The Gallery of Lost Art is “an online exhibition that tells the stories of artworks that have disappeared,” and my-oh-my is it a doozy of an internet diversion.
The Gallery of Lost Art
Skirmishing With the Eminati
Look out, Darwin -- Wolfe's coming for you. Tom Wolfe's new book, The Kingdom of Speech, which we reviewed a couple of days ago, takes aim at Charles Darwin and Noam Chomsky: "Like an industrial engineer who also makes bespoke dueling pistols in his shed on the weekends, Mr. Wolfe has made a side career of skirmishing with the eminati (his term) in an array of cultural fields. If fighting enlivens one’s mornings, Mr. Wolfe has had little need of caffeine."
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Hitch Hearts Hilary
Hitchens elevates Hilary Mantel to "the very first rank of historical novelists" in a long consideration of Wolf Hall.
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“I Will Ruin Him”
Creative writing teachers ply a hazardous trade. Don’t believe us? Then maybe this frightening tale -- excerpted from an upcoming book, Give Me Everything You Have, which you can read more about in our preview -- will help change your mind.
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The Black Woman Writer
"Women writers and writers of color don’t really have the luxury of being known simply as writers. There’s always a qualification," Roxane Gay writes for The Nation. She ponders what it means to be a "black woman writer" and concludes that we should view diversity as a search for "urgent, unheard stories."
Rote She Wrote
At The NYT Mag, Virginia Heffernan's "Drill, Baby, Drill" explores the possibility that drills and memorization might not be quite as oppressive as some of the kinder, gentler pedagogues of our time suggest and offers a list of aps to help aspiring rote learners (Nota Bene: VerseByHeart).
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Good News
What accounts for the incredible popularity of Chicken Soup for the Soul? The inspirational book series has continually sold well since the first volume was published in 1993. At Slate, Katy Waldman investigates its appeal.
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“Let us not desert one another”
In honor of Jane Austen's recent birthday: five feminist lessons, culled from her body of work.
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