At the Telegraph, Sir Tom Stoppard briefly explains his desire to be killed by a falling bookcase.
Death by Bookcase
Sick Burns
Daily Show writer Daniel Radosh was asked by his son’s school to sign a permission slip in order to read Ray Bradbury‘s Fahrenheit 451. Hilarity ensued. Also: remember that time a bunch of parents tried to censor The Lorax?
Body Works
Alexandra Kleeman’s debut novel includes, among other discomfiting things, a series of fake advertisements for surreal women’s beauty products. The plot, which follows a proofreader named A, begins with the main character’s attempt to evade her roommate, and eventually brings A to join a “Church of Conjoined Eaters.” At Slate, Molly Fischer argues the book deftly captures our society’s weird treatment of femininity.
●
●
“There is so much life in cemeteries.”
Recommended Reading: “There Goes Valzer,” a new short story by László Krasznahorkai. (Translated by George Szirtes.)
●
●
Even More DFW
In honor of this weekend’s U.S. Open, Grantland‘s Michael MacCambridge is revisiting David Foster Wallace‘s epic essay on Roger Federer.
●
●
Short Stories for Sale
“Hunger is the beginning”
“Desire is transformative, and transgressive: whether it’s an unpeeled onion or a noble lover, to want something, especially for women, can never be entirely benign.” Kristiana Willsey writes about folktales, fairy godmothers, childless queens and hunger in a piece for The Toast.
●
●