Over at Entropy, Laura A. Warman writes about queer poetics and the politics of the body in poetry performances. As she puts it, “Can we be a body that is constantly obscured?” Pair with this Millions essay on poetry performances.
Vanishing on the Stage
What Work Is
Recommended Reading: Leah Falk looks at women’s writing and unpaid labor.
Fame and Adoration
No less a duo than George R.R. Martin and John Hodgman think their fans are wonderful “ninety percent of the time.” As if to bolster their case, the Tin House blog asked T.C. Boyle and company to recount their best experiences as fans.
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Two Two-Initialed Critics Discuss Tolkien’s Work
HTMLGiant’s A. D. Jameson went and saw part one of The Hobbit in theatres so now none of us have to do the same. Instead, sit back and check out his “250 Points” about the film. Or, if you’d prefer a blast of Tolkien analysis from the past, check out W. H. Auden’s 1956 book review of The Return of the King.
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Time to get on with it
At Open Letters, Rohan Maitzen writes about her awakening to the chasm between an academic appreciation for books and "a more personal, affective, and engaged vision of criticism. It has been surprising and exciting to me to realize how blinkered I was about non-academic book culture, and chastening to realize how little use my own specialized reading has been as preparation to join in."
24-0
Over at The Paris Review, basketball columnist (and really great poet) Rowan Ricardo Phillips has written a compelling essay on Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry, hot streaks, and the tenability of genius. Jacob Lambert’s essay on reading about (and not watching) sports is a nice complement.
He Just Keeps Going and Going and Going
As the publication date nears for Robert Caro's latest Lyndon Johnson installment, The Passage of Power, it's a good idea to brush up on your history of Caro's career. Enter Charles McGrath and his great portrait of one of the most prolific biographers of all time.
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At Long Last
The Modern Language Association has finally weighed in on how to cite tweets in academic papers.
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Unrecommended Reading
"To the pathless wastes, into thin air, with no reviews, no best-seller lists, no college curricula, no National Book Awards or Pulitzer Prizes, no ads, no publicity, not even word of mouth to guide me!" For her new book The Shelf: From LEQ to LES, Phyllis Rose undertook the ultimate stunt in writing-about-reading: an unsorted shelf with no logic at all.