Why read a book when you can carve it? Taiwanese artist Long-Bin Chen made a sculpture garden entirely out of carved books for The College of Charleston. Also have a look at Guy Laramee’s slightly smaller but equally amazing book sculptures.
Literary Arts Literally
Dostoyevsky’s Yard Sales
This edition of Apartment Therapy with Ivan Ilych from the good people over at McSweeney’s will have you packing up shop and heading for St. Petersburg in no time. For a slightly more serious take on Tolstoy, here’s a piece on morals and manners in The Death of Ivan Ilych.
New Documentary on James Salter
Checkerboard Films has produced a new documentary film on James Salter, “James Salter: A Sport and a Pastime.” You can see Nick Antosca and myself, waxing admiringly, as the “young literary voices” who’ve been influenced by Salter.
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“A quiet hero of contemporary literature”
At The Paris Review, a remembrance of Evan S. Connell, whose work has been cited as an influence by Jonathan Franzen, Lydia Davis and Zadie Smith.
Are You Ready for Some (Writing About) Football?
A whole heap of talented writers got together for American Short Fiction’s NFL Preview. Of particular note: check out Year in Reading alum Michael Schaub opine on his two great loves: “Texas and crushing disappointment.”
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Tuesday New Release Day: Kepler, Block
New this week is the latest Scandinavian sensation, The Hypnotist by “Lars Kepler,” who after a literary manhunt, was revealed to be a husband-and-wife team. Also out this week is a new novel by wunderkind Stefan Merrill Block, The Storm at the Door.
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Vote for The Millions at 3 Quarks Daily
Hey look, several pieces of ours are in the running to win 3 Quarks Daily Arts and Literature Prizes! On their voting page, you can cast your ballot for James McWilliams’s piece on Faulkner, our own Hannah Gersen’s appreciation of Friday Night Lights, or our own Nick Ripatrazone’s essay on teaching English, among other nominees.