Japanese director Satoshi Kon died last Tuesday at the age of 46. His last words, a rambling text that his family uploaded to the Internet following his death, have just been translated to English: “Everyone, thank you for all the truly great memories. I loved the world I lived in.”
Last words
The Stalker and the Nightgown
“Because I now know that the man who had come to the door was my mother’s stalker, I’ve injected the memory of his arrival at my childhood home with more detail than I actually possess.” From Catapult, the latest installment of “After a Fashion,” writer Esmé Weijun Wang’s monthly column examining articles of clothing she owns and the stories behind them. Consider also our review of Women In Clothes, an anthology resulting from the collaboration of authors Sheila Heti and Heidi Julavits.
On Children’s Lit
They call it an accident, a catastrophe. But it was a war.
n+1 publishes a chilling personal account of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as the crisis mounts at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Pirate King
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom’s capture was widely publicized last month, but this Business Week profile of the man’s ascent to “Pirate King” makes for a super entertaining (and informative) read.
“while the pages of Romeo and Juliet have been nearly worn to shreds, King John has been left virtually intact.”
Oxford University’s Bodleian Library is working to make the first edition of Shakespeare’s collected works, published in 1623 and carrying the physical wear and tear of 17th century readers, online for free.
Tuesday New Release Day: Wright, Santoro, Black
Lawrence Wright’s exposé of Scientology, Going Clear, is out today. Also out are The Boy by Lara Santoro and debut novel The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black. Our recently published Most Anticipated books of 2013 has much more about what’s still to come this year.
But where’s the magic?
So JK Rowling‘s first book for adults is scheduled for release in September. The Casual Vacancy will be a “blackly comic” novel about an idyllic English parish’s… civic politics?
The Guardian’s Books of the Year
The Guardian‘s Books of the Year feature should get you warmed up for our forthcoming Year In Reading series. We’ve wrangled together some great names this year. You can whet your appetite with our 2010 installment.