Philip Levine is the current US Poet Laureate, and that’s great, but wouldn’t we all rather live in this alternate world fashioned by The Onion?
“The truth of poetry is not the truth of history”
The Crisis of the Canon
“I don’t start with disorder; I start with the tradition. If you’re not trained in the tradition, then deconstruction means nothing.” On Derrida, Foucault, and the deconstructionist defense of the canon.
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December Stories
Recommended Reading: The fall issue of December is out, featuring works by Grace Cavalieri, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Marge Piercy, and our own Michael Bourne.
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Bad Sex Awards 2012
Tom Wolfe has a chance to defend (er, ward off?) his 2004 “Bad Sex Award” following Literary Review‘s decision to nominate him for this year’s top honors (er, dishonors?). The UK publication has tapped Back to Blood and seven others for this year’s shortlist — and, despite popular demand, they managed to spare J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy. For some revealing passages from Wolfe’s book, check out my review.
Retrofitted
Ever wondered exactly what “mod” is? A new book by Richard Weight (reviewed in The Guardian yesterday) sets out to answer that question.
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Cain’s Campaign Cash
Bloomberg and Talking Points Memo raise questions about Herman Cain’s practice of using campaign funds to buy his own book, This is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House, from a motivational speaking company that he runs. (via)
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