In 1929 readers ventured that John Galsworthy was the author most likely to be read in 100 years. Why were they so wrong?
Unpredictable Prestige
Weird: France & Belgium
Recommended recommendations: Weird Fiction Review has compiled a list of notable “weird” French and Belgian writers.
On Tour
Noah Charney writes for The Atlantic in defense of book tours, which “mostly entail maneuvering to get on radio shows or TV programs, and less glamorous elements, like attending bookstore readings where hardly anyone shows up.”
Tuesday New Release Day: Tosches, Saramago, Maurois, Buarque, Light
Out today are Me and the Devil by Nick Tosches; Raised from the Ground by Jose Saramago; Climates, a newly translated novel from 1928 by French writer Andre Maurois; Spilt Milk by Brazilian writer Chico Buarque; and Alan Light’s The Holy or the Broken about a Leonard Cohen song that Jeff Buckley made famous.
“I’m The King of the World!”
David Foster Wallace wrote the best bitter takedown (PDF) of the cruise ship industry ever, but he only had to endure a 7-night vacation. Imagine his horror, then, if he had been forced to spend significant time on The World, a $20,000+/month ship that continuously circumnavigates the world and has permanent passengers in its 165 private residences. For a more detailed glimpse at life on board the ship, check out Anthony Bourdain’s Gourmet piece on his 2003 visit.
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Say That Again?
Duncan Murrell has a new essay up on the Harper’s Magazine blog about how difficult it is for journalists to speak to their sources through interpreters. “I became concerned that my interpreters were not delivering my words in the way I delivered them and in precisely the way I meant them,” he writes.
Finished or Completed?
Recommended Reading: This long look at “Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible,” an exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art which explores the difference between completing and finishing an artwork.
Moonstruck
Margaret Wise Brown was nothing if not an interesting figure. The Goodnight Moon author, whose life is the subject of a new biography, loved hunting, partying and staging stunts, among them founding a club that claimed they could reschedule Christmas. She kept homes in Greenwich Village and a tiny island off Maine. At Slate, Laura Miller reads the new book by Amy Gary. You could also read our own Jacob Lambert’s critical review of kid’s picture books.
The Renowned Dan Brown
“Renowned author Dan Brown got out of his luxurious four-poster bed in his expensive $10 million house and paced the bedroom, using the feet located at the ends of his two legs to propel him forwards.”
Because it isn’t yet 2029?