On the occasion of its first anniversary, The Second Pass founder John Williams gets interviewed by VQR. “I realize I’m not making a convincing case for the Luddite thing. You’ll just have to trust me.”
The Second Pass Interviewed
Romeo and Juliet Redux
Considering the sheer volume of references in the cultural air, you probably believe you have a pretty good grasp of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. To this I say, hold up there, Straw Man Reader — Ye Olde Romance That Could has more to it than you think.
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Who Wrote It First
Nabokov fans, brace yourselves! Nabokov scholar Michael Maar accuses the author of stealing the premise of Lolita from another writer. Pair with this Millions essay about designing the cover of the book.
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Library Extension
A simple web browser extension will tell you if the book you’re reading about online is available at your local library. Currently a Chrome version is available, and Firefox is on the way.
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Twenty Years of Jest
Recommended Reading: Tom Bissell reflects on David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest twenty years after its publication. You could also read our review of The David Foster Wallace Reader.
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What do Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson, and Abu Ghraib have in common?
Picador’s digital marketing team put together a playful web series for Wayne Koestenbaum‘s Humiliation. John Waters has called the book “the funniest, smartest, most heartbreaking yet powerful book I’ve read in a long time.”
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Addicted to Love
“Homer understood in the 8th century BCE what modernity has yet to accept—love can be an addiction, and when it is, we need substantial outside help.” Angela Chen writes for Aeon about finding a cure for desire.
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