Writer’s block: the eternal struggle, right? Thankfully, Ted Scheinman asked some of his favorite writers for their remedies, and he compiled them into a helpful list. “Do try these solutions, alone or in combination,” he urges. “’Mix and match’ is the cry.” (Related: You can also check out the “daily routines of famous creative people” for inspiration, as well.)
Dealing with Writer’s Block
The Sound of Privilege
On Friday, May 10th, Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby hits theaters. To get ready, check out the soundtrack, which the folks at NPR were kind enough to post online. (h/t Salon)
Book Picker Book Picker Pick Me A Book
It's time for NPR's Book Concierge again! The interactive site will help you sort the year's releases by about a gazillion criteria, including "book club ideas" and the seriously great "seriously great writing."
“Sequence of blackouts”
Recommended Reading: this new translation of an Albert Camus play at Page-Turner.
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OWS and the Press
How do you spell t-r-a-c-t-i-o-n? Our recent stories about the spreading Occupy Wall Street protests seem to be part of a trend. The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that the protests accounted for only 7% of coverage in all news media nationwide in the past week -- but that's a four-fold increase from the week before.
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Dispatch from Wisconsin
Lorrie Moore writes about her home state of Wisconsin and its popular Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer. Also check out the Millions profile of Moore.
Too Much to Process
A couple weeks ago, Brian Ted Jones reviewed The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, which “takes place on the margins of a grand, cosmic struggle.” Not long afterwards, at The Rumpus, Woody Brown offered a somewhat negative take on the book, arguing that Mitchell makes it too difficult for the reader to suspend her disbelief. You could also read Brown’s Millions review of Haruki Murakami’s new novel.
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Little Black Book of Fiction
Good news for people who like good things: The Missouri Review has unveiled a Little Black Book of Fiction app. The 99¢ app is a collection of 11 stories from the likes of William Gay (a Post-40 Bloomer), Robert Olen Butler and Nanci Kincaid – and each story comes with its own audio introduction, author information, and opening photograph.