John Sunyer checks in with Franco Moretti at the Stanford Literary Lab. Moretti, a 63-year-old professor of English, is the author of Distant Reading – a book in which he lays out his long-held belief that “literary study doesn’t require scholars to actually read the books.” Rather, he believes in a “new approach to literature [that] depends on computers to crunch ‘big data,’ or stores of massive amounts of information, to produce new insights.”
“What’d You Major In?” “Big Literary Data.”
Tabloid Fodder
“Sitting down to read The Actress, Amy Sohn’s newest novel, is even better than standing in line at the grocery store while the person in front of you disputes the price of a carton of orange juice, giving you extra time to read the tabloids. The Actress might be as licentious as a tabloid, but it is far more intelligently written. And, you probably won’t be reading it while standing in line inside a grocery store.”
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Fame: A P&L
$500,000 annual home improvements? $125,000 allotted for annual “domestic salaries and expenses?” A $95,000 tutor for Gwyneth Paltrow’s 5-year old? New York Magazine‘s “Celebrity Economy” package is as thorough and informative as it is revolting.
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Zombified
Recommended Reading: Michael Christie on Aleksandar Hemon’s The Making of Zombie Wars. You could also read Hemon’s Year in Reading entry.
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Amazon Shows Off ‘Kindle for the Web’
Amazon is battling the multi-platform capabilities of Google’s new ebookstore with its new “Kindle for the Web.” The demo makes it look pretty easy on the eyes. Kindle books were already accessible on a number of mobile platforms. What’s new here is taking the Kindle capabilities to the PC.
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The Best Single Issue of Any Literary Magazine, Ever
What is the best single issue of any literary magazine? Luna Park nominates Granta 8: Dirty Realism, and explains why.
You’d like to think that you’re immune to the stuff…
The lights are on / but you’re not home. / Your mind / is not your own. / Your heart sweats (?) / Your teeth grind. . . . You might as well face it / You’re addicted to Twitter.
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Wow. That is incredibly depressing.
During my ill-advised attempt to major in pre-med, I dissected an annelid worm to learn about its anatomy and ended up with a mushy mess. Reminds me of this.
Went to see an absolutely wonderful film “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” recently. There is a scene set in Istanbul. The lead character’s New York investment company has come to evaluate a struggling Turkish publishing company for a possible takeover and asset sale. One of the investment bankers comments that he had “evaluated” several other publishing companies during a meeting with the local publisher. The latter commented (to paraphrase) ‘So you think you can you evaluate me?” There are a million implications in the way the actor delivered that line.