Attention Sassy and Jane fans: Infant savant/fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson and Jane Pratt (founder of Sassy and Jane) are starting a new magazine. The publication’s a bit of a mystery right now (no name or website yet), but if you want to be notified when the project launches, click here to get on the e-mail list.
Jane Pratt & Tavi Gevinson’s New Rag
What’s a Literary Short Film?
Book trailers are one thing, but what’s a literary short film? According to Red 14 founders Adam Cushman and Mike Sandow, “it's not advertising a product; it gives a cinematic glimpse into the book, one which will ideally make the viewer interested in learning more about the author, the author's current book, and the author's past and future work.” Together, the pair has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund four such films about four worthy titles (Matt Bell’s awesome debut novel among them).
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Words, Quantitatively
Google has just released a tool that lets you see how frequently certain words have appeared in the millions of books from all eras that Google has scanned. It's pretty neat. Here are some presidents, technologies, and the meaning of life.
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“A life spent at one’s desk is a life spent alone.”
Recommended Viewing: Charlie Rose sits down with Donna Tartt for the author's only American television interview since releasing her latest novel, The Goldfinch. (Related: Adam Dalva fears that Tartt may have been "following me around with her notebook in hand for the last 14 years.”)
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Introducing Flannery O’Connor
Adrian Van Young at Electric Literature has compiled a reading primer for the works of Flannery O’Connor. Pair with Nick Rapatrazone’s Millions essay on teaching and learning from “the greatest American writer ever to load up a typewriter.”
Bookshelves Ten Feet High
Chances are you've bragged about the size of your library. The number of books you own is a point of pride for many readers. But at what point does collecting books -- which few people would say is a bad thing-- turn into a problem? At what point, in other words, does it become hoarding? Pair with: Rebecca Rego-Barry on hunting for rare books at college library book sales.
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Just Another Award
“Four years after first announcing the decision to open the prize to Americans, the Booker is virtually indistinguishable from its competitors. It is exactly what many feared it would become: corporate and daft.” Alex Shephard writing for The New Republic about why the Man Booker Prize isn't interesting anymore. Still, should you want to know who's shortlisted this year, here's our roundup.