Jesse Bering on his incredibly inelegant first time writing about sex. Cf. his most recent adventures of writing about sex, his new book Why is the Penis Shaped Like That?.
A Not so Steamy First Time
Barrelhouse to Start Paying
Beginning with issue 12, Barrelhouse will start paying contributors. Prepare your submissions, everybody.
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The Humanity of Hobbits
Are hobbits human? Matthew Yglesias asks this question at Slate and mines J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to find out. The answer is yes; they are just shorter.
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I Worry That I Don’t Have a Title Yet
“I worry that people in the city where the novel is based will take issue, all kinds of issue, with it. I worry that readers will be like who cares.” Here are all the things you should be worried about while working on a novel, helpfully brought to light by Susannah Felts at The Literary Hub.
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Susan Orlean’s Obsessions
The Rumpus interviews Susan Orlean (The Orchid Thief & most recently Rin Tin Tin) about her obsession with other people’s obsessions.
Writerly Pets
Famous authors and their dogs, photographed by Jill Krementz. Via The Daily Dish.
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Hardcore Book Lovers
Recommended Reading: Ben Parker constructs a short history of hardcore music in his review of Tony Rettman’s NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980-1990 in n+1. Also, music for book lovers.
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But Then Again, Who Wouldn’t Be?
I’m not that into ballet, but if I had to be, I’d be into 1,000 frame-per-second footage of German ballet dancers prancing around to a dance-y remix of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.”
Wise and Beautiful
As you might expect, this grammar quiz targeted at eighth-graders from 1912 will make you feel depressed about the modern age. (h/t The Paris Review Daily)
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