Japanese architect Shinsuke Fujii has designed a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf that’s meant to withstand the shocks of an earthquake. The bookcase is integral to the structural stability of the building, and its shelves even act as a ladder to reach high shelves. Perhaps Jorge Luis Borges was right, and paradise is indeed “a kind of library” – so why not make it earthquake-proof?
An Earthquake-Proof Library
RIP Oscar Hijuelos
You may have heard that Pulitzer laureate Oscar Hijuelos passed away on Sunday at the age of 62. Hijuelos, who won the prize in 1990 for his novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, broke ground as the first Latino author to take home the prestigious award. On NPR, David Greene talks with Columbia professor Gustavo Perez Firmat about the author’s legacy. (Related: Thea Lim on people of color and American writing.)
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Gold in the New Millennium
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned author Wells Tower tracks the Klondike’s modern gold rush in his typically comprehensive way.
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“The pull of the East, of Islam”
“Part of the allure of Bosnia for westerners, I think, has been the surprising nearness of the East. To put it more bluntly, and problematically: in Bosnia the East is tamed, less scarily dogmatic.” Elvis Bego draws a parallel with Madame Bovary at Bookslut.
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On the Reading That Drags On and On
Everyone’s been there: the bookstore event at which the reader drones on and on. The Observer shares some reading horror stories (and a few successes). Sarah McNally of NYC’s McNally Jackson bookstore says, “The traditional reading format is broken.”
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