In 1969, Random House’s Book of the Month Club offered members an edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland illustrated by Salvador Dalí. (You can view the full collection here.) Forty-three years later, the publisher had a mail delivery experience that was almost equally surreal.
Truly A Random House
Writing Blind
James Tate Hill shares his experiences as a writer who cannot read. “When I say I can’t read, I’m not referring to illiteracy, but to the large blind spots in my central field of vision that put an end to my unremarkable driving career a few months after my 16th birthday.”
●
●
Apple’s E-Book Number
The New York Times explains why, despite Steve Jobs’ assertion yesterday, Apple’s iPad is most definitely not responsible for 22% of e-book sales since the iPad came out.
●
●
(n)
Try to define the word “poetry” and you’ll quickly find yourself in a maze of contradictions. It refers, most obviously, to printed verse, but it can also refer to especially lyrical prose, among other things. At The Paris Review Daily, Damian Searls uses etymology to get some answers. Related: Kate Angus on loving poetry but not poetry books.
●
●
Zooey Deschanel on New Girl
Every Wednesday, Vanity Fair bloggers dissect Zooey Deschanel’s performance on New Girl and quantify each quirk as “adorkable” or “tweepulsive.”
●
●
A Deliberate Strategy
At The Rumpus, Catherine Brady interviews Daniel Alarcón, who recently came out with a new novel. Alarcón talks about his love of Roberto Bolaño and the paradox of writing about prison, among other things. (You could also read Jeff Peer’s review of the author’s new book.)
●
●