Book Studio‘s Bethanne Patrick‘s Top 10 and, perhaps more interestingly, Bottom 10 Books of the Year. Patrick minces no words on Lethem, Kingsolver, Niffenegger, Moore, and Larsson.
Bethanne Patrick’s Bottom 10 of 2009
Dr. Seuss Museum
We just got a new Dr. Seuss book; now we get a full Dr. Seuss museum, and it’s probably safe to bet it won’t look like just another children’s center.
Dog Days in Tehran
Azadeh Moaveni writes about what it was like to own her dog, named London, in Iran: “Most Turks, like most Iranians, recoiled from dogs as though they were grotesque vermin; only ‘guard’ dogs, charged with protecting humans and their goods, were deemed less offensive, though still repellent.” To Moaveni, it was like cultural rebellion.
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Two Dollar Radio Moving Pictures
Indie press Two Dollar Radio announced today that they’re launching Two Dollar Radio Moving Pictures, a micro-budget film division. They’ll open with three new projects (announcement video here) funded by a newly-opened IndieGoGo campaign. Donors will not only be contributing to a worthwhile venture from one of America’s best small publishers, but they’ll also be in line to receive a heap of sweet perks from the likes of Grace Krilanovich, Karolina Waclawiak, Joshua Mohr, and Scott McClanahan. Bonus: publisher (and Millions contributor) Eric Obenauf spoke with Paul Martone for the Late Night Library podcast.
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The World Begat by the King James
As the King James Bible turns 400 this year, it is perhaps more revered than read. That’s a shame, argue three new books, which contend that its cultural influence and literary merit are unsurpassed in the English language.
Chante, You Stay
Over at the Los Angeles Review of Books, Alexander Stein takes a look at lip-syncing, gender performativity, and the greatest television show ever made, RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“I have a master’s degree in poetry.”
Most actors don’t go on The Tonight Show to promote literature, but leave it to James Franco to be the first to brag about getting his poetry M.F.A. to Jimmy Fallon. He discussed his new book, Directing Herbert White, and his mentor Frank Bidart. For more on the Bidart/Franco friendship, check out our own Janet Potter’s recap of attending an event featuring the two writers.
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Good Fortune is Good Fortune
Our own Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire is almost here. While we wait, read Boris Kachka’s profile of Hallberg for Vulture, about the expectation surrounding his highly anticipated 944-page debut novel and the experience of writing a book that is “unpublishably long.” We’ll be publishing our own illuminating interview with Hallberg on Monday.
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