On Friday, May 10th, Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby hits theaters. To get ready, check out the soundtrack, which the folks at NPR were kind enough to post online. (h/t Salon)
The Sound of Privilege
Grit & Grace
At The New York Times, Stanley Fish on True Grit as “a truly religious movie” in its understanding of the Christian idea of grace.
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“Total student”
To survive in the wastelands of Twitter, the promising spambot needs to craft an interesting bio. Which explains why one bot assumed the mantle of “bacon ninja.”
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Dr. Seuss Manuscript Surfaces
“All Sorts of Sports. Shall I play checkers? golf? croquet? There are so many games there are to play.” A never-before-seen Dr. Seuss manuscript, “All Sorts of Sports,” is up for auction. (via AuthorScoop)
The Memory Artist
British artist Stephen Wiltshire is sketching and drawing a 19-foot long panorama of the New York City skyline. The kicker: the drawing is being produced entirely from memory following a 20-minute helicopter flight.
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Iran Overload
My student and friend Paria Kooklan pens a guest piece at the Vroman’s Blog about the popularity of novels about Iran–and penning her own. “I mean, the American public has a short attention span – Iranians are hot right now, but I can’t help wondering when the trend is going to die out. Next year, there may well be another trendy nationality: Iraqis, maybe. Or Tibetans. Or…I don’t know – the Bhutanese? Anything is possible.”
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Get the Stories
When you sit down with Junot Díaz , “lunch conversation runs like an advanced literary seminar taught by a bilingual stand-up comedian.”
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The Fictive Wallpaper
Artist Julia Callon creates dioramas inspired by nineteenth-century works of fiction such as Jane Eyre and “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
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