In a time of crisis, any decision is better than no decision at all. That line–credited to Theodore Roosevelt–is pop conventional wisdom. An excellent piece at Aeon explores the full implications of the line, and may just convince you that your next impossible choice should be made by a soothsayer, a lottery, or a flipped coin.
“The sanitising effect of augury”
iDentity
"Up until very recently, I'd recount my online experiences with some degree of shame or sheepishness, but in this apocalyptic year of 2012, that embarrassment is beginning to fall by the wayside. I've been having more and more conversations with people grappling with what is gained and lost by how some of our most meaningful musical discoveries-- not to mention life experiences-- have happened in front of, or facilitated by, screens." Over at Pitchfork, a new column dedicated to the intersections between digital and ordinary life - and the art these interactions can produce.
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Against the “Literary”
Rob Horning doesn’t like the word “literary.” Not one bit.
Tuesday New Release Day: Capote; Mitchell; Maguire; Rendell; Schumacher; Dunn; Strayed
Out this week: The Early Stories of Truman Capote; Slade House by David Mitchell; After Alice by Gregory Maguire; Dark Corners by Ruth Rendell; The British Lion by Tony Schumacher; We Five by Mark Dunn; and a book of quotations by Cheryl Strayed. For more on these and other new titles, go read our Great Second-Half 2015 Book Preview.
Sunshine Journalism
California seems to have it all: Hollywood, the sun, vineyards, and more. Yet it doesn't have a weekly magazine. California Sunday will change that by launching a magazine delivered on digital platforms daily and in local print newspapers every Sunday. Bonus: They're hiring.
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Who Wrote What?
Do you want to work at The Strand in New York City? Think you have what it takes? Take this famous quiz and match each work with its author to see if you have the literary chops to pick up a paycheck from one of the United States's most beloved bookstores.