Vanity Fair remembers Christopher Hitchens, a favorite of ours who was always fun to root for, and who, as you’ve no doubt heard by now, died last night. Andrew Sullivan remembers an email exchange from happier times. Hitchens’ ebook from this year, The Enemy, is in our Hall of Fame, and we reviewed his memoir, Hitch-22, last year.
We’ll Miss Hitch
Poetry and Science Fiction Recommendations
Teddy Roosevelt could read an entire book before breakfast. Kim Peek (Rain Man) could read two pages of text simultaneously. Perhaps by using some combination of both techniques, you’ve managed to make your way through our entire Great 2013 Book Preview. Or perhaps you’re just looking for some poetry and science fiction recommendations. Well, either way Mark Sanderson and China Miéville have you covered, respectively.
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They’re Watching
Collusion, a new add-in for Firefox browsers, “allows you to see all the third parties that are tracking your movements across the Web.” Of course, who’s tracking you online is one thing, but who’s tracking you in retail stores is quite another.
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Colors: Definitions and Names
Kory Stamper, one of the lexicographers responsible for Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, describes the pleasures and poetry to be found in the Third Edition’s “color definitions.” Take vermillion for example, which is listed as “a variable color averaging a vivid reddish orange that is redder, darker, and slightly stronger than chrome orange, redder and darker than golden poppy, and redder and lighter than international orange.” (Related: how colors got their names; who names colors what.)
Let There Be
“LET THERE BE stress. Let the body respond to stress as it does to injury and infection. Let stress be a vulture that pecks at the mind and devours the body. This will make people less likely to be stressed. When they see stress wreak wrath upon the body, they will surely calm down a lot.” It seems the big problem with intelligent design is that it had a pretty sub-par peer review.
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Dear Reader, You are reading
Gawker’s Adrian Chen has uncovered the man who is ultimately behind @Horse_ebooks. If you’re unfamiliar with the constant stream of found poetry that is @Horse_ebooks, you may want to start with this Splitsider essay, which includes a cameo from John Darnielle.
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Disgrace
Do you think J.M. Coetzee‘s Disgrace should be made into a movie starring John Malkovich? Someone does–see the trailer here.