Letters of Note posted an incredible letter from a former slave, and Kottke rounded up some more info he and others uncovered about the letter writer.
The Story Behind the Letter
Even Mighty Harry No Match for the Kindle
Amazon announced this morning that the latest version of the Kindle has surpassed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as its biggest selling product of all time.
Every height of brow
Putting aside for a moment the racist phrenological roots of the terms “highbrow” and “lowbrow,” here’s an interesting conversation on what the difference between them means for literature now. For a historical take, check out this graphic from a 1949 edition of LIFE magazine, which taught me a real gentleman wears fuzzy tweed, and iceberg lettuce is never in style.
Blogging the Caine Prize
The first installment in a series of bloggers reading through the shortlist of the Caine Prize for African Writing, Aaron Bady looks at Rotimi Babutunde’s Bombay Republic [pdf]. A full list of participating bloggers is available at the bottom of Bady’s post.
Exit, Pursued by a Bear
It turns out even a museum exhibit of Shakespeare’s works can make for a dramatic experience. At The Daily Beast, Helen Anders demonstrates that there’s a little bit for everybody at the “Shakespeare in Print and Performance” exhibition at the University of Texas. We’ve brought you a bit on the Bard before.
“Suddenly, a pale fire sprung from his palms.”
Like Game of Thrones? Love reading stories about the Brooklyn literary scene? Well, guess what — the good-humored editors at Full Stop found a way to combine the two.
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