Margaret Atwood wants to edit the Canadian national anthem. The MaddAddam author and Year in Reading alum thinks a phrase in the current lyrics — “true patriot love in all thy sons’ command” — needs to be changed to something more gender-neutral.
All Our Kids
Stephen King Next Week and Next Year
With Stephen King's latest, 11/22/63, a week away, his new Dark Tower novel The Wind Through the Keyhole, now has a publication date: April 24, 2012.
Quarterly’s Subscription Service
Cool idea from Quarterly: a subscription service “that enables people to receive physical items in the mail from influential contributors of their choice.” I mean, who wouldn’t want some mail from Maud Newton, Jason Kottke, and Maria Popova (Brain Pickings)?
“This ghoulish treasure trove”
At one time considered to be the work of demons or incubi, sleep paralysis – the “transition state between wakefulness and rest characterized by complete muscle atonia” – has since become accepted as a well-documented and not very uncommon phenomenon. Still, “the experience can be terrifying,” writes Karen Emslie in her recent piece about making the best of the condition.
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An Anonymous Evangelical Poetry Fan
In what might be the first sighting of its kind, an anonymous evangelical poetry fan has made an appearance in the comments of Elizabeth Lucy Conway's recent essay on teaching poetry.
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Amazon Plans for Zombies
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Nabokov on Butterflies
Vladimir Nabokov, who lived a parallel existence as a self-taught expert on butterflies and a Harvard museum curator, has had his theory on butterfly evolution finally proved sixty-five years later. (Thanks, Kevin)
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Launch Edan Lepucki
You have until midnight tomorrow to launch The Millions staff writer Edan Lepucki's novella, If You're Not Yet Like Me, which Ben Fountain calls "extraordinary." Don't miss your chance!
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5-Star Pepper Spray
"Accept no substitutes when casually repressing students" "Perfect for Starting Your Own Little Police State!" and other 5-star reviews of pepper spray on Amazon.
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