Recommended Reading: Joseph Fasano’s “Coda,” which is The Missouri Review’s poem of the week. “Now he is listening for beginning./Now he is lying/among that sinew,/asking, as a boy would, where his song goes.”
Earth’s Song
Michael Lewis’ Man Cave
Here's a sentence I never thought I'd type: A seersuckered Michael Lewis shows off his "man cave" for ValleyGirl.tv. You can skip ahead to 9:20 for the tour. (via)
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In Their Own Words
The translators behind books such as Don Quixote, My Struggle, and Swann’s Way talk about their translation process. Lydia Davis explains, “When I was translating novels, I would not read the text first, and that was very important to me because it let me retain the excitement of the unknown.”
Fifty Shades of Sociological Commentary
In her new book, Hard-Core Romance, Eva Illouz has published the first serious, book-length academic analysis of the Fifty Shades of Grey. The critically-panned Fifty Shades trilogy, originally a Twilight fan fiction, has sold 32 million copies in the US so far. At The New Republic, William Giraldi seizes the opportunity for a brutal send-up of author E. L. James and the “dreck” she represents. "At least people are reading,” he writes, “You’ve no doubt heard that before. But we don’t say of the diabetic obese, At least people are eating.” Pair with The Millions’ essay on literary predecessors in published fan fiction.
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Two Good Women
Want to see Nobel laureate Alice Munro in conversation with Margaret Atwood? The two will take part in a Google+ hangout on Wednesday night at 7:30. (You could also read our beginner's guide to Munro's work.)
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Christopher Lee’s Metal Take on Don Quixote
Christopher Lee, perhaps best known to American audiences as the man who played Count Dooku (Star Wars) and Saruman (Lord of the Rings), is also an accomplished singer and musician. Evidently, he’s also quite literary, as his most recent project — The Metal Knight — demonstrates. To wit: the album was inspired by Don Quixote. (Trailer here.)
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The Wire
The October 15 Boston Book Festival boasts a lot of wonders, but one event you shouldn't miss is "The Wire" writer and producer George Pelecanos alongside series cast members. They'll discuss "issues of race, class, and institutional failure as portrayed by the most critically-acclaimed series in television history." Last month, a similar event was held at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe to launch the issue of Criticism dedicated to "Why The Wire (Still) Matters".
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“I’ll die soon, said / the boy to the bird.”
Recommended Reading: Two poems by Slovene poet Tomaž Šalamun.
James Frey’s Fiction Factory
From New York Magazine, a harrowing piece on "Full Fathom Five," the young adult fiction factory spearheaded by James Frey, and the controversial contracts young writers are asked to sign.
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