Fox Books has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, The Onion reported. But in reality, Barnes & Noble is facing some big problems, which inspired Michael Agger to write a thank you note to the troubled bookstore. “Going to Barnes & Noble became a Saturday afternoon. It was as if a small liberal-arts college had been plunked down into a farm field.”
“One, Two, Three, Four. We Want this Superstore.”
Lebowski Achiever
At The New York Times, A.O. Scott names The Big Lebowski a “Critics’ Pick.”
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Shepard’s Final Word
“He wrote the first drafts by hand, and when that became too difficult, dictated sections of the book into a tape recorder.” Before his death in July, playwright and actor Sam Shepard wrote a novel called Spy of the First Person, which is forthcoming from Knopf in December. From our archives, a list of writers who also act.
Learn from the Greats
Renowned translator and occasional Millions commenter Robert Chandler is working with a London translation program this summer, and you’re invited to join!
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“What’s today?”
Recommended Reading: James Galvin’s “Bet,” which was selected as The Missouri Review’s poem of the week.
The Belletristic Branch
At the Poetry Foundation’s website, a list of twelve poets that captivated American presidents.
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Our Lucrative Profession
The folks at Harper’s Bazaar (not Harper’s Magazine) are launching a new short story competition, and the grand prize is wild: an all-expenses-paid weeklong stay on a private Scottish island, publication in the May 2014 issue of the magazine and a first-edition book from the Asprey’s Fine and Rare Books Department, worth up to £3,000. (And yes, that’s pounds, not dollars.)