At The Hairpin, Alexa C. Kurzius pays a visit to the Punderdome 3000, a monthly “com-pun-tition” that takes place in (where else?) Brooklyn. Among other highlights, the author constructs an alter ego for herself named Pundercat.
Punderstrike
Edan Lepucki Sells Her Second Novel
Congrats are in order for our own Edan Lepucki, who recently sold her second novel to Crown! Her new book, a “sly, sinister exploration of female relationships,” will come out in 2017. You could also read her and our own Bill Morris on writing their most recent novels.
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Book Pirates
The American author is dead, long live the American author! At the New York Times, a eulogy.
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In a Room of the Auction House
“It can not be that I monopolize / The making of the songs that give you praise / Or that such pools as are your dearest eyes / Have just one bather through the unclear days. / Then, let me take my place amid the pack, / If I so pack my songs with your rare worth / There were no quality they then should lack / But they were bettered by that happy death.” A previously unpublished Ezra Pound sonnet selling at auction is always newsworthy–especially when it fetches nearly $12,000. Here is a related Millions piece about the difficult poetry of Ezra Pound, John Berryman, and Ted Berrigan.
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What killed Jane Austen?
Using the only known painting of Jane Austen to try to find out what killed her.
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Dear Sandy, Hello
A look at Ted Berrigan‘s letters to his institutionalized wife, collected in Dear Sandy, Hello, at The Poetry Foundation.
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Thin Mints, a Challenger Appears
This has nothing to do with books, but if you’re like me, it’s important, life-altering, and worthy of constant news coverage: The Girl Scouts are releasing a new cookie for their 100th Anniversary. The lemony “Savannah Smiles” will commemorate the Scouts’ southern roots. Need help tracking down a box? I suggest the Girl Scout Cookie Locator app for your smartphone.
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