After you finish reading this reconsideration of the music of Yoko Ono, you might want to get reacquainted with her entire oeuvre, starting with the fascinating Cut Piece.
Reevaluating Yoko Ono
A People’s History
After thirty years, Larry Kramer has finished his novel The American People, which he prefers to consider a new form of nonfiction. In the novel, a narrator based largely on Kramer writes a historical expose, also titled The American People, in which numerous American icons are described as having been gay. As Kramer says, he wrote the book in part out of a feeling that gay people are excluded from history books.
●
●
Cheryl Strayed Discovers Her Long Lost Sister
NPR caught up with Wild author Cheryl Strayed to talk about a stranger who had a particularly personal connection with the writer’s book. As it turns out, she was Strayed’s half-sister. (Bonus: we interviewed Strayed for our site last year.)
O’Reilly Book Burn
U.S. forces stationed in a remote area of Afghanistan recently received about twenty copies of Bill O’Reilly’s book Pinheads and Patriots. Their orders upon receiving the tomes: Burn them.
Library Lament
The Library of Alexandria was ruined by fire, right? Maybe not. The library actually succumbed to budget cuts long before flames reached it. Annalee Newitz details the financial woes of the long lost library for io9.
●
●
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.”
●
●
Hurricane Reads
East Coasters can prepare for Hurricane Irene by reading Hart Crane‘s “O Carib Isle” (via W.W. Norton & Co.) or William Carlos Williams‘ “The Hurricane” (via Proustitute). The Book Bench has also compiled a list of “Six Shorts to Read During a Hurricane.”
●
●
Kindle to Impress
So you got a new Kindle for Christmas, and you’ve loaded it up with all our ebook recommendations? That’s great, but it may not be enough. Best to add a few ebooks to impress anyone who happens to come across your e-reader, just in case, and McSweeney’s has just the list.
●
●