David Bowie was quite the avid reader. In his honor, his son, Duncan Jones, has launched an online book club that will focus on books Bowie enjoyed. The first book is Hawksmoor and the discussion is on February 1st. Will you be participating?
Join David Bowie’s Book Club
Charter Schools
Diane Ravitch takes on the documentary Waiting for Superman in the "Myth of Charter Schools" for The New York Review of Books.
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Big Little Lies
“Literature can use secrecy as a device to ensnare readers, to pull the wool over their eyes or to reveal to them things that the characters can’t see. Whether large – businessman by day, serial killer by night; or small – where a character silently yearns for an ex-lover.” Eli Goldstone compiles a list for The Guardian of 10 novels whose characters are concealing big secrets, including a few lesser-knowns like Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle and New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani.
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Multiple Personas
If all you associate Ingmar Bergman with is moody chess games and dead doves, it's time to add "novelist" to the list.
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HBO Is Having Leftovers
According to sources for Vulture, HBO has ordered a television pilot based on Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers, which “takes place in a world still reeling from a Rapture-like event three years earlier.” The project will be managed by Lost co-producer Damon Lindelof.
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How Did I Get Here?
It looks like Rowan Ricardo Phillips is the new basketball columnist for The Paris Review. His first piece is a bit of an introduction into his own basketball life. We’ve brought you a couple roundball-related pieces in the past.
Against the “Literary”
Rob Horning doesn’t like the word “literary.” Not one bit.