“But we are lured into believing that the first person is the manifestation of an authentic self. Or: we fall for the first person because we feel so little coherence in our own internal lives, and immersing ourselves in a sustained first person narrative gives us the false reassurance of an illusion.”
Another View
Songs of Experience
More on Maurice Sendak’s last book, My Brother’s Book, and the influence of William Blake.
We Can’t Wait to Compare It to Its British Version
Every now and again, book designers allow themselves a little fun. This is one of those times. Behold David High’s cheeky cover for Florence Williams’ Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, out this May from W. W. Norton & Co. (via)
Describing Art as an Art Form
Recommended: Matthew Monteith’s series of photographs showing people explaining artworks.
A Caricature of ‘Not a Good Person’
“Because what [narcissists] have inside is empty space, they have had to make a study of the selves of others in order to invent something that looks and sounds like one. Narcissists are imitators par excellence. And they do not copy the small, boring parts of selves. They take what they think are the biggest, most impressive parts of other selves, and devise a hologram of self that seems superpowered. Let’s call it ‘selfiness,’ this simulacrum of a superpowered self.” Go enjoy this excerpt from Kristin Dombek’s new book The Selfishness of Others: An Essay on the Fear of Narcissism.
Argentinian Pension Plan for Writers
Argentina may be offering a $940/month pension plan for writers. Eligibility requirements include 20 years of work in “literary creation” and five published works with ISBN numbers. This bill was proposed amidst the festivities of the Buenos Aires International Book Expo, one of the biggest book expos in the world.