Recommended Reading: Tom Bissell reflects on David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest twenty years after its publication. You could also read our review of The David Foster Wallace Reader.
Twenty Years of Jest
“He hasn’t come down since”
According to a new biography of Richard Pryor, the legendary comedian kicked off his career as a teen in Peoria, Illinois, when he starred in a play based on Rumpelstiltskin and “broke the other kids up.” At The Nervous Breakdown, nine choice passages from the book.
Double Shot of Dominican Poets
The Fortnightly Review has English-language translations of poems by Homero Pumarol and Frank Báez, two Dominican poets you should really check out.
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The Politics of Naming
Things you can learn about Teddy Wayne from his essay in the New York Times Book Review: one, his first name is Derek; two, he believes the modern lit world is crazy for guys named Jonathan; and three, he once considered using the pen name D.T. Wayne. (For more, you could go read our interview, or else check out our review of his latest novel.)
Oxford Marginalia Group
Recommended reading: Lauren Collins writes for The New Yorker about the Oxford University Marginalia group and the fate of bookish scribblings.
Ryan Gosling San Serif
Font geeks will get a kick out of this witty Tumblr site that mashes up glam shots of Ryan Gosling with lessons on the proper, and improper, uses of many typographical fonts and symbols.
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Now nothing beneath the bad smelling sky
The Lorax has been stolen from the Dr. Suess memorial sculpture garden.
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My Brah Horatio
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Scared of the Dead
“Scared of the living, scared of the dead, and even more scared of the dead who are immortal.” Chinese censors have cracked down on social media sites following the death and hushed burial-at-sea of writer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo last week, reports The New York Times.