Have you Yanks seen BBC‘s 6-episode series cum feature film The Trip? If not, your interest will be piqued by this clip of the show’s main characters doing their best Michael Caine impressions. It’s on Netflix if you’re into laughter, merriment, and that sort of thing.
“When it gets loudly, IT GETS VERY LOUD INDEED”
Why Reading
“Unlike, say, skimming a page of headlines, reading a book (of any genre) forces your brain to think critically and make connections from one chapter to another, and to the outside world. When you make connections, so does your brain, literally forging new pathways between regions in all four lobes and both hemispheres. Over time, these neural networks can promote quicker thinking and may provide a greater defense against the worst effects of cognitive decay.” Readers Digest compiles the latest research about why you should read (via Book Riot).
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“His choice solidifies the role of the artist or poet in his/her city.”
Katie Smither explains the recent hullabaloo over poet CAConrad's ejection from the Philadelphia Magazine offices. The poet even appears in the article's comments to explain his side of the events.
Chimamanda: One of the Greats
If you haven't had a chance to finish perusing the New York Times Style Magazine's 'The Greats' issue make sure you at least find the time to read Dave Eggers profile of Year in Reading alum Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She is on one of their seven covers and if you've ever wanted to know about her family and what kind of reading she wants to do more of, this is the interview for you. "'That boy,” she said, and sighed. She was still thinking about Edwyn. 'There was something so clean and pure and true about his writing, don’t you think? Increasingly I find that that’s the kind of thing I want to read.'"
The perils of befriending your heros.
David Bezmozgis's beautiful and painful essay on befriending his literary hero, Leonard Michaels.
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Trethewey’s Inaugural Reading
Natasha Trethewey will give her inaugural reading as the U.S. Poet Laureate tonight at the Library of Congress. The event is free and open to the public, and some of Trethewey’s work can be found here, here, and here.
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The Young Library
One downside to being an internationally acclaimed author is that people care an awful lot about digging into your past. Haruki Murakami has found this out the hard way, as a librarian from Kobe High School (which Murakami attended during his younger years) has made public a list of books checked out by then-budding author. For more “Murakami meets library,” here’s a review of his own The Strange Library.
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Lay Down Your Arms
Growing up, I was always taught that chickens lay eggs and people lie down. Since then, I’ve always been irritated by that verb’s misuse. But maybe it’s time to settle down and relax. Maybe, as Kathryn D. Blanchard argues, it’s time to stop “clinging to values that no longer serve their purposes.”
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Tuesday New Release Day: Haruf, Bakker, Moss, Peach, Prospectus
New in fiction this week: Benediction by Kent Haruf and Ten White Geese by past IMPAC winner Gerbrand Bakker. In non-fiction: Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Michael Moss's food industry exposé excerpted in the recent Times Magazine. From the other side of the food spectrum is Issue 6 of Lucky Peach. And it's a big day for baseball fans: the 2013 Baseball Prospectus is here.