The world’s oldest undeciphered writing is currently in the process of being deciphered.
Cracking the Code
At Least The CIA Is Reading Your Books
The CIA might just be America’s most literary government agency, no? Not only did they (maybe) help fund the early days of The Paris Review but, according to Eric Bennett, the group also funded the nation’s most prestigious and storied creative writing program. Over on Iowa Public Radio, you can hear some details.
Thoughts and Prayers
For the L.A. Review of Books, a conversation on gun violence, "thoughts and prayers," and Shannon Watts’s new book Fight Like a Mother, which chronicles the founding of grassroots action network Moms Demand Action.
●
●
●
A New Whodunit
“They were town men. The sheriff and the other four went into his shack. One of them was Hines, the undertaker. They were in there for some time. They even opened the stove and dug through the ashes.” Stephen King has a story in this week’s New Yorker.
The Master Gets a Trailer
The trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s forthcoming film The Master was released this week. The film will be about a mercurial religion called “The Cause,” and the whole thing appears to be based on L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology.
●
●
Tangled Youths
Evan Hughes investigates the formulation of such writers as Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Franzen, and David Foster Wallace. He claims they and their generation “had youths tangled enough for ten novels.”
●
●