What do indie rock musicians share in common with experimental writers? A great deal, and not just a distaste for both of those over-used adjectives.
“The worlds of rock and lit appear to be merging”
A Hunger Games Odyssey
The team behind the film adaptations of the Hunger Games trilogy have chosen their next project, and it’s not another hip YA series. Instead they’re going back to the classics and adapting, what else?, The Odyssey.
The Perilous Art of Giving Books
What is the right book for the right reader? Arts Beat gives examples of books given as presents in literature, which can be just as perilous as giving books as gifts in real life.
Top Travel Books
Travel site WorldHum has created a top-100 travel books of all time list. The list includes many Millions favorites (Theroux, Kapuscinski, etc).
On the Ledge
“For years, growing up, I was obsessed with the thought; among my earliest memories is the desire, at age three or four, to run in front of an oncoming bus. Not because I wanted to see what would happen, but because I was sure I knew what would happen: I wouldn’t have to live any longer. I suspect there may be a suicide gene.” Clancy Martin tackles a perennially touchy subject.
I Buy, Therefore I Write
“It makes you think you are just about to write, for once, something brilliant.” Everyone knows that Moleskines don’t really affect your writing, but they nevertheless represent a kind of literary standard. As we step into the future and doodling goes digital, will products like electronic writing tablets put the leather-bound versions out of business? Somewhere Hemingway is turning in his grave.
Crystal Methods
Curtis Sittenfeld did some interesting research for her latest novel, Sisterland. “I went to this New Age bookstore in a distant suburb of St. Louis. I basically went there and was like, ‘I’m doing research,’ and then I un-ironically bought some crystals,” she told The Rumpus.
Following eBooks at CES
Open Publishing Lab is keeping tabs on all the ebook news coming out of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas with photos of the various new gadgets and prototypes. (Thanks, Buzz)