Anne Enright remarks on Irish censorship, and she recalls the time her own mother was used “as a books mule.”
An Irish Books Mule
The Art of Not
Seeing as yesterday was Donald Barthelme’s birthday, it’s as good a time as any to remember the short fiction icon. At Brain Pickings, Maria Popova reads Barthelme’s essay “Not-Knowing,” which you can find in the author’s collection of essays and interviews. Sample quote: “Art is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult, but because it wishes to be art.”
●
●
McSweeney’s Issue Release Party
L.A.-based readers might be interested in the McSweeney’s Issue 37 release party at 826LA West on Monday, May 9th at 8 pm. I’ll be reading, along with fellow contributors Kevin Moffett and Larain Newman. The event will be hosted by Josh Bearman, and musician Tristen will perform.
●
●
Novel-Gazers
According to a survey published in PLoS One between 1960 and 2008 there has been a steady increase in the use of words and phrases that emphasize self-absorption in books. This leads researchers to conclude that we’re growing more narcissistic.
●
●
2 comments:
Add Your Comment: Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
The Verdict
Max’s verdict in the opening round of The Morning News Tournament of Books has been posted. Which book did he pick, Gate at the Stairs or The Book of Night Women? Hop over to TMN to find out. And don’t miss the match commentary, which has some great additional discussion of both books.
●
●
Breaking Newton’s Heart
“Insanity, madness, obsession, math, objectivity, truth, science and art. These friends always impress me. They’re sculptors and tailors, not scientists or spies. I’ve chosen them with the peculiar attentiveness of a shell collector stupidly combining the overwhelming multitude of broken detritus to hold up one shell so beautiful that it finds its way into my pocket, lining my clothes with sand. And then another. Not too many, so that the sheer number could never diminish the value of one.” On madness and genius with cosmologist Janna Levin.
Think of the Children
When did the air of scandal surrounding Philip Roth give way to a kind of reverence? At a certain point, Roth lost his reputation for controversy. In The New Republic, Adam Kirsch investigates the odd story of Roth’s career, including evidence from Claudia Roth Pierpoint’s new book about the author, Roth Unbound (which we reviewed).
●
●
This conjures other memories of Irish censorship — most particularly my mother’s memory of going to see PSYCHO in Dublin with her future sister in law and a dear family friend who happens to be a priest. The movie was so slashed to ribbons by the censor that they could hardly follow the plot. My mother said that even censored, the movie was still terrifying.
I’m sure it was, Evelyn. Thanks for sharing!