Recommended Reading: On Herman Melville and his reputation for “being sexually dangerous, and even depraved.”
The Birth of the Novel
Annie’s Pilgrimage
Annie Leibovitz discusses her new book Pilgrimage, and how the project became a journey of personal and artistic renewal.
The Naked Bookseller
Recommended reading, though perhaps not viewing: “On the strange, true tale of the naked bookseller.”
Infinite Jest, Illustrated
Poor Yorick Entertainment, a tumblr that attempts to illustrate the world of Infinite Jest.
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Jailhouse Rock
Can’t get enough of Orange is the New Black? Neither could The Missouri Review. Their new blog series, Literature on Lockdown, shares narratives from those who teach or write in prisons. This week’s post comes from Ace Boggess, a poet who spent five years in a West Virginia prison. “One thing about being a writer in prison is that you have not lost everything. You still have that driving need to speak whatever truth you know in whatever way you can. No one can take that away from you, not even the State.”
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Aargh!
An analysis of the unsexy history of the word “Argh” with a catalog of its appearance during sexually explicit scenes in 5o Shades of Grey. Cf. Elizabeth Minkle’s Millions essay on 5o Shades and fan fiction.
Zadie Smith’s Headed to Hollywood
It’s a big season for Zadie Smith. While most of us eagerly await the publication of her latest book, NW, the author’s earlier work, On Beauty, is set to become a feature film. Smith’s first book to be dramatized on film was White Teeth, a UK mini-series from 2002 based on her book of the same name. (And available online if you have Hulu Plus.)
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