Jay Rubin, who spent a year and a half translating the first two books of Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84, has some interesting things to say about the prolific author.
Murakami’s Translator
Going Rogue: The Unauthorized Index
Slate corrects an oversight to Sarah Palin’s otherwise impeccably edited memoir: no index. Theirs runs from “Alaska, autumn bouquet of” (page 1) to “‘you betcha’ – revelation of as not actually Alaska’s state motto” (page 309), and includes such helpful detours as “exclamation point, usage of” (pages 4, 26, 120, 121, 122, 138, 150…) You almost – almost – don’t have to read the book.
The First Perec
On the rediscovery of Georges Perec‘s first novel, Portrait of a Man Known as Il Condottiere, a book “connected by a hundred threads to every part of the literary universe that Perec went on to create—but not like anything else that he wrote,” from the New York Review of Books.
What Do Essay Prompts Mean to You?
You may have heard that Tufts University’s latest application forms use the term YOLO in one of their essay prompts. Herewith, a few more essay prompts, courtesy of Stacy Brook at The Hairpin.
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Can’t we just go with “grey” already?
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This is the way the film ends
Blasphemy Alert: They’re giving the film version of August: Osage County a “less downbeat” ending. Curse you, Harvey Weinstein! Is nothing sacred? Can a woman not lament the disintegration of her life, family, and mental stability while the final lines to T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” are read by her housekeeper? Has America gone soft?
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Utne Reader Controversy
The Utne Reader offices are moving from Minneapolis to Topeka, and the magazine’s not taking any current employees with it.