Two more words of the year as 2016 comes to a close: Merriam-Webster has chosen “surreal” while The Guardian, in an act of timeliness, nominates “unpresidented.”
Words of the Year Watch, Con’t
Dear Diary
This week in Bookends: in which Thomas Mallon and Pankaj Mishra muse on which writer’s journals are really worth reading. Here’s a bonus Millions piece on Bookends for all those New York Times devotees.
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A Light Roast, Please
File this one under “Things I Didn’t Know I Needed” — actor Paul Giamatti playing Honoré de Balzac hopped up on fifty coffees.
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The Harvard Hoaxer’s Bibliography
The Harvard Hoaxer‘s not-to-be-missed resume (pdf) includes several impressive under-contract book projects, including The Mapping of an Ideological Demesne; Wampum and the Origins of American Money; and A Short History of North America. Pretty impressive, for a 23-year-old.
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iRumpus
The Rumpus is coming to your iPad or iPhone. The magazine just launched its new app, The Weekly Rumpus. The app features the best of The Rumpus’s weekly content, original short fiction, and upcoming articles every Wednesday. The app and its first issue are free, but you can subscribe for $3.99 a month or $25.99 a year.
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The Master
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In Praise of the Booker
In light of Howard Jacobson’s victory for The Finkler Question, Laura Miller at Salon explains why the Man Booker Prize is the best of the literary awards.