Adobe Books may become Adobe Books and Arts Cooperative thanks to a collection of young, influential artists who do not want to see their favorite bookstore/community space close its doors. You know, the one that records its book sales in a composition notebook, not a computer system. (h/t Lydia Kiesling)
Adobe Books and Arts Cooperative
“The First Step Into the Wide World”
This is from two years ago, but it’s worth a listen if you missed it the first time: a moving Radiolab podcast on Alzheimer’s, Düsseldorf, and the creative use of bus stops.
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Heathcliff Whr R U
The Guardian published a couple of fun pieces earlier this week. The first is a hilarious excerpt from Mallory Ortberg’s Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters. The second is a collection of the top ten most memorable meals in all of literature.
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Paper or Plastic?
Paper or plastic? Hey, you with the Kindle! Stop looking so smug… E-books aren’t as green as you think.
Product Placement in 19th Century British Novels
A recent survey of 19th century British literature uncovered advertising subtly placed within classic texts by authors like Dickens, Austen, and Thackeray. From Vanity Fair, for example: “‘My sisters say she has diamonds as big as pigeons’ eggs,’ George said, laughing. ‘How they must set off her complexion! Surely she avails herself of Madame A.T. Rowley’s Toilet Mask (or Face Gloves)…’” (via Book Bench)
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NPR Commentator to Swim from Cuba to Key West
“More than 30 years after her last big swim, Diana Nyad is back in the water,” writes NPR’s Greg Allen. “Nyad, a former commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition, became well-known in the 1970s for her swim around Manhattan Island and, a few years later, for swimming from the Bahamas to Florida. Now, at age 61, she’ll soon be attempting a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Key West.” Unfortunately she’s already missed Key West’s Hemingway Days.
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Grave Mistake
Stephen King’s novels are about to become a reality. The Stanley Hotel, the hotel that inspired The Shining, is digging up its pet cemetery to make room for a wedding pavilion. Haven’t they read Pet Sematary?
“A Caul of Ambiguity”
“How could we possibly trust any creature that comes into the world wearing such a caul of ambiguity? That’s “essayists.” Four hundred and four years later, they continue to flourish.” John Jeremiah Sullivan offers a loose history of the essay, essayists, and all their many contradictions in a piece for The New Yorker.
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