In light of Aaron Swartz‘s alleged JSTOR data theft, Maria Bustillos wonders whether his actions even constitute a crime. George Monbiot goes even further, alleging that academic publishers “make Murdoch look like a socialist.”
Theft and Academic Publishing
“From Annihilation to Acceptance”
Recommended reading: Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy, writes for The Atlantic about the "surreal journey" of publishing three novels in one year. Pair with VanderMeer's Millions interview with Richard House.
Takeaway Point
Zadie Smith could write herself out of a Chinese takeout box, and that's exactly what she does in her essay on the differences between British and American takeout culture, "Take It Or Leave It," for The New Yorker. "I don’t think any nation should elevate service to the status of culture."
The Left Coast On Lefties
Southpaws unite! The LA Review of Books takes on left-handedness. Now, someone use this can opener for me.
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A Matter of Survival
In 2002, the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, a Princeton professor and expert in judgement and decision-making, won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his research in behavioral studies. At the LARB, K.C. Cole ties his work to The Fate of Our Species, a new book by Fred Guterl.
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Flame Throwers
"Try to imagine Hemingway telling Fitzgerald, 'My tailor flamed me on Amazon because I panned him on Yelp.'" Author D. Foy wrote a negative review of a tailor on Yelp, so the tailor threatened to pan his forthcoming book, Made to Break, on Amazon.
Urvashi Butalia on Indian Small Presses
Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon founded India’s first feminist publishing house, Kali For Women, in 1984. In 2003, they parted ways to start their own projects: Menon began Women Unlimited; Butalia founded Zubaan Books. Now, in a compressed and edited interview for Mint, Butalia discusses some of the challenges she faces in India’s publishing ecosystem, and also notes, “in my 40 years in publishing, things have never felt as exciting as they are now. It truly seems there are infinite possibilities.”
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