A Russian man was shot last week over an argument about 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Perhaps this means I need to update my article about the history of the Russian duel.
The Modern Bretteurs
Hitchens on Cancer
Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair on his cancer diagnosis: "To the dumb question 'Why me?' the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?"
TLAN:WOTFOB Excerpted
Reif Larsen's "The Crying of Page 45" appears in this month's issue of The Believer. This clever, inventive essay is excerpted from the book I co-edited The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books. You can get a taste of the piece at The Believer website, but the full essay in all its illustrated glory is available in the print magazine as well as in, of course, the book.
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Wild Thing
Lord of the Flies is perhaps the best example of a book that forces readers to confront how wild we are. But there’s a whole corpus of books that accomplish the same thing. In The New Statesman, Erica Wagner writes about Melissa Harrison’s At Hawthorn Time and Sarah Hall’s The Wolf Border.
The Illest Brother
"Wherever you are...realize that your essence is divine, son / and let it shine, son." Peace to Guru Keith Elam, 1966 - 2010.
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Letters to Roberto Bolaño
“The act of writing is a conscious act of humility”: Diego Trelles Paz recalls the advice on writing given to him by Roberto Bolaño during their brief correspondence, at n+1.
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Link Bomb
The "Bloggies" are back. Looking at this year's nominees, our thoughts from last year still hold true.We try not to rag on the NBCC too much around here, but inadvertently giving your big book recommending initiative the same name as a wildly popular reading-focused social network just smacks of cluelessness.People are still ripping on litblogs. This time, it's Bud eloquently defending our honor.The New Yorker has presented its portfolio of winners in its contest to "redefine Eustace Tilley," the magazine's dapper icon.Free, downloadable mini-books from Chicago's Featherproof BooksDoes Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point hold up in the real world? Not exactly.FSG's Lorin Stein reviews Norman Rush's Mortals: "the most brilliant book of the new century [maybe]."Granta's 100th issue (congrats!) is here. William Boyd's introduction offers up some history on the magazine.Just in time for "Super Tuesday," Michael Chabon throws his hat in the ring for ObamaAttention "Oregon Trail" fans, outdoor equipment company Thule offers a goofy remake of the game. Ah, advertainment. (via)Finally, an important question, answered.
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