Charles Dickens becomes an honorary member of The Smiths in BBC’s Horrible Histories music video. My favorite lyric: “Whilst writing Edwin Drood, a train crash didn’t help my mood.”
Please, Please, Please, Let Charles Dickens Get What He Wants
‘Dazzling’ State of Wonder
Ron Charles calls Ann Patchett’s new State of Wonder “another dazzling work” with touches of Heart of Darkness and The Island of Doctor Moreau.
●
●
Movie Poster Marketing Philosophy
Have you ever wondered why so many movie posters employ the “tilting horizon” effect? One marketer is here to explain why. Now, if only someone could explain why no movie posters are original anymore…
And the Pulitzer, What’s Up with That?
At Slate, Katy Waldman asks a simple question: what the heck is the point of the National Book Awards, anyway?
Recycling
“You could call Zero K a grand summation of DeLillo’s career themes and prose stylings. You could also call it recycling.” Tony Tulathimutte reviews Don DeLillo’s “techno-prophetic novel,” Zero K. To revisit DeLillo’s prior work, check out David Rice’s review of The Angel Esmeralda.
Miscellany
Bat Segundo’s BEA podcasts continue. Yours truly makes a brief appearance in the latest installment.Elizabeth Crane is discussing George Saunders’ collection In Persuasion Nation at her blog this week.Meant to post this Friday, but luckily I think spelling bee-related links have an indefinite shelf life. Language Hat and his band of commenters provide indispensible commentary on the word that won the National Spelling Bee, “ursprache,” and other Bee topics.
2010’s Best Nonfiction
“Nearly 100 Fantastic Pieces of Journalism” from 2010, compiled, annotated, and linked-to by Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic. No Millions pieces here, alas, but we’re gunning for you in 2011, Friedersdorf!
●
●
Selfies As High Art; Selfie As Word of the Year
Move over, “GIF.” (Or, more accurately: animate yourself away from us in an unending loop.) There’s a new Oxford Dictionaries word of the year. Enter, “selfie,” a word of Australian origin that describes an ostensibly new “digital affair, [that’s actually] a novel iteration of an old form: the self-portrait.” (They even come with overarching themes of mortality.)
●
●
Tuesday New Release Day
The long-awaited follow-up to Yann Martel’s Booker-winner Life of Pi is out: Beatrice and Virgil. Also new, Elegy for April, a thriller by John Banville alter ego Benjamin Black; David Lipsky’s already much discussed interview with David Foster Wallace, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself; and, apparently hitting shelves ahead of its official release date, a book of philosophy by Marilynne Robinson, Absence of Mind.
●
●