
- Sam Raimi helming The Hobbit? Now, that can work. (via Ghost in the Machine)
- Here in San Francisco, MUNI has certainly been sucking. Last night, I waited forty-five minutes for my bus and then gave up and took the N Judah home. The mornings have been almost as bad. Charlie Anders outlines some probable causes. But this is inexcusable.
- Romance enthusiasts vs. Yale students. Get the popcorn.
- Henry Kisor has a novel in the works.
- Nicki Leone’s home library. I particularly like the bookshelves in the drum room. (via Pages Turned)
- Why Richard Flanagan wrote The Unknown Terrorist. (via Happy Antipodean)
- Callie tries to make sense of the Jodi Picoult madness.
- And if I see a flight attendant photo better than this one this year, I’ll certainly be surprised.
© 2007, Edward Champion. All rights reserved.
