Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story is now a reality. He got to try Google Glass and wrote about the experience for The New Yorker. “When the velvet-rope hostess at the of-the-moment Wythe Hotel bar in Williamsburg stops to take a photo of me with her iPhone, I know exactly what the producer meant. This is the most I will ever be loved by strangers.”
Gary Shteyngart Becomes A Glasshole
Music and Lyrics
Death of a Library
No matter what you think of the bookish offspring of the OED’s word of the year, you should know that Neil Gaiman gave the term "shelfie" some more press. While moving out of his house, the author took a “tragic shelfie,” aka a picture of his books packed away in boxes. (Related: our own Tess Malone reviewed Gaiman's latest book.) (h/t The Paris Review)
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Cousin/Cousine?
What are those crazy kids from Vampire Weekend saying in their new single, "Cousins"? It's a little disappointing, as the beleaguered translators of lyrics at We Listen For You reveal.
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Kids Leap to the Darnedest Conclusions
A mom sat her six-year-old daughter down in front of some classic books and asked her to guess the story based on the cover. The results are both charming and eerily accurate. I'm glad we at least now know what lies in the liminal space between Lev Grossman and kittens inspired by kittens.
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A Short History of the Executioner
In her short history of executioners, Stassa Edwards notes that the decision to replace “the traditional punishment” of drowning people “in a sack in a local river” was actually quite pragmatic: it was “more economical” to go with a simple beheading.
Granta’s Horror Issue
Granta's "Horror" issue was published just in time for Halloween, and I can't think of a better way to whet your appetite than to read Daniel Alarcón's "The Ground Floor."
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