“A classic hustler and survivor … a type who never starts revolutions but who always figures out how to benefit from whatever the New Order is.” Some dispatches from a punk tour of the Balkans by Franz Nicolay, who may or may not be an asshole, big time.
Heineken Price is Going to Double
Belzhar
Sarah Pitre reviews Meg Wolitzer‘s first YA novel, Belzhar, for Kirkus Reviews, and while we were already looking forward to the novel, now we’re doubly interested.
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“Neither word exactly conjures security”
You may have heard that Vulture editor Adam Sternbergh was nominated for an Edgar Award for his book Shovel Ready last week. Now, to give Vulture readers a taste of his literary style, he’s published an annotated excerpt of the sequel Near Enemy, which came out earlier this month. As the introduction puts it, the excerpt includes “thoughts on history’s first murder, the dubious appeal of Pepé Le Pew, and just how crazy New York apartment locks used to be.”
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Copyeditors Required
“On Thursday, an uncorrected proof of her debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with the writer’s name was misspelled as “JA Rowling”, became the muddled copy to fetch four figures at auction.” The Guardian presents a survey of famous literary typos and malapropisms. See also our own Edan Lepucki‘s interview with her beloved copyeditor Susan Bradanini Betz.
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Young and Old
After Herzog came out, Saul Bellow began the slow transformation from young Bellow into old Bellow, from the critically adored but little-known writer to the Nobel Prize winner whose views were solicited on every topic. In The New Yorker, Louis Menand writes about a new biography of the author, which tackles his early career. Related: our own Emily St. John Mandel on Bellow’s novel The Bellarosa Connection.
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“Most boring meteorological significance”
Vanity Fair has an excerpt of Back to Blood in its latest issue. (Our own Nick Moran’s review of the book is worth reading before you proceed.)
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The Philosopher’s Lunch
“Another example of Chomsky humour: he calls his assistant’s dog, ‘Cat.'” Financial Times sits down for a meal with linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky.
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