Amazon, which recently entered the world of original broadcast content, has subverted television’s traditional “pilot season” by forgoing a staggered release schedule in favor of plunking all fourteen of its pilots onto its website at once. The idea is for audiences to watch the eight comedies and six animated shows for free, and then help the company decide which options are the most promising for long term development. Just a tip: Alpha House features appearances from John Goodman and Bill Murray.
Amazon Releases Fourteen Pilots
Reading the Past
Finalists for the Center For Fiction’s First Novel Prize—including Sophie McManus, Ben Metcalf, Lori Ostlund, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Chigozie Obioma, Tanwi Nandini Islam, and Angela Flournoy—discuss the books that made them the writers they are today. Pair with our own Nick Ripatrazone’s recent article on authors’ favorite childhood books.
On Pronouns and Ownership
Dr. Dennis Ryan Storoshenko is conducting research for a Yale Linguistics project, looking to ask people about theirselves and their pronouns. Take a minute of your time to help him out.
●
●
Lorrie Moore, Short Stories, and America
Good news, fans of short stories, Lorrie Moore, and America! The author is editing a special edition of the Best American series, 100 Years of The Best American Short Stories, to be released in October.
●
●
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.
“A history of fire flooding and water flooding”
Not every Craigslist ad is noteworthy, but this property listing, titled “Gorgeous Rural Mountain Acreage” and hailing from Kentucky, is a notable (and sobering) exception. Full-Stop republished the whole thing, which includes warnings that “bears are known to be about” and “beautiful water seeps.”
●
●
It’s not plagiarism… it’s angloglobalisation?
On the London Review of Books blog, Kaya Genç makes the case that the similarities between the successful Turkish author Elif Şafak’s work and Zadie Smith’s books is a fact of Turkey’s shifting cultural values rather than plagiarism: “Istanbul, the city Shafak returned to after writing her book in London and the setting for many of her earlier novels, resembles London more and more.” For a bit of context, here’s Lydia Kiesling’s rundown of the initial scandal.