It will take you longer to read this Curiosity and click through to its attached link than it would for you to simply read Anton Chekhov’s shortest-ever short story in its entirety.
A Man in Monte Carlo
Jewel Boxes
Colm Tóibín's new book on Elizabeth Bishop is unusually hard to categorize. Part “primer,” part “personal reflection,” in Jonathan Farmer’s words, it moves back and forth between analysis and lyricism, alternating passages of beauty with nuts-and-bolts guides to Bishop’s poems. In Slate, Farmer tries to nail it down. You could also read our own Michael Bourne’s review of Tóibín's The Master.
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“The Book the Internet Was Invented For”
On the infinite recreation and reimagining of Finnegans Wake, a book that was "crying out for the invention of the web, which would enable the holding of multiple domains of knowledge in the mind at one time that a proper reading requires," from The Guardian.
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Good News, Grammarians!
Alison Baverstock takes a wide eye look at ten ways self-publishing has changed the book world. One item of note? “The copy editor, a traditionally marginalised figure, is now in strong demand.”
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The Teen Whisperer
"When John Green told the crowd that, though he was proud of the movie, it wasn’t his movie, someone shouted, 'But it’s your plot, John!'—which marked the first time I’d ever heard heckling about the nature of authorship." Green, author of YA bestseller The Fault in Our Stars, is the literary hero of teenage girls, and nerdfighter hero to millions. After you read the excellent profile at The New Yorker, consider the The Millions' own review.
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Elgin Marbles Return Home?
British Members of Parliament have proposed a bill to return the Elgin Marbles (of Keats fame) to Greece.
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Baseball Infographics Book
Super-cool baseball infographics site Flip Flop Fly Ball is set to become what will no doubt be a stunning book put out by Bloomsbury and arriving in Spring 2011.