Looking to show your fellow beachgoers just how rich and erudite you are? Then mosey on over to the Paris Review Store, where you can buy four pairs of nifty-looking swim trunks that each cost $320.
Don’t Even Ask about the Goggles
We hold these truths to be self-evident.
A “typo” in the Declaration of Independence has been contributing to “a routine but serious misunderstanding” of the document, says researcher Danielle Allen.
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Not Just the Mind’s Eye
A new Tumblr, The Composites, takes descriptions of characters from novels and feeds them through police composite sketch software to produce images of their “faces.” Creepy and cool. (via kottke)
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Preserving Ephemera
Courtney Traub talks with Kevin Begos, Jr, publisher of Agrippa, a Book of the Dead, a 1992 book that contains an encrypted poem by William Gibson set to self-erase after a single reading. Begos explains his intentions when creating the book, and Traub recounts the difficulties Oxford recently had when deciding how to archive a work that deliberately resists preservation. Gibson’s newest book, Distrust That Particular Flavor, made our list of the most anticipated releases of 2012. Also don’t forget to read our review of Gibson’s 2010 novel, Zero History.
Tressie McMillan Cottom Is a Public Intellectual
For Guernica, Roxane Gay interviews Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom about her new essay collection, Thick.
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“I see their politics as a response to a challenge they both face”
Page-Turner interviewed Dinaw Mengestu, who has a story in the latest issue of the New Yorker (paywall), and whose forthcoming book All Our Names was highlighted by yours truly in our Great Book Preview.
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The Story Behind the Photo
The Guardian has the interesting story behind the arresting photo of Prince Charles and Camilla being harassed by protesters that appeared on the front page of The New York Times and other newspapers around the world today. (via)
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