Scientists are using x-ray to read fragments of 1,300-year-old manuscripts that have been reused as bookbindings. Pair with this Millions essay on private libraries and what books reveal about their readers.
The Age-Old Tradition
Penguins and Stiller and Baumbach, Oh My!
There's a rumor circulating that Noah Baumbach may direct 20th Century Fox's film adaption of Mr. Popper's Penguins, Richardand Florence Atwater's beloved 1938 children's story about a man whose wistful obsession with penguins comes home to roost. There are also rumors that Ben Stiller may head the cast as Mr. Popper.
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Poet Plunder
Poor Robert Frost can't catch a break. Last month, we wrote about the Kansas man who stole a bronze bust of the poet. Now, a Vermont man has been charged with stealing Frost's personal letters and Christmas cards that were left in a desk donated to the non-profit where he worked. He also sold them for $25,000 but only has to pay an $100 fine.
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Love and Death in Miami
The Takeaway hosted two ambitious author panels at last month’s Miami Book Fair International. The first panel covered “love,” and featured Millions contributor Christopher Beha alongside Jami Attenberg and three others. The second panel focused on “death,” and it featured writers and literary figures as well as Benjamin Busch, an Iraq War veteran.
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Bolaño At the Movies
Writing for Slant, Bill Weber reviews Il Futuro, a film is based on an as-yet-untranslated novella by Roberto Bolaño. Previously, JW McCormack expounded on the prospect of adapting the Chilean author’s masterpiece, 2666, into a motion picture.
Facts and Feelings
“Historical fiction was not—and is not—meant to supplant literature from the period it describes.” Year in Reading alumnus Alexander Chee on historical novels and creative liberties.
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