Noah Charney writes for The Atlantic in defense of book tours, which “mostly entail maneuvering to get on radio shows or TV programs, and less glamorous elements, like attending bookstore readings where hardly anyone shows up.”
On Tour
Co-Laureates
Congratulations to Matthew Sage and Michael Bussmann for becoming co-Poet Laureates of Fort Collins, Colorado. Based on New York Magazine‘s calculations, however, their shared honor isn’t likely to pay off monetarily any time soon.
V.S. Naipaul on Writers, Kittens
“The writer is all alone,” Sir Vidia said. “He has only himself—just like a little kitten.” The Atlantic interviews V.S. Naipaul. (via Book Bench)
Carol Hughes to Write Memoir
Ted Hughes’s widow, Carol Hughes, intends to write a memoir about her marriage to the former poet laureate.
Too Little, Too Late
In an article for Slate, Farhad Manjoo asks whether or not Google+ squandered its chance to compete with Facebook.
Janie Crawford and Tea Cake on Air
To commemorate the book’s 75th anniversary, WNYC and WQXR Radio will present a live radio play of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. New Yorkers will be able to catch the broadcast on February 29th and March 1st, and then the rest of the nation can hear it in September.
Not Scenes
“They’re pictures, not images; displays, not shots; illustrations, not compositions. They are respectful displays of performance—of the demonstrative theatrical antics into which Anderson lets his performers lapse.” Richard Brody on the film version of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice.